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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening, tonight we'll be reading through Isaiah 43. And the Bible reads, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, that he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou has been honorable, and I have loved thee, therefore I will give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together and let the people be assembled, who among them can declare this and show us former things. Let them bring forth their witnesses, they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant from whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no savior. I have declared and have saved and have showed when there was no strange God among you, therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let it? Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to Babylon and have brought down all their nobles and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King, thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power. They shall lie down together, they shall not rise. They are extinct, they are quenched as tow. Remember ye are not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth, shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance, let us plead together, declare thou that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. Let's pray, dear Lord God, just thank you for this evening that we come together and gather to hear the preaching of your word, Lord, and just please bless the service, Lord, please bless pastor, and fill him with the Holy Spirit as he preaches unto us your word, Lord, and just allow us to leave here changed, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Okay, we are in Isaiah chapter 43 this evening, and tonight we're gonna look at two specific sections here in chapter 43. The first section is the promise of redemption, and the second section is the profanity of the redeemed. Now, as we read this, as we've said before in times past and in previous chapters, you know, a lot of this applies obviously directly to Israel, but there's so many applications to us as New Testament believers, and it's gonna be very evident that that's the case in this particular chapter as well. Now, the first thing we're gonna look at is God commanding his people not to fear. Why? Well, because his presence is with them in troubled times. Look at verse number one. It says, but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Now, obviously, because this is directed towards Israel, because he says, O Jacob, referring to Israel, you know, in a literal sense, he did create that nation. He formed that nation from Abraham of the Ur of Chaldees, and from Abraham came Isaac, from Isaac came Jacob, came Israel, and from Israel came the 12 tribes, which would eventually become that nation known as the nation of Israel, from which God would use and glorify God. So literally, he created that nation, he formed that nation, and we see here, he says, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Now, this redemption that he's referring to is not referring to a salvation, a justification as we would use redemption. He's referring to the fact that he's going to essentially bring them back from exile. He's going to buy them back from the enemies of God. Because they've gone into exile, he has redeemed them, he's created them, and he has formed them. Look at verse number two, he says, when thou passes through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Now, this is very specific, if you think about it, because he addresses the fact that he's going to be with them through the waters, through the rivers, and through the fire. Now, obviously, this is very much, you know, this is, it kind of speaks to Israel specifically because of the fact that the waters would be indicative of going through the Red Sea. When the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, and they crossed through the Red Sea, they passed through the waters, where there is a wall of water on the left, a wall of water on the right, and God led them through the hand of Moses. But not only that, he also led them through the rivers, because after the 40 years in the wilderness, before going into Canaan land, they had to cross through the what? The Jordan River. And of course, we know that the Jordan River, the priests were to put their foot first into the river, and then the waters would part, and he essentially led them over. And in both instances, the water did not overflow them. You know, when they're crossing through the Red Sea, the walls did not come crashing down on them, but rather on the Egyptians. And when they crossed through the Jordan River, he led them across that. They did not drown in those tumultuous waters. And what's interesting about this verse is the latter part. It says, when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Now, why is that interesting? Well, because the first thing you would probably think about, I know the first thing that I thought about, was Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego going through the fiery furnace. The only thing is, that had not happened yet. You know, this is obviously prophetic of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego literally going through the fiery furnace at the command of Nebuchadnezzar, and that was like approximately 100 years after this prophecy is even given. So this is referring to a future instance, and you could say that maybe Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego knew about this passage in the book of Isaiah. As they're being cast into the fiery furnace, they know God's gonna be with us, and guess what? God did walk through that fiery furnace with them, because the fourth was like unto the Son of God, the Bible says, right? And so we see here that he kind of gives them a summary of some of God's exploits with the children of Israel. He led them through the Red Sea, he led them through the Jordan River, and of course, a future instance where he's gonna lead them through that fiery furnace. So this literally applies to Israel, but it also applies to us as Christians, right? We can say that though we're not literally gonna pass through a Red Sea, we can say that there's instances in our lives when we need a Red Sea miracle, right? Where essentially God is delivering us from some enemy, he's delivering us from some tribulation, some difficulty that is chasing us, so to speak. He can walk us through that water where the waters will not overflow us. Not only that, but we can also say that God walks us through that Jordan River, because if you remember the story of the Jordan River, it's essentially the children of Israel making a decision to serve God in Canaan. And when you make a decision to serve God, when you make a decision to actually obey his commandments and actually take the Christian life seriously, it's like going through tumultuous waters. Sometimes it's risky, sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it brings about fears and anguish, and sometimes there's some uncertainty that comes with serving God, but when we put our foot in the water of the Jordan River, we can rest assured that God will walk through it with us. And also we can say that we can claim this promise that when we go through the fire, right, God is also with us as well. And we obviously know that the result of serving God, the result of keeping God's commands, of living a godly life is that, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And persecution is often symbolically represented as what? Fire. And in fact, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, they're literally thrown in there as a form of persecution for their stance and their rejection of bowing down to the image. Let me read to you from First Peter chapter one, verse six. It says here, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. The word temptations can also be translated as tribulations, difficulties, right? Manifold meaning diverse. He's saying that you should rejoice, greatly rejoice because of these various difficulties and tribulations that you're suffering. Why? He says that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with what? Fire might be found into praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Let me read to you from First Peter chapter four, verse 12. Very familiar portions of scriptures here says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. What is the Bible saying? You know, as a Christian, when you serve God, when you read the Bible, you win souls to Christ, you're living a Christian life. The result of that is that you're gonna go through difficulties, persecutions, fiery trials, and you should never think to yourself, wow, that's weird. That's strange. Why am I suffering if I'm serving God? Why am I going through a hard time if I'm obeying the Lord? But here's the thing is that you're asking the wrong question, right? And in fact, you shouldn't even been asking a question. This should be something that you would expect that comes attached to serving God. Now, we don't wanna discourage anybody from serving God because of this, because with serving God comes what? Blessings. With serving God comes God's presence. With serving God comes manifold blessings and benefits and God's hand, so we much rather take that along with the persecutions, along with the suffering, whereas there's people out there that only have the suffering but they don't have God, right? So he's saying here that when you go through fiery trials because you're serving God, you should never think to yourself, oh man, that's weird, that's strange. You know, you should expect these things. And in fact, the Bible says, but rejoice. Inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering. You know, the Bible says that, the Bible tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, and that we are, you know, God made us to be conformed to the image of his son. Well, let me just explain something to you. The way he conforms you to his image is by putting you through fiery trials. Why? Because it says that when you go through fiery trials, you become partakers of Christ's suffering. You experience some of the tumultuous trials that Jesus Christ experienced as well. That's the fellowship of his suffering. He says, inasmuch as ye are partakers, in other words, you participating in Christ's suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. In other words, you know, when you go through persecutions, you go through mockings and trials and fiery trials through family members, friends, those who are the enemies of God. First of all, you shouldn't think it's strange that it's happening to you. Secondly, you should realize that you're participating in Christ's suffering, and thirdly, just realize when Christ returns, you're gonna be like, man, I'm gonna be rewarded for this, because it says there rejoice. You may be glad also with exceeding joy. You know, the people who are not gonna be glad is those who get saved and they never go to church. Those who get saved and they never serve God. Those who get saved and they never win people to Christ, they never obey God. They're gonna be ashamed before him at his coming. Whereas those who have dedicated their lives to actually serving God day in and day out, week in, week out, year in, year out, they're gonna be glad with exceeding joy at his presence. It says, if you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part, he is evil spoken of, but on your part, he is glorified. So in other words, if you're suffering for Christ's sake because of, you know, someone mocking you, giving you a hard time for being a Christian, for your beliefs, the Bible says that your disposition should be that of a happy person. Now, that's not easy, but with maturity, with years of experience, with years of going through trials, you can come to the conclusion, this is great. You know, if I'm suffering for my faith, if people are hating me because of my faith, because of my beliefs, I should be happy. Why? Because God is walking with me through the fire. He's walking with me through the waters, through the rivers, and through the fiery furnace as well. So we can see how this is applicable, obviously, first and foremost to Israel, because he literally did this for them in the Old Testament in a very literal manner through the Red Sea, through the Jordan River, through the fiery furnace, but those things were written aforetime for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. We're to take the spiritual application to this as New Testament Christians, because even though we're not gonna literally walk through a wall of water, we are gonna spiritually walk through tumultuous times that seems as though it's a wall of water, it's a river, it's a fire, okay? So again, these things are applicable to us. Let me continue reading here from 1 Peter. It says, but let none of you suffer as a murderer. So in other words, you know, you gotta essentially realize that not all suffering that you experience is because you're serving God. Sometimes you suffer because you're an idiot, because you're breaking the law, right? Because it says none of you should suffer as a murderer, meaning that there's suffering to people that Christians go through, but it's because they're doing wickedly. He says as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer, you know, you're like, well, I've never murdered, I never committed anything. Have you done any evil, right? An evildoer is just any type of evil. Or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. And so this is why trials are good for us because they help us to kind of reevaluate ourselves, right? You know, when you go through a difficult time, one of the first thoughts that you should have, I know there's one of the first thoughts that I have is like, am I right with God? Is God chastising me? Am I being punished for a specific sin? But after thorough evaluation of my heart, if there's no sin, then I know that I'm suffering for righteousness sake. And at that point, I rejoice. I'm not gonna be ashamed. I know I'm not gonna be let down because I'm suffering as a Christian. I'm being pruned by God through these difficult situations. Look at verse number three. He goes on to speak to Israel here. We're gonna make application to ourselves in just a bit. It says, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy one of Israel, thy savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou has been honorable and I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life. So what is he saying here? Basically that the Lord was willing to destroy nations to rescue Israel, right? And nations that were greater than Israel, Egypt and Assyria. He says there, Ethiopia and Seba, many of these nations who are far stronger than Israel, he was willing to destroy them. He says at the latter end, therefore, I give men for thee and people for thy life, essentially expressing how much he values Israel over all these other nations. And obviously the application could be this, that he wasn't necessarily willing to give nations for us, but he gave his only begotten son, right? The life of his only begotten son for us. Look at verse five. He says once again, fear not for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far, my daughters from the ends of the earth. Now what is he referring to here? Well, in a literal sense, he's addressing the fact that he's gonna bring back those who went into exile. People are going to the east, to the north, people who have been taken into captivity. He's giving them that promise, like I'm gonna bring you back from those foreign geographical locations one day. I'm gonna redeem you back from those people. So he specifically states that their seed would be gathered. And what does that imply? Basically saying like, you're probably gonna die over there, but your children I'm gonna bring back, right? And that happened in a literal way because even when Jeremiah's preaching to Judah, you know, he tells him, I know the thoughts that I think of you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. And he's referring to the fact that he's gonna bring them back. But he also tells the people there like, hey, make sure you build houses and plant vineyards and just get real comfortable there because you're gonna be there for a long time. In fact, 70 years. And obviously within the span of those 70 years, people die. They have children and then those children end up being the ones who come back. So the promise is to the seed that they will be returned from that exile, okay? It's a great promise. Now go to Matthew chapter eight, if you wouldn't, put your place there in Isaiah. Go to Matthew chapter eight. How would this apply to us as Christians? How could we apply this particular promise to us? Well, you know, if he's telling the children of Israel that he's gonna bring them one day from the east, from the west, from the north and from the south, you know, in a literal way, this actually happens at the rapture, right? When Jesus Christ returns, the trumpet is blown. What happens is the redeemed, those who are dead in Christ shall rise first and when we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them together in the clouds. And because God's people is composed of all nations who are believers in Christ, they're gonna come from the north, from the south, from the east and from the west, all gathered unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And in fact, look at Matthew chapter eight in verse number 11. He says, and I say unto you, this is Jesus speaking, that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the kingdom of heaven. And let's just throw this in for good measure. But the children of the kingdom, referring to the Jews, shall be cast out into outer darkness that shall be weeping in national teeth. And this is all in context of the Roman centurion because the Roman centurion is not part of Israel. He is what the Bible would consider to be a Gentile. And he has more faith in the Lord than the Israelites do. So God, the Lord Jesus Christ honors him. And he's like, you shouldn't be surprised because at the rapture, people are gonna be coming from the east and the west, the people that you hate, right? The people that they think are inferior to the Israelites, they're gonna come and they're gonna sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And then you guys are gonna be sitting outside because you don't have a wedding garment. And that outer darkness is referring to hell, okay? The children of the kingdom. So this is a promise that applies to New Testament believers via the rapture. You say, well, in Isaiah 43, he's addressing Israel. Well, there are Israelites that are gonna come from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south too, who are believers. There are Israelites that have gone through different parts of the world in the Old Testament. And they might have died in those geographical locations, but they will also be returned one day as well. I mean, think of Daniel, who spent basically his entire life in Babylon, right? He is an Israelite, he spent his whole life there, he died there, but the Bible tells us at the latter end of Daniel chapter 12, that in the last days, he shall stand in his lot. Referring to the fact that he shall also be redeemed from exile, so to speak, in its most literal way, because he's gonna be redeemed back to God, his body's gonna be redeemed back to God. Go back to Isaiah, if you wouldn't. Isaiah, so he's telling them, hey, I'm gonna redeem you, I'm gonna bring you back from the east, west, north and south, that applies to believers as well. Verse seven says, even everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him. And of course, he's literally addressing Israel, because he did call them by his name, but he's also called us, and we are also created for him for his glory. I mean, the Bible says we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Look at verse number eight. He says, bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is truth. Now, what is he referring to, or who is he referring to, when he addresses the blind and the deaf? Well, if you remember from last week in chapter 42, he talks about the blind and the deaf, and who are the blind and the deaf? The Israelites. Not because they're literally blind and deaf, but because they're spiritually blind and deaf. They're not willing to actually observe the law as though they're blind, and they're not willing to listen to the word of God when it's being preached unto them. So he's rebuking them for this. So in its context, he's still addressing the children of Israel. In fact, let me read to you from Isaiah 42. You can turn back if you'd like to. In verse 18, it says, hear ye deaf and look ye blind that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect and blind as the Lord's servant? Of course, he's addressing Israel there because they have rejected the word of God. So God wants his deaf and blind servants of Israel to testify of someone greater than him. He's like saying, bring someone who can testify of these former things, right? And he's like, bring their witnesses that you could be justified and say that it's true. He's like, if you know a God who is greater than the God of the Bible, bring them out and also bring witnesses to testify that that's true. And obviously, what's funny here is that he's saying, bring the blind so they can testify of what they see, right? And bring the deaf so they can testify of what they hear. He's basically making a mockery of them because of it. Now let's look at verse number 10 here. This is a very famous passage of scripture as brother Cody was reading this. I'm sure you thought to yourself, oh, I've heard this quoted a couple times by a false religion, right? Look at verse 10. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he, before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Now before I give the primary interpretation of this passage of scripture, let me explain the irony of this because if you have gone door to door or if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've heard Jehovah's Witnesses use this verse, right? They essentially use Isaiah 43 verse 10 as a proof text of why they call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. They're like, well, we're Jehovah's Witnesses because Isaiah 43, 10 says ye are my witnesses. I was like, oh, okay. Why don't you say so sooner? My servant whom I have chosen. So this is their text verse to prove that they are God's witnesses, Jehovah's Witnesses selected, chosen by God to go and proclaim the message of God and bring their stupid little magazine with cool drawings. That's one thing that Jehovah's Witnesses have. Their illustrations are on point, okay? But that's all, that's all on point, okay? When I was a kid, I used to get their magazines, they would leave their magazines and I don't even remember reading them, I just looked at the pictures. And so that's all they got going for them. But they got the watchtower and they're proclaiming the word of God and only 144,000 are going to heaven. But obviously the Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult, okay? And they do not represent biblical Christianity. Every single Jehovah's Witness is gonna go to hell, they don't believe in a right gospel, they pervert the deity of Jesus Christ. And in fact, one of the reasons why fundamental Baptists emphasize the divinity of Christ is in response to the Jehovah's Witnesses, right? Which by the way, we obviously understand the humanity of Christ is important to emphasize, but so is the divinity of Christ. Because you have a massive cult known as the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, of course, who are constantly perverting the divinity of Jesus Christ, claiming that he's not God, claiming that he's not divine, that he is a God, but not the son of God, making these ridiculous claims that he was crucified on a stake, which by the way, it's just like, how can you be crucified on a stake, right? He was on a stake and he is a God in just all this nonsensical doctrines that they come up with, but at the end of the day, this is their proof text to say, we are Jehovah's Witnesses because of Isaiah 43 and verse 10. And you know what? The next time I see a Jehovah's Witness, I'm gonna say, you're right. You are the witnesses of Isaiah 43, 10. I'll give you that. Why? Well, the irony of them claiming this is the fact that, you know, the witnesses of verse 10 are the blind and the deaf servants of verse eight and the blind and the deaf in chapter 42, verse 18. And so when he talks about you're my witnesses, this is not a commission from God to Israel. He's not saying like, oh, go be a witness unto me. He's saying, you're a witness of what I've done, is what he's saying, but he's addressing the deaf and the blind, those who have rejected the word of God. So it's very, you know, it actually fits the Jehovah's Witnesses because they claim to be Christians all the while completely rejecting the word of God. They are spiritually blind and deaf to the point where they not only hate the Bible, they completely pervert the Bible, which is why they have the New World Translation, a perversion of God's word. The only group of so-called Christians that use the New World Translation are Jehovah's Witnesses. Other sects of Christianity will use NIV, ESV, NASB, some even use KJV, even if they're not saved, but there's only one segment of Christianity that we know that we don't even consider to be Christianity, but they would consider themselves to be a part of that, are the Jehovah's Witnesses and they use the New World Translation and it's a horrible translation, right? It's terribly translated and so, you know, they are the blind and the deaf, they are those witnesses, but here's the thing, again, this is not saying, hey, you are my witnesses as though God is commissioning Israel to be a witness of God. He's saying, you've witnessed what I've done in the past. That's the context of what he's talking about here, okay? And of course, he says in verse 11, I, even I, am the Lord and beside me, there is no savior. Now, what's funny about that is that verse 10 is the passage that Jehovah's Witnesses use to prove why they're Jehovah's Witnesses and then the very next verse debunks one of their false doctrines because Jehovah God says, beside me, there is no savior, but yet we have the New Testament replete with statements that Jesus Christ is the savior, proving conclusively that Jesus Christ is Jehovah because these statements do not contradict, okay? You know, if God is saying, beside me, there is no savior, then Jesus comes and he is the savior, but hold on a second, God, I said beside you, I thought you said that beside you, there is no savior. No, there is no savior because Jesus Christ is God, okay? And we would even take it a step further and say he's Jehovah, which is 100% blasphemous to the Jehovah's Witness, but we don't care because they're stupid, deaf, and blind. They don't know what they're talking about, okay? They're completely unsaved and, you know, they're going to hell, right? Even if they don't believe in it. You say, well, you know, I know a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses that believe right on certain things. Whatever it is that they believe right, they have to put in there to kind of pass off their lie, right, and this is, here's a good marker to know if that religion is false is how many celebrities joined the Jehovah's Witnesses. A lot of celebrities are Jehovah's Witnesses. I mean, let's just two right off the bat. They will make you just completely stay away from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Michael Jackson, that filthy pedophile, and Prince. Bro, when those are your, they're like Jehovah's Witness. Oh, and by the way, I hate to break it to you Mexicans, but Selena too, which is one of the reasons why she died, okay, it is, because she refused the blood transfusion because Jehovah's Witnesses are against blood transfusions. You know, and by the way, Jehovah's Witnesses, to be a Jehovah's Witness must be boring as dust because you can't celebrate anything, you know? It's just, man. And so, you know, the Jehovah's Witnesses are a false religion, and it's crazy to even think that they would come up with this doctrine that Jesus Christ was not nailed to an actual crucifix, and they would claim that he was nailed to a stake since literally the history books are replete with the Roman Empire and their form of execution, which was a crucifix, that's where it comes from. The cross is from the Roman Empire, that's how they would execute people. It's through the crucifix, but they wanna like rewrite history and just be like, oh, there's nothing to see here, it was a stake. You say, why do they say that? Well, because they, you know, they take this verse where the Bible says that, cursed is he to hang up on a tree, and automatically assume, oh, because it's a tree, a tree stands upright, it must be a stake. But, you know, what the blind and deaf don't realize is that a cross is made of wood, it's made of tree, of a tree. So when it says, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, and it relates that to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, it's accurate, because a cross is made of a tree, okay? It's not that hard. But here, as I was mentioning, this verse isn't a passage of God commissioning witnesses, the Lord is actually rebuking Israel, because they, as a nation, have historically observed the works of God. He's like, you witnessed this. You know, the Bible talks about our fathers have told us, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us what great works you have done. You know, the nation of Israel throughout history has kept good records of what God has done, right? In their past. So they have this rich history of supernatural occurrences, they are the nation from which salvation comes from, God chose them to be the oracles of God, and bring the word of God to them, and wanted to use them as a light into the Gentiles, and in spite of that, they're like, serve false gods. So it's just like, you have no excuse, Israel, as to why you're serving false gods. You're the witnesses of the works of God in the Old Testament, okay? And so in spite of the fact that they've heard with their ears, their fathers have told them, in this particular current period, and even today, you know, they're still seeking out other false gods. So in other words, because they're the witnesses of the works of God, they're without excuse. That's what he's saying to them. Like, you have no excuse why I'm punishing, you know, why, you have no excuse as to why you deserve any mercy, you know better, you know about the God of the Bible, you had Moses, you had the prophets, you have a prophet prophesying on to you at this moment by the name of Isaiah, and in spite of all that, you still reject it. Now, how would that be applicable to us in the New Testament? Well, just as Israel was chosen by God to be a light into the world, God chose humanity to be saved through Jesus Christ, right? And he wants all men to be saved. And just as Israel was a witness of God, and therefore they are without excuse, in any like manner, humanity has the witness of God through creation, through their conscience, and through the written word, therefore, they are without excuse. Go to Romans chapter one, if you would. Romans chapter number one. Hold your place here in Isaiah. We obviously know that Romans one essentially chronicles how a person goes into reprobation, and at the end of the day, we can just summarize it and say the first step is a rejection of God leading to idolatry, leading to God giving them over to a reprobate mind, right? It says in verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. So it sounds to me that these reprobates, it's not like they didn't know the word of God. And in fact, it says here that they hold the word of God, which is the truth, in unrighteousness, meaning that they pervert the truth that's being given to them. He says in verse 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. What is it saying? It's saying that one of the witnesses of God, aside from the word of God itself, is creation itself, right? When human beings look at the world around them, the intricacies of the body, the intricacies of creation, when they look at the heavens and the handiwork of God, they obviously know innately, there's a creator. Now look, looking at the stars doesn't get you saved, right? I don't care what Ken Hovind said or whatever. Oh, the gospel was preached back then through the stars. I do a great Ken Hovind impression, by the way. See me after the service to hear it. You know, the gospel's not preached through the stars. The stars are the handiwork of God that cause us to realize there is a creator, right? And it says that it essentially expresses or demonstrates the eternal power of God and his Godhead, and therefore we are without excuse. So the little kid in the Congo in the jungle who's never had a missionary come to him and preach him the gospel, you know, if he grows up and he dies, he will go to hell. Because according to this verse, he's still without excuse because viewing creation, he should know better, and it should trigger him, it should invoke him to seek out the creator. So no one just, oh, but he doesn't have Christianity, and therefore that's why he's worshiping these false gods. Well, let me ask you this. How does he know how to worship? Everyone knows how to worship. Even if they don't have creation, innately they have a desire to worship. Well, guess what? The greatest thing to worship is the creator who created what he sees with his eyes. When he sees, you know, by the way, if you're in the Congo, even more so. We're surrounded by, we're in a concrete jungle. They're actually in the jungle in God's creation. That should cause him to seek out who made this. Not some serpent, not some false god. Folks, Bible's telling us here that the creation can be clearly seen, and it's a demonstration, it's a witness of his eternal power in Godhead. And look, you know, if someone dies and goes to hell in some remote area, that person deserves it. They deserve it. Oh, that's cold. They deserve it because they're sinners, first and foremost. And no one deserves eternal life, first and foremost. But secondly, they deserve it because of the fact that they viewed creation and didn't give credit to the creator. You know, they deserve it because in light of the magnificence of creation, they decided to reject God. And here's the thing, folks, is that if there's some dude on some remote part of the planet in the Amazon jungle, and they actually want to worship the God of the Bible in light of creation, God will send a missionary to them. God is not an unjust, my friends. The God of all the earth will do right. You know, he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He knows the hearts of men. He knows the inner recesses of the heart of the man who is looking up at the stars and says, there must be a God, but you know, I'm gonna worship the gods of my ancestors instead. That's what people do. Well, they didn't know better. No, according to this, they're without excuse. He says in verse 21, because that when they knew God, there you go, this isn't a knowing God as in they're saved. It means they know that God exists. They may not know his name is Jesus Christ, but they are at first base though. They're on the first base and they're like, I know that there is a greater God than all these other gods because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. So this is an intentional rejection of God. This is not accidental. This is not like, oh man, I'm just ignorant. Therefore I'm gonna worship a serpent. This is I know God, but I'm not gonna give him credit for this. And instead I'm not even thankful for this. And instead I'm gonna create a God of my own imagination. That's what it means when it says they became vain in their imagination. And then what happens, their foolish heart is darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Oh, we just have more knowledge of our ancestors. We're not polluted by the Western religion of Christianity, the white man's religion. And you know, we're way more wiser than these people who are being influenced by Christianity. No, according to the Bible, you're a fool. He says in verse 23, and change, meaning this is an intentional action, the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to a comfortable man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. So what is this telling us? You know, this is essentially the same path that the nation of Israel took. Because the Bible tells us that Israel became a reprobate nation. Reprobate silver, shall men call them, for the Lord has rejected them. How did that happen? Because they rejected the God of the Bible, even though they knew God, they were a witness of his works of times past, and that they chose to worship Moloch. They chose to worship Ashtaroth. They chose to worship Rem-fan. They chose to worship all these false gods, in spite of the fact that they actually had the witness, they witnessed the works of the true God of the Bible. But it's the same for everyone else on this planet. Everyone else who is, we may not be the witness of the Red Sea. We're not a witness of the Jordan River. We're not a witness of the fiery furnace, but we got all of creation though. Right? And we have our conscience telling us right and wrong, not when to keep the Sabbath, by the way, right? It's a moral situation. Go back to Isaiah 43. The application that I'm making here is that just that God has dealt with Israel kind of the way he's dealt with humanity, right? You know, if they rejected God, they're nothing special, they'll get it too. But obviously a lot of this is, there's an underlying spiritual application to all of humanity as well. He says in verse 12, I have declared, I have saved, and I have showed when there was no strange God among you, therefore ye are my witness to save the Lord that I am God. What he's saying here is that Israel witnessed the declarations of the past. He's seen that they've seen the salvation of the Lord, the fulfillment of those promises. And guess what? There was no God to take credit for it. Like when all these miraculous things happen, like Moloch wasn't there like, by the way, I did that. There's no prophet of Moloch coming and prophesying of things to come, prophesying of former things. God was like, I did it, because no one can stand up to the true God of the Bible. He's letting them have it. He's basically telling them like, you're without excuse, I've done so many, I've enriched your history as a nation with so many divine supernatural actions and exploits. There's no reason why you shouldn't like, accept me as your God. It's kind of sad. Verse 13 says, yay, before the day was, I am he. So before creation, he's talking about eternity past. He's like, you know, he's basically the I am that I am. And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work and who shall let it? I love that. He's saying, you know, first of all, he's from eternity past. No one can deliver anyone out of the judgment of God. And when he doesn't work, who's gonna, let means hinder, who's gonna hinder him? No one can hinder God. And there's no capital, lowercase G God who can match those works. Verse 14 says, thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to Babylon and have brought down all their nobles and the Chaldeans whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. So again, just continuing with his declaration of the works that he's done and that he will do. Look at verse 16 here. He says, thus saith the Lord, which maketh the way and the sea and the path and the mighty waters, which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power, they shall lie down together, they shall not rise, they are extinct, they are quenched as toad. What he's basically saying here is that, you know, God can create opportunities, but he could also create barriers. He can prosper your way, but he can also hinder your way. Because he says he makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, but then he also brings forth the chariot and the horse and the army and the power, right? He's basically saying like, I could be for you, I could be against you. And this is applicable to Israel, but it's also applicable to us. God can make us succeed, or he can make us fail. He can prosper our way, or he can just completely embarrass us if he wants to. And it's all contingent upon whether we're right with God or not, right? You know, like he says in Revelation 3, you know, he that openeth and no man shutteth, right? And shutteth and no man openeth. Like, he can open up doors of opportunities for you to succeed as a Christian, to succeed at your job, to succeed in your family, or he can close all those doors if he wants to. But it's based upon your obedience. Look at verse 18. Let's get some more application here to us. He says in verse 18, remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Now, that sounds like a contradiction, especially considering the fact that in the previous verses, he's like, you're my witnesses of the works of times past. Like, remember those things. But then he's telling them, don't remember those things. Don't remember the former things. Don't consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall you know of it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, a river in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls, because I give waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. So what is this referring to? Well, you know, Israel, though commanded to remember the works of God of old, are also the commanded not to necessarily remember or consider them in light of the future. In other words, you know, don't dwell on the past. It's gonna remember those things, but don't just remember those things. You need to look forward to the future as well, right? This is a great application, and this is something that I actually live by day in and day out of my life, because I am one who likes to, you know, I'm very nostalgic, and I love thinking back to the good memories of my childhood, good memories with people, and I like to think about previous successes, but I don't like to live there necessarily. Because what excites me more than the things that happened in the past are the potentials of the future, right? I love the fact that God did great and mighty works through me, through our church, in years past. I gotta be careful with this, you know what I mean? People might take that out of context. You know, maybe I should use my left hand instead. People might snapshot that, like pastors all over, emboldened by Elon Musk. You know, I like to think about those things of the past, but you know, at the end of the day, what excites me more is the fact that, of what the potential exploits can be in the future, what God can do in the future. And I think what God can do in the future is far greater than what he did in the past. It's an accumulative type of exploit that he does, right? It only gets better. You know, he saves the best for last. You get the good wine in the beginning, but then you get the best wine at the very end. So it just gets better with time. And so what he's telling them here is he's saying, look, you've seen great exploits with the water, the river, the furnace, oh, but forget those things, because I shall do a new thing. Now, that's awesome. You're like, a new thing? Like, man, he's gonna top the river? He's gonna top what he did at the Red Sea? He's gonna top the fiery furnace? And he's like, I will do a new thing. It shall spring forth. He says, shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Now, what is he referring to here? Well, when he talks about this new thing, in its most literal sense, of course, he's giving them hope of the fact that they're gonna return from the exile. And how this applies with the terminology about the wilderness, the way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, is that, you know, it's a long way from Babylon to Israel. There's no airplanes, you know? They're walking by foot back to Israel. And from Babylon to Israel is a desert in the wilderness. And what he's saying is like, I'm gonna make a path for you, though. So just as the Lord was with Israel, leading them through that Red Sea, leading them through the Jordan River, being with them in that fiery furnace, he's like, I'm gonna be with you when you go back home as well. I'll make a way. Because they're like, man, how do we get back home? He's like, well, the Lord will lead you. He's gonna make a way in the wilderness. And you know what? The wilderness and the desert dry. And they might think to themselves, will we even survive on the way back? And the answer is yes, because why? He's gonna create rivers in the desert. He's gonna provide for you along the way as well. You're like, oh man, but the wilderness and the desert, aren't there like mountain lions? Aren't there a bunch of beasts? Yeah, but it says here that the beast of the field shall honor me. In other words, he's gonna protect them also from, you know, the animals and, you know, because obviously there's dangerous stuff out there. Not everyone's like Brother Jose, he's just like, he's, you know, he's on this kick to kill a rattlesnake and stuff. There's people who actually are scared of rattlesnakes, okay? Myself included, all right? But you know, he's telling them, he's like, don't worry about the beast of the field. Don't worry if there's not any water. Don't worry if you don't find a path, I'll make a path for you. I'll provide the water for you. And I'll make sure the beast don't bother you either. That's some pretty awesome promises there, right? That's the new thing. A new work will be accomplished, okay? Now, what's the application that we can make to ourselves? Because he's given them this promise of bringing them back from the exile. He says he's gonna make a way for them. He's doing all these things. Well, you know, when you read verses 18 to 19, I hope it kind of triggers something in you about the New Testament, right? When you hear about the new thing, the thing that should come up, pop up in your mind is the what? The new heaven and the new earth, okay? So this is prophetic of the new heaven and the new earth as well. So it applies to Israel of yesteryear, but it also applies to us for the future. The command to not remember the former things and not to consider them is fulfilled when God wipes away our tears. Because in Revelation 21, you know, he talks about the fact when the new Jerusalem comes, the tabernacle comes, and we see the transfiguration of the earth, God changes the earth. He allows it to go through a specific change there. He also wipes away their tears, and the Bible says that they will not remember the former things. So, you know, just as Israel doesn't want to remember, he's telling them, don't remember all the bad stuff that happened, how I chastised you, and all the horrible atrocities that you experienced, right? With the Babylonians and the Assyrians. Well, in like manner, God's gonna wipe away our tears as well. We shall not remember the former things also, okay? And the waters in the wilderness, the rivers in the desert, pictures what? The river of life in Revelation 22, where he creates, you know, he has this river that flows from the mountain of God, and it goes through the trees of life in Revelation 22. And think about this, you know, the beast of the field honoring God as they're coming from Israel, or from Babylon to Israel, well, in like manner, the beast of the Lord will also honor the Lord in the new heaven, new earth, because they will experience a complete metamorphosis where they're no longer killing each other or human beings, right? The beast in the field to honor God represents the metamorphosis of the animal kingdom. They're also gonna experience the redemption of the Lord, because they will also experience that transfiguration, that transformation. And so you can see how that essentially pictures the new heaven and the new earth. He says in verse 21, This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. So the people who return from the exile are gonna give glory to God, they're gonna praise God, but in like manner, that's what we're gonna be doing for all of eternity, right? And you know, you see these stupid atheists out there, oh, God that wants praise for all of eternity sounds pretty narcissistic to me. But let's just be honest, though. Are they really gonna be saying that? Are you really making that video 1,000 years into hell? Right? They're gonna be asking for that river of water for someone to dip the tip of their finger in water and cool their tongue for they're tormented in that flame. And here's the thing is that, you know, people can, maybe even Christians can think like, wow, we're gonna be praising God for the rest of our, for all of eternity? Is that all we're gonna be doing? But I don't think you or I, I know that you or I have never seen something as beautiful as the Lord, right? And let's just, let's just throw a carnal illustration out there to help people understand. You know, and people, the young guys already know where I'm going with this, too. The single guy, should I say. You know, if a single guy just falls madly in love with a girl and they go through this really cringe state, you know what I mean, where they're just, that's all they think about? You know, that's all they really think about, right? And it's not necessary to think about their personality. They're not thinking, they're thinking about how they look, right? That's really what it is, let's just be honest. Can I get an amen? Don't be afraid, men. You know, when they first meet the girl, they're just like, wow, she's just so beautiful, she's just, she's, and you know, he'd just like to tell her that for the rest of her life. Because, you know, she is physically attractive, physically beautiful to him. Well, think about this, you know, and obviously, once you get married, you begin to mature, and yes, beauty fades sometimes because age sets in, and the love matures because at that point, it's not necessarily that you're attracted to the person, though you are, it's like now the relationship is a lot deeper, right? Like you get along with them, you love them, you do love their personality, you love their soul, you know, obviously it's different. But think about this, so that's a really carnal illustration but it does illustrate the point because for all of eternity, you think, how am I gonna be praising God for all of eternity? Well, because he's so beautiful, all you could probably talk about is how beautiful the Lord is, how magnificent he is, how glorious he is, that's all you're gonna want him to talk about for all of eternity. You're like, well, don't you get tired of that? Well, I mean, do single guys ever get tired during that stage of just talking about that one girl? Why do you guys keep looking at that one girl? Eyes up front, right here, okay? Stop making applications to someone specific in our church or something, all right? Point that I'm making here is that God is saying, I formed you for myself and he says, they shall show forth my praise because that's exactly what we're gonna be doing for all of eternity is praising God for his magnificence, his beauty, his glory. It's gonna be great. Look at verse 22. So that's the first section and I'm gonna breeze through this last section and this is the profanity of the redeemed. And so what's interesting here is that in verse 21, he says, this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. And when you think about the New Testament, who the people of God are in the New Testament, right? It talks about the chosen generation, the royal priesthood. He says that I've called them out of darkness into his marvelous light that they show forth his praise, referring to believers. Then it's in verse 22, but thou has not called upon me. So isn't there a distinction being made here? Because he says, this people have I formed for myself, but then in verse 22 says, but thou has not called upon me. So there's a difference here between the Israel who's believing in God, worshiping God, praising God, and then the Israel who's just not even calling upon the God of Jacob. He says, thou has not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou has been weary of me, O Israel. So the people in verse 21, they're not weary of God, they don't wanna praise God. The people in verse 22, they're weary of God, they don't wanna praise God. They don't wanna call upon him. So it's almost as if he's making a distinction between the chosen people of God and those who have not called upon God, those who are not saved, those who don't worship the God of the Bible. Now, this is something that's very prophetic and evident in the New Testament because in Romans 11, it talks about, let me read it to you from Romans 11, verse one, this is every dispensationalist's favorite verse, or should I say favorite sentence, not even the verse? I say then, had God cast away his people, God forbid, brother, amen, pray for Israel, amen. And then the verse just ends there, right? Like, Romans 11, verse one, the first half, is to dispensationalists what Matthew seven, verse one, is to liberal Christians. But he says, for I am also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. So why is he saying God forbid, as in God forbid that he's cast away his people? Well, because at the end of the day, the Apostle Paul, who's an Israelite of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, has not been cast away. But why? Because he's saved. He says, God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew, why ye not what the scripture saith of Elias, listen to this, how he maketh intercessions to God against Israel. So think about the distinction that's being made here. He said, God has not cast away his people, for I am an Israelite, but then he says, but think about how Elias prayed against Israel. What is he doing? He's making the distinction between believing Israel, which is Paul, and unbelieving Israel, who are the Jews of his day who don't believe in Jesus Christ. You know, he's making a distinction between the elect and those who are blind. Because those who receive the election according to grace are those who are just saved, whether they're Jew or Gentile and those who are blind are just unsaved Jews, okay? Now look at verse 23. So obviously that distinction is made there. It says, thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering or wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. He's basically saying like, you're not praising me, you're not worshiping me, you're not obeying the commandments of God to do these sacrifices. You know, you haven't even wearied me with these things the way you've wearied me with your sins. Verse 25 says, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance, let us plead together, declare thou that thou mayest be justified, and so on and so forth. So at the latter end, he's basically saying, you know, I'm doing all these things for you, I've done all these things for you, I'm gonna redeem you, I'm gonna bring you back from the exile, but yet in spite of all that, you're still not worshiping me. And this is a common theme throughout, not just Isaiah, but just the Old Testament with the major and minor prophets is that God, it seems like the relationship here has always been one-sided, where God has done so much for Israel, he's redeemed them, he's done great exploits for them, but they just persistently just reject him, they don't keep his commandments, they reject the word of the Lord, so he constantly has to kind of wipe out that generation, bring in their seed, who ends up believing on him, and then of course, the vicious cycle continues. And you know, obviously, we're in the New Testament now, and so Israel that's over there, they're not the people of God, but I guarantee you there are Jews that are saved, right? There's Jewish people who are saved, and I'm talking about Jewish, as in ethnically Jewish who are saved, regardless of where you stand on that. And at the end of the day, if a Jew actually comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, they become the people of God, right? They go from the second half of this chapter to the people of the first half who are actually praising God. And so what is the sermon this evening? The sermon is simply this, you know, let's be good stewards of what we've witnessed ourselves, because we've been focusing on what Israel's witnessed, but at the end of the day, even after salvation, to whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required. And we've been witnesses of great and mighty things that God has done in our personal lives and the lives of our church, and so in light of that, may that create faith in us to step out in faith and to obey the word of the Lord, because there's gonna come times when your faith is tested, personally and as a church, and you have to kind of rely and remember the works of God of the past, how God provided for you in the past, he protected you in the past, his presence was with you through the waters, through the rivers, through the fiery furnace. And then once you remember that, okay, now forget the former things before I do a new thing. God is gonna increase your faith once again, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for Isaiah 43 and the wonderful symbolic representations that we see there. May you help us to remember the former things when needed, but may they not be something of a crutch to us that we depend on where we are resting on our laurels or just living in the past. Help us to realize that you still do a new thing. And I pray you continue to do that in our lives, as a church, as individuals, and this year. We love you, we thank you, pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.