Isaiah: Lesson 9

Overview

Five Themes from Isaiah 1–33

The opening third of Isaiah is held together by a handful of recurring convictions that the prophet returns to again and again. Because the people would not respond to his repeated call to repent, the Lord pressed the same message upon Isaiah's heart over and over. That raises a familiar question: are some sins worse than others? The answer is both yes and no. Every sin makes us unworthy of heaven and worthy of God's wrath; yet Scripture also distinguishes lesser and greater forms of evil. The good news is that the gospel addresses both.

1. God is the true King. From the throne-room vision of chapter 6 onward, Isaiah insists that the Lord reigns. Isaiah 32:1 promises, "A king will reign in righteousness," ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Verse 2 adds that godly leaders will be "like a hiding place from the wind…like the shade of a great rock in a weary land"—protecting and providing as God himself does. The pastoral application: the Lord is still on his throne. The world has been a mess since Eden and will be until Christ returns, but there is no maverick molecule in the universe.

2. God is present in the midst of his people. The temple on Zion was the unique place where God met his people, a foreshadowing of Emmanuel, "God with us." Isaiah sees beyond the earthly Jerusalem to the spiritual Jerusalem—the church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus declares, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The church is built not on a person but on the confession of who Christ is. God still calls and gathers his people today—not to a geographical location but through Word and Sacrament. That is why Scripture warns us not to neglect the assembly: it is where God feeds and sustains faith. To be pulled away from these means of grace is to begin to die spiritually.

3. God's presence is a two-edged sword. He is both merciful and just; because he is just, he hates sin and must punish it. Isaiah 33:14 asks, "Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?" Isaiah has been called the Romans of the Old Testament because, like Paul in Romans 1:18, he strips away every vestige of self-righteousness. The temptation in our own day is to remake God into an idol of mercy without justice, and to refashion the church's message into one about how wonderful we are. Scripture's assessment is bluntly different: we are sinners who, apart from Christ, stand only under righteous judgment.

4. God restores his repentant people. Isaiah 30:15 declares, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength," and Isaiah 33:24 promises that "the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity." Contrition and repentance are themselves gifts of God—he gives the sorrow, he turns the heart, he clothes us in what Luther called an "alien righteousness," the righteousness of Christ given to us in our baptism. The God who knows every thought, word, and deed sends a Savior to bear them all.

5. God's people are a witness to the nations. Isaiah 31:6 calls, "Turn back to him from whom people have deeply revolted," and chapter 33 summons both near and far to acknowledge the Lord's might. So the church witnesses, prays, and waits—but not in dread of judgment day. In baptism, judgment day has already come for us: we have died with Christ, been buried with him, and risen with him. God has marked us as his own. The last word over our lives is not death but life, and we wait for Christ's return in glory to gather his people home.

Transcript

Gracious Heavenly Father, with thankfulness in our hearts, we come to your house. 3s

For you have gathered us here. 7s

We thank you, Lord, for word and for sacrament and for how you send us forth, as proclaimers 11s

of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 17s

Blessed we pray now our study, equip us to bring you glory in Jesus' name. 20s

Amen. 26s

Well, last time we met, we examined chapters 28 and 30 of Isaiah, and we saw and reflected 28s

on the fact that Isaiah keeps preaching the same sermon over and over and over again, 36s

calling the people to repent. 43s

The people had not responded, and the Lord kept placing upon Isaiah's heart that same message 46s

to proclaim, of calling the people to repent. 53s

As we study that raised the question, are some sins worse than others? 57s

And the answer to that question is yes and no. 63s

No in the sense that every sin makes us unworthy of the beauty of heaven. 67s

Every sin makes us worthy of God's eternal divine wrath to be placed upon him. 76s

But also there is a yes to that where we see in Scripture that there are distinctions 84s

between lesser and greater forms of evil. 92s

So if someone asks you the question, are some sins worse than others, the response to 95s

give is well yes and no. 100s

But the good news is that the gospel applies to both the yes and also the no. 102s

We studied that chapter 30 that related the blessings that God gives to us as his children. 109s

And today what I'd like to do is complete here these first 33 chapters of Isaiah and do 117s

the first 1 to 33. 131s

You'll recall way back in the first lesson, we held together chapters 1 and 6. 133s

We held those together. 141s

Isaiah's vision, it said, was in the year that King Zaya died. 145s

We also saw that the vision that King high and lifted up. 151s

And we were reminded right from the very beginning that indeed God is the true King. 158s

That is a theme then that we see throughout the book of Isaiah that God is the true King. 167s

That theme keeps bouncing up and all over the place throughout the book of Isaiah. 180s

Let's go to Isaiah 32 verse 1. 188s

See a king will reign in righteousness and princes will rule with justice. 203s

That promise there of Isaiah 321 is ultimately filled, fulfilled in the king of kings and 213s

of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. 219s

And going on into verse 2 where it says, in princes will rule with justice, it says, each 223s

will be like a hiding place from the wind, the covert from the tempest, like streams of 228s

water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 234s

The leaders of God's people protect and they provide following the example of God himself. 240s

And so we see this theme then in Isaiah that God is the true God and what then is the application 250s

for us. The Lord is still on His throne. Despite all the difficulties and challenges that we see in 256s

the world, God is still on His throne. The world's amaz, the world's always been immense, right? 264s

Ever sees the fall in the garden of Eden. World's amaz and it will continue to be amaz, right? 271s

Until the day when the trumpet sounds and the Lord comes again. God is still on His throne. 279s

And every time we begin to wonder is the world spinning out of control, we have to remind ourselves 287s

by the grace of God a line that our she sprawled at theologian, reformed theologian would use, 293s

that there is no maverick molecule in the entire universe. There's no maverick molecule in the entire 300s

universe. If there's one maverick molecule in the universe, that means then that God is not God. 306s

And so as we see sin expressing itself in the world in which we live today as we reflect 312s

on the history of how sin is expressed as we reflect on the history of how sin will be expressed 319s

after us, we can also say God is still on the throne because he is the true king. That's the first 324s

theme that we saw over and over in chapters 1 to 33. The second theme that we have seen is that God 335s

is present in the myths of his people. God is present in the myths of his people. 347s

The temple that stood on Mount Zion, what was it? It was a unique place on earth. It was the gathering 364s

place where God met his people. They would come to worship. They would come to enjoy his presence. 372s

And as they are prophesied of a time in which God would dwell with us, Emmanuel, God with us. 382s

We'll sing that great advent him during Advent. Oh, come, come, Emmanuel. It's embedded beautifully 389s

in one of the choir anthems you're going to hear in the weeks ahead. 398s

And that fulfillment of God with us in Emmanuel, of course, was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Let's go to 403s

the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, 429s

an immovable tent whose stakes will never be pulled up, and none of whose ropes will be broken. 437s

God here allows Isaiah to see the spiritual Jerusalem, which is the church. 447s

Let's keep our finger here, but go over it in the Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. 456s

Matthew 16 verse 18. 463s

And let's go up into 13, get a little bit more context. 477s

Now, when Jesus came into the district of Cessaria, Philippi, he asked his disciples, 485s

who do people say the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, 490s

others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 494s

He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, 498s

you're the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, 504s

Simon, Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my Father, 510s

in heaven, and I tell you you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, 516s

and the gates of Haiti will not prevail against it. Remember, the church is not built upon a person, 522s

the church is built upon a confession. When Jesus turns and says upon this rock I will build the 529s

church. It is the rock of the confession of who Christ is. What he has done is a glorious, 536s

glorious gospel. And notice where it says, he says, I will build my church, and the gates of Haiti 545s

will not prevail against it. The church endures because it is God's church. 553s

And the church will endure to the end of time because God is in control of God's church. 563s

The church may get smaller. The church may get as one theologian, back in the, I think it was the 575s

70s, was saying eventually the church will get back to the New Testament church of house churches. 583s

That one will see the culture degenerate to such one will see false churches continue to arise 595s

where the gospel isn't preached. That the church will shrink even into house churches. Will that be, 604s

perhaps, perhaps, but will God always preserve his church? Absolutely. Will God always preserve his 612s

elect? Absolutely. Is God still on the throne? Absolutely. And will God always be present in the midst 619s

of his people? Absolutely. What's the application then for us of this theme that we have seen in Isaiah? 628s

The theme is where the application is, is that God still today calls and gathers his people around 640s

himself. He still does that. He's not tied to a geographical location, i.e. temple in Mount Zion, 648s

but he's tied to word and sacrament. Where is the church? The church is where the gospel is 657s

rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. That's where one finds the church. 667s

And God has tied himself to his means of grace, word and sacrament. That's how he touches us 674s

as he calls and gathers us together. You are here not by mistake this morning. You are here 685s

by the call and the action of God upon your life because God has something to give you 693s

word and sacrament. That's why the scriptures say, do not neglect the assembly one to another 701s

as is the habit of some. Why? Because this is where God feeds us. This is where God gathers us 709s

to give us word and sacrament and then to be sent forth. The tool of Satan is to pull one 717s

away from the assembling of the people where word and sacrament is given. Why? Because we can start 724s

to die. We can start to die in our faith. Because how is it? What do the means whereby God has 733s

tied himself to? He's tied himself to word and sacrament. So God gives faith, he sustains faith 740s

through word and sacrament. Pull away from the feeding and the faith can die. That's why God says, 747s

I command you to receive this. I command you to receive it, word and sacrament. God is still on his 761s

throne. He is still present amidst his people. The third theme that we have seen is that his presence 769s

is a two-edged sword. His presence is a two-edged sword. Our God is merciful. Our God is also a 783s

God of justice. He's merciful and also justice. Because he is a God of justice, that means that he 798s

hates sin and must punish it. So we see the mercy of God, but we also see the justice of God. 807s

They have God cannot wink at sin. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 33, verse 14. 816s

Isaiah 33, verse 14. 828s

The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless. 838s

Who among us can live with a devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames? 844s

See, that's the expression here of God's justice. Remember back in Isaiah 65, when Isaiah is given the 855s

vision of the throne room of God, and Isaiah's response is, woe is me, I'm lost, I am a man of 863s

unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, 871s

the Lord of hosts. There is one who is convicted of his sinfulness, and knows what he has seen, 878s

and he pronounces the woe upon him. So we've heard the word of woes here in these first 33 chapters. 887s

We've heard the words of woe against Judah in chapters 2 through 12. We've heard him repeat it as he 897s

proclaimed it to the, proclaimed the Gentile oracles in chapters 13 to 23. In chapters 24 to 27, 905s

we heard the woes coming upon the peoples of the whole earth because of the rebellion and sin and wickedness. 916s

The presence of God is a too-edged sword. That's why in our sinfulness we are tempted to 925s

create God into the image of the idol that we want him to be, which is a God of mercy and grace 933s

and no justice. Say, but when we do that, we're not taking into account the full breadth of how God 943s

reveals himself in his word. The temptation for us is to minimize sinfulness, to turn God into one 952s

who simply responds to our whims and desires, to turn the church here into a preaching of 965s

how wonderful you are and you can do anything you want to be. Now, who do we say that out? 978s

Who do we say you are so wonderful and you can do whatever it is you want? We say that of God, 988s

right? But the temptation for the church is to turn that into a message about us. 994s

We're all the sudden it becomes how wonderful we are and we can do whatever it is we want to do. 1002s

We deify ourselves. The justice of God drops off. We see him simply as gracious and merciful 1010s

and the proclamation that belongs to God then becomes turned into us. In reality, as we turn through 1021s

the pages of Scripture, God's assessment of us, it's pretty blunt, isn't it? And we realize 1028s

that we are sinners deserving of the wrath of Almighty God. It's a two-edged sword that we see 1040s

of His presence, gracious and merciful through Christ, but those apart from Christ are left 1048s

with simply the judgment, the right judgment upon sin. Isaiah has been called the letter of Romans 1057s

in the Old Testament because what we see in Isaiah is occurring exactly what call under the 1069s

inspiration of the Spirit rights and that is strip away any kind of vestige of self-righteousness. 1078s

You read through Romans and you realized that we do not save ourselves. 1085s

And God does not look upon us and say, my what a wonderful person you are, you're worthy of heaven. 1094s

No, you see all the stripping away of any kind of vestige of self-righteousness. 1100s

Let's go to Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 1, verse 18, 1109s

Romans 1, 18, 1131s

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness 1135s

of those who buy their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is 1141s

plain to them because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his 1147s

eternal power and divine nature invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through 1153s

the things he has made so they are without excuse. For though they knew God they did not honor 1159s

him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds 1166s

were darkened. For picking up in verse 28 of chapter 1, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge 1173s

God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done, they were filled 1181s

with every kind of wickedness evil covetous malice, full of envy murder strife to seat, 1188s

craftiness their gossip slanderers, God-haters, insolent haughty, boastful inventors of evil, 1195s

rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God's decree that those 1201s

who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others, 1208s

who practice them. It sounds like Isaiah doesn't it? Right? It's the same theme here. It's the 1215s

the two-edged sword. God is indeed merciful, but apart from Christ those who reject the Messiah 1224s

only receive then the alternative, which is His justice, justly expressed in judgment. 1231s

God's presence then, we see theme number three is a two-edged sword. Theme four that we have seen 1241s

is that God restores His repentant people. He restores His repentant people. 1249s

God restores the repentant people. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter 30. 1261s

Isaiah 30 verse 15. 1270s

For thus said the Lord God the Holy One of Israel, 1286s

In returning and rest you shall be saved in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. 1290s

God urges us to repent and He comforts us with the good news of our righteousness. 1300s

Remember Luther called it an alien righteousness. It's not a righteousness that comes from 1308s

ourselves. It is a righteousness outside of ourselves. It is the righteousness of Christ. 1313s

We're in our baptism. We're clothed with the righteous garment of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1320s

Go over to chapter 33 verse 24, please. 1326s

And no inhabitant will say, I'm sick. The people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity. 1337s

When you think of the grace of God, God gives us the gift of contrition, where we experience sorrow 1347s

for our sin. God gives us the gift of repentance. Remember what that word means repent means you're 1358s

going one direction in the turnaround and you go to the other. So the sorrow over our sins and 1366s

repentance are all a gift and He cleanses us. That is His gift to us. What grace that is is I talk 1372s

about in the sermon this morning. There is no one who knows each one of us better than God. 1385s

No one. He knows every thought, word and deed. And yet God that His incredible love and grace 1394s

sends the Savior to bear all of our sins, a thought, word and deed, what we've done, what we've 1402s

wadders of baptism, giving to us of an alien righteousness or righteousness that does not come from us 1414s

but comes from outside of us. That is incredible grace. Isn't that incredible grace. 1422s

I'm reminded way back in my first call. It was a person. The secretary said there's someone 1431s

one here wants to talk to a pastor, to talk to them. Their loved one had passed away, 1439s

and they wanted to know if we would do a service. The first thing that he said was, if there 1445s

is anybody ever worthy enough for heaven, it was, and then he filled in the name. Say. 1453s

And so what was the hope that he had, the hope was that his loved one, I think it was 1461s

his father, that his father here was good enough for the reality of heaven. It's kind of like 1467s

the old Egyptian understanding that you know, you weigh your good and your bad on the scale, 1475s

and as long as the good outweighs the bad that you're okay. And that's how in our sinfulness 1480s

we're tempted to think, right? When you look at the reality of what Scripture says about us, 1486s

as we are all sinners, the very condition of our sin, we deserve nothing but God's wrath and 1492s

condemnation. But God comes to us in the gospel and transforms our hearts of stone as our 1501s

confessional writing say. It transforms our hearts of stone where the gift of the end of sorrow 1508s

over sin, contrition, the gift of repentance becomes manifest in our life. And we see that that is 1515s

100% all of God's doing, all of God's doing. God restores his repentant people. The one we saw 1524s

God is the true King. Theme 2 that we saw in the first 33 chapters is he's present in the midst 1537s

of his people. What we've also seen in the first 33 chapters is that his presence is a two-edged 1544s

sword. We've also seen how God restores the repentant and that repentance is a gift that he gives. 1551s

And theme number five, number five that we have seen is that as God's people, we are to be 1562s

a witness to the nations, a witness to the nations. Let's go to Isaiah 31, verse 6. Isaiah 31, verse 6. 1569s

Turn back to him whom you've deeply portrayed, O people of Israel. Chapter 33, verse 13. 1591s

Here you who are far away what I've done and you who are near acknowledge my might. 1607s

That is the witness of the church to call people unto repentance, to proclaim the glorious gospel. 1616s

And so we witness and we pray and we wait. Right? We witness, we pray and we wait. 1625s

But we are not waiting for judgment day because as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have already 1636s

experienced judgment day. And when did we experience judgment day in our baptism? Right? 1643s

So we're not waiting for judgment day. We've already experienced the judgment. 1651s

We have died with Christ. We are we are buried with Christ in our baptism. God has placed his 1657s

mark of ownership on us. God has given us all the incredible gifts of the cross and the empty tomb. 1665s

And we are marked as belonging to him next hour. There's going to be a baptism. It's always a 1675s

powerful reminder, isn't it? Always a powerful reminder of what God does and and God's expression 1683s

of grace and the giving of grace to us. How we're washed in the in the gospel promises. 1691s

And you know, some kids will will scream their way into the kingdom. I was one of those. My parents 1701s

telling others others will will sleep their way, which is always a wonderful sermon because what 1706s

is the child do? Absolutely nothing. Right? Some of them do other things. You can fill in the blank 1715s

on that on what occurs in in baptism, which is just as reminder constantly of God's graciousness. 1723s

God's graciousness for us. Where God says, let the little children come unto me and do not 1732s

forbid them because to such as these belongs the kingdom of God and that that word there that 1740s

word there for child in Greek, it's babes and arms. That's that's little children. Where you see 1747s

an unbroken line in the history of the church from Pentecost to today of infant baptism. 1755s

Believer baptism didn't enter into the church until 1520. We then consider that 1520 when 1766s

a fellow by the name of Thomas Munzer interjected that and it was picked up much to the chagrin 1775s

of those that say, no, the gift belongs to children has always been that. When you look at the 1781s

early church, fathers, it's always his belonged to the children. That's where God's grace here. 1789s

That helps us to remember that it's not our doing. It's all the gift of God here. 1797s

And that's an incredible and powerful witness for us. That we witness, we pray and we wait, 1805s

but we're not waiting for judgment date because judgment date has already occurred in the waters 1811s

of baptism. We've been buried. God has put His mark of ownership upon us. And when Christ 1815s

arose from the tomb, we arose from the tomb. We arose from it. And God has the last word, 1823s

and that's not death. The last word is life. And so we await then the Lord's return in glory 1831s

to gather His people around the heavenly home. First 33 chapters of Isaiah, God's the true 1840s

king. He's present in the midst of His people. His presence is a two-edged sword. He restores 1849s

his repentant people. And God's people are a witness to all of the nations. 1856s

Well, there's no Sunday school next week Thanksgiving weekend. But the class, Pastor Maloneck 1865s

is going to resume December 3rd, her class, huh? Which is a fantastic title, I think, as some of 1872s

the more stranger portions of Scripture are examined. Just to give you a little roadmap of 1880s

what's ahead on December 10th will be the children's Christmas program in the Family Life Center. 1888s

And that'll be a beautiful witness to Christ. And then January 7th to 21, Pastor Maloneck is going 1898s

to lead a class on some of the Psalms with a glorious treasure that the Psalms are. And then on 1906s

January 28th, I'm going to be back. We're going to pick up where we left off. We're going to pick up 1913s

with Isaiah 34 and carry to the end of the book. So God's the blessing. We look forward to future 1917s

classes ahead, none next Sunday, but resuming then on December 3rd. Blessings. 1927s