I don't know whether you've ever done one of these things where you draw a line on a page and then you mark the significant points in your life.
! Most of us, I expect all of us would put down the year of our birth, wouldn't we? I guess that's pretty significant. If you're married, you'd probably put that down. If you graduated, you'd stick that on the page, you'd mark that, birth of your children and so on.
And one year that I would quickly mark down would be 1990. We moved house on that date and I was 14. We moved to a village about 5 miles away from where we were living and I swapped schools.
I'd made no secret to my parents in the run-up that I thought that moving house was a disastrous idea and didn't want to go.
However we did, and as you do as a 14-year-old boy, you make peace with it, don't you? And you think, well, it could have its benefits.
It could provide a fresh start. I hadn't worked particularly hard in school that year, which is normal, and I'd gone into some pretty bad friendships.
And so you imagine, don't you, a new start, a new year, and a new you. A blank canvas. A new me. A place where no one knows you, where you can kind of create for yourself a new image.
And you can behave as you want others to perceive you while we moved.
And I quickly discovered that the fresh start, the new me, well, it was all a bit of a pipe dream.
Even though my surroundings had changed, that didn't mean that I had changed.
And I remained the same young man I was at my old school.
With all the internal struggles or sins that I'd battled with there.
They didn't just disappear.
They'd just become the internal struggles and battles of a new place.
A change of address
had not produced in me
a change of heart.
It was by and large the same me
in a different location.
Well, that is really the message of Isaiah 48.
But at a much deeper level.
Isaiah chapter 48 serves as a summary
for chapters 40 to 47.
And Isaiah brings together
a number of the themes
that we've looked at in the last few weeks.
And he's wrapping up on this section
where God promises,
I will bring my people
out of exile.
I will bring them back from Babylon
to the city of God's Jerusalem.
And we saw last week
that that rescue was going to come through
the most unexpected individual,
a Persian pagan king called Cyrus.
Whom God referred to in chapter 45
shockingly as his Messiah.
As his anointed one.
As the one who would be appointed by God
to deliver them from Babylon.
And as we keep moving,
and the chapter before this one
in chapter 47,
God addresses the Babylonians.
To tell them that even though,
Babylonians,
you have been the agent of judgment
upon Israel.
That does not excuse how you live.
And God tells them in chapter 47,
in no uncertain terms,
Babylon, I will bring you down.
Your downfall in judgment
from your pride and your arrogance.
And how you've treated my people.
I will bring you down.
But then in chapter 48,
God addresses his people,
the Israelites.
Those who he's going to bring back
from Israel to Jerusalem.
And here's the bottom line
of what God wants them
to understand through this chapter.
And what he wants you and I
to understand through this chapter.
That a change of address
does not produce a change of heart.
A change of address
does not produce a change of heart.
And that is the conclusion
that we're going to move to
this morning.
And to do that,
we look at the condition
of the human heart
and the reason for God's patience
with the people.
And then lastly,
a glimpse of God's grace
that changes everything.
So first of all,
the condition of the human heart.
Several times through the chapter,
God calls on his people
to listen.
Verse 12
and verse 14.
But also right here
at the beginning of the chapter.
Specifically,
they've got to listen to him.
They haven't been listening.
So the first call to listen
comes in verse 1.
Hear this.
Listen, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and who come from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
For they call themselves
after the holy city
and stay themselves
on the God of Israel.
The Lord of hosts is his name.
And God says,
Listen to me.
Hear me.
And then he addresses them
in terms like the people
would have understood
in terms that they would have worn
as part of their national identity.
The honoured name of Israel.
The impeccable pedigree
of being in the line of Judah.
A true religious allegiance
by their oath.
A privileged citizenship
that they were very proud of.
A mighty God
on whom they could rely.
But right in the middle
of these glorious truths,
God says,
the end of verse 1,
but it's not really true, is it?
It's not really true.
You'd like to make
these proud claims,
but based on my current observations,
they are all without reality.
There's no genuineness
in what I've just described.
There's no righteousness,
people of God,
in how you're living.
For the Israelite,
all that language
was a facade.
So what was the reality?
Well, we're told
they're true condition
in verse 4 and verse 8.
Look at verse 4.
Because I know
that you are obstinate.
And your neck
is like iron sinew.
And your forehead
is brass.
Verse 8.
You've never heard,
you've never known.
From of old
your ear has not been opened.
For I knew
that you would surely
deal treacherously.
And that from before birth
you were called
a rebel.
That's the true picture
of the people of God.
That God was going
to deliver from Babylon
and shepherd home.
They were stubborn.
They were idolatrous.
And they were inattentive.
And they were uncomprehending
and treacherous
and rebellious.
It's quite a list
when you say.
The image of a neck
of iron
is pointing to
their utter self-confidence.
Their unwillingness
to submit to anyone
let alone God.
Their foreheads
of bronze.
Their hard-headed people
who are closed-minded
and they refuse
to listen.
And the accusation
of treachery
was particularly telling
because God had made
exactly the same
accusation about
pagan Assyria
back in chapter 42.
Well, in chapter 22.
God's point being
here was Israel
who had been called
by God
to demonstrate
a different path.
They'd been called
by God
to show a God-glorifying way.
And instead
they'd allowed
this world
to squeeze it
into its own mouth.
And God's
indictment of Israel
here is a reminder
to you and I
that lip service
means absolutely
nothing
to God
if our hearts
are devoted
to something else.
Past generations
would have hid
behind the facade
of denominational loyalty.
You know the labels.
I must be okay
with God
because I'm
a Methodist.
I must be okay
with God
because I'm a Baptist.
I'm a Presbyterian.
I'm an Anglican.
But no one plays
really those
denominational cards
anymore, do they?
But it doesn't mean
we don't like to still
play the same game.
It's just we've
changed the cards.
So some of us
know all the
Christian lingo,
don't we?
I'm saved.
I've been washed
by the blood.
I've been baptised.
I know the catechism.
I've had some
Christian experience.
I went on camp.
I went forward.
I prayed the prayer.
And it's a badge
of spiritual honour
or at best
fire insurance.
And for some
who play those cards,
God says to you,
I look at your heart.
And all those
proud things,
they've got no basis
in reality,
have they?
And actually,
I see the same
stubbornness and
idolatry and
rebellion and
treachery that I
saw in my people
Israel.
Your words
are a facade.
How bad was the
condition of an
Israelite's heart?
Well, look at
verses 5-7.
I declared them
to you from
abode.
Before they
came to pass,
I announced
them to you.
Lest you
should say,
my idol did
them,
my carved
image and
my metal
image commanded
them.
You've heard.
Now see all
this.
And will you
not declare it?
From this time
forth, I
announced you
new things,
hidden things
that you've
not known.
They are created
now, not long
ago.
Before today,
you've never
heard of them.
Lest you
should say,
behold, I
knew them.
Here's what
God is saying
here.
Do you
know why I
prophesied in
advance what
was going to
happen and
what I was
going to do?
Because if I
had not told
you ahead of
time what I
was going to
do in the
future, when
all those
things happened,
you would
have had the
gall to
attribute that
to your
idols.
And in the
future, you
would have
come along
and said,
yeah, I
knew that
was going
to happen.
In previous
chapters in
Isaiah, we've
seen God's
unique
ability to
predict the
future, to
expose the
deadness and
the blindness
of idols.
And now he
uses the
same deadness
to expose
the deadness
of his
people, such
as their
hearts.
Now all
that raises
an important
question.
Why then,
from chapter
40, has
God committed
himself to
deliver his
people from
exile in
Babylon when
he knows that
they are still
utterly
idolatrous?
Why has
he done
that?
They're
stubborn and
they're
rebellious.
They don't
merit this
rescue at
all.
Exile in
Babylon, it
hasn't
reformed them.
And so
they're still
committing the
same sins
that they
were committing
before they
went into
exile.
So why
does God
not wipe
his hands
of them and
forget them
and let
them rot
in Babylon?
Well, God
gives the
answer in
verses 9-11,
and it is a
shocking answer
to modern
people.
Look at
what it
says in
verses 9-11.
For my
name's sake,
for my
name's sake,
I defer
my anger.
For the
sake of
my praise,
I restrain
it for you,
that I may
not cut
you off.
Behold, I
have refined
you, but
not a
silver.
I have
tried you
in the
furnace of
affliction.
For my
own sake,
for my
own sake,
I do it.
For how
should my
name be
profaned?
My glory,
I will
not give
to another.
God
says,
the reason
I've not
wiped my
hands of
you,
the reason
I've not
given you
what you
deserve,
is for
the sake
of my
name.
For the
sake of
my praise,
for the
sake of
my glory.
And there
are a couple
of things
that we
really need
to consider
here.
The first
is we
actually
thought about
it a few
weeks ago,
but it's
so foreign
to our
way of
thinking,
we need
to think
about it
again.
Because when
you read
verses 9-11,
it's very
easy to
think,
isn't God
just being
a tad
egotistical
here?
Isn't God
being just
a little bit
self-sanguished,
a bit full
of himself,
a bit arrogant?
That everything
God does
is for
God's own
sake?
That everything
God does
is for
God's own
glory?
In every
group of
people,
there are
here I am
people,
and here you
are people.
You know
the here I
am people,
and they
say,
don't they,
that's enough
from me
about me,
what do
you think
about me?
And then
there are
you people.
People are
always focused
on the
other.
It's not
hard,
is it,
to work
out who
you'd
rather have
for lunch?
The here
I am
people,
or the here
you are
people.
Who would
you rather
have a
friend,
the here
I am
person,
or the
there you
are
person?
And as
you read
Isaiah 48,
9 to 11,
God does
come across
as a here
I am
person,
doesn't
he?
So why
is it
okay for
him to
be like
that,
and not
for us?
well the
simple answer
to that
is,
he is
God,
and you
are not
even though
you wish
you were.
Because God
created
everything,
God
created
everything,
and everything
redounds
in his
glory.
And you
might say,
well if he
defined the
purpose,
couldn't he
have defined
it in such
a way that
the glory
goes to
others?
Couldn't he
share that
glory?
Well he
could.
But if he
had, he
would have
been an
idolater.
That's where
we landed
a few weeks
ago.
God would
be telling
us that
there is
something
more
beautiful
in the
universe
than I
am,
but there
isn't.
God would
be saying
there is
something
more
satisfying
in the
world
than I
am,
but there
isn't.
God would
be suggesting
that there is
something
more splendid
and something
more perfect
and something
more righteous
and more
just.
But you
see there
isn't
anything
greater
than God.
He would
be proclaiming
that there is
something more
loving and
more passionate
and more
merciful and
more forgiving
than God,
but there
isn't.
God would
be saying
to anyone
else but
himself,
he would
be an
idolater.
Because he
would be
saying there
is something
more ultimate
than me.
And he
would be
lying.
As Isaiah
has been
telling us
over and
over again,
God says,
I am
God and
there is
no other.
God and
God
is
God's
demonstration
of
patience,
his
withholding
of
wrath,
as you
say here,
how does
that work
for the
glory of
his name?
How does
that delaying
of his
wrath for
the sake
of his
name and
glory,
how does
that work?
Well I
think we're
helped in
this by
going back
to another
passage earlier
on in the
Bible and
to know that
God has
been around
this block
before.
So keep
a pause
in Isaiah
48 and
come with
me to
Exodus
chapter 32.
Exodus
chapter 32.
I'll give
you the page
number.
Exodus
chapter 32.
If you've
got a black
Bible,
it's on
page 72.
And as
you turn
there,
let me
set the
scene a
little bit.
It's on
page 72
Exodus
32.
And the
situation in
this chapter
is that the
people of
Israel are
at the
bottom of
Mount Sinai
while Moses
is up at
the top
receiving the
law from
God.
And they
are a little
bit tired of
having to wait
for Moses to
come back down
from the
mountains.
So they
come up with
the bright
idea of
melting down
all their
jewellery and
crafting an
idol the
shape of a
calf to
worship.
The golden
calf.
And God
decides to
give Moses
advance warning
of what is
going on at
the base of
the mountain.
So we pick
it up in
Exodus
chapter 32
in verse
7.
the Lord
said to
Moses
go down
for your
people whom
you brought
out of the
land of
Egypt have
corrupted
themselves.
They have
turned aside
quickly out
of the way
that I
commanded
them.
They have
made for
themselves a
golden calf
and they have
worshipped it
and sacrificed
it and said
these are your
gods of Israel
who brought
you up out of
the land of
Egypt.
And the
Lord said to
Moses I have
seen this
people and
behold it is a
stiff necked
people.
Now therefore
let me alone
that my wrath
may burn hot
against them
that I may
consume them
in order that
I may make a
great nation
out of you
Moses.
But Moses
implored the
Lord his
God and
said O
Lord why
does your
wrath burn
hot against
your people
whom you
have brought
out of the
land of
Egypt with
great power
and with a
mighty hand?
Why should
the Egyptians
save them
with evil
intent to
bring them
out to
kill them
in the
mountains and
to consume
them from
the face of
the earth?
Turn from
your burning
anger and
relent from
this disaster
against your
people.
Remember
Abraham and
Isaac and
Israel your
servants whom
you swore by
your own
self and
said to
them I
will multiply
your offspring
as the
stars of
heaven and
all this
land that
I have
promised I
will give
to your
offspring and
they shall
inherit it
forever.
And the
Lord relented
from the
disaster that
he had spoken
of bringing
on his
people.
Now if
you look
carefully at
that section
all the
elements are
there.
Israel they
wanted to
attribute something
that God
had miraculously
done to
this golden
calf for
their idols.
And they're
bowing down to
the golden
calf and
they say
you brought
us out of
Egypt.
Why?
Because God
says they are
stiff necked
people.
They've got
necks of
iron.
But didn't
you hear in
Moses initial
appeal to
God what it
was based on?
Moses says
consider what
the Egyptians
are going to
say here.
He says
that God
your reputation
will be
tarnished and
the Egyptians
take on
events would
have been
completely
wrong.
So God
holds back
pouring out
his wrath
because he
will not
allow his
name to
be famed.
He has
made promises
to his
people and
he will
keep them.
And he
doesn't want
it to be
seen that
he will
not keep
them.
So whether
it's
defamation
by the
Egyptians
or defamation
by these
idolatrous
Israelites
God acts
to guard
his name.
And God
acts to
guard his
reputation
because he
says I
am God.
There is
only one
God and
there is
no other.
Now all
of this
leaves us
on a
sticky
wicket
doesn't
it?
Because of
our
predicament.
This is a
big predicament.
The human
heart, your
heart and
my heart
is idolatrous
and stubborn
and treacherous.
That is
God's words
not mine.
And for
the sake of
his glory
God says I
will delay
my wrath.
But it's
just a
delay.
It's just
a delay.
It means
his righteousness
and his
justice
demand that
his wrath
will at
some stage
be poured
out on
sin.
God
will
be
God
if he
did not
do that
he would
not be
just.
And that
sounds rather
ominous for
the Israelites
and it
sounds ominous
for us
too
because I've
got news
for you
and I
and the
news is
this that
you and
I are
no better
we are
no better
in our
natural
state
than the
Israelites
at the
bottom of
Mount
Sinai
than the
Israelites
in exile.
But in
this last
section we
get a
glimpse of
the
Greece
that
changes
everything.
Thirdly the
Greece that
changes
everything.
Look at
verses 17
to 19
and God
reveals with
the Israelites
their failure
to listen
and he
says your
failure to
listen only
harms you
because what
God was
teaching them
was best
for them
and how
God was
guiding them
was best
for them
but no they
closed up
their ears
to God
and consequently
they forfeited
the blessings
of the covenant
that God
made with
their father
Abraham.
And then in
verse 20
comes this
sudden
and abrupt
command
verse 20
go out
from Babylon
flee from
Coltia
declare this
with a
shout of
joy
proclaim it
set it out
to the ends
of the earth
they say the
Lord has
redeemed his
servant
Jacob
they did
not thirst
when he
led them
through the
desert
he made
water
flow from
the rock
and despite
the spiritual
condition of
their heart
despite what
they deserved
God is going
to summon
these rights
out of
Babylon
so the
summons
comes to
flee
but it's
flee with a
shout of
joy
not anguish
despite the
condition of
your hearts
God says
I will
provide for
you
on the
journey
through
the
wilderness
back to
Judah
just like
I provided
for your
forefathers
in the
wilderness
on their
way to
the promised
land
you're going
to get
thirsty
and you'll
have no
water
but it
will be
no problem
I'll get
water
out of
a rock
I did
it then
and I'll
do it
now
and he
says that
you need
to trust
me
completely
that I
will take
care of
you
on the
way
home
but it's
the last
phrase
isn't it
of the
chapter
that I
didn't
read
do you
see it
so shocking
isn't it
and often
when you
come to a
chapter
and you
see a
verse
that sticks
out like a
sore thumb
and it
doesn't seem
to fit
that is the
key to the
whole chapter
because after
everything we've
read in this
chapter it
seems really
bleak doesn't
it and then
verse 20
and 21
lift the
gloom
it's so
positive
it seems
like a
hopeful
journey
maybe
everything
will be
okay
after all
and happy
ever after
but to say
that we
just speak
too soon
because
verse 22
there is
no peace
there is
no peace
says the
Lord for
the wicked
there is
no peace
says the
Lord for
the wicked
what is
Isaiah
saying
Isaiah
is saying
that exchanging
a
Babylonian
postcode
for a
Jerusalem
postcode
is not
going to
fix your
heart
you're
still
inherently
wicked
and there
is no
peace
there is
no
shalom
there is
no
flourishing
for the
wicked
a change
of address
does not
produce a
change of
heart
and that
is so
fundamental
for you
children
and for
us
grownups
to
understand
about how
God
brings
change
in your
life
and in
my
life
how
does
God
transform
us
it is not
by some
mechanical
compliance
it is not
through some
external
force
you cannot
just rearrange
the furniture
of your life
or change
the circumstances
or mechanically
say right
I'm going to
be different
this morning
or force
yourself to
act in
another way
if you want
genuine
transformation
in your life
because it's not
the way that
God works
moving from
Babylon
to Jerusalem
never fixes
anything
idolatrous
stubborn
treacherous
hearts
deserve
the wrath
of God
and God
is delaying
his wrath
praise God
he delays
his wrath
but it is
only a delay
and the
wrath of
God
is coming
here end
of the
sermon
oh no
that's how
it ends
isn't it
verse 22
sit tight
the wrath
of God
is coming
but I want
to say to you
there's a great
glimmer of hope
here
verse 16
there's a glimmer
of grace
come here to me
draw near
come here
listen to this
listen
from the beginning
I have not spoken
in secret
from the time
it came to be
I came to be
and now the
Lord God
has sent
me
has sent
me
and his
spirit
now look
quietly
who is
speaking
who is
speaking
the Lord
is the one
who is
speaking
God
is speaking
in the first
part
he's calling
them
isn't he
he's been
calling to
them
to listen
all the way
through chapter
48
but then the
speaker changes
in verse 16
can you spot it
because now
someone is saying
the Lord
the sovereign
Lord
Yahweh
has sent
me
and the
question is
who's the
me
who's the
me here
could be
Isaiah
could be
Cyrus
but I
think
Isaiah
gives us
a very
strong
clue
that it's
neither
of those
and the
clue
is those
three
words
isn't it
and his
spirit
because we've
already seen
this connection
haven't we
in Isaiah
do you remember
Isaiah chapter 42
the first servant
song
here is
my servant
whom I
uphold
my chosen
one
in whom
I delight
and I
will
pour out
my spirit
on him
and he
will bring
justice
to the
nations
this is
in Isaiah
48
the servant
of the
Lord
speaking
at the
end
of
verse 16
Isaiah
gives you
a little
glimpse
a little
trailer
of what's
going to
dominate
the next
few
chapters
that we'll
look at
in the
next few
weeks
but from
Isaiah
42
we already
know
who this
servant
is
because
it is
Jesus
why would
Isaiah
in just a few
little words
in the middle
of this
chapter
introduce
a servant
like this
and the
reason is
because
he is
the only
hope
he is
the only
hope
for the
wicked
to have
peace
he's
your
only
hope
for you
to have
peace
we read
about
that
back in
Isaiah
chapter 9
do you
remember
that
he is
called
the
prince
of
peace
we sing
about it
and we
hear it
every
Christmas
don't we
do you
see what
he's
saying
a change
of heart
does not
come from
a change
of address
or a change
of your
circumstances
a change
of heart
comes through
the gift
of sheer
grace
a change
of heart
your heart
cannot be
changed
by mechanical
compliance
or external
force
or turning
over a new
leaf
it comes
through
an organic
change
through an
internal
dynamic
in our
lives
that the
bible
calls
grace
so that
while there
is no peace
for the
wicked
there is
only alienation
and wrath
and hostility
there is good
news here
and it is
good news
that projects
forward
hundreds of
years
to an
upper
room
in
Jerusalem
and the
first
encounter
with Jesus
with his
gathered
disciples
after he
died
and he
rose
again
and do you
know what
his very
first words
to his
disciples
were in
that room
do you
remember
what they
were
peace
be with
you
and the
disciples
they're hardly
hot stuff
are they
they've just
all
scattered
denied him
they are
sinners too
they are in
the wicked
category
they've blown
it like you
and I have
this week
they've abandoned
Jesus in his
time of need
how can they
have peace
if they are
wicked
and here is
what John
writes
immediately
after those
words of
Jesus
he said
peace to
them
he showed
them his
hands
and his
side
and the
disciples
were overjoyed
because they
had seen
the Lord
and Jesus
gives them
the evidence
of why peace
can be theirs
evidence now
not of words
but of scars
scars
from the
crucifixion
where the
servant
took our
alienation
where the
servant
of the
Lord
bore the
wrath
that was
no longer
delayed
but was
poured out
upon him
was unleashed
on him
so that you
and I
this morning
could have
peace
the servant
of the
Lord
bore the
penalty
that you
and I
deserve
because we
are idolaters
and we
are
stubborn
and I
am
treacherous
towards
God
but he
bore it
all
so that
you could
be forgiven
this morning
and that
you could
be restored
and here
is how
our hearts
are changed
they are
changed
by this
internal
dynamic
of God's
grace
where God
works
by his
love
by his
spirit
to say
here is
my love
for you
I sent
my servant
I sent
my son
to die
in your
place
and if
you will
take that
and if
you will
build your
life upon
that it
will change
you from
the inside
out
and what
will that
bring
it will
bring
peace
and shalom
in every
dimension
so that you
can flourish
in life
and in
eternity
and your
heart is
transformed
it's not a
change of
address that
produces a
change of
heart
it's a
gift of
grace
the grace
that comes
to us
through the
sacrificial
death of
his own
servant
Jesus
you know
that timeline
that I
started with
on that
timeline
for many
of you
you don't
have a
date in
your
timeline
do you
where you
can say
God
categorically
changed
my heart
and he
transferred
me from
a subject
of wrath
to a subject
of grace
there isn't
a date
where I
can point
to and say
that is
where that
happened
that's
fine
that's
normal
I'd
argue
for many
of you
here that
change felt
much more
like a
process
over time
and a
point
and all
of us on
our timeline
would mark
key turning
points that
God used
to bring
us to
trust in
Jesus
but I
want to
suggest
to you
as I
close
that there
is a
date
in the
timeline
of your
lives
I think
there is
one
date
that
matters
to God
more than
any other
date
more than
any other
date in your
life
and in my
life
and it
is today
it is
today
and God
is asking
you this
morning
are you
listening to
my word
today
are you
willing to
trust in
my provision
for you
today
it is where
we are
January
the 29th
2017
we will
worry about
tomorrow
when we
get to
tomorrow
but will
you do
this today
are you
looking to
Jesus
as your
only source
of peace
today
God asks
you are
you willing
to live
for my
renown
and my
glory
and my
praise
today
because
these are
the signs
of a
changed
heart
change
that comes
not through
the change
of an
address
or change
of circumstances
but only
through the
grace
the gift
of the
grace
of God
through
his
servant
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
that's
bow our
heads
and let us
pray
Thank you.