November 10, 2025 • 56 mins
In this powerful message from Isaiah 41–46, Pastor Dave invites us into the “Trial of the False Gods,” where God Himself calls the idols of the nations to the stand. Through vivid courtroom imagery, we see the Lord expose the futility of man-made gods—things we create, carry, and ultimately worship—contrasted with the majesty of the one true God who alone carries us.
As the sermon unfolds, we’re confronted with our own modern idols: success, relationships, comfort, or control. Yet Isaiah reminds us that only Yahweh—the Creator who formed the heavens, the Redeemer who knows the future, and the Savior who blots out our sins—can bear the full weight of our hope.
This message calls us to honest reflection: Is Jesus truly our everything, or simply one of many things competing for our devotion? With grace and conviction, Pastor Dave reminds us that every knee will one day bow before Christ—the God who carries His people, redeems them by name, and invites them to find their “everything” in Him alone.
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Episode Transcript
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Dave (00:00):
My name is Dave, one of the pastors here.
If you have a copy of God'sinspired, infallible, inerrant
word with you, would you takethat out and open it up to the
book of Isaiah?
We're going to be in chapter 41today, and I'd love for you to
follow along.
And as you're making your waythere, allow me to ask you this
rather incisive question tostart our time.
Who or what is your everything?
(00:23):
Who or what is your everything?
And to get to the answer tothat question, allow me to read
you some familiar lyrics fromMichael Boublet.
The song's called Everything.
You're a falling star.
You're the getaway car.
You're the line in the sandwhen I go too far.
(00:44):
You're the swimming pool on anAugust day, and you're the
perfect thing to say.
And you play it coy, but it'skind of cute.
And when you smile at me, youknow exactly what to do.
Baby, don't pretend that youdon't know it's true, because
you can see it when I look atyou.
And in this crazy life andthrough these crazy times, it's
(01:05):
you, it's you.
You make me sing.
You're every line, your everyword, your everything.
So who or what is youreverything?
What consumes you?
Now, for most of us, asillustrated in that song, when
we're young and in love, it isour beloved.
(01:27):
She means everything to me.
He means everything to me.
Later you marry and you havechildren, and the kids often
become your everything.
The kids are everything to me.
The family is everything to me.
Your consuming focus and loveand devotion for those kids is
so strong, sometimes evenstronger than your spouse.
(01:47):
And then next, maybe it becomesyour work or your career that
becomes your highest priority.
Or for some people, it's someother hobby or some other sport
that they play, or it's theirphysical appearance, or it's
their athletic ability, or it'sthe thing that consumes them
every weekend, or it's theirgrandkids.
(02:09):
It's a question that goes onand on and on.
It's a moving target throughoutour lives.
Who or what is your everythingtoday?
As we look at this text thismorning, I want to evaluate what
is most important to us.
And I know you're ready to say,Pastor Dave, Jesus is my
(02:30):
everything.
And you're right, and that'sexactly where we're headed.
But would you just set asidethat Sunday school platitude,
superficial answer for a fewminutes and be brave enough,
myself included, would we bebrave enough to consider
honestly whether or not that'strue today?
(02:52):
Is Jesus really everything toyou?
To me?
I'll be honest, years ago whenI was first candidating for a
position to serve as one of thepastors here, I remember lying
awake the night before thinking,what if they don't vote me in?
(03:14):
And I told myself, hey, that'sjust the normal nerves.
But if I'm honest, it was morethan that.
I wasn't just hoping for God'swill.
I wasn't just hoping you wouldlike me.
I was clinging to an outcome.
My sense of security, my senseof confidence, even my sense of
(03:36):
joy started to hang on to thisrole instead of the God who
called me to the role.
So, how about you?
Is there anything like thatthat competes for your heart's
desire?
That's what the prophet Isaiahis talking about here, and he
calls it idolatry.
(03:57):
Not bowing down to a statue,but fastening our hearts to
something we can't live without.
We're looking this morning at asection of the Bible that's
famously called the Trial of theFalse Gods.
Isaiah 41 to 46.
In this section, God himself isgoing to put those false gods
on trial.
And he's going to ask aquestion that we all need to
(04:19):
answer.
Who really carries whom here?
Do your idols carry you, or doyou end up carrying them?
Isaiah 41 sets the scene whereGod says this, set forth your
case, says the Lord.
Bring your proofs, says theking of Jacob.
And later in chapter 45,similarly, God says, declare and
present your case.
(04:40):
Let them take counsel together.
You see the imagery here today?
It's a courtroom.
Yahweh Himself is putting thegods of the nations on trial.
Yahweh is putting the gods tothe test.
So the judge pounds his gavel.
And then God makes this openingstatement, chapter 43, verse
(05:03):
10.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord, and besidesme there is no Savior.
What you'll see throughoutthese five chapters is there's
this repetition that the Lord isthe one true God.
He's unique and he's unmatched,he's without rival, he's
(05:25):
unequaled compared to all of theother gods, small g, and you'll
also see repeated the refrainthat all these other gods are
fabrications, all these othergods are imitations, all these
other gods are deceptions.
And so this six this section ofscripture is what you might
consider to be a masterclass indivine majesty.
(05:45):
What we have here is Godmeasuring the oceans in his
hands, weighing the mountainslike they're dust.
What we have here is not a Godwho's intimidated by the tasks
that are set before him.
Rather, we have this God that'somniscient and omnipotent and
uncreated.
James White writes about thistext: there's nothing in the
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created order analogous to God.
Every example breaks down.
That's why comparison itselfborders on idolatry.
Only the God of the Bible isthe true God, and he's
exclusive, and he's distinct,and he's without equal in the
whole world, in the wholeuniverse.
Now, the reason God is sayingthis through the prophet Isaiah
is because the Jewish people inthese days had replaced the
(06:32):
worship of the one true God forthe worship of idols that were
made of wood and of stubble andof metal.
And so what Isaiah the prophetis saying is you're out here,
you're worshiping all theseother gods, but these gods can't
help you.
And so Yahweh, the one trueGod, keeps saying, I'm the only
(06:53):
one.
And stop following thesesenseless gods.
They can't help you, they can'trescue you, they can't save
you.
And in this whole section, Godkeeps reminding them of his
reality and their unreality.
And so I think you'll find thispassage to be God dismantling
all of their thinking relativeto idols.
(07:14):
And it'll be enlightening, notonly to see what it was like for
the people back then, but Ithink also if you look
carefully, if you're willing toconsider, the passage will also
be enlightening as we considerwhat gods we're drawn to in our
own hearts today.
And so this morning we'll lookat three different movements in
the sermon.
First, we'll see the caseagainst the false gods, and then
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we'll see the case for the onetrue God, and then we'll see the
application for us today.
First, you'll see all thenations will listen as God makes
his case, and as they listen,they will strengthen themselves
to respond, and then they willbe called to speak.
And then with all of the factson the table and all of the case
laid out, a verdict, a finaljudgment will be made.
(08:01):
And as that final judgment isrendered, we will find out who
is the one true God.
Isaiah 41 to 46 is a ratherlengthy section of scripture.
So, as such, I'm not going tobe reading every verse for you
today.
I'll be skipping around quite abit.
If you have a Bible, you'll beflopping it around in these
chapters.
I'll also have the verses onthe screen for you.
But though I'll be jumpingaround quite a bit, I think by
(08:24):
the end of the message today,you'll have the gist of what's
going on in Isaiah 41 to 46.
So that's our plan.
And without the Holy Spirit'shelp, we cannot make this
happen.
So let's pray and ask for that.
Our Father and our God inheaven, you alone are God.
(08:44):
You stretched out the heavensby your own hand.
There is no other rock besidesyou.
And as we open your eternalword today, would you now
silence the noise of our hearts?
Silence the fears we brought inhere, the ambitions, the false
securities that always competefor our trust.
And would you, dare we ask,would you expose whatever idols
(09:09):
I have built?
We have built, not to shame us,to free us.
Show us again.
You alone can bear the weightof that kind of hope.
And so send your spirit now toopen the eyes of your people, to
your word, but also to yourgreatness, and open our ears to
your truth and our hearts to thegrace we find in your Son, the
(09:32):
Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,the one who carries us.
It's in his strong name wepray.
And all God's people said Amen.
Movement one, the case againstthe false gods.
Isaiah 41, verse 1 has thesetting for our passage.
Imagine, if you will, GodHimself summoning the nations
and their gods before Him toprove, if they can, that they
(09:56):
are the ones who shape history.
Isaiah 41, verse 1 starts likethis.
Listen to me in silence, Ocoastlands.
Let the peoples renew theirstrength, let them approach,
then let them speak.
Let us together draw near forjudgment.
Pause.
The setting here is a heavenlycourtroom.
On the one side of thecourtroom we have God.
(10:18):
On the other side of thecourtroom, we have the
coastlands.
Or better translation, youcould say in Hebrew the word is
translated also elsewhere, theislands.
It's one of Isaiah's favoriteterms.
He uses it 13 times.
It deserves a littleexplanation.
For many people in the ancientworld, the sea or the ocean was
(10:38):
the end of what they knew.
And they peered out into thewater, and those coastlands,
those little islands, were thefarthest places that they could
possibly ever imagine.
And so for them, this is likeFiji or somewhere way out there.
And the point here is that thecoastlands or the islands are a
figure of speech for the ends ofthe earth.
(11:00):
In other words, the whole worldis on trial here.
All of the earth, including allof the coastlands.
Everyone's coming to court.
And next, God gives evidence,verses two to four.
God, the prosecuting attorney,presents Exhibit A with a
question.
Who stirred up one from theeast, whom victory meets at
(11:24):
every step?
He gives up nations before himso that he tramples kings
underfoot, dropped down to four.
Who has performed and donethis, calling the generations
from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first, andwith the last, I am he.
Now the one from the east inverse 2 is the first of many
references to Cyrus, the king ofPersia, who God will raise up
(11:48):
in a few years to destroyBabylon, the country who would
take Judah into captivity.
So just to get your timelinestraight, Isaiah is prophesying
that the South will be takeninto captive into Babylon.
And then Isaiah is alsoprophesying that the nation of
Babylon, the Empire of Babylon,will also be defeated.
And then after that, he's alsoprophesying that they'll be
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defeated by the Persian Empire,who will be ruled by a certain
individual whose name is Cyrus.
Cyrus will then allow theJewish people to go back to
their land.
Now, as a matter of historicalbackground, the rise of Cyrus,
the king of Anshan, a city inPersia, was quite swift and
impressive.
Here, God is revealing toeveryone who's listening that he
(12:32):
can take care of those whotrust in him because he's
totally sovereign over all worldpolitics, and therefore,
because of that, he can save hispeople.
So the question is, is it Cyruswho is the master of this
world?
And the answer in this sectionis no.
The Lord says, no, he is merelymy instrument that I have
(12:52):
stirred up in verse 2 by myword, which you'll recall from
chapter 40, stands forever.
What is important here, what Iwant you to notice on the
screen, ladies and gentlemen, isthe nature of God's argument
that he is making.
As the goal here is to engenderyour trust.
Notice, therefore, it is not anargument from creation.
(13:13):
I want you to trust me becauseI created the world.
That's not what he's saying.
Nor is this an argument fromGod's character.
I want you to trust me becauseI'm holy.
No.
Rather, what's happening hereis he's giving an argument from
God's involvement.
I want you to trust me becauseI'm intimately involved in all
of the affairs of this world.
(13:34):
The Lord is the one who makesplans and accomplishes those
plans on this earth.
This is a God whose handcreates and controls and even
calls world leaders intoexistence.
And so, friends, let me justdrop anchor here and just say
for a moment (13:49):
if you are anxious and afraid, if there were some
elections this past week thatcaused some stir of anxiety
inside of you, this is the kindof argument that should matter
to you.
In that moment of fear andanxiety, brothers and sisters,
you don't really care that Godcreated the stars.
In that moment of anxiety, youdon't really care that God is
(14:10):
long suffering.
No, in that moment, all youwant to know is whether or not
your God is the kind of God whocan be in charge of even the
politicians.
And here we learn He is.
This is the God of Israel.
Compare that to all of theother nations who turn to
another source for advice andfor help.
(14:31):
Drop down to verse 7.
The craftsman strengthens thegoldsmith, and he who smooths
with the hammer, him who strikesthe anvil, saying of the
soldering, it is good, and theystrengthen it with nails so that
it cannot be moved.
Now, what this is referring tois idolatry.
Anytime in this particularsection of scripture that you
(14:52):
read about gold or metal or woodor craftsmanship, that is
referring to idolatry.
See, as you face the threats inlife as they face the threats
in their lives, if they wantedsupernatural help, the God of
the Bible is not the only optionin town.
You can go to a psychic, youcan go to over to the Mormon
(15:13):
temple, you can go to theChristian science reading room,
you can hang crystals from yourrearview mirror, you can buy a
Hindu god and place it in yourkitchen.
Or like the ancients in ourtext, if you're not happy with
the current options of religionsand gods out there, you could
just make up your own religion.
There are lots of spiritualoptions out there for you to
(15:35):
consider.
So instead of trusting God,what the nations do is they opt
for other gods to help them.
So here in this section, whatwe're finding is that idolatry
is something that is actuallyvery offensive to God.
But it's not only offensive toGod, what Isaiah is going to
tell us is that it's alsofundamentally absurd.
(15:57):
Flip over with me to chapter44.
Verse 12 has this.
He fashions it with hammers andworks it with his strong arm.
He becomes hungry and hisstrength fails.
He drinks no water and isfaint.
(16:18):
Here in this particular sectionof scripture, what we have here
is biting sarcasm.
This is actually kind ofhumorous if you think about it.
There's so much sarcasm goingon in these passages, it feels
like we're reading the Babylonbee or the onion or something
like that.
It's like God Himself is comingto us as people and saying, Are
(16:41):
you kidding me?
Do you really think these godscan help you?
Isaiah's pen drips with sarcasmas Yahweh pleads to these
idols, why don't you go and dosomething?
Anything, good or bad.
Do you really want a God thatyou can shape with a hammer?
Is this the kind of God that'sgonna show up in your time of
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need?
In verse 12, he says, I hopeyour ironsmith or your
blacksmith gets enough to eatbecause it sure would be a shame
if while he was fashioning theidol he couldn't finish it
because he didn't have theenergy to do so.
Now, let me just ask for alittle audience group
participation for this part ofthe sermon, if you will.
I'm gonna pose to you aridiculous question, and I want
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to ask you about the foolishnessof this idol, and then I'm
gonna point to you the audience,and I want you to say something
back to me.
I want you to ask a questionback to me, and the question is
this what kind of God is that?
So work with me, let's try thistogether, okay?
Ready?
Let's say it together.
Ready?
What kind of good, you're doinggood, okay.
So let's try the first questionlike this.
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Do you really want a God thatyou can shape with a hammer?
Exactly, exactly.
You're getting the idea.
Drop down to verse 13.
The carpenter stretches a line,he marks it out with a pencil,
he shapes it with planes andmarks it with a compass.
He shapes it into the figure ofa man with the beauty of a man
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to dwell in a house.
He cuts down cedars or hechooses a cypress tree or an oak
and lets it grow strong amongthe trees of the forest.
He plants a cedar and the rainnourishes it.
So here's the question (18:21):
Do you really want a God that a
carpenter can shape with achisel?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Drop down to verse 15.
Then it becomes fuel for a man.
He takes a part of it and warmshimself.
He kindles a fire and bakesbread, and he he makes a God and
worships it.
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He makes it an idol and fallsdown before it.
Do you really want a God that'smade from a tree?
You take some firewood and youmake a fire with half of the
wood, and then you take theother half of the wood and you
make an idol out of it.
What do you really want a Godthat's made from a tree?
Exactly.
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This is ridiculous, isn't it?
These idols, how can theypossibly help you?
Drop down with me to verse 19.
No one considers, nor is thereknowledge or discernment to say,
half of it I burned in thefire, I also baked bread on its
coals, I roasted meat and haveeaten, and shall I make the rest
(19:24):
of it into an abomination?
Shall I fall down before ablock of wood?
Notice that phrase at thebeginning, no one considers.
Some translations say, no onestops to think.
And this, Christian, is ourtask as we look out to the world
around us and we see thembowing down to the idols of our
(19:48):
age.
Our job is to help them toconsider, to help them to stop
and to think about the folly ofthis idolatry.
This is the problem.
No one thinks about it.
Idolatry is not rational.
It wasn't rational back then,and it's not rational today.
Flip over to chapter 46 as Godsays this in verse 5.
(20:10):
To whom will you liken me andmake me equal?
And compare me that we may bealike.
Those who lavish gold from thepurse and weigh out silver in
the scales hire a goldsmith, andhe makes it into a God.
Then they fall down andworship.
They lift it to theirshoulders, they carry it, they
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set it in its place and itstands there.
It cannot move from its place.
Of course it can't move.
It's not real.
If one cries to it, it does notanswer.
Of course it doesn't answer.
It's not real.
Or save him from his trouble.
Here's the question (20:45):
Do you really want a God that you have
to melt to make?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Of course you don't.
Because that wouldn't be real.
I want you to notice on thescreen and in your Bibles that
that word in verse 7, the wordcarry.
That's a very important wordbecause what they would do is
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they would carry these idols.
And they would carry them, andsometimes in procession, there
would be a parade where theidols were carried along on an
animal or on a cart or on adonkey.
And these idols were carried inand paraded through the town.
And God is looking down, going,You have a God that you have to
carry.
And let me tell you what'sgoing to happen.
(21:26):
Those gods are going to becarried off into exile.
That's what's going to happento those gods that you're
carrying.
And God, in response to hispeople, is saying, You don't
need a God that you can carry.
I'm the God that carries you.
I've been carrying you sincethe beginning, and I will
continue to carry you until theday that you come and meet me.
This is the kind of God wehave, not the kind of God you
(21:48):
carry.
I want to carry you, God says.
Now, this is so foreign to ourthinking.
But back then, this is whatthey did.
They would fashion idols out ofcreated things, then they would
bow down and worship.
Isaiah here doesn't just mockidols, he exposes something
deeper.
The human heart is exposed.
(22:08):
The heart that makes them isbeing exposed.
I was greatly helped here byauthor Curtis Chan, who points
out that idol construction is akind of identity construction.
See, when we feel threatened,we look for stability.
And so we make something thatlooks solid, something we can
see, something we can control.
(22:30):
But Isaiah shows us theseidols, they don't just fail us,
they expose that the Maker is asshaky as the thing that has
been made.
Author Daniel Strange says itthis way: quote, idolatry and
autonomy go together.
Idols are shaky because theyare created by shaky selves.
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In other words, our idols arelike mirrors.
They reflect back to us our owninsecurities.
They are self-made gods builtby self-made people trying to
make themselves whole.
So to illustrate this, let mejust share this particular item
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I have hidden right here.
I have a weakness, and thisright here is my weakness.
It is.
Smooth chocolate, creamy peanutbutter, wrapped in gold, like
the crown jewel of the candyaisle that it is.
Now, imagine, just for the sakeof argument, imagine I take
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this this candy and I make analtar out of it.
And I and I turn this candyinto a shrine, a god that I that
I worship.
And I and I I get a mug to gowith my candy, and I and I have
this scarf for when it getscold.
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I have this candy.
And then when I go to bed atnight, I put on my night shirt
for the candy.
And then some Sundays I I putmy Reese's socks on.
You don't know this, but I wearmy Reese's socks when I go to
preach a sermon, and I have mylittle Reese's mug here, and I
have my Reese's reindeer guy.
And let's say if I take thiscandy and I make a shrine out of
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it, and I go, mmm, look atthis.
God made chocolate, God madecocoa, God made sugar.
All good things.
But when I start doing this andI start craving this more than
I crave my time with God, now Ihave a theological problem.
Now imagine for a second that Ijust start thinking about this.
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I just start obsessing aboutthis.
And so I'm thinking aboutReese's during the staff meeting
tomorrow.
And then I'm thinking aboutReese's as I'm preparing my
sermon for next time.
And then I'm thinking aboutReese's even while I'm
delivering my sermon all thetime.
I'm thinking about Reese's, Ican't stop thinking about
Reese's.
I'm always thinking, how can Iget another Reese's?
At that point, this silly pieceof candy has become an idol.
(25:13):
You say, come on, Dave, this isjust chocolate.
Exactly.
And that's what makes idols sosneaky.
Now, most idols aren't badthings.
Most idols are good things thatwe've turned into ultimate
things.
Chocolate's good.
And success is good.
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And you working hard at yourjob and getting rewarded is
good.
And you getting teacher of theyear is good.
And you getting able to retireis good.
And you being really athleticcan be good.
But when I start saying I can'tbe okay without that, life
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won't be sweet without that.
Now I've replaced the giverwith the gift.
And that's the heart ofidolatry.
This is so silly, isn't it?
I feel silly just illustratingthis.
We laugh at this, but the truthis most idols don't look this
silly at all.
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They look more respectable.
They look like success.
They look like a comfort.
They look like the perfectimage of a family.
They look like my career hasfinally made it.
John Calvin said it this way: the human heart is a factory of (26:36):
undefined
idols.
It's when something small andsweet ends up sitting on the
throne that only God deserves tosit on, Isaiah chapter 6.
So can I ask you, what is thatfor you right now?
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Now why do we do this?
What this tells us is thathumankind is designed to worship
something.
If you're not worshiping theone true God, you will worship
something.
Everybody worships.
The question is not, do youworship?
The question is who or what doyou worship?
That's why idolatry isn'talways about worshiping bad
(27:21):
things, it's about trying tocreate a self without God.
Commentator John Oswalt remindsus that these gods are merely
reflections of humanity.
They can't explain the past orshape the future because they're
trapped in the same system thatyou and I are trapped in.
But the Lord is outside thesystem.
(27:44):
He made the system, he sustainsthe system, he directs the
system, he created the wholesystem, he's the only one worthy
of worship.
And so that's the case againstthe false gods.
Now we see the case for the onetrue God.
There are two key areas ofevidence that are brought
(28:05):
forward here by Isaiah, theattorney, that he uses to prove
to us that only the God of theBible is the one true God.
Exhibit A is that God is goingto be the one who has the
ability to create.
And exhibit B is that God orYahweh also has the ability to
predict the future.
And so we'll look at those onein each turn.
(28:26):
First, God's ability to create.
Now, when Yahweh says, I am thefirst and I am the last, God
(29:28):
isn't saying that he was firstor that he will be last, but
both are eternally present tohim.
This is Isaiah's way ofexpressing the absoluteness of
God's being.
Chapter 44, verse 24 continuesthis theme by saying, Thus says
the Lord, your Redeemer, whoformed you from the womb.
(29:48):
I am the Lord who made what?
All things, who alone stretchout the heavens, who spread out
the earth, by who?
By myself.
Chapter forty five.
Verse 18.
For thus says the Lord whocreated the heavens.
He is God, who formed the earthand made it.
He established it.
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He did not create it empty, heformed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord, and there is noother.
So here we see the case isbeing brought forth for the one
true God, and the case is allabout the fact that God is the
creator.
Isaac Newton, the physicist andmathematician and astronomer,
once said this (30:29):
quote, the most beautiful system of the sun,
planets, and comets could onlyproceed from the counsel and
dominion of an intelligent andpowerful being, unquote.
God as the creator is standingin contrast to all of these
idols who are created.
They are created by human handsas opposed to God, who is the
(30:50):
creator.
So this is God's ability tocreate for exhibit A.
Exhibit B, we will see Yahweh'sability to predict the future.
Chapter 41, verse 21, saysthis: set forth your case, says
the Lord.
Bring your proofs, says theking of Jacob.
Let them bring them and tell uswhat is to happen.
Tell us the former things whatthey are, that we may consider
(31:14):
them, that we may know theiroutcome, or declare to us the
things to come.
The things to come in thefuture.
And so one of the major prooftests for supernatural power has
and always will be the abilityto accurately predict the
future.
Not in generalities shrouded indouble meaning, but real
(31:36):
specific predictions of thefuture.
Here, Yahweh, God, says, Canthe false gods do any of that?
You're entrusting your wholefuture to their hands.
Do they know the future?
One commentator puts it thisway: These verses dramatize the
utter impotence of our self-madegods.
(31:56):
They can't even speak, muchless predict the future.
Chapter 43, verse 8.
Yahweh himself at this pointcalls a witness up to the stand.
And the witness we see here inverse 8, God says, Bring out the
people who are blind, yet haveeyes, who are deaf, yet have
(32:19):
ears.
So picture the scene here.
Here we are in the courtroom.
There's this trial.
The Lord has made a great claimthat He is the only one true
God.
This is the case.
And his rivals, all those pagangods, he's being accused here
by all those pagan gods oflying.
All of those pagan gods have astheir witnesses all the many
(32:41):
peoples who worship them.
And the Lord then turns andbrings forth his witness.
And the witness that the Lordbrings forth is someone who's
blind and someone who is deaf.
And the people that are he isbringing forth here that are
blind and deaf are his ownpeople.
He's bringing forth the peopleof Israel who are deaf and who
are blind, and then they takethe witness stand.
And we see that in the court oflaw, and we're sitting there
(33:03):
watching the court case, going,Well, the case is about to be
over here.
I mean, how in the world is awitness who's blind and deaf
going to help this God's case?
Surely the case is lost.
But yet, these witnessesactually come forward, take the
stand, take the oath, and theyproduce incontrovertible
evidence of the truth of God'sclaim.
(33:25):
And the evidence that they'reabout to put forward is that God
alone foretold the things thatare now taking place.
Verse 9.
All the nations gathertogether, and the peoples
assemble.
Who among them can declare thisand show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnessesto prove them right, and let
(33:45):
them hear and say it is true.
Verse 10 You are my witnesses,declares the Lord, and my
servant, whom I have chosen,that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
So he starts his questioning ofthe witness in this way.
And he wants to tell them thatthey're gonna bring forward one
(34:06):
of the most impressive thingsthat he has ever predicted in
his word.
And what he's about to tellthem is to tell the courtroom
what he predicted about the nextworld ruler.
Namely, that he predicted therise of Cyrus the Great.
And so in this chapter, whathe's gonna say is he's gonna
name Cyrus his shepherd, andhe's gonna call him his Messiah,
(34:29):
the one who'll be used as God'sanointed one to send his people
back.
45 verse 1 makes this clear.
Thus says the Lord to hisanointed, to Cyrus, whose right
hand I have grasped to subduenations before him and to loose
the belts of kings, to opendoors before him, that gates may
not be closed.
Now think about this for asecond.
Just look at the screen.
When Isaiah wrote these words,King Cyrus had not been born
(34:54):
yet.
He would not appear on thehuman scene until 150 years
after this text was written.
And Isaiah the prophet callshim by name.
Not once, but three times.
God is saying, I already knowthe next king of the next world
(35:17):
empire.
Now that's so astonishing thatwhen liberal scholars approach
the book of Isaiah, they cannotaccept this as being true.
They've got to come up withsome excuse to say there's no
way the prophet Isaiah wrotethat.
You see, here's here's here'sactually what's happening.
The tone of Isaiah 1 through 39is actually a much different
(35:38):
tone, and Isaiah takes on adifferent theme in the first
half of Isaiah, and then thesecond half of Isaiah, chapters
40 to 66, afterward, uh, someoneelse wrote that down afterward,
after Cyrus already came topower, but he wrote it down more
as history rather thanprophecy.
But the evidence for this beingwritten by Isaiah is so strong
(36:00):
that that case won't hold.
Number one, the Lord JesusChrist, the Lord of glory, when
he came to this earth, quotedfrom both halves of this book,
and both halves he attributed tothe prophet Isaiah.
Number two, we have foundmanuscript evidence, including
the great Isaiah scroll in theDead Sea scrolls, and there's
not two copies, it's one longcopy, all one piece, one to 66.
(36:26):
There's no break in the middle.
Number three, you see fromstudying this book, and we've
been studying it for a couple ofmonths, that the themes and the
vocabulary all weave togetherin both halves of the book with
a certain seamlessness and acertain tapestry that fits very
well.
And fourthly, and mostimportantly, brothers and
sisters, there are parts ofIsaiah that are fulfilled way
(36:48):
later, even in the life ofChrist, like Isaiah 53.
When we get there in a fewweeks, you're going to read that
and go, how could he have knownabout the suffering of the
Savior in this very specificway?
There's no way to say thatIsaiah couldn't predict the
future.
We believe in a God who canspeak the future before the
future happens.
(37:08):
If we deny that, we have lostmore than Isaiah.
We've lost the living God whoreveals himself in history.
And here's what's remarkable.
If you read the Jewishhistorian Josephus, Josephus
records that when Cyrus came topower, one of the prophets,
people speculate, perhaps Danielthe prophet, went to Cyrus the
(37:31):
Great and brought to Cyrus theGreat the great Isaiah scroll.
And one of the Hebrew prophetspointed this out to Cyrus the
Great, saying, Hey Cyrus, didyou know that your name is in
here and that it was written 150years ago?
Did you know that your name isin our prophetic scrolls?
(37:52):
Can you imagine?
This is what our God can do.
In contrast, Isaiah says theBabylonian gods, the
astrologers, chapter 47, theycan't predict anything.
What kind of a God is that?
Our God knows the futurebecause he rules the future.
Our God knows the futurebecause he's in church.
(38:13):
If this were just a human book,it couldn't possibly contain so
many fulfilled prophecies.
If this was just a book writtenby men, it would not contain
this kind of material.
But yet on many occasions, notjust here, on many occasions,
the Bible predicts the futureyears, decades, sometimes
hundreds of years in advancebefore these things took place.
This isn't just a human book.
(38:34):
It's the voice of the eternalGod who declares, I am God, and
there is none like me, declaringthe end from the beginning.
Look down in verse 9.
This is exactly what he saysnext.
Remember the former things ofold, for I am God and there is
no other.
I am God and there is none likeme, declaring the end from the
(38:56):
beginning, and from ancienttimes things not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand,and I will accomplish my
purpose.
So God's claim here is that allof the other gods are
imposters, and he alone is theone true God.
He is God, and that is provenby the fact that he not only
(39:19):
created everything, but thatalso he can predict the future.
So the God of the Biblecreates, and the God of the
Bible predicts, and the uselessidols of the nations can do no
such thing, because they arenothing.
4124 says it this way (39:32):
Behold, you are nothing, and your work
is less than nothing.
An abomination is he whochooses you.
You are a Reese's peanut buttercup.
Behold, they are all delusion,their works are nothing, their
metal images are empty wind, orempty calories.
(39:54):
So in the courtroom of Isaiah,God, the prosecutor, presents
his evidence and he presentsexhibit A, and then he presents
exhibit B, and then the verdictis in.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
I am the Lord.
(40:14):
And besides me, there is noSavior.
Dr.
James White calls this thestrongest statement of
monotheism in the whole Bible.
And with that, the prosecutionrests his case.
Movement three.
We've seen the case against thefalse gods.
We've seen the case for the onetrue God.
(40:36):
And now we'll see how thisapplies to us in this room.
Because we've been talking hereabout this trial, this
courtroom scene about whether ornot the false gods are real and
whether Yahweh God is the onetrue God.
And it's an interesting trialto sit there in the audience and
watch.
But actually, friends, ifyou're honest with yourself, if
(40:57):
you know the story of the Bible,then you know that the story of
the Bible is not a story aboutGod who is on trial.
The story of the Bible is thatwe are the ones who are on
trial.
It is humanity that has tostand in the dock and defend
himself.
God has already proven himselfto his people again and again
(41:20):
and again as the one true God.
And yet, despite all of theproof that he has given, this is
the response of his people.
Verse 22 of chapter 43, Godsays, I've proven myself, yet
you did not call upon me, OJacob.
But you have been weary of me,O Israel.
(41:41):
You have not brought me yoursheep for burnt offerings, or
honored me with your sacrifices.
You have not bought me sweetcane with money, or satisfied me
with the fat of yoursacrifices.
But you have burnt burdened mewith your sins.
You have wearied me with youriniquities.
(42:01):
Drop down to verse 26.
He continues, so put me inremembrance.
Let us argue together.
Set forth your case, humanbeing, that you may be proved
right.
Your first father sinned, andyour mediators transgressed
against me.
Your first father, Adam,rebelled from the get-go, and
(42:23):
everything unraveled since then.
Not even your mediators, yourpriests acted perfectly.
So as humanity stands trial,once again the verdict comes
back, and this time the verdictis guilty.
And this is why Isaiah theprophet says we have a need.
(42:43):
And the need is we need to besaved from the penalty of our
sin.
We all need to be rescued.
You may not think that, you maynot know that right now, but
one day, my friend, you willknow that because we all have a
terminal disease, and it is thedisease of sin.
And so, in the midst of thisverdict, in the midst of this
(43:07):
second courtroom scene, in themidst of this place where we as
humanity all stand condemnedbefore a holy God, this Yahweh,
God of the universe, actuallystands up and does the
unthinkable.
The God of Isaiah steps downfrom the judge's bench and
decides he's gonna take thesentence upon himself.
(43:28):
In this plot twist, God isgonna decide to blot out their
transgressions and offer hispeople their salvation.
Look at verse 25.
God says, I am he who blots outyour transgressions for my own
sake, and I will not rememberyour sins.
(43:50):
That is good news.
This is the news of salvationthat Yahweh, yes, is the one
true God who creates, and he'sthe one true God who predicts
the future, but he is also theone true God who can save.
He alone can save, he alone canredeem us.
I, I am he who blots out yourtransgressions, God says.
(44:12):
Isaiah 43 is one of the mostbeautiful texts in this whole
section.
God says, But now thus says theLord, He who created you, O
Jacob, listen, he who formedyou, O Israel, fear not, for I
have redeemed you.
I have called you by name.
(44:32):
You are mine.
When you pass through thewaters, I'll be with you, and
through the rivers, they willnot overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire, youshall not be burned, and the
flame shall not consume you, forI am the Lord, your God, the
Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
(44:53):
In this beautiful text, what welearn here is that same
majestic God who existed beforecreation, who stretched out the
heavens, is the same God whocomes down and says, Now I'm
gonna take hold of your hand andI'm gonna walk with you in your
life.
In this breathtaking balance,we have transcendence that is
(45:14):
coupled together with covenanttenderness and mercy and grace
of this God.
This section on the screen isso powerful.
I want you to look at what Godis saying to his people right
here because he's also sayingthe same thing to you.
Friends, the words on thescreen are the reason why we do
not need idols.
(45:35):
The reason why we don't needidols is because we can have a
solid identity that we don'tbuild for ourselves by what we
do.
Rather, we can embrace theidentity that is given to us by
the God of Scripture who says,You are mine, I'm the one who
calls you what you are.
You are beloved of me, and I amyour savior.
(45:55):
That's who you are.
You don't need to worship someother God and try to craft some
identity of yourself in someother place.
You get your identity bestowedupon you by me, your creator.
Every idol tells a story.
Every script is a script welive by.
What is the script you live by?
If I don't get good grades,then I'm not a successful
(46:19):
student.
If I can't run the race in thistime, then I'm not a good
athlete.
If I don't maintain my beauty,then I'm not worth anything.
If I'll just succeed, then I'llmatter.
If I could just stay safe, thenI'll be okay.
Those are all scripts, thoseare all lies.
And the reason they're lies isbecause they're built by shaky
(46:42):
selves trying to secure theirown identity.
And all of those idols alwayscollapse at one point or
another.
Only God can give you a stableidentity, only the gospel can
give you a stable identity.
One that comes from outside ofyourself, Jacob, whom I have
loved.
God says, I'm up here.
(47:03):
You are the one I love, I havechosen you, I have named you, I
have redeemed you, and that isthe foundation upon which you
can build your whole life.
In one final plea, Isaiah turnsto his people and just simply
says, So turn to me and besaved.
All the ends of the earth, thecoastlands, the islands, for I
(47:26):
am God, and there is no other bymyself I have sworn, from my
mouth has gone out inrighteousness a word that shall
not return.
To me every knee shall bow, andevery tongue shall swear
allegiance.
This majestic God here doesn'tjust win the trial.
(47:46):
Instead, he opens his arms andsays to his people, Turn to me
and be saved, all the ends ofthe earth.
Dr.
James White says, and in themiracle of all miracles, the
omniscient and eternal creatorproclaims himself to be not only
the righteous God, but also theSavior.
(48:06):
So our passage here is tellingus that this God who created
everything and who predicts thefuture wants to take care of
everything in your life too.
All of our fear, all of oursin, all of our blindness, all
of the chaos, and all of therebellion of this world, all of
(48:29):
it can be taken care of by God.
All the focus here in this textends on Yahweh God.
He's the one who saves, he'sthe one who restores, he's the
one who frees, he's the one whoheals, he's the one who gives us
his covenant, and he is ouronly hope.
Isaiah's point this morning,ladies and gentlemen, is simply
this (48:50):
there is only one true God.
And the one true God is theanswer to the question and the
solution to the problem.
He is the destination of yourjourney, and he's the
explanation of this wholeuniverse.
He is the key to that lock thatyou cannot open, and he's the
way out of the mess you'recurrently in.
(49:11):
My friend, there is no oneelse.
There is no other way.
No other God can save you.
Metal God can't save you.
Bronze God can't save you.
Buddhist God can't save you.
Muhammad's God can't save you.
(49:32):
The High Faith God can't saveyou either.
The Mormon God can't save you.
Jehovah's Witness God can'tsave you.
The God of secular humanism outthere cannot save you.
Elon Musk can't save you.
Bill Gates can't save you.
Zoram Mamdani can't save you.
(49:54):
Donald Trump can't save you.
There is only one God.
Now, if you look at the screenand you know your Bible, then
you know that 700 years later,the Apostle Paul picked up his
pen and wrote a letter to thechurch at Philippi.
(50:16):
And in that letter, in chapter2, he quotes a certain portion
of Isaiah on purpose.
And what Paul is saying, if youput those two together, is
something absolutelybreathtaking.
Here's this passage in Isaiahabout the transcendent,
omniscient, omnipotent God ofthe universe, Yahweh, the great
(50:38):
I am, the one true God.
The apostle Paul sits down withhis pen and says, that Yahweh,
God of Isaiah, is Jesus of thecross.
And it's before Jesus thatevery knee will bow.
And it's before Jesus thatevery tongue will confess that
he is Lord.
And there is no other name bywhich we can be saved.
(51:01):
And his name is Jesus.
And so the question I wouldleave you with this morning,
brothers and sisters, is thatsame question that I started
with.
Is Jesus really everything toyou?
Or is he just one out of tenthings competing for your
affection today?
Former U.S.
(51:23):
Senate chaplain RichardHalverson once said, quote,
Jesus Christ is God's everythingfor man's total need, unquote.
Someone wrote to Emily Post,the great etiquette guru, and
asked, What is the correctprocedure when one is invited to
the White House but has aprevious engagement?
Her reply was, an invitation todine at the White House is a
(51:49):
command, and it automaticallycancels any other engagement.
Friends, what we have here inthis text of Isaiah is Yahweh,
the God of the universe, givingan invitation to you.
And when this God calls, whenthis God asks for a relationship
with you, when this God asksyou and invites you to come and
(52:12):
dine with him at his table,there is no higher priority.
So let me ask you that questionagain.
Who or what is your everything?
Husbands?
Let me affirm to you that yourwife is something, and she is
(52:33):
something wonderful, and someonevery special.
But she is not your everything.
Wives, let me remind you thatyour husbands are something, a
leader and one worthy of yourrespect, but he is not your
falling star, and he is not yourgetaway car.
He is something, but he is notyour everything.
(52:56):
Parents, let me remind you thatyour children are tremendous
blessings from God Himself.
And they are something, butthey are not your everything.
Grandparents, those grandkidsare the apple of your eye, they
hung the moon.
(53:17):
They are something.
They are not your everything.
Your bank account and yourmoney in it is something, but it
is not your everything.
Your finances are a blessingand provision from God, but it
is not your everything.
Your occupation, yourambitions, your dreams, your
(53:38):
vacations, your scrapbooking,your tools in your shed, your
riding lawn mower, your signedautograph giants football
jersey, your Beatles Whitealbum, they are all something,
but they are not everything.
Jesus said, I am the way and Iam the truth and I am the life.
(54:00):
No one comes to the Fatherexcept by me.
Everything else in this worldis less than that.
Everything else falls short offulfilling the deepest desire of
your heart.
And because Jesus Christ is theone before every knee will bow,
and the one to whom everytongue will confess one day that
(54:24):
he is Lord, may He beeverything to you.
Let's pray together as theworship team comes.
Our Father and our God.
If we're honest, we confess.
How easily we trade the gloryof the Creator for the created
(54:45):
things.
How easy it is to make oureverything our own success or
our own comfort or the approvalof others or control.
So thank you for reminding us.
And thank you for speaking tous through your word.
And thank you for telling usthat only you can save, that
(55:09):
only you can satisfy.
And so where we have trusted inour own strength, would you
forgive us?
And where we have bowed tolesser gods, would you topple
them over and restore us?
Teach us to rest in yoursteadfast love.
Teach us to walk as people whoare called by your name.
(55:34):
And let us remember who carrieswho in this relationship.
My name is Dave, one of the pastors here.
If you have a copy of God'sinspired, infallible, inerrant
word with you, would you takethat out and open it up to the
book of Isaiah?
We're going to be in chapter 41today, and I'd love for you to
follow along.
And as you're making your waythere, allow me to ask you this
rather incisive question tostart our time.
Who or what is your everything?
(00:23):
Who or what is your everything?
And to get to the answer tothat question, allow me to read
you some familiar lyrics fromMichael Boublet.
The song's called Everything.
You're a falling star.
You're the getaway car.
You're the line in the sandwhen I go too far.
(00:44):
You're the swimming pool on anAugust day, and you're the
perfect thing to say.
And you play it coy, but it'skind of cute.
And when you smile at me, youknow exactly what to do.
Baby, don't pretend that youdon't know it's true, because
you can see it when I look atyou.
And in this crazy life andthrough these crazy times, it's
(01:05):
you, it's you.
You make me sing.
You're every line, your everyword, your everything.
So who or what is youreverything?
What consumes you?
Now, for most of us, asillustrated in that song, when
we're young and in love, it isour beloved.
(01:27):
She means everything to me.
He means everything to me.
Later you marry and you havechildren, and the kids often
become your everything.
The kids are everything to me.
The family is everything to me.
Your consuming focus and loveand devotion for those kids is
so strong, sometimes evenstronger than your spouse.
(01:47):
And then next, maybe it becomesyour work or your career that
becomes your highest priority.
Or for some people, it's someother hobby or some other sport
that they play, or it's theirphysical appearance, or it's
their athletic ability, or it'sthe thing that consumes them
every weekend, or it's theirgrandkids.
(02:09):
It's a question that goes onand on and on.
It's a moving target throughoutour lives.
Who or what is your everythingtoday?
As we look at this text thismorning, I want to evaluate what
is most important to us.
And I know you're ready to say,Pastor Dave, Jesus is my
(02:30):
everything.
And you're right, and that'sexactly where we're headed.
But would you just set asidethat Sunday school platitude,
superficial answer for a fewminutes and be brave enough,
myself included, would we bebrave enough to consider
honestly whether or not that'strue today?
(02:52):
Is Jesus really everything toyou?
To me?
I'll be honest, years ago whenI was first candidating for a
position to serve as one of thepastors here, I remember lying
awake the night before thinking,what if they don't vote me in?
(03:14):
And I told myself, hey, that'sjust the normal nerves.
But if I'm honest, it was morethan that.
I wasn't just hoping for God'swill.
I wasn't just hoping you wouldlike me.
I was clinging to an outcome.
My sense of security, my senseof confidence, even my sense of
(03:36):
joy started to hang on to thisrole instead of the God who
called me to the role.
So, how about you?
Is there anything like thatthat competes for your heart's
desire?
That's what the prophet Isaiahis talking about here, and he
calls it idolatry.
(03:57):
Not bowing down to a statue,but fastening our hearts to
something we can't live without.
We're looking this morning at asection of the Bible that's
famously called the Trial of theFalse Gods.
Isaiah 41 to 46.
In this section, God himself isgoing to put those false gods
on trial.
And he's going to ask aquestion that we all need to
(04:19):
answer.
Who really carries whom here?
Do your idols carry you, or doyou end up carrying them?
Isaiah 41 sets the scene whereGod says this, set forth your
case, says the Lord.
Bring your proofs, says theking of Jacob.
And later in chapter 45,similarly, God says, declare and
present your case.
(04:40):
Let them take counsel together.
You see the imagery here today?
It's a courtroom.
Yahweh Himself is putting thegods of the nations on trial.
Yahweh is putting the gods tothe test.
So the judge pounds his gavel.
And then God makes this openingstatement, chapter 43, verse
(05:03):
10.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord, and besidesme there is no Savior.
What you'll see throughoutthese five chapters is there's
this repetition that the Lord isthe one true God.
He's unique and he's unmatched,he's without rival, he's
(05:25):
unequaled compared to all of theother gods, small g, and you'll
also see repeated the refrainthat all these other gods are
fabrications, all these othergods are imitations, all these
other gods are deceptions.
And so this six this section ofscripture is what you might
consider to be a masterclass indivine majesty.
(05:45):
What we have here is Godmeasuring the oceans in his
hands, weighing the mountainslike they're dust.
What we have here is not a Godwho's intimidated by the tasks
that are set before him.
Rather, we have this God that'somniscient and omnipotent and
uncreated.
James White writes about thistext: there's nothing in the
(06:08):
created order analogous to God.
Every example breaks down.
That's why comparison itselfborders on idolatry.
Only the God of the Bible isthe true God, and he's
exclusive, and he's distinct,and he's without equal in the
whole world, in the wholeuniverse.
Now, the reason God is sayingthis through the prophet Isaiah
is because the Jewish people inthese days had replaced the
(06:32):
worship of the one true God forthe worship of idols that were
made of wood and of stubble andof metal.
And so what Isaiah the prophetis saying is you're out here,
you're worshiping all theseother gods, but these gods can't
help you.
And so Yahweh, the one trueGod, keeps saying, I'm the only
(06:53):
one.
And stop following thesesenseless gods.
They can't help you, they can'trescue you, they can't save
you.
And in this whole section, Godkeeps reminding them of his
reality and their unreality.
And so I think you'll find thispassage to be God dismantling
all of their thinking relativeto idols.
(07:14):
And it'll be enlightening, notonly to see what it was like for
the people back then, but Ithink also if you look
carefully, if you're willing toconsider, the passage will also
be enlightening as we considerwhat gods we're drawn to in our
own hearts today.
And so this morning we'll lookat three different movements in
the sermon.
First, we'll see the caseagainst the false gods, and then
(07:37):
we'll see the case for the onetrue God, and then we'll see the
application for us today.
First, you'll see all thenations will listen as God makes
his case, and as they listen,they will strengthen themselves
to respond, and then they willbe called to speak.
And then with all of the factson the table and all of the case
laid out, a verdict, a finaljudgment will be made.
(08:01):
And as that final judgment isrendered, we will find out who
is the one true God.
Isaiah 41 to 46 is a ratherlengthy section of scripture.
So, as such, I'm not going tobe reading every verse for you
today.
I'll be skipping around quite abit.
If you have a Bible, you'll beflopping it around in these
chapters.
I'll also have the verses onthe screen for you.
But though I'll be jumpingaround quite a bit, I think by
(08:24):
the end of the message today,you'll have the gist of what's
going on in Isaiah 41 to 46.
So that's our plan.
And without the Holy Spirit'shelp, we cannot make this
happen.
So let's pray and ask for that.
Our Father and our God inheaven, you alone are God.
(08:44):
You stretched out the heavensby your own hand.
There is no other rock besidesyou.
And as we open your eternalword today, would you now
silence the noise of our hearts?
Silence the fears we brought inhere, the ambitions, the false
securities that always competefor our trust.
And would you, dare we ask,would you expose whatever idols
(09:09):
I have built?
We have built, not to shame us,to free us.
Show us again.
You alone can bear the weightof that kind of hope.
And so send your spirit now toopen the eyes of your people, to
your word, but also to yourgreatness, and open our ears to
your truth and our hearts to thegrace we find in your Son, the
(09:32):
Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,the one who carries us.
It's in his strong name wepray.
And all God's people said Amen.
Movement one, the case againstthe false gods.
Isaiah 41, verse 1 has thesetting for our passage.
Imagine, if you will, GodHimself summoning the nations
and their gods before Him toprove, if they can, that they
(09:56):
are the ones who shape history.
Isaiah 41, verse 1 starts likethis.
Listen to me in silence, Ocoastlands.
Let the peoples renew theirstrength, let them approach,
then let them speak.
Let us together draw near forjudgment.
Pause.
The setting here is a heavenlycourtroom.
On the one side of thecourtroom we have God.
(10:18):
On the other side of thecourtroom, we have the
coastlands.
Or better translation, youcould say in Hebrew the word is
translated also elsewhere, theislands.
It's one of Isaiah's favoriteterms.
He uses it 13 times.
It deserves a littleexplanation.
For many people in the ancientworld, the sea or the ocean was
(10:38):
the end of what they knew.
And they peered out into thewater, and those coastlands,
those little islands, were thefarthest places that they could
possibly ever imagine.
And so for them, this is likeFiji or somewhere way out there.
And the point here is that thecoastlands or the islands are a
figure of speech for the ends ofthe earth.
(11:00):
In other words, the whole worldis on trial here.
All of the earth, including allof the coastlands.
Everyone's coming to court.
And next, God gives evidence,verses two to four.
God, the prosecuting attorney,presents Exhibit A with a
question.
Who stirred up one from theeast, whom victory meets at
(11:24):
every step?
He gives up nations before himso that he tramples kings
underfoot, dropped down to four.
Who has performed and donethis, calling the generations
from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first, andwith the last, I am he.
Now the one from the east inverse 2 is the first of many
references to Cyrus, the king ofPersia, who God will raise up
(11:48):
in a few years to destroyBabylon, the country who would
take Judah into captivity.
So just to get your timelinestraight, Isaiah is prophesying
that the South will be takeninto captive into Babylon.
And then Isaiah is alsoprophesying that the nation of
Babylon, the Empire of Babylon,will also be defeated.
And then after that, he's alsoprophesying that they'll be
(12:11):
defeated by the Persian Empire,who will be ruled by a certain
individual whose name is Cyrus.
Cyrus will then allow theJewish people to go back to
their land.
Now, as a matter of historicalbackground, the rise of Cyrus,
the king of Anshan, a city inPersia, was quite swift and
impressive.
Here, God is revealing toeveryone who's listening that he
(12:32):
can take care of those whotrust in him because he's
totally sovereign over all worldpolitics, and therefore,
because of that, he can save hispeople.
So the question is, is it Cyruswho is the master of this
world?
And the answer in this sectionis no.
The Lord says, no, he is merelymy instrument that I have
(12:52):
stirred up in verse 2 by myword, which you'll recall from
chapter 40, stands forever.
What is important here, what Iwant you to notice on the
screen, ladies and gentlemen, isthe nature of God's argument
that he is making.
As the goal here is to engenderyour trust.
Notice, therefore, it is not anargument from creation.
(13:13):
I want you to trust me becauseI created the world.
That's not what he's saying.
Nor is this an argument fromGod's character.
I want you to trust me becauseI'm holy.
No.
Rather, what's happening hereis he's giving an argument from
God's involvement.
I want you to trust me becauseI'm intimately involved in all
of the affairs of this world.
(13:34):
The Lord is the one who makesplans and accomplishes those
plans on this earth.
This is a God whose handcreates and controls and even
calls world leaders intoexistence.
And so, friends, let me justdrop anchor here and just say
for a moment (13:49):
if you are anxious and afraid, if there were some
elections this past week thatcaused some stir of anxiety
inside of you, this is the kindof argument that should matter
to you.
In that moment of fear andanxiety, brothers and sisters,
you don't really care that Godcreated the stars.
In that moment of anxiety, youdon't really care that God is
(14:10):
long suffering.
No, in that moment, all youwant to know is whether or not
your God is the kind of God whocan be in charge of even the
politicians.
And here we learn He is.
This is the God of Israel.
Compare that to all of theother nations who turn to
another source for advice andfor help.
(14:31):
Drop down to verse 7.
The craftsman strengthens thegoldsmith, and he who smooths
with the hammer, him who strikesthe anvil, saying of the
soldering, it is good, and theystrengthen it with nails so that
it cannot be moved.
Now, what this is referring tois idolatry.
Anytime in this particularsection of scripture that you
(14:52):
read about gold or metal or woodor craftsmanship, that is
referring to idolatry.
See, as you face the threats inlife as they face the threats
in their lives, if they wantedsupernatural help, the God of
the Bible is not the only optionin town.
You can go to a psychic, youcan go to over to the Mormon
(15:13):
temple, you can go to theChristian science reading room,
you can hang crystals from yourrearview mirror, you can buy a
Hindu god and place it in yourkitchen.
Or like the ancients in ourtext, if you're not happy with
the current options of religionsand gods out there, you could
just make up your own religion.
There are lots of spiritualoptions out there for you to
(15:35):
consider.
So instead of trusting God,what the nations do is they opt
for other gods to help them.
So here in this section, whatwe're finding is that idolatry
is something that is actuallyvery offensive to God.
But it's not only offensive toGod, what Isaiah is going to
tell us is that it's alsofundamentally absurd.
(15:57):
Flip over with me to chapter44.
Verse 12 has this.
He fashions it with hammers andworks it with his strong arm.
He becomes hungry and hisstrength fails.
He drinks no water and isfaint.
(16:18):
Here in this particular sectionof scripture, what we have here
is biting sarcasm.
This is actually kind ofhumorous if you think about it.
There's so much sarcasm goingon in these passages, it feels
like we're reading the Babylonbee or the onion or something
like that.
It's like God Himself is comingto us as people and saying, Are
(16:41):
you kidding me?
Do you really think these godscan help you?
Isaiah's pen drips with sarcasmas Yahweh pleads to these
idols, why don't you go and dosomething?
Anything, good or bad.
Do you really want a God thatyou can shape with a hammer?
Is this the kind of God that'sgonna show up in your time of
(17:04):
need?
In verse 12, he says, I hopeyour ironsmith or your
blacksmith gets enough to eatbecause it sure would be a shame
if while he was fashioning theidol he couldn't finish it
because he didn't have theenergy to do so.
Now, let me just ask for alittle audience group
participation for this part ofthe sermon, if you will.
I'm gonna pose to you aridiculous question, and I want
(17:27):
to ask you about the foolishnessof this idol, and then I'm
gonna point to you the audience,and I want you to say something
back to me.
I want you to ask a questionback to me, and the question is
this what kind of God is that?
So work with me, let's try thistogether, okay?
Ready?
Let's say it together.
Ready?
What kind of good, you're doinggood, okay.
So let's try the first questionlike this.
(17:50):
Do you really want a God thatyou can shape with a hammer?
Exactly, exactly.
You're getting the idea.
Drop down to verse 13.
The carpenter stretches a line,he marks it out with a pencil,
he shapes it with planes andmarks it with a compass.
He shapes it into the figure ofa man with the beauty of a man
(18:11):
to dwell in a house.
He cuts down cedars or hechooses a cypress tree or an oak
and lets it grow strong amongthe trees of the forest.
He plants a cedar and the rainnourishes it.
So here's the question (18:21):
Do you really want a God that a
carpenter can shape with achisel?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Drop down to verse 15.
Then it becomes fuel for a man.
He takes a part of it and warmshimself.
He kindles a fire and bakesbread, and he he makes a God and
worships it.
(18:42):
He makes it an idol and fallsdown before it.
Do you really want a God that'smade from a tree?
You take some firewood and youmake a fire with half of the
wood, and then you take theother half of the wood and you
make an idol out of it.
What do you really want a Godthat's made from a tree?
Exactly.
(19:03):
This is ridiculous, isn't it?
These idols, how can theypossibly help you?
Drop down with me to verse 19.
No one considers, nor is thereknowledge or discernment to say,
half of it I burned in thefire, I also baked bread on its
coals, I roasted meat and haveeaten, and shall I make the rest
(19:24):
of it into an abomination?
Shall I fall down before ablock of wood?
Notice that phrase at thebeginning, no one considers.
Some translations say, no onestops to think.
And this, Christian, is ourtask as we look out to the world
around us and we see thembowing down to the idols of our
(19:48):
age.
Our job is to help them toconsider, to help them to stop
and to think about the folly ofthis idolatry.
This is the problem.
No one thinks about it.
Idolatry is not rational.
It wasn't rational back then,and it's not rational today.
Flip over to chapter 46 as Godsays this in verse 5.
(20:10):
To whom will you liken me andmake me equal?
And compare me that we may bealike.
Those who lavish gold from thepurse and weigh out silver in
the scales hire a goldsmith, andhe makes it into a God.
Then they fall down andworship.
They lift it to theirshoulders, they carry it, they
(20:30):
set it in its place and itstands there.
It cannot move from its place.
Of course it can't move.
It's not real.
If one cries to it, it does notanswer.
Of course it doesn't answer.
It's not real.
Or save him from his trouble.
Here's the question (20:45):
Do you really want a God that you have
to melt to make?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Of course you don't.
Because that wouldn't be real.
I want you to notice on thescreen and in your Bibles that
that word in verse 7, the wordcarry.
That's a very important wordbecause what they would do is
(21:06):
they would carry these idols.
And they would carry them, andsometimes in procession, there
would be a parade where theidols were carried along on an
animal or on a cart or on adonkey.
And these idols were carried inand paraded through the town.
And God is looking down, going,You have a God that you have to
carry.
And let me tell you what'sgoing to happen.
(21:26):
Those gods are going to becarried off into exile.
That's what's going to happento those gods that you're
carrying.
And God, in response to hispeople, is saying, You don't
need a God that you can carry.
I'm the God that carries you.
I've been carrying you sincethe beginning, and I will
continue to carry you until theday that you come and meet me.
This is the kind of God wehave, not the kind of God you
(21:48):
carry.
I want to carry you, God says.
Now, this is so foreign to ourthinking.
But back then, this is whatthey did.
They would fashion idols out ofcreated things, then they would
bow down and worship.
Isaiah here doesn't just mockidols, he exposes something
deeper.
The human heart is exposed.
(22:08):
The heart that makes them isbeing exposed.
I was greatly helped here byauthor Curtis Chan, who points
out that idol construction is akind of identity construction.
See, when we feel threatened,we look for stability.
And so we make something thatlooks solid, something we can
see, something we can control.
(22:30):
But Isaiah shows us theseidols, they don't just fail us,
they expose that the Maker is asshaky as the thing that has
been made.
Author Daniel Strange says itthis way: quote, idolatry and
autonomy go together.
Idols are shaky because theyare created by shaky selves.
(22:52):
In other words, our idols arelike mirrors.
They reflect back to us our owninsecurities.
They are self-made gods builtby self-made people trying to
make themselves whole.
So to illustrate this, let mejust share this particular item
(23:15):
I have hidden right here.
I have a weakness, and thisright here is my weakness.
It is.
Smooth chocolate, creamy peanutbutter, wrapped in gold, like
the crown jewel of the candyaisle that it is.
Now, imagine, just for the sakeof argument, imagine I take
(23:41):
this this candy and I make analtar out of it.
And I and I turn this candyinto a shrine, a god that I that
I worship.
And I and I I get a mug to gowith my candy, and I and I have
this scarf for when it getscold.
(24:01):
I have this candy.
And then when I go to bed atnight, I put on my night shirt
for the candy.
And then some Sundays I I putmy Reese's socks on.
You don't know this, but I wearmy Reese's socks when I go to
preach a sermon, and I have mylittle Reese's mug here, and I
have my Reese's reindeer guy.
And let's say if I take thiscandy and I make a shrine out of
(24:24):
it, and I go, mmm, look atthis.
God made chocolate, God madecocoa, God made sugar.
All good things.
But when I start doing this andI start craving this more than
I crave my time with God, now Ihave a theological problem.
Now imagine for a second that Ijust start thinking about this.
(24:47):
I just start obsessing aboutthis.
And so I'm thinking aboutReese's during the staff meeting
tomorrow.
And then I'm thinking aboutReese's as I'm preparing my
sermon for next time.
And then I'm thinking aboutReese's even while I'm
delivering my sermon all thetime.
I'm thinking about Reese's, Ican't stop thinking about
Reese's.
I'm always thinking, how can Iget another Reese's?
At that point, this silly pieceof candy has become an idol.
(25:13):
You say, come on, Dave, this isjust chocolate.
Exactly.
And that's what makes idols sosneaky.
Now, most idols aren't badthings.
Most idols are good things thatwe've turned into ultimate
things.
Chocolate's good.
And success is good.
(25:35):
And you working hard at yourjob and getting rewarded is
good.
And you getting teacher of theyear is good.
And you getting able to retireis good.
And you being really athleticcan be good.
But when I start saying I can'tbe okay without that, life
(25:56):
won't be sweet without that.
Now I've replaced the giverwith the gift.
And that's the heart ofidolatry.
This is so silly, isn't it?
I feel silly just illustratingthis.
We laugh at this, but the truthis most idols don't look this
silly at all.
(26:17):
They look more respectable.
They look like success.
They look like a comfort.
They look like the perfectimage of a family.
They look like my career hasfinally made it.
John Calvin said it this way: the human heart is a factory of (26:36):
undefined
idols.
It's when something small andsweet ends up sitting on the
throne that only God deserves tosit on, Isaiah chapter 6.
So can I ask you, what is thatfor you right now?
(26:56):
Now why do we do this?
What this tells us is thathumankind is designed to worship
something.
If you're not worshiping theone true God, you will worship
something.
Everybody worships.
The question is not, do youworship?
The question is who or what doyou worship?
That's why idolatry isn'talways about worshiping bad
(27:21):
things, it's about trying tocreate a self without God.
Commentator John Oswalt remindsus that these gods are merely
reflections of humanity.
They can't explain the past orshape the future because they're
trapped in the same system thatyou and I are trapped in.
But the Lord is outside thesystem.
(27:44):
He made the system, he sustainsthe system, he directs the
system, he created the wholesystem, he's the only one worthy
of worship.
And so that's the case againstthe false gods.
Now we see the case for the onetrue God.
There are two key areas ofevidence that are brought
(28:05):
forward here by Isaiah, theattorney, that he uses to prove
to us that only the God of theBible is the one true God.
Exhibit A is that God is goingto be the one who has the
ability to create.
And exhibit B is that God orYahweh also has the ability to
predict the future.
And so we'll look at those onein each turn.
(28:26):
First, God's ability to create.
Now, when Yahweh says, I am thefirst and I am the last, God
(29:28):
isn't saying that he was firstor that he will be last, but
both are eternally present tohim.
This is Isaiah's way ofexpressing the absoluteness of
God's being.
Chapter 44, verse 24 continuesthis theme by saying, Thus says
the Lord, your Redeemer, whoformed you from the womb.
(29:48):
I am the Lord who made what?
All things, who alone stretchout the heavens, who spread out
the earth, by who?
By myself.
Chapter forty five.
Verse 18.
For thus says the Lord whocreated the heavens.
He is God, who formed the earthand made it.
He established it.
(30:09):
He did not create it empty, heformed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord, and there is noother.
So here we see the case isbeing brought forth for the one
true God, and the case is allabout the fact that God is the
creator.
Isaac Newton, the physicist andmathematician and astronomer,
once said this (30:29):
quote, the most beautiful system of the sun,
planets, and comets could onlyproceed from the counsel and
dominion of an intelligent andpowerful being, unquote.
God as the creator is standingin contrast to all of these
idols who are created.
They are created by human handsas opposed to God, who is the
(30:50):
creator.
So this is God's ability tocreate for exhibit A.
Exhibit B, we will see Yahweh'sability to predict the future.
Chapter 41, verse 21, saysthis: set forth your case, says
the Lord.
Bring your proofs, says theking of Jacob.
Let them bring them and tell uswhat is to happen.
Tell us the former things whatthey are, that we may consider
(31:14):
them, that we may know theiroutcome, or declare to us the
things to come.
The things to come in thefuture.
And so one of the major prooftests for supernatural power has
and always will be the abilityto accurately predict the
future.
Not in generalities shrouded indouble meaning, but real
(31:36):
specific predictions of thefuture.
Here, Yahweh, God, says, Canthe false gods do any of that?
You're entrusting your wholefuture to their hands.
Do they know the future?
One commentator puts it thisway: These verses dramatize the
utter impotence of our self-madegods.
(31:56):
They can't even speak, muchless predict the future.
Chapter 43, verse 8.
Yahweh himself at this pointcalls a witness up to the stand.
And the witness we see here inverse 8, God says, Bring out the
people who are blind, yet haveeyes, who are deaf, yet have
(32:19):
ears.
So picture the scene here.
Here we are in the courtroom.
There's this trial.
The Lord has made a great claimthat He is the only one true
God.
This is the case.
And his rivals, all those pagangods, he's being accused here
by all those pagan gods oflying.
All of those pagan gods have astheir witnesses all the many
(32:41):
peoples who worship them.
And the Lord then turns andbrings forth his witness.
And the witness that the Lordbrings forth is someone who's
blind and someone who is deaf.
And the people that are he isbringing forth here that are
blind and deaf are his ownpeople.
He's bringing forth the peopleof Israel who are deaf and who
are blind, and then they takethe witness stand.
And we see that in the court oflaw, and we're sitting there
(33:03):
watching the court case, going,Well, the case is about to be
over here.
I mean, how in the world is awitness who's blind and deaf
going to help this God's case?
Surely the case is lost.
But yet, these witnessesactually come forward, take the
stand, take the oath, and theyproduce incontrovertible
evidence of the truth of God'sclaim.
(33:25):
And the evidence that they'reabout to put forward is that God
alone foretold the things thatare now taking place.
Verse 9.
All the nations gathertogether, and the peoples
assemble.
Who among them can declare thisand show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnessesto prove them right, and let
(33:45):
them hear and say it is true.
Verse 10 You are my witnesses,declares the Lord, and my
servant, whom I have chosen,that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
So he starts his questioning ofthe witness in this way.
And he wants to tell them thatthey're gonna bring forward one
(34:06):
of the most impressive thingsthat he has ever predicted in
his word.
And what he's about to tellthem is to tell the courtroom
what he predicted about the nextworld ruler.
Namely, that he predicted therise of Cyrus the Great.
And so in this chapter, whathe's gonna say is he's gonna
name Cyrus his shepherd, andhe's gonna call him his Messiah,
(34:29):
the one who'll be used as God'sanointed one to send his people
back.
45 verse 1 makes this clear.
Thus says the Lord to hisanointed, to Cyrus, whose right
hand I have grasped to subduenations before him and to loose
the belts of kings, to opendoors before him, that gates may
not be closed.
Now think about this for asecond.
Just look at the screen.
When Isaiah wrote these words,King Cyrus had not been born
(34:54):
yet.
He would not appear on thehuman scene until 150 years
after this text was written.
And Isaiah the prophet callshim by name.
Not once, but three times.
God is saying, I already knowthe next king of the next world
(35:17):
empire.
Now that's so astonishing thatwhen liberal scholars approach
the book of Isaiah, they cannotaccept this as being true.
They've got to come up withsome excuse to say there's no
way the prophet Isaiah wrotethat.
You see, here's here's here'sactually what's happening.
The tone of Isaiah 1 through 39is actually a much different
(35:38):
tone, and Isaiah takes on adifferent theme in the first
half of Isaiah, and then thesecond half of Isaiah, chapters
40 to 66, afterward, uh, someoneelse wrote that down afterward,
after Cyrus already came topower, but he wrote it down more
as history rather thanprophecy.
But the evidence for this beingwritten by Isaiah is so strong
(36:00):
that that case won't hold.
Number one, the Lord JesusChrist, the Lord of glory, when
he came to this earth, quotedfrom both halves of this book,
and both halves he attributed tothe prophet Isaiah.
Number two, we have foundmanuscript evidence, including
the great Isaiah scroll in theDead Sea scrolls, and there's
not two copies, it's one longcopy, all one piece, one to 66.
(36:26):
There's no break in the middle.
Number three, you see fromstudying this book, and we've
been studying it for a couple ofmonths, that the themes and the
vocabulary all weave togetherin both halves of the book with
a certain seamlessness and acertain tapestry that fits very
well.
And fourthly, and mostimportantly, brothers and
sisters, there are parts ofIsaiah that are fulfilled way
(36:48):
later, even in the life ofChrist, like Isaiah 53.
When we get there in a fewweeks, you're going to read that
and go, how could he have knownabout the suffering of the
Savior in this very specificway?
There's no way to say thatIsaiah couldn't predict the
future.
We believe in a God who canspeak the future before the
future happens.
(37:08):
If we deny that, we have lostmore than Isaiah.
We've lost the living God whoreveals himself in history.
And here's what's remarkable.
If you read the Jewishhistorian Josephus, Josephus
records that when Cyrus came topower, one of the prophets,
people speculate, perhaps Danielthe prophet, went to Cyrus the
(37:31):
Great and brought to Cyrus theGreat the great Isaiah scroll.
And one of the Hebrew prophetspointed this out to Cyrus the
Great, saying, Hey Cyrus, didyou know that your name is in
here and that it was written 150years ago?
Did you know that your name isin our prophetic scrolls?
(37:52):
Can you imagine?
This is what our God can do.
In contrast, Isaiah says theBabylonian gods, the
astrologers, chapter 47, theycan't predict anything.
What kind of a God is that?
Our God knows the futurebecause he rules the future.
Our God knows the futurebecause he's in church.
(38:13):
If this were just a human book,it couldn't possibly contain so
many fulfilled prophecies.
If this was just a book writtenby men, it would not contain
this kind of material.
But yet on many occasions, notjust here, on many occasions,
the Bible predicts the futureyears, decades, sometimes
hundreds of years in advancebefore these things took place.
This isn't just a human book.
(38:34):
It's the voice of the eternalGod who declares, I am God, and
there is none like me, declaringthe end from the beginning.
Look down in verse 9.
This is exactly what he saysnext.
Remember the former things ofold, for I am God and there is
no other.
I am God and there is none likeme, declaring the end from the
(38:56):
beginning, and from ancienttimes things not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand,and I will accomplish my
purpose.
So God's claim here is that allof the other gods are
imposters, and he alone is theone true God.
He is God, and that is provenby the fact that he not only
(39:19):
created everything, but thatalso he can predict the future.
So the God of the Biblecreates, and the God of the
Bible predicts, and the uselessidols of the nations can do no
such thing, because they arenothing.
4124 says it this way (39:32):
Behold, you are nothing, and your work
is less than nothing.
An abomination is he whochooses you.
You are a Reese's peanut buttercup.
Behold, they are all delusion,their works are nothing, their
metal images are empty wind, orempty calories.
(39:54):
So in the courtroom of Isaiah,God, the prosecutor, presents
his evidence and he presentsexhibit A, and then he presents
exhibit B, and then the verdictis in.
Before me no God was formed,nor shall there be any after me.
I am the Lord.
(40:14):
And besides me, there is noSavior.
Dr.
James White calls this thestrongest statement of
monotheism in the whole Bible.
And with that, the prosecutionrests his case.
Movement three.
We've seen the case against thefalse gods.
We've seen the case for the onetrue God.
(40:36):
And now we'll see how thisapplies to us in this room.
Because we've been talking hereabout this trial, this
courtroom scene about whether ornot the false gods are real and
whether Yahweh God is the onetrue God.
And it's an interesting trialto sit there in the audience and
watch.
But actually, friends, ifyou're honest with yourself, if
(40:57):
you know the story of the Bible,then you know that the story of
the Bible is not a story aboutGod who is on trial.
The story of the Bible is thatwe are the ones who are on
trial.
It is humanity that has tostand in the dock and defend
himself.
God has already proven himselfto his people again and again
(41:20):
and again as the one true God.
And yet, despite all of theproof that he has given, this is
the response of his people.
Verse 22 of chapter 43, Godsays, I've proven myself, yet
you did not call upon me, OJacob.
But you have been weary of me,O Israel.
(41:41):
You have not brought me yoursheep for burnt offerings, or
honored me with your sacrifices.
You have not bought me sweetcane with money, or satisfied me
with the fat of yoursacrifices.
But you have burnt burdened mewith your sins.
You have wearied me with youriniquities.
(42:01):
Drop down to verse 26.
He continues, so put me inremembrance.
Let us argue together.
Set forth your case, humanbeing, that you may be proved
right.
Your first father sinned, andyour mediators transgressed
against me.
Your first father, Adam,rebelled from the get-go, and
(42:23):
everything unraveled since then.
Not even your mediators, yourpriests acted perfectly.
So as humanity stands trial,once again the verdict comes
back, and this time the verdictis guilty.
And this is why Isaiah theprophet says we have a need.
(42:43):
And the need is we need to besaved from the penalty of our
sin.
We all need to be rescued.
You may not think that, you maynot know that right now, but
one day, my friend, you willknow that because we all have a
terminal disease, and it is thedisease of sin.
And so, in the midst of thisverdict, in the midst of this
(43:07):
second courtroom scene, in themidst of this place where we as
humanity all stand condemnedbefore a holy God, this Yahweh,
God of the universe, actuallystands up and does the
unthinkable.
The God of Isaiah steps downfrom the judge's bench and
decides he's gonna take thesentence upon himself.
(43:28):
In this plot twist, God isgonna decide to blot out their
transgressions and offer hispeople their salvation.
Look at verse 25.
God says, I am he who blots outyour transgressions for my own
sake, and I will not rememberyour sins.
(43:50):
That is good news.
This is the news of salvationthat Yahweh, yes, is the one
true God who creates, and he'sthe one true God who predicts
the future, but he is also theone true God who can save.
He alone can save, he alone canredeem us.
I, I am he who blots out yourtransgressions, God says.
(44:12):
Isaiah 43 is one of the mostbeautiful texts in this whole
section.
God says, But now thus says theLord, He who created you, O
Jacob, listen, he who formedyou, O Israel, fear not, for I
have redeemed you.
I have called you by name.
(44:32):
You are mine.
When you pass through thewaters, I'll be with you, and
through the rivers, they willnot overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire, youshall not be burned, and the
flame shall not consume you, forI am the Lord, your God, the
Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
(44:53):
In this beautiful text, what welearn here is that same
majestic God who existed beforecreation, who stretched out the
heavens, is the same God whocomes down and says, Now I'm
gonna take hold of your hand andI'm gonna walk with you in your
life.
In this breathtaking balance,we have transcendence that is
(45:14):
coupled together with covenanttenderness and mercy and grace
of this God.
This section on the screen isso powerful.
I want you to look at what Godis saying to his people right
here because he's also sayingthe same thing to you.
Friends, the words on thescreen are the reason why we do
not need idols.
(45:35):
The reason why we don't needidols is because we can have a
solid identity that we don'tbuild for ourselves by what we
do.
Rather, we can embrace theidentity that is given to us by
the God of Scripture who says,You are mine, I'm the one who
calls you what you are.
You are beloved of me, and I amyour savior.
(45:55):
That's who you are.
You don't need to worship someother God and try to craft some
identity of yourself in someother place.
You get your identity bestowedupon you by me, your creator.
Every idol tells a story.
Every script is a script welive by.
What is the script you live by?
If I don't get good grades,then I'm not a successful
(46:19):
student.
If I can't run the race in thistime, then I'm not a good
athlete.
If I don't maintain my beauty,then I'm not worth anything.
If I'll just succeed, then I'llmatter.
If I could just stay safe, thenI'll be okay.
Those are all scripts, thoseare all lies.
And the reason they're lies isbecause they're built by shaky
(46:42):
selves trying to secure theirown identity.
And all of those idols alwayscollapse at one point or
another.
Only God can give you a stableidentity, only the gospel can
give you a stable identity.
One that comes from outside ofyourself, Jacob, whom I have
loved.
God says, I'm up here.
(47:03):
You are the one I love, I havechosen you, I have named you, I
have redeemed you, and that isthe foundation upon which you
can build your whole life.
In one final plea, Isaiah turnsto his people and just simply
says, So turn to me and besaved.
All the ends of the earth, thecoastlands, the islands, for I
(47:26):
am God, and there is no other bymyself I have sworn, from my
mouth has gone out inrighteousness a word that shall
not return.
To me every knee shall bow, andevery tongue shall swear
allegiance.
This majestic God here doesn'tjust win the trial.
(47:46):
Instead, he opens his arms andsays to his people, Turn to me
and be saved, all the ends ofthe earth.
Dr.
James White says, and in themiracle of all miracles, the
omniscient and eternal creatorproclaims himself to be not only
the righteous God, but also theSavior.
(48:06):
So our passage here is tellingus that this God who created
everything and who predicts thefuture wants to take care of
everything in your life too.
All of our fear, all of oursin, all of our blindness, all
of the chaos, and all of therebellion of this world, all of
(48:29):
it can be taken care of by God.
All the focus here in this textends on Yahweh God.
He's the one who saves, he'sthe one who restores, he's the
one who frees, he's the one whoheals, he's the one who gives us
his covenant, and he is ouronly hope.
Isaiah's point this morning,ladies and gentlemen, is simply
this (48:50):
there is only one true God.
And the one true God is theanswer to the question and the
solution to the problem.
He is the destination of yourjourney, and he's the
explanation of this wholeuniverse.
He is the key to that lock thatyou cannot open, and he's the
way out of the mess you'recurrently in.
(49:11):
My friend, there is no oneelse.
There is no other way.
No other God can save you.
Metal God can't save you.
Bronze God can't save you.
Buddhist God can't save you.
Muhammad's God can't save you.
(49:32):
The High Faith God can't saveyou either.
The Mormon God can't save you.
Jehovah's Witness God can'tsave you.
The God of secular humanism outthere cannot save you.
Elon Musk can't save you.
Bill Gates can't save you.
Zoram Mamdani can't save you.
(49:54):
Donald Trump can't save you.
There is only one God.
Now, if you look at the screenand you know your Bible, then
you know that 700 years later,the Apostle Paul picked up his
pen and wrote a letter to thechurch at Philippi.
(50:16):
And in that letter, in chapter2, he quotes a certain portion
of Isaiah on purpose.
And what Paul is saying, if youput those two together, is
something absolutelybreathtaking.
Here's this passage in Isaiahabout the transcendent,
omniscient, omnipotent God ofthe universe, Yahweh, the great
(50:38):
I am, the one true God.
The apostle Paul sits down withhis pen and says, that Yahweh,
God of Isaiah, is Jesus of thecross.
And it's before Jesus thatevery knee will bow.
And it's before Jesus thatevery tongue will confess that
he is Lord.
And there is no other name bywhich we can be saved.
(51:01):
And his name is Jesus.
And so the question I wouldleave you with this morning,
brothers and sisters, is thatsame question that I started
with.
Is Jesus really everything toyou?
Or is he just one out of tenthings competing for your
affection today?
Former U.S.
(51:23):
Senate chaplain RichardHalverson once said, quote,
Jesus Christ is God's everythingfor man's total need, unquote.
Someone wrote to Emily Post,the great etiquette guru, and
asked, What is the correctprocedure when one is invited to
the White House but has aprevious engagement?
Her reply was, an invitation todine at the White House is a
(51:49):
command, and it automaticallycancels any other engagement.
Friends, what we have here inthis text of Isaiah is Yahweh,
the God of the universe, givingan invitation to you.
And when this God calls, whenthis God asks for a relationship
with you, when this God asksyou and invites you to come and
(52:12):
dine with him at his table,there is no higher priority.
So let me ask you that questionagain.
Who or what is your everything?
Husbands?
Let me affirm to you that yourwife is something, and she is
(52:33):
something wonderful, and someonevery special.
But she is not your everything.
Wives, let me remind you thatyour husbands are something, a
leader and one worthy of yourrespect, but he is not your
falling star, and he is not yourgetaway car.
He is something, but he is notyour everything.
(52:56):
Parents, let me remind you thatyour children are tremendous
blessings from God Himself.
And they are something, butthey are not your everything.
Grandparents, those grandkidsare the apple of your eye, they
hung the moon.
(53:17):
They are something.
They are not your everything.
Your bank account and yourmoney in it is something, but it
is not your everything.
Your finances are a blessingand provision from God, but it
is not your everything.
Your occupation, yourambitions, your dreams, your
(53:38):
vacations, your scrapbooking,your tools in your shed, your
riding lawn mower, your signedautograph giants football
jersey, your Beatles Whitealbum, they are all something,
but they are not everything.
Jesus said, I am the way and Iam the truth and I am the life.
(54:00):
No one comes to the Fatherexcept by me.
Everything else in this worldis less than that.
Everything else falls short offulfilling the deepest desire of
your heart.
And because Jesus Christ is theone before every knee will bow,
and the one to whom everytongue will confess one day that
(54:24):
he is Lord, may He beeverything to you.
Let's pray together as theworship team comes.
Our Father and our God.
If we're honest, we confess.
How easily we trade the gloryof the Creator for the created
(54:45):
things.
How easy it is to make oureverything our own success or
our own comfort or the approvalof others or control.
So thank you for reminding us.
And thank you for speaking tous through your word.
And thank you for telling usthat only you can save, that
(55:09):
only you can satisfy.
And so where we have trusted inour own strength, would you
forgive us?
And where we have bowed tolesser gods, would you topple
them over and restore us?
Teach us to rest in yoursteadfast love.
Teach us to walk as people whoare called by your name.
(55:34):
And let us remember who carrieswho in this relationship.
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