WEBVTT 00:00:03.369 --> 00:00:06.355 Jesse Livermore was born in 1877. 00:00:06.355 --> 00:00:16.969 He was known as a very gifted child, reportedly able to read and write by the age of three and a half, and by the time he was five, he was reading the financial sections of the newspaper. 00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:20.364 Strange child, he was nicknamed. 00:00:20.364 --> 00:00:27.530 At the age of 14, he ran away from home and moved to Boston and put himself at work under a brokerage firm. 00:00:27.530 --> 00:00:30.647 He was nicknamed the Boy Plunger. 00:00:30.647 --> 00:00:38.390 He made a million dollars in one day in 1907, the equivalent of nearly $20 million in our day. 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:40.912 At the age of 29,. 00:00:41.774 --> 00:00:46.308 By shorting the market, his lifestyle began to match his success. 00:00:46.308 --> 00:00:49.750 He bought yachts and private rail cars and mansions. 00:00:49.750 --> 00:00:52.107 He joined elite clubs. 00:00:52.107 --> 00:00:54.228 He was in the top of society. 00:00:54.228 --> 00:00:56.399 He was a celebrity. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:05.745 He was a speculator that was admired and envied by all those who worked around and invested in the stock market. 00:01:05.745 --> 00:01:15.868 In 1924 and 1925, he made another $10 million trading wheat and corn, the equivalent of close to $200 million. 00:01:15.868 --> 00:01:31.069 In 1929, when the stock market crashed, while others were losing their life savings, livermore earned $100 million, nearly $2 billion. 00:01:32.951 --> 00:01:41.352 But the very system that he trusted, his instincts, his strategies, his brilliance would soon betray him. 00:01:41.352 --> 00:01:50.269 After the stock market crashed, new government regulations came in and shifted market dynamics, and all of that began to chip away at his confidence. 00:01:50.269 --> 00:01:59.040 He tried to adapt, but the foundation that he had built his fortune on, his financial acumen, became a source of instability. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:08.616 Once worshipped by the press, once envied by peers, Livermore spiraled into bankruptcy, depression and loneliness. 00:02:08.616 --> 00:02:16.674 And in 1940, at the age of 63, in Manhattan, he died by suicide. 00:02:16.674 --> 00:02:26.224 And he left a note behind that whispers some of his heartbreak my life has gone wrong, I am tired of fighting". 00:02:26.224 --> 00:02:27.901 And he died. 00:02:27.901 --> 00:02:38.828 Livermore trusted in something that dazzled him and dazzled the world, but ultimately it proved unable to bear the weight of his soul. 00:02:42.084 --> 00:02:43.288 A question for us to ponder. 00:02:43.288 --> 00:02:45.985 Where are we putting our trust today? 00:02:45.985 --> 00:02:48.407 Where are we investing ourselves in? 00:02:48.407 --> 00:02:52.580 Are we, like Livermore, trusting our instincts, trusting our intellect? 00:02:52.580 --> 00:03:06.212 Or are we trusting deeply in a relationship, a career, a routine, our possessions, those things that promise to us security or identity or happiness? 00:03:06.212 --> 00:03:10.389 Are they leaving you searching? 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:17.728 Still Too often, we chase after things that speak loudly for a moment, but they don't sustain us over the long term. 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:22.390 And Isaiah, chapter 44, meets us at the crossroads. 00:03:22.390 --> 00:03:48.241 It speaks to us not only about a sobering critique of idolatry, but also about a stunning promise of grace that comes to God, from God, to weary people, instead of casting us off in our folly, god in this chapter speaks tenderly and he says remember these things you are my servant, I have made you, I will not forget you. 00:03:48.241 --> 00:04:03.752 And Isaiah unveils for us God who doesn't compete for our attention with charm, but one who lays claim to our hearts with covenant love and with relentless intention to redeem and to forgive undeserving people. 00:04:03.752 --> 00:04:13.524 As we go through Isaiah, chapter 44, we're going to consider four movements in this section of scripture, beginning in verse 6, going down to verse 23. 00:04:13.524 --> 00:04:20.302 These invitations and these movements from God draw us in to remember that God made us. 00:04:20.302 --> 00:04:26.637 God knows us and God refuses to settle with us worshiping others. 00:04:26.637 --> 00:04:31.809 He desires for us to come to him, that we might find the fullness of his redemption and his forgiveness. 00:04:33.031 --> 00:04:37.206 In verses 6 to 8, we're going to discover that God will declare his unrivaled identity. 00:04:37.206 --> 00:04:40.821 I'm the first and the last he says there. 00:04:40.821 --> 00:04:47.593 Verses 9 to 20, he's going to expose the foolishness and the folly of idolatry. 00:04:47.593 --> 00:04:51.766 Verse 21, he's going to affirm his covenant love. 00:04:51.766 --> 00:04:55.723 And then the last two verses we'll look at verses 22 and 23,. 00:04:55.723 --> 00:04:59.232 God invites us to a response of worship and praise. 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:02.322 Let's begin in verse 6. 00:05:02.322 --> 00:05:11.968 We're going to see God declaring here his unrivaled identity as we step into this chapter that speaks a lot about idolatry. 00:05:11.968 --> 00:05:15.867 It doesn't start with critique, it starts with proclamation. 00:05:15.867 --> 00:05:23.658 The Lord draws a line in the sand of time itself and he declares himself as the first and the last. 00:05:23.658 --> 00:05:29.641 Declares himself as the first and the last Before we get into the section where he confronts the idols. 00:05:29.641 --> 00:05:40.334 He declares for us that he is the one and only true God and in rapid fire succession he describes himself in several ways. 00:05:40.334 --> 00:05:42.295 Let's take a look at this in verses six to eight. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.942 In verse six, he says that he is the only God. 00:05:47.942 --> 00:05:52.369 He says there there is no God but me. 00:05:52.369 --> 00:06:02.266 God declares that he's not one among many, maybe better than the others, but rather he is solitary. 00:06:02.266 --> 00:06:04.009 He is the only God. 00:06:04.009 --> 00:06:08.795 He is the singular, unshared, unbounded God. 00:06:08.795 --> 00:06:11.266 He doesn't compete with powers. 00:06:11.266 --> 00:06:20.192 In fact, he defines reality itself and he exists alone, without origin, without rival and without any dependency. 00:06:20.192 --> 00:06:33.295 And everything that we see and everything that is unseen depends on him, because by him and for him was it created and is it sustained, and to whom it is subjected. 00:06:33.295 --> 00:06:35.016 Because he is the sovereign Lord. 00:06:35.016 --> 00:06:42.432 He stands outside of time, and yet he's the one that made it and acts within it. 00:06:42.432 --> 00:06:47.187 He is infinite and yet intimately present. 00:06:47.187 --> 00:06:50.060 But that's not all he says. 00:06:50.401 --> 00:06:55.776 Like I said, in very rapid, bullet, firing succession, he offers these statements. 00:06:55.776 --> 00:07:06.499 He also tells us, in verse six, that he is the king and redeemer of Israel, his chosen people, and redeemer of Israel, his chosen people. 00:07:06.499 --> 00:07:13.983 He doesn't just define himself in this altogether otherly way, as the one and only God who is above all things. 00:07:13.983 --> 00:07:19.615 He also brings himself right down into the very lives of these people and says that he is their king and their redeemer. 00:07:19.615 --> 00:07:25.973 This infinite God, as I said a moment ago, is intimately related to people. 00:07:25.973 --> 00:07:27.886 He is personal. 00:07:27.886 --> 00:07:34.913 He also is, in verse 6, declared to be the Lord of hosts, the Lord of hosts. 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:51.387 Here, in this translation, it says the Lord of armies, and it declares himself to be the commander of all things seen and unseen, every single power that exists, whether it is in human form or unshapen spirits. 00:07:51.387 --> 00:07:55.074 He is the Lord and master of them all. 00:07:55.074 --> 00:07:58.783 He reigns over every dominion. 00:07:58.783 --> 00:08:03.634 Also in verse six, he is called the beginning and the end. 00:08:03.634 --> 00:08:09.156 Also in verse 6, he is called the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 00:08:09.156 --> 00:08:13.041 And here he declares his eternal nature and his exclusive divinity. 00:08:13.041 --> 00:08:32.799 God was in the beginning Genesis 1-1, and God will be at the end of time as well as he ushers the new heavens and the new earth into that eternity and he controls every single day between the two. 00:08:34.221 --> 00:08:45.052 A number of religions in this day of Isaiah's and a number of religions in our day envision history as recurring cycles, just moving from one cycle to another, and some people even see their own personal existence as going through one phase of a cycle to another. 00:08:45.052 --> 00:08:51.932 And some people even see their own personal existence as going through one phase of a cycle into another cycle of existence. 00:08:51.932 --> 00:08:57.832 But here, by this statement, the Lord says that he's the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 00:08:57.832 --> 00:09:07.159 He is abolishing that perspective and telling us that existence is linear, it has a beginning and it will have an end. 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:12.570 It's not just an endless cycle that goes over and over and over again. 00:09:14.072 --> 00:09:18.966 And then, if you look at verse eight, you'll see one more statement that he makes about himself. 00:09:18.966 --> 00:09:22.291 He says is there any other God beside me? 00:09:22.291 --> 00:09:24.995 There is no rock. 00:09:24.995 --> 00:09:28.582 I know not one. 00:09:28.582 --> 00:09:42.333 And God uses this metaphor of a rock to portray himself as matchlessly reliable, as faithful beyond any other thing, who upholds by his strength those who depend upon him. 00:09:42.333 --> 00:09:50.510 That's what we mean when we say God is our rock Reliable, faithful, dependable and strong. 00:09:50.510 --> 00:09:56.312 There's no other foundation that can bear the weight of eternity for us than Him. 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:08.143 This is how God introduces the subject of idolatry by pointing to Himself first, by giving these bullet markers for the people of Israel to remember who he is. 00:10:08.143 --> 00:10:26.431 And it calls to us to ask ourselves are the things that I'm trusting, the things that I've invested my life in, the things that I've hoped would bring me to places of security and safety and satisfaction, do they in any way compare to Him? 00:10:26.431 --> 00:10:41.643 My belief system, my identity, my achievements—are they hung on something more secure than this, than the living God? 00:10:41.643 --> 00:10:47.394 And if not, why are we trusting those things rather than Him? 00:10:47.394 --> 00:10:57.847 Only the Lord can speak with absolute clarity over time and in eternity, who can speak with absolute truth and purpose and design. 00:10:57.847 --> 00:11:09.711 And with that as a backdrop, god now launches into the most extended portion of this section by exposing the foolishness and futility of idolatry. 00:11:09.711 --> 00:11:18.408 Having established by these words his unmatched identity, he now turns the spotlight on the idols and claims our devotion. 00:11:19.552 --> 00:11:26.663 And what unfolds in these next several verses is not just a critique, it's biting satire. 00:11:26.663 --> 00:11:32.048 Isaiah peels back the illusion of idolatry. 00:11:32.048 --> 00:11:41.277 It invites us to laugh but then invites us to mourn because we too have been caught up in it. 00:11:41.277 --> 00:11:46.451 Let's see what he has to say about the foolishness of idolatry in verse 7. 00:11:46.451 --> 00:11:49.385 Who is like me? 00:11:49.385 --> 00:11:51.525 Who can announce the future? 00:11:51.525 --> 00:11:54.745 Let him say so and make a case before me. 00:11:54.745 --> 00:12:01.250 Since I've established an ancient people, let these gods declare the coming things and what will take place. 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:10.827 God throws down the gauntlet to these people who are serving idols and says Can any of them tell the future? 00:12:10.827 --> 00:12:18.243 Can one singular one speak about what's going to occur with any kind of definitiveness? 00:12:18.243 --> 00:12:26.455 And God puts up his ante with the challenge. 00:12:26.455 --> 00:12:28.803 He said here's what I'm going to do for you. 00:12:28.803 --> 00:12:44.721 And if you look at verse 28 at the end of this chapter, and if you look at verse 28 at the end of this chapter, the Lord says here well, let me back up just a verse. 00:12:44.721 --> 00:12:47.845 Who says to the depths of the sea be dry and I will dry up your rivers. 00:12:47.845 --> 00:12:52.748 Who says to Cyrus, my shepherd, he will fulfill all my pleasure. 00:12:52.748 --> 00:12:58.913 And say to Jerusalem she shall be rebuilt into the temple, its foundation will be laid. 00:12:59.854 --> 00:13:01.235 Verse one of the next chapter. 00:13:01.235 --> 00:13:12.947 The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed, whose right hand I've grasped to subdue kingdoms before him, to disarm kings to open doors before him and even city gates will not be shut. 00:13:12.947 --> 00:13:21.344 Kings to open doors before him and even city gates will not be shut. 00:13:21.344 --> 00:13:36.154 God names stunningly and uniquely in this place, a prophecy about a person and mentions his name that this is the man that God is going to raise up to set the exiles free, to rebuild the towns of Judah, to restore Jerusalem and its temple worship. 00:13:36.154 --> 00:13:41.765 This was a hundred years before Cyrus was even born. 00:13:41.765 --> 00:14:08.429 Cyrus, the Medo-Persian, did rise and brought the Babylonian empire to nothing, and we can read historical accounts of his rise and of his permission to the people of Jerusalem to return from captivity, out of Babylon, to go back to the land and, with his investments, restore the city and the temple. 00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:11.875 So the message is here is clear. 00:14:11.875 --> 00:14:21.110 God looks at the idols and says can you name a person a hundred years from now who's going to rise and do the things that I tell him to do? 00:14:21.110 --> 00:14:28.129 Of course not, and to drive home the foolishness of idolatry. 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:36.302 Isaiah digs deeper by ushering us into a couple workshops, each exposing the empty spectacle of man-made worship. 00:14:36.302 --> 00:14:42.081 And in verses 9 to 11, we see the first scene where an artisan is shaping a God in his own image. 00:14:42.081 --> 00:14:52.321 And it isn't the worship of a divine being, it's self-worship wrapped up in the cloak of religious devotion. 00:14:52.321 --> 00:15:00.106 In verses 9 to 11, we can see that All who make idols are nothing, and what they treasure benefits no one. 00:15:00.106 --> 00:15:06.410 Their witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame. 00:15:06.410 --> 00:15:08.952 Who makes a god or cast a metal idol? 00:15:08.952 --> 00:15:10.274 That benefits no one. 00:15:10.274 --> 00:15:13.517 Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame. 00:15:13.517 --> 00:15:14.636 The craftsmen are human. 00:15:14.636 --> 00:15:22.592 They will all assemble and stand. 00:15:22.592 --> 00:15:30.260 They'll all be startled and put to shame After they've made this idol. 00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:31.482 Verse 11 speaks of the foolishness of this activity. 00:15:31.482 --> 00:15:47.942 And if I could paraphrase verse 11, I would put it this way All the guildsmen have gathered and they stare in horror at this God that fails to even resemble them and, embarrassed, they hold a meeting, realizing that their creation is powerless it's nothing but a shapen hunk of metal. 00:15:47.942 --> 00:15:59.115 In verses 12 and 13, the iron worker labors in heat and grows exhausted as he forges a God who can't even quench his thirst or restore his strength. 00:15:59.115 --> 00:16:16.504 And Isaiah's point is sharp here If a man grows weary, making his God, he is making something that can't even deal with the weakness that he's exerted, the strength that he's exerted in order to make that God. 00:16:16.504 --> 00:16:24.662 How can this thing that was created exert any other power if it can't even take care of the craftsman himself? 00:16:26.844 --> 00:16:32.250 And then it takes us into another workshop the woodmaker, the woodworker. 00:16:32.250 --> 00:16:52.410 In this scene he speaks and talks about a person spending a lot of time and effort, gathering a lot of intelligence and knowledge in order to acquire the best materials possible in order to form another idol. 00:16:52.410 --> 00:16:53.754 Take a look at verse 13. 00:16:53.754 --> 00:17:05.188 The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus, he shapes it with chisels, he outlines it with a compass, he makes it according to human form, like a beautiful person to dwell in a temple. 00:17:05.188 --> 00:17:07.488 He cuts down cedars for his use. 00:17:07.488 --> 00:17:12.169 Or takes a cypress or an oak, he lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. 00:17:12.169 --> 00:17:15.824 He plants a laurel and the rain makes it grow. 00:17:15.864 --> 00:17:25.244 So here's a person with skill and precision, carefully selecting the right materials, fashioning it with acquired artistry. 00:17:25.244 --> 00:17:27.308 And what does he do? 00:17:27.308 --> 00:17:33.547 He takes this piece of wood and he cuts it up into different sections. 00:17:33.547 --> 00:17:52.130 Part of it he burns in a fire to warm his body, part of it he sticks under his food to cook his meal, and then part of it he fashions and then bows down to it as if it possessed some divine presence. 00:17:52.130 --> 00:18:01.730 The same wood that would sustain their life by way of food and warmth is now bowed down to as if it were divine. 00:18:01.730 --> 00:18:22.371 And the irony of Isaiah here is biting and chilling this man rising up and exerting his strength to bow down to something that's connected to the things that simply cooked his food and warmed his flesh. 00:18:25.401 --> 00:18:31.053 You see, idolatry is not just irrational, it's an inversion of God's created design. 00:18:31.053 --> 00:18:54.109 In the book of Genesis, in chapter one, in verse 27, it said that God formed Adam and Eve in his own image, and so the living God endued humanity with all the dignity of his person and secured humanity to live in reflection of his glorious person as we lived out our life here on earth. 00:18:54.109 --> 00:19:11.988 And it's so degraded in this position that there's a man who's created in the very image of God is now taking a hunk of wood and fashioning it out so that it might look like His person, and it's not dignity at all. 00:19:11.988 --> 00:19:14.166 It's disturbing, and it's not dignity at all. 00:19:14.166 --> 00:19:15.471 It's disturbing and it's degrading. 00:19:15.471 --> 00:19:21.250 Here was once a mind that was designed to pursue the truth. 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:22.073 Who is God? 00:19:22.073 --> 00:19:42.484 Who's now been dulled by iniquity and repetition and religious habit until it comes to the place of absolute assertivity, and its devotion is nothing but a degrading step downward, and downward, and downward. 00:19:42.505 --> 00:19:45.351 But Isaiah isn't here just to condemn idolatry. 00:19:45.351 --> 00:20:06.183 He demolishes its logic, invites us to see its shame, but he wants us to remember who he is, who God is, the one true God who never grows weary, who never needs refreshment, who never springs from the leftovers of the wood that we use to cook our food with. 00:20:06.183 --> 00:20:12.275 And so, in verses 18 to 20, he moves to the futility of idolatry. 00:20:12.275 --> 00:20:14.859 He moves to the futility of idolatry. 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:16.221 The tone changes here. 00:20:16.221 --> 00:20:24.054 Isaiah started with vivid satire and he stripped idolatry of any pretense that it's not divine, it's actually absurd. 00:20:24.054 --> 00:20:34.380 But now the tone sobers and Isaiah's voice softens. 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:46.373 God is not laughing here anymore, he's grieving, and the idolater, who was once the subject of satire, is now the object of sorrow. 00:20:46.373 --> 00:21:05.530 And the prophet invites us to stop whatever laughter we might have had witnessing the foolishness of idolatry and begin to start weeping ourselves over the tragedy that this is Because the reason why people are caught up in idolatry has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence. 00:21:06.380 --> 00:21:09.410 It has nothing to do with being caught up in superstition. 00:21:09.410 --> 00:21:13.451 It's all about spiritual bondage and darkness. 00:21:13.451 --> 00:21:18.943 Superstition, it's all about spiritual bondage and darkness. 00:21:18.943 --> 00:21:21.148 The soul is lost in a fog so thick that even the light seems foreign to them. 00:21:21.148 --> 00:21:22.291 Take a look at verse 18. 00:21:22.291 --> 00:21:30.813 Such people do not comprehend and cannot understand. 00:21:30.813 --> 00:21:35.867 You see, this person is more than just uninformed. 00:21:35.867 --> 00:21:37.792 They're spiritually blind. 00:21:37.792 --> 00:21:42.886 Their ability to reason has been judged. 00:21:42.886 --> 00:21:47.375 Their eyes don't see and their ears don't stir. 00:21:47.375 --> 00:21:53.932 And they can't even look at what they're doing and capture the absurdity of it all. 00:21:53.932 --> 00:21:57.749 They can't even recognize the emptiness of it. 00:21:57.749 --> 00:22:05.294 They're driven to do it because their delusion runs deep into them. 00:22:06.381 --> 00:22:11.252 And in verse 19, the idolater can't even ask a question. 00:22:11.252 --> 00:22:11.876 No one comes to his senses. 00:22:11.876 --> 00:22:12.618 Idolater can't even ask a question. 00:22:12.618 --> 00:22:13.760 No one comes to his senses. 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:19.212 No one has the perception or the insight to say I burned half of it in the fire. 00:22:19.212 --> 00:22:23.392 I also baked it on its coals, I roasted meat and ate. 00:22:23.392 --> 00:22:27.769 Should I make something detestable with the rest of it? 00:22:27.769 --> 00:22:30.788 Should I bow down to a block of wood? 00:22:35.342 --> 00:22:47.907 This soul has been reshaped by its blindness, so much so that its reasoning is silenced, its reflection is impossible and its repentance is out of reach. 00:22:47.907 --> 00:22:54.368 In verse 20, he feeds on ashes. 00:22:54.368 --> 00:23:03.749 His deceived mind has led him astray and he cannot rescue himself or say isn't there a lie in my right hand? 00:23:03.749 --> 00:23:10.131 You see, this deception is not just strong, it's total. 00:23:10.131 --> 00:23:17.820 The worshiper isn't just holding on to a lie, the lie is holding on to the idolater. 00:23:17.820 --> 00:23:22.568 And Isaiah laments over this. 00:23:22.568 --> 00:23:27.134 This is not laughter and mockery, this is weeping. 00:23:27.134 --> 00:23:32.423 What about the degradation of the human race? 00:23:32.423 --> 00:23:40.596 To chase after empty things like this and think that they might be able to sustain us or help us or give us hope? 00:23:40.596 --> 00:23:47.308 But this isn't about ancient idols, is it? 00:23:47.308 --> 00:23:52.759 This is a human story that plays out every day, even in our day. 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.106 This is a human story that plays out every day, even in our day. 00:23:56.227 --> 00:23:58.692 We don't craft our idols out of wood. 00:23:58.692 --> 00:24:07.018 We curate them. 00:24:07.018 --> 00:24:36.071 On Instagram, celebrities and influencers become the objects of our near religious devotion and we pour out our time, our emotion and money to become one of them, or to get close to one of them, and our proximity, thinking that our proximity to that sort of fame might offer some identity or worth to us, but there's no deliverance there, there's no power there, or perhaps it's the pursuit of a career, and Americans, we are bad about this. 00:24:36.071 --> 00:24:43.001 One of the first questions you meet somebody that's new to you what do you do? 00:24:43.001 --> 00:24:55.175 Why is it that one of the first things we ask about a person is what their job is, instead of learning about where they were born, what kind of family they grew up in, what kind of things they like to be or to do? 00:24:55.175 --> 00:25:01.222 We ask this question what do you do? 00:25:01.222 --> 00:25:05.692 Because our identities are wrapped up in our careers. 00:25:05.692 --> 00:25:12.576 As Americans, we build our entire lives around that achievement, believing it's going to satisfy our soul. 00:25:12.576 --> 00:25:20.733 But once you get into the day-to-day work of a job, burnout, layoffs and retirement are in your future. 00:25:20.733 --> 00:25:44.445 It's an idol that proves to be nothing but a bitter taste in the mouth at the end, and a lot of people die shortly after they retire because they've invested themselves so much in their identity at work that they're cut off, adrift from any kind of life of satisfaction afterwards, and within six months, most people who retire are gone. 00:25:47.712 --> 00:26:02.386 Materialism, designer brands, new tech, luxury comforts Boy, if I just get the next iPhone, not remembering? 00:26:02.386 --> 00:26:09.451 A year ago you were saying the same thing about the previous generation that you're just happy to turn in now? 00:26:09.451 --> 00:26:19.369 What about those belief systems that we hear raging around in newspapers and social media? 00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:43.654 Customized ideologies that are meant to justify our choices, to reinforce our desires, to affirm our self-image the way we would want it to be crafted, the way we would want it to be crafted, and they all work until they don't, until they crash in, until it exposes the cracks. 00:26:43.654 --> 00:26:45.740 It can no longer hold us up. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:51.434 Addiction and escapism, whether it's substances or pornography or binging entertainment. 00:26:51.434 --> 00:26:55.201 The promise is relief, but the results are chains. 00:26:55.201 --> 00:27:02.042 Isaiah's language here is fitting feeding on ashes. 00:27:02.042 --> 00:27:08.541 What about a spirituality that's divorced from God's truth? 00:27:08.541 --> 00:27:28.766 When people chase peace, they like to have a good vibe, energy, they'd like to have the favor of the universe, and so they develop an ideology or a religion in which all of it might come into some sort of harmony with them and the universe, but the orbit is themselves and not the Savior. 00:27:30.635 --> 00:27:39.390 The things that they believe offer transcendence, but they leave them also empty, because they're not built upon the truth of who God is. 00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:54.403 And like the people that worship the golden calf, when Moses was on Mount Sinai making an idol, they gave up their treasures, they melted them down, they shaped an idol with trembling hands. 00:27:54.403 --> 00:28:03.656 So we too melt our time, we melt our talents and we melt our treasures down and invest them in things that can never satisfy us. 00:28:03.656 --> 00:28:10.209 We craft idols that look like our longings but can never fill them. 00:28:10.209 --> 00:28:29.338 And once we've shaped them, we bow down to them, but we can't rise the same, because every time we bow down to those idols, we are drawn deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into the deception that will trap our soul. 00:28:29.338 --> 00:28:38.171 So much so that, he says, the deceived mind has been led astray and he cannot rescue himself. 00:28:38.171 --> 00:28:42.339 And we've forgotten how to ask. 00:28:42.339 --> 00:28:45.106 Isn't there a lie in my right hand? 00:28:45.106 --> 00:28:53.769 Like Gollum with the ring, that object that we desire warps our souls. 00:28:58.436 --> 00:28:59.741 Isaiah is making a plea here. 00:28:59.741 --> 00:29:07.409 He is telling us don't wait until you start eating the ashes of your false hopes. 00:29:07.409 --> 00:29:21.363 Awaken now, before you get so entrapped by the things that you're pursuing that you won't even be able to see a way out, or perhaps even want one until it's too late. 00:29:21.363 --> 00:29:27.017 Ask yourself now is there not a lie in my hand? 00:29:27.017 --> 00:29:29.039 Why am I trusting this? 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:33.847 But God doesn't stop there. 00:29:33.887 --> 00:29:45.602 Wonderfully, he started by speaking about who he is by revealing His unrivaled identity to us and exposing the foolishness and folly of this idolatry. 00:29:45.602 --> 00:29:48.778 But then he affirms His covenant love, in verse 21. 00:29:48.778 --> 00:29:50.979 Remarkable again. 00:29:50.979 --> 00:29:57.065 Remember these things, jacob, in Israel, for you are my servant. 00:29:57.065 --> 00:29:58.547 I formed you. 00:29:58.547 --> 00:30:04.181 You are my servant, israel, you will never be forgotten by me. 00:30:04.181 --> 00:30:26.218 Just as the satire exposed the folly and foolishness of idolatry and moved us into the morning shame of recognition that we too have bowed down to things that can't satisfy, god now interrupts with tenderness and His tone warms to us. 00:30:26.218 --> 00:30:39.356 Remember these things you are my servant, I will not forget you are my servant, I will not forget you. 00:30:39.376 --> 00:30:45.769 Even though Israel had gone after these false gods of iron and wood, god's final word to them is not rejection, but a call to remember him and to return to him. 00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:52.207 And he calls to them not because God has forgotten them, but they've forgotten him. 00:30:52.207 --> 00:31:08.825 And here he makes this covenant affirmation that, as we see as we go through the rest of this part of Isaiah, finds its fulfillment in the one who will never forget us but bears our iniquity, and that is the servant, jesus Christ. 00:31:08.825 --> 00:31:12.938 You see, christ is the servant that Israel failed to be. 00:31:12.938 --> 00:31:18.348 He's not just recalling the covenant, but fulfilling it on our behalf. 00:31:19.434 --> 00:31:44.076 And Isaiah will speak in foreshadowing songs, in chapters 49 to 53, about a Messiah who will carry the forgotten and restore the exile and redeem the weary, and he will be able to say about that one true servant, I will never forget you. 00:31:44.076 --> 00:31:51.057 And these words are prophecies speaking forward, about a Christ and his ministry who seeks the lost and welcomes the outcasts and carries the cross to those who are spiritually forgetful. 00:31:51.057 --> 00:32:03.606 Jesus is the rock the idols cannot imitate, and Jesus is the servant that Israel never did become, and he is the Redeemer who will never forget. 00:32:03.606 --> 00:32:09.807 And so he ends with an invitation in verses 22 and 23. 00:32:09.807 --> 00:32:16.747 I've swept away your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist. 00:32:16.747 --> 00:32:20.481 Return to me, for I've redeemed you. 00:32:20.481 --> 00:32:24.154 Rejoice heavens, for the Lord has acted. 00:32:24.154 --> 00:32:34.226 Shout depths of earth break out into singing mountains, forests and every tree in it, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorifies himself through Israel. 00:32:36.468 --> 00:32:47.499 Like I said, there are four movements to this section of scripture and it moves again into a place of jubilant praise and song, and it's as if creation cannot hold back its voice. 00:32:47.499 --> 00:32:52.545 Sing for joy, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob. 00:32:52.545 --> 00:32:59.713 We find here an eruption of hearts, set free in creation unshackled. 00:32:59.713 --> 00:33:00.595 Why? 00:33:00.595 --> 00:33:06.928 Because God is a redeeming God who forgives iniquity In verse 22. 00:33:06.928 --> 00:33:13.307 This isn't a call back to just being a monotheistic Jew. 00:33:13.307 --> 00:33:16.775 This isn't a call back to faithful idol worship. 00:33:16.775 --> 00:33:22.587 This is not a call back to giving away all the other idols that they might possess. 00:33:22.587 --> 00:33:29.347 This is a call to praise in the recognition that God forgives sinful people. 00:33:33.196 --> 00:33:38.443 His forgiveness is emphasized here and it's put in such a picturesque way. 00:33:38.443 --> 00:34:00.281 It talks about His forgiveness as if it's lifting off like a cloud in a mist that's rising, and when the heat of the day rises in these valleys and that mist evaporates and it's not seen again for the rest of the day, the Lord is saying that is how your sins are going to be. 00:34:00.281 --> 00:34:12.728 The morning mist of your iniquity and sin that had locked you into the deep valleys of delusion I'm going to wipe away so you'll be able to see with clarity for the rest of your life. 00:34:12.728 --> 00:34:22.583 And this is why, in verse 23, sing O heavens, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob. 00:34:22.583 --> 00:34:27.827 This redemption is not just personal, it's cosmic. 00:34:27.827 --> 00:34:56.949 The creation here is called to join the redemption song the heavens, the depths, the mountains, the trees, the exiles hearing this, recognizing that the skies are growing brighter and the trees are spared from idol worship, and the whole chaos of human life, and the effect of the fall on all creation is now dissipating, because the Lord has done it, not man. 00:34:56.949 --> 00:35:07.190 And so here we have, again a prophecy of a day in which even creation itself will be able to sing of the redemption that God is bringing. 00:35:08.556 --> 00:35:14.007 This is more than just an announcement about the people in Babylon being called back to Jerusalem. 00:35:14.007 --> 00:35:18.161 This is more than just Cyrus freeing Israel from there. 00:35:18.161 --> 00:35:21.972 This is about Jesus freeing the souls from sin. 00:35:21.972 --> 00:35:26.563 This is about his cross as the true declaration of our forgiveness. 00:35:26.563 --> 00:35:43.717 And the heavens are singing, not just because the exile in Babylon has ended, but because the servant has redeemed a new heaven and a new earth, and one day it'll be able to sing, just as Romans 8 tells us that the creation is groaning for this Redeemer. 00:35:43.717 --> 00:35:58.557 And the creation eagerly awaits with anticipation for the sons of God to be revealed, so that it might be set free from the bondage to decay and into the glorious freedom of God's children. 00:35:58.557 --> 00:36:03.887 On that day, creation will sing with unfettered voice. 00:36:03.887 --> 00:36:07.436 On that day, sin will be no more. 00:36:07.436 --> 00:36:16.811 On that day, the mist and fog of deception and deceit because of disobedience will be forever gone. 00:36:18.894 --> 00:36:35.208 You see, isaiah 44 is not just some theological treatise, very coldly, very systematically, very matter-of-factly, simply telling us about who God is in distinction from the idols. 00:36:35.208 --> 00:37:07.708 What he's doing is trying to reorient our soul, to turn away from those things that are not going to satisfy, that are not going to fulfill, that are not going to be able to cover our guilt, but to reorient ourself to a God who is, yes, grand and glorious, but also good and merciful, because the glory of God outshines every rival and idolatry is not just wrong, it's wearisome and tragic and incapable of saving. 00:37:07.708 --> 00:37:15.105 But God doesn't leave us as the object of ridicule, he makes us the object of His redemption. 00:37:15.105 --> 00:37:31.646 And he doesn't just redeem us, he also rejoices over us when we return, and so these words may they ring in our hearts, return to me, for I have redeemed you. 00:37:33.775 --> 00:37:41.443 If you're here this morning and you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you don't need to serve those things that are exhausting you. 00:37:41.443 --> 00:37:49.929 You don't need to give yourself any longer to those things that hold you to you no life, or eternal hope or help. 00:37:49.929 --> 00:38:08.536 There's a Redeemer here who knows your name, like he knew jacob's name, and he invites you to return, to come to him, and he offers true peace, not just for life, but for eternity, through jesus christ. 00:38:08.536 --> 00:38:22.751 You see, christ is the first and the last, the servant who carries our shame, the rock who bears our eternal soul and the Redeemer who will forgive us and restore us. 00:38:24.615 --> 00:38:40.887 And if you're here this morning as a believer, may we be reminded of who our God is and may the seducing spirits that call for our allegiances in this world be shut out, so that we could always say I trust in the first and the last. 00:38:40.887 --> 00:38:44.724 I trust in the one, the only one, who is. 00:38:44.724 --> 00:38:50.675 I trust in him who holds time in his hand and me throughout eternity. 00:38:50.675 --> 00:38:58.518 I trust in the one who is my rock, my defense, my shield, my security, my safety, my hope. 00:38:58.518 --> 00:39:07.557 And may you not be caught up in those whispering words that the world offers, telling you that there's something better if you just turn away from him. 00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:09.400 Let's pray together. 00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:29.548 Father, we're so grateful that you're a God who is, as you are, grand and glorious in your person and yet also gracious beyond our ability to describe. 00:39:29.548 --> 00:39:41.969 Where we would look at ourselves and, in light of who you are, understand that there's no hope for us to be simply left the consequences of our darkness. 00:39:41.969 --> 00:39:44.282 But you've not done that. 00:39:44.282 --> 00:40:16.106 You have come to us and committed once again to undeserving people, that you're a God who restores, who receives, who redeems, father, I pray that this morning there'll be those who will come to you by faith in Christ and find you a receiving, redeeming Lord, and, for those of us who know you, that we might be more resolved in our commitment to you, who is the living God, and we pray this in Christ's name Amen.