Isaiah 43:8-13
Isaiah 43, beginning of verse
eight. This is like a courtroom scene, and I think you’ll see
it as kind of the witnesses are gathered and the testimony is
required. This is God who says, bring out
the people who are blind yet have eyes, who are deaf yet have
ears. All the nations gather together,
all the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this
and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses
to prove them right and let them hear and say, it is true. 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. I, I am the Lord and besides
me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed. Then there was no strange, when
there was no strange God among you and you are my witnesses
declares the Lord and I am God. Also henceforth, I am he. There is none who can deliver
from my hand I work and who can turn it back. Amen. This is the word of our great
God for us. If we read Isaiah 17 and we think
of, I’m sorry, Acts chapter 17, like we did earlier, and we think
of Paul wandering and meandering through Athens and seeing all
the gods, you know, little temples, little stations, you know, all
sorts of things, and the oppression he felt, you might consider that
as you walk through this world, You begin to see all the household
gods, or all the gods that have popped up around the community.
Maybe for us it would be gods of the marketplace. It seems there are things that
we can’t live without, and so retail stores pop up, or they
put more channels on the television. You know, there’s more things
on the internet. And so maybe his life has shifted
a bit since the idols of Paul’s day. We can see that they are
all over the place. Maybe the God of education, that’s
a big one. Maybe the God of affluence, the
God of personal peace and comfort. All those things are all around
us. If you talk to people, they’ll say, oh yes, I’m spiritual. But
you wonder how many people really understand reality? How many
people really understand the world and everything in it? How
many understand that there is one true and living God? He made
the world. He made everything in it. There’s
a purpose to history, a purpose to life. There is meaning to
life. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life. There’s resurrection. There’s
hope. You wonder what is going on in
all kinds of people’s mind. In fact, One writer, in a catchy
way, titled his book called The Universe Next Door. And the idea
is this. You may be standing next to one
person and you have a Christian world and life view, but the
person living next to you or standing next to you lives in
their own universe of their mind. So he called his book The Universe
Next Door. Rather clever, I thought. But
there are all kinds of alternate universes, we might say, all
around us. And I think, sadly, Christians
have created alter universes as well, not the one that Moses
tells us of, not the one that Jesus preaches, not the one the
apostles and the epistles tell us about. But we’ve taken a little
Christianity, or we’ve taken a whole lot of the world and
sprinkled a little Christianity on it. And so just like in Israel’s
day, we could be probably accused and safely condemned for polytheism,
for mixing all kinds of religions with Christianity. And so remember,
as we’re making our way through, Isaiah yells at Israel and all
the other nations, 39 chapters, you’ve been doing bad things,
you’re going to get it. And then we turn to chapter 40 and he’s
being a little bit more kind and hopeful. Well, chapter 43,
so far, we’ve heard God, the Savior, is going to be with Israel
as they pass through the waters. But he wants to remind them of
their spiritual condition. And I think it’s a good challenge
to us to take stock, examine ourselves, see if we’re of the
faith, examine where we have true Christian beliefs, maybe
test some of our beliefs with the scripture and see if they
need to be tossed out. Remember the mantra of the Protestant
Reformation, we want to be reformed and always reforming. And so
as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ our Savior, as we read
our Bibles, there might be more things we need to thin out and
toss out and quit doing and maybe things we ought to believe and
start doing. And so this is a passage to remind
Israel of their spiritual condition. He says, as he gathers a court,
he says, bring out the people who are blind yet have eyes,
and who are deaf and yet have ears. This seems to be a common
theme in Isaiah. If you think back a couple of
chapters, he said the same thing. You’re spiritually blind, you’re
spiritually deaf, and you’re unable to bear witness to me,
Jesus. You know, sometimes we think
about how effective is the witness of the church? You know, a lot
of churches these days are like Disney, right? You got to go
in and be wowed and amazed and, What do people say? Oh, come
to my church. It’s the Church of Wow and Amazing. But what
if the world sees just simply changed people? They’ve met the
risen Savior. They sit under His Word. They’re
blessed by His Word. The Spirit’s at work in them.
And then you can be a faithful and effective witness. It doesn’t
have to be this massive program. It can just simply be grassroots.
You come to church, you get saved, you grow in grace, and you go
out on the places where God has called you. People say, who are
you? Where have you come from? And you say, I’m a Christian.
This is what Jesus does. He saves people. He washes them.
He makes them happy and holy and helpful people. But the case
for Israel, he says, you’re blind. You’ve got eyes. You’re deaf.
You’ve got ears. And he’s calling them in to be witnesses in a
courtroom. Now think about, you know, maybe
you watch police shows, crime shows, lawyer shows, they’re
all over the TV. a witness, you want them to be
credible, right? You bring in a witness, they
should be sort of expert as it were. We don’t bring in people
that can’t see or hear or tell the story straight, but that’s
what God is doing and he’s proving a point. The point is you’re
undiscerning, you are unspiritual. You have basically become salt
without saltiness. You become light without light. You’re actually darkness and
you are unable to bear witness. And so in verse nine, he talks
about how all the nations gather, all the peoples assemble, who
among them can declare this. And the this is all that God
has done and what he’s up to and who can show us the former
things. And the answer is nobody, because you’re unable to see,
you’re unable to hear. But he says, let them bring their
witnesses to prove them right. Let them hear and say it is true. And this is one of those cases,
we might call it a divine brow beating. Remember when Job goes
through, what, 36 miserable chapters? And if you’ve read through Job,
you’ve gone through 36 miserable chapters. And he’s got his three
friends. You know, Job, what did you do?
You must have done something, because only people that have
done wrong get it this bad. And Job’s miserable. He’s scratching
himself with broken pottery. He’s got the boils and the sufferings
and all the rest. And finally, he says, I think
I need to go toe-to-toe with God. And God goes toe-to-toe
with him and says, where were you when I created? Where were
you when I flung the stars? And it’s like a divine brow-beating,
you know, he’s just head-butting Job time after time. I’m God,
you’re not. I’m God, you’re weak, sinful,
boil-covered man. And this is another one of those,
what we might call a divine brow-beating. Hey, bear witness. Hey, tell
me what you see. Hey, tell me what you know. What
am I up to in Israel? What am I up to in Judah? Why
the Babylonian exile? What did you people do wrong?
And they can’t say, they cannot speak. Their witnesses are spiritually
unable to see and unable to hear. And so then God is going to reveal
in the rest of these verses who he is and why he is the trustworthy
one. He says, you are my witnesses,
you’re my servant whom I’ve chosen, so that you may know, believe,
and understand all the things about me. Remember this about
Israel, remember this about Jesus, and then also remember this about
us, you and I. We have been chosen by God to
be his witness to the ends of the earth. That’s the great commission,
that’s the church’s commission. Israel was chosen to be God’s
servant, to be God’s witness. And so the million dollar question
is, are we faithful witnesses? Are we credible witnesses? Can
we see spiritually? Can we hear spiritually? Do we
understand the times? Do we see the spiritual syncretism
that is all over the place? You know, what do we pick and
what do we choose for our heart to go after and to lay hold of? There’s all kinds of things. for two days this week, at least
Friday, Saturday, part of both days, I spent about six, seven
hours in the car. And I decided on a little experiment,
I would not turn anything on, no radio, no podcasts, no nothing. And it was kind of nice to ride
in silence. It’s kind of nice to not have
to hear something and not have my head jumbled just look at
the countryside, look at the snow, enjoy the quiet. And as soon as I came home, I
turned on the ball game because, you know, it’s my team. And it
just jumbled everything back up. But can we stop? Can we see? Can we hear? Can
we perceive what is taking place? I think a lot of Christians have
just assimilated into culture. But are we going against the
wind? Are we going uphill, upstream? Is the current and the headwind
hitting us in the face, or are we just cruising with it? Well, Israel had been cruising
with it, taking up all the other gods, all the other spiritual
things of the nations around. And God reminds them, I chose
you to be my servant. I chose you to be my witness.
You’re Israel. You’re my church. You’re my people.
Servants bear witness. And what’s the reason he chose
us? It was to three things, know, believe, and understand. These
are kind of coming to faith, coming to salvation words. We
have to acknowledge God to be God. We have to believe everything
there is that he tells us about himself and grow in that understanding.
But we have to fully acknowledge he is God and we are not. When
we ask our membership vows, I think the very first question is something
like, do you, believe in the triune God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit? Do we know, do we acknowledge
Him to be the one living and true God, but also believe, do
we have confidence in God? Though we’ve not seen Him, we
love Him, though we have not met him face to face. We have
faith in him. He’s the object of our faith.
We believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek
him, like Hebrews chapter 11 tells us. But do we understand
him? That’s the key. Do we perceive
him? Somebody was telling me yesterday,
I think over lunch at Presbyterian might have been Friday night
at supper. They were telling how they took a group of children
through. a list of words they ought to
know. And maybe the two in here that teach our kids Sunday school
Christian ed class, we ought to think about this, but they
were teaching kids the words that they hear in church all
the time, but may not know. And I thought, well, us big people
got that problem too, right? Things like propitiation. Things
like expiation. The preacher was even saying
that one lady in his church said, preacher, why are you telling
us all these big words? They’re not in my Bible. And he kind
of chuckled because she was a King Jameser. And he’s like, yeah,
propitiation is definitely in the King James. Expiation, definitely
in the King James. But we pass right over them,
right? We sing about Ebenezers and don’t
know what Ebenezers are, but we’re supposed to raise them,
right? And so it’s helpful to know these words, but it’s also
helpful to perceive the truth behind them. Otherwise, we are
spiritually deaf, spiritually blind. And so how does God reveal
himself? If we’re to know and believe
and understand that I am He, He gives a couple things. He
says, first of all, I’m the eternal God. Before me, no God was formed,
nor shall there be any After me, we say that God always has
been, God always will be. If you are into the gods of the
times of Israel, when Isaiah is writing, they would have these
pantheons of gods. And where did these gods come
from? Well, they came from other gods. So there had to be another
God to beget another God to beget another God. And so they have
all these, you know, hierarchies and pantheons of gods. And what
is God saying here? Simply, I am, there was none
before me. I eternally exist. And that’s why our creeds are
so helpful so that we can know and believe and understand who
God is. But before me, no God was formed, nor shall there be
any after me. That’s a pretty bold statement,
isn’t it? I am the only God, none before, none after, the
self-existence of our living and true God. And then he speaks
not only of his eternity, he speaks of his uniqueness in verse
11. He says, I am the Lord. And besides me, there is no savior. And isn’t that what the showdown
was with Israel and Egypt when Moses went to the Pharaohs every
time they did a trick? you know, they thought, well,
we can match God trick for trick. But as it progressed, you know,
their magic arts ceased to be able to do things. They couldn’t
fix the Nile. They couldn’t bring back the
dead. They couldn’t revive their firstborn. They couldn’t reverse
the plagues. And so God throughout the scriptures
always shows himself to be the one living and true God. Then
he has those showdowns with the idols. Remember Dagon, they put
the Ark of the Covenant that they Stole from Israel. They bring the Ark of the Covenant
and it goes into the temple of Dagon. And every morning they
come in to bring Dagon his breakfast. Kind of funny, isn’t it? And
Dagon is face down in front of the Ark and they prop him back
up. You know, probably get some bailing twine or something, some
invisible fishing line, tie him up to the wall. Next morning,
they’re bringing Dagon his breakfast back face down. Or how about
the showdown with Elijah and the Baals? And they’ve poured
water on the wood. They’ve dug a trench and a trough
filled up with water. And the fire comes down from
heaven and it consumes not only the offering, it consumes the
altar and it laps up the water. And what does God say to the
Baals? Oh, maybe your God’s off in the
restroom. Maybe your God’s off, you know,
tending to his personal needs, you know, because he’s not a
deity. Well, we have the eternal God who is unique. I am the Lord.
And besides me, there is no savior. We live in a world that is not
like the uniqueness of salvation through faith in Jesus. You know,
if you were to ask, if someone were to ask you, is there salvation
apart from Christ? And you said, no, people, they
cry, right? You’re unloving, you’re unmerciful,
you’re an exclusivist. They come up with all kinds of
names for you. And what are you supposed to say? Well, that’s
just what the Bible says, right? It’s what we’re told. It’s what
God says of himself. I am the Lord. Besides me, there
is no savior. And then he speaks of his faithfulness. Verse 12, I declared, I saved
and I proclaimed. When there was no strange God
among you, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord. God has spoken
to Israel. They’ve got the word. God has
spoken to Israel. They’ve got the law. God has
spoken to Israel. They’ve got all the prophets, the warnings.
God has saved them from Assyria. God is going to save them from
Babylon. God takes care of them by his
word, by his might, by his power. And that’s the thing that we’re
supposed to be able to see. So here’s a question. Do you
know true things about God? You know, you could answer some
Bible trivia. And maybe if you’re really feeling
good about yourself, you could pop out a catechism question
or answer. And you could pat yourself on
the back and say, boy, look at me, but do you understand it? Is it welling up in your heart?
Is it something that gets your juices flowing in the morning? I get to serve this God. I get
to be alive with the living and true God. God is faithful. He’s unique. He’s eternal. We
don’t want to be deaf. We don’t want to be blind, but
we want to recognize who he is, what he’s done and how that’s
a great thing for us. It finally ends in verse 13. He says, and also henceforth,
I am he, there is none who can deliver from my hand. I work
and who can, who can turn it back? Every Sunday we sing the
Gloria Patri, well not every Sunday, we skip it some. Every
Sunday we sing the doxology. But the Sundays we do sing the
Gloria Patri, which is usually first Sunday, we sing glory be
to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was
in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be world without men,
world without end, not world without men, that’d be bad. except
for the people that don’t like men, but world without end. Y’all heard a sermon a couple
of weeks ago, a month ago, Jesus Christ is the same today and
yesterday and forever. None can reverse God’s hand and
none can reverse God’s work. And so how would you fare If
you got brought into court to bear witness to God, could you
tell facts from the head or could you give testimony from the heart? That’s really the question, isn’t
it? Facts from the head or testimony from the heart, one who has truly
tasted and seen that God is good. That’s the challenge. And we have indeed tasted and
seen that God is good through Christ, our great Savior. Let’s
go to him now in prayer. Pray with me. Lord, as we think
about how great you are, eternal God, unique God, faithful God,
help us not to walk from this place tonight, having looked
in the mirror or even looked in the scripture and seen you,
but help us to remember and reflect on the blessings we have being
found as your children, your servants, your witnesses. We
pray in Christ’s great name. Amen.