Our God is the sovereign God

Isaiah 28-31

Last night I went walking with my dog, Eowyn. At one point in the walk I said to her “wait”. She obediently stopped running, and waited – and then the car went past. See, Eowyn is dumb with cars, and doesn’t see them as a danger. But I do. I know what’s best for her. She’s my dog. I bought her, I paid for her. She’s mine. And I look after her – I make sure she has food and water and a warm place to sleep.

But what if she doesn’t listen to me? What if she’s disobedient? A bad dog? What will I do? I will train her. I will have to punish her if the disobedience is big enough. But she could also be badly injured by running in front of a car because she didn’t listen. And if she’s being aggressive and biting people? Eventually I would have to put her down – she would have to die because of her actions, her choices.

It’s a bit like that with God and us. We belong to him because we are made by him. And if we are Christians then we belong to him again because we are bought by him, by his blood. We are his. But like a disobedient dog, we don’t listen. Often our lives look like they’ve been hit by a car - a mess! And the end result is: we’ll be put down like a bad dog. And that’s kind of the warning in Isaiah. God is warning his people to get right with him or face the consequences. He is exposing their disobedience in the evil things going on in society: rich oppressing poor, injustice, out of control sex, children being ignored, fake religion – people going through their religious duties but not loving God, greed, money, money, money, money, wanting more, never satisfied, and widespread drunkenness. All descriptions of Israel in 740BC – and which could equally describe Norway in 2016. Sex, greed, drunkenness, injustice, fake religion. These are our sins too.

Our journey through Isaiah has been a sobering one – that is, it’s made us sit up and say “woah”! Because we’ve been confronted by God – by who He is and how holy and mighty and OTHER He is. He is not some pet to be given a treat every now and again. He does not sit, longing to be with us, waiting for us to turn and give him some attention – the lonely god… Please love me. He is not a fool who doesn’t know when people are saying that they love him and doing all the religious rituals – but don’t actually love him.

No he is the Almighty God. His glory fills the Temple. The room shakes when he speaks. He is the God who is utterly sovereign over all things, over all nations – whether you are in Jerusalem, the very capital of the people of God – or whether you are in the farthest reaches of the desert, in the caravans of Dedan, hiding in the deserts of Arabia – He is still sovereign over you. Sovereign to judge. Sovereign to save.

He is God, the one and only. There is no other.

Since we’ve all probably forgotten a lot of Isaiah – I had before I started preparing this! – I thought I’d use this morning to cover the next couple of chapters as well as reminding us of what we’ve already learned, and some of the key themes, the big ideas, we’ve learned already from this amazing prophet.

1. God is God, and He alone is the sovereign God.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says” – how often do we hear those words in Isaiah, or “This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says”. The point is that it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. All that matters is what God says, because HE is the Sovereign Lord. He is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. His words are not mere words. His words are power.

I can say “I curse you!” – empty words. I can say “I bless you!” – empty words. My words, like yours, have very little power. But God’s words. Wow. What he says goes. When he speaks, it happens.

How often do we forget this, and think that my words matter, instead of God! Doh! The Israelites did! Look at 29:15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The LORD can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” 16 How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?

He is the Creator. He is the Maker. They are created. They are made. He is BIGGER THAN THEM. They belong to Him, not Him to them. He is sovereign over them.

He is our Creator, our Maker. We, you and I, are created, made by God. He is BIGGER THAN US. We, I, belong to Him, not Him to me, us. He is sovereign over us.

What I have found most exciting, most thrilling, and most challenging – just really hard! – is the utter power that God has. I don’t like it. I don’t like that he is sovereign over me. I don’t like that he is more powerful than me. Because I want to be God! I want to decide the course of my life because I know better.
And I certainly don’t want him to sit in judgement over me!! I don’t want to be held accountable for my actions. I want to judge myself, thank you very much, because I like me, and I think I’m a decent bloke and of course I deserve heaven and every other good thing that comes my way.

But He is sovereign, not me. He is in control, not me. He is Creator, I am created. He is Lord. He is Master.

And that means we need to give an account to Him.

2. God is sovereign and so our choices matter

A massive point, in fact the main narrative, the main driving force of Isaiah up until now is that God will judge the nations for their wickedness and their rebellion against him. God is the judge. And he measures us by our response to him. Israel chose to disobey. And their choice matters. It has real consequences.

28:1What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria (the capital of Northern Israel) — the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by wine. 2 For the Lord will send a mighty army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground. So foreigners will come and take over the land and oppress the people. As v11says 11 So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
(This is, by the way, why Paul says in 1 Cor 14 that we should not speak in tongues without an interpretation, because foreign tongues is a sign of judgement. Instead we should prophesy – that is share the gospel of Jesus in a way that is relevant and clear. Which is why we emphasise knowing your Bible, knowing the gospel so that you can prophesy and save someone, rather than speak in tongues and judge someone).

29:1“What sorrow awaits Ariel, the City of David. Year after year you celebrate your feasts. (Oh, they are religious!) 2 Yet I will bring disaster upon you, and there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means— an altar covered with blood. 3 I will be your enemy, surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls. I will build siege towers and destroy it.

In Isaiah we see God seated on his throne examining the world, judging each nation. Remember chapters 14-24 where he goes through nation after nation, exposing their wickedness and giving his judgement? Each nation called to account. Each nation found guilty. It matters what we do. It matters how we are towards each other and towards God.

You see, God’s sovereignty – his control over everything - doesn’t mean that I’m not responsible for my actions. In fact, it means that I ultimately AM responsible for my actions and will be called to account. I will have to face up to what I have done. God sees right through our little religious duties – when we’re busy sinning over here. He is not fooled by our pretence of niceness at church - when at home we’re angry Dad, shouting at our children and our wife, abusing them with our words or worse our fists.
If we’ve learned just one thing from Isaiah it is that nothing escapes his gaze. He sees everything. Everything.

Because God is sovereign, I will be held responsible for everything I have done.
People often say Oh,l if God’s sovereign that means I’m just a robot, my choices don’t matter. No. Because God is sovereign our choices matter. They have meaning. The Human-etisk forbund says we give our own choices meaning. Really? You just self-validate? “I declare this means a lot!” It’s just a lot of empty words. Because if I can give “meaning” to anything I choose – then my choices don’t matter. I don’t really have a real choice.

Only with a sovereign God do we find human responsibility. Only with a sovereign God do we have real choice, with real consequences.

The whole of this first part of Isaiah, up to chapter 32, is pleading with Israel to make the right choice. Turn away from false religion. Don’t honour God with your lips but your heart is far from him – he’s not fooled by that. Repent! Turn to him. Don’t trust in Egypt to save you – your salvation comes from the Lord. Choose life! Choose him.

Some people call this choice “free will” but that’s a bit of wrong description. Often what people mean by free will is something outside of God’s rule, as in independent from God. And that sounds a lot like rebellion against God – another God. But there is only one. I think the Bible is clear that we do not have “free will” as in independent from God. What God says will happen will happen whether we like it or not. Just like we read the Israelites had a “Bargain to cheat death, but God says in 28:18 “I have cancelled the bargain you made to cheat death”! We do not have free will…but we do have real choice.

Unfortunately, although we are free to choose, we choose what we love. I have free choice between broccoli – or a chocolate. Free choice. But I’ll choose what I love! That’s why we have “free will” – but our will is bound. We can choose whatever we want but we only choose what is evil because we love evil and hate God. Because if we do not love God, who is good, we automatically love evil. Oh ,that doesn’t mean we all walk around cackling and rubbing our hands like villains in a children’s play – it means that we do what WE want to do. We decide what is right.

In the men’s Bible study we talk quite a lot about how annoying it is to be a Christian. How often the Holy Spirit says about our plans, about what we’re about to do, or say, or not do – ahem!. AAARGH. It is so frustrating. I want to do this – but I know it’s wrong. But I WANT TO DO IT! And then you (hopefully) humble yourself and follow the Spirit. Or maybe you don’t, and then you understand why he said don’t do it. When was the last time you sinned and thought “I’m so glad I did that”. It eats away inside of us.

As we’ve read through Isaiah we’ve been exposed. As God reveals the sins of the nations we’re horrified to see the same sins in our own hearts. As God pronounces judgement on them – well Isaiah shows us that we are completely lost. We are in serious trouble. We can’t be good enough to get ourselves out of it. We can’t be religious enough to get out of it. Israel tried it and God says “these people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (29:13). He’s not fooled!
We can’t follow the law well enough to get out of it. There is nothing we can do to avoid the judgement of God. God’s eyes are like laser beams which cut through any pretence of goodness we throw up and we are exposed. We’re like a deer caught in the headlights of a car - we are exposed, and in real danger.

That’s why when Isaiah sees God (back in chapter 6) what does he say “Woe is me! I am lost! I am destroyed” It’s terror. It’s fear, it’s realising that we are dangling by a thread over the pit of hell. It is the sword of Damocles. Remember the Sicilian legend of Damocles who seated in his position of power and prestige was told by the king to look up – and there above his was a sword held by a single thread of hair. At any moment could plunge down.

God is the only sovereign God – and he is our judge.

3. God is the only sovereign God – and so he can save whoever he wants to

In the midst of all this right judgment – we find amazing mercy. I found it particularly interesting in chapters 14-24 as he goes through the nations, cruel, evil, proud peoples – suddenly offered mercy. Even the Assyrians, known for their brutality – and they were the big threat to Israel at the time – God says that they, Assyria, together with Egypt – Egypt, where they were slaves – will be his people, like Israel. The two big baddies – will be called God’s people. Huh?

But even in these chapters we read of God’ surprising mercy time and time again. We didn’t read this, but look at 29:5 “But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust. Your many attackers will be driven away like chaff before the wind. Suddenly, in an instant, 6 I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire. 7 All the nations fighting against Jerusalem will vanish like a dream! Those who are attacking her walls will vanish like a vision in the night.

And again in 30:19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.

And as we’ve been reading through Isaiah, we keep coming across this mercy, undeserved mercy, in the middle of all this deserved judgment. And it seems to be focussed on the promise of a child, a child who will rule in justice and mercy. A child born of a virgin, a child called wonderful counsellor, everlasting Father, almighty God. And as we read on we will meet in the second part of Isaiah this child, this person, this King, who is called the suffering servant as he suffers and bears the punishment his people deserve in order to save his people.

Those promises, that hope of mercy, is found in Jesus. He is the child born of the virgin, God’s own Son, come to earth to suffer and die.

You know, there are many ways we can try to escape from God’s judgment – but there is only one sure way. That’s what Isaiah is talking about in chapter 28 – where the Israelites have made a bargain to cheat death. 15 You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.” They’ve found a way out, a way to dodge God’s judgement. But God responds 16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. 17 I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away. 18 I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground. 19 Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away.”

Their shelter is rubbish. Their bargain to cheat death was false. There is only one sure foundation stone. There is only one solid cornerstone. And that is God Himself. And as we read on and see the story unfold, we see that gloriously fulfilled as God fulfils his promises. Yes, you really CAN trust God that he offers a way out of judgement. He can save you. Why? Because he himself came down from heaven, lived on this earth, and gave his life as a cornerstone, a sure foundation which will never be shaken. Jesus is our unshakeable foundation, our sure cornerstone.

So when we in our Bible group moan about God messing up our plans to sin, and when we confess that we have sinned, and when we grumble about how we struggle to get it right – we do it not in terror but in joy. We are not afraid because we are loved. We are not guilty because we have been forgiven. Because we stand not on our own choices and actions – which have already been judged and found guilty – we stand on Jesus’ choices and actions – we’re shielded in him, we stand on his work, his life. And His life has been judged – and found to be perfect. And so we are perfect in Him.

That’s what being a Christian is like. We see the Lord. We are suddenly aware of the terrible danger we are in. That everyone’s in. The signs are everywhere. World is a mess. Our society is self-destructing. But we are oblivious. We are ever seeing, but never understanding….until God reveals himself. And then we are afraid for we are exposed. And we run to him “Woe is me, I am guilty, I am a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips!” And then joy of joys he comforts us: do not be afraid, you are forgiven. I have taken your place, I have taken your punishment, I have taken your judgement. I have swapped places with you, and you are righteous.

That is the hope of Isaiah. That is our hope.

1. God is God, and He alone is the sovereign God.

2. God is sovereign and so our choices matter

3. But, oh joy of joys! God is the only sovereign God – and so he can save whoever he wants to