SUBJ: Living with the expectation
and desire of all that God can do and all that He has promised and
praying for the same.
AIM: That we may leave off being
intimidated by the things of this world and rather that we might rest in
the strength and accomplishments of our redeemer God.
INTR: We find the Gospel
throughout the book of Isaiah and rejoice to find an identity with the
revelations given to the prophet of old and even the ability to claim
the promises made then. 1. The setting of Isaiah’s prophecy is before
but in anticipation of the captivity, but reason of confidence is found
despite what is coming. 2. Our identity with this passage is twofold:
that this is the same God and Christ who came and that it is the same
salvation that we have received. 3. A third thought is that the
prayer of the prophet may be very well suited to the conditions in our
day and so we should so endeavor to call upon the Lord in the way he did
calling the Lord to what we know He is able to do and that would be to
His glory.
THESIS: There is,
and must remain, a desire for divine manifestation so as to cause the
world to see His power and His glory and we are to plead for it as they
did of old.
I. The cry of the prophet (vv. 9-11) 1. It is
obvious that Isaiah sensed the need while the people went about seeking
their own ways. 2. And so, he called to remembrance times of the
manifestation of the power of God and the glory that was seen by the
people. 1) Specifically, they would remember Egypt (Rahab) as a
picture of redemption and so should we. 2) Specifically, they would
remember Pharaoh (the dragon) and so 3) Satan with the various
personages with whom he had to do. 3. There was a sense of
forsakenness such as had been known at other times just before a
deliverance. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with
us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles
which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from
Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the
hands of the Midianites. Judges 6:13. 4. How does it seem to you
today? What do we see as an outcome? What shall we do? 5. The desire
for the glory of God and the salvation of the Lord’s people prevailed
and so the implication that the Lord was sleeping? 6. The appeal is
made to the Red Sea deliverance and its depiction as a picture of
salvation – “a way for the ransomed to pass over. 7. And in this way
the redeemed of the Lord return: 1) They will not come as
impoverished prisoners but with singing – The New Song of redemption.
2) They will come with joy on their heads – note references to crowns in
other places and 3) They will obtain joy and gladness continually –
sorrow and mourning cannot abide this.
II. The Response of the
Lord (vv. 12-14) 1. And we remember 1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry
unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her
sins. Isaiah 40:1-2. 2. A testing question from the Lord: “Who art
thou?” 1) That you should be afraid of a man who shall die or the
2) Son of man who is as the grass? 3) Implication: The Lord would
come into the world and suffer and die but then raise again never to die
again – and so they that are with Him. 3. That you should forget:
1) Thy maker – we know of our divine origin both naturally and
spiritually. 2) Who has stretched forth the heavens and laid the
foundations of the earth. 4. That you should fear the fury of the
oppressor – it is vanquished: And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:15. 5. The
exile shall be delivered from the pit (of sin and oppression) and he
shall not perish on the way back.
III. The assurance of salvation
(vv. 15-16) 1. The divine declaration goes thusly: I am the Lord thy
God and I divided the sea and will divide it for you as well. 2. I
have put my words in your mouth (that is the promises and assurances
given us in His word and fulfilled in the work of Christ and His cross
and resurrection). The promises are all “yea and amen in Him.” 3.
Covered with His hand and so protected from soul’s destruction: And he
hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he
hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
Isaiah 49:2. 4. The heavens are planted, and the foundations are laid
and 5. I say, “Thou art my people.” 6. Need we say more! Let us
cry as did the prophet.
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