Isaiah 44 on page 604 and 5.
We shop in Liddle.
I popped in there yesterday afternoon.
I was trying to get some raspberries.
!
You can go down the aisle.
You can pick what you want.
Liddle of an imitation for everything, don't they?
Whether it's granola or Weetabix or crunching that cornflakes.
There's all sorts of varieties.
Something for everyone.
And the Assyrians and the Babylonians in Isaiah's day,
they didn't have supermarkets.
But if they did have the equivalent of Liddle,
they would be jam-packed, not with breakfast seagulls,
but with gods.
And with deities.
That would be available for your worship.
You get a different god depending on your circumstance,
depending on your need,
depending on your mood.
You could choose from all sorts of numerous gods.
And that would bring you what you're looking for.
And that aisle in the Babylonian and Assyrian supermarket
would have been crammed full of people all the time.
It would have been on the left as you went in,
the kind of prime spot.
Because everyone in Isaiah's day was looking for a god.
Or gods.
And here was the big challenge for the prophet of the Lord Isaiah.
Because as he is right,
whom God had redeemed,
whom God had taken as his whole people,
from all the peoples of the earth,
as God's people looked at the Assyrians and the Babylonians,
as they looked at those people who come in and conquered them,
they looked at those people and they got the impression
that maybe there was something about this idolatry gig after all.
Maybe it wasn't that bad.
I mean,
look at the Assyrians.
And look at the Babylonians.
They're rich.
They're sophisticated.
They live in nice houses.
That's got to have something to do with the power of their god, hasn't it?
So it just seemed absurd to the conquered Israelites.
Those who'd been defeated by these people,
who'd been dragged off into exile,
to maintain that their god was supreme over all the other gods.
And these gods of the conquerors,
your gods are nothing.
When they compared their lifestyle
to the lifestyle of those other people,
it seems point away from the supremacy of the Lord God of Israel.
Well, if you were with us last term,
you will know that Isaiah has got something that's near
for being his body on the theme of idolatry.
It keeps coming back again and again.
And in chapter 40 to 48,
that is his main concern.
And what he keeps reminding the Israelites
is not very complicated at all.
The message is pretty straightforward.
It's a bit like when President Calvin Coolidge
came home from church one day.
And the story goes that his wife asked him,
what was the sin about?
And Coolidge grumpily said he spoke about sin.
His wife asked him,
what did he say about sin?
And Coolidge replied,
he said he was against it.
And that is pretty much the message of Isaiah here.
That God and idolatry,
God is against it.
Now we can all go home at this point and finish,
but there's lots more to dig into.
You and I need to understand
why God is so opposed to idolatry.
And the reason why that is so important for you today
in the 21st century
is you and I find ourselves
constantly facing the same kind of temptation
as the Israelites.
And that temptation goes far beyond
the wooden statues that we read about
in today's passage.
Here's how Tim Callow to find an idol.
He's got an excellent little book
called Counterfeit Gods.
And in that book he says,
An idol is anything more important to you than God.
Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination
more than God.
Anything you seek to give you
what only God can give you.
And so when we understand that,
you and I face exactly the same temptations
as the Israelites said.
As we look around ourselves,
we see people with money
and with success.
And we see people who are living
in the lack of luxury.
And we see people who have got what we want.
They're successful.
Or they're popular.
They get great job satisfaction.
And as far as we can tell,
they've got that
because they've devoted themselves
to the acquisition of money,
the pursuit of success,
the pursuit of power,
the pursuit of great reputation.
And it tempts us to say,
maybe there is something
in this ideology gig after all.
Maybe it isn't all that bad
to go after those gods.
And here am I trying to tell people
how great God is
and that money set on power
are not what they're cracked up to be,
but the people,
they go after those things.
And the people who go after those things
don't seem to be doing too badly at all,
do they?
So children,
your mates in school,
your friends in school,
who actually,
they don't care about God,
they don't love the Lord Jesus,
and they seem to be,
well, pretty happy.
They seem to be doing okay.
They don't follow God's law.
Why not just be like them?
And Isaiah wants to expose to you
the absolute absurdity,
the craziness of thinking that way.
And he wants us to see how mad,
how mad it is to mess with lifeless idols
when you can know the living God.
So we're going to look at that.
And see in three points,
the reality of the living God,
the absurdity of idolatry,
and then thirdly,
the redemptive reasons to worship God
and not idols.
And all because it is mad
to worship
and to mess
with lifeless idols
when you can know the living God.
So first of all,
from verses 6 onwards,
the reality of the living God.
Let me go to 6 of Isaiah 44.
Thus says the Lord,
the King of Israel,
and His Redeemer,
the Lord of hosts,
I am the first
and I am the last.
And besides me,
there is no God.
Who is like me?
Let Him proclaim it.
Let Him declare
and set it before me.
Since I appointed an ancient people,
let them declare what is to come
and what will happen.
Fear not.
Nor be afraid.
Have I not told you from of old
and declared it?
And you are my witnesses.
Is there a God besides me?
There is no rock.
I know not any.
Because there's numerous places
during this book.
Isaiah helps us to see
how God lays out His CV
as a reminder
that there is absolutely
no one like Him.
That the Lord God
is in a category
all of His own.
And so He points us,
first of all,
to His very nature.
He says,
He is the King of Israel.
He is their Redeemer.
But not only that,
He is the Lord of hosts.
Literally,
He is the Lord Almighty.
All the powers
and the armies
of heaven
are at His command.
He says,
doesn't He,
He is the first
and He is the last.
He is the first.
That means He doesn't
derive His life
from elsewhere.
In contrast,
to what you're about
to see later on
in the chapter.
God is self-sufficient.
He is self-sufficient
and He is the last.
He will outlast
all things.
And He will remain
supreme forever.
And it's not just
in His nature
that He says
He is unique.
It is in the way
that He sovereignly
rules over all of history.
God is alone
is the one
who has orchestrated
everything
in history.
Up to this point,
and He will orchestrate
everything
in the future.
It's not that
just in what happens,
but in what it means.
God interprets
history for us.
And then Isaiah
comes back
to the challenge
of the idols
that we saw
in chapter 41.
It's a challenge
by which you can
show whether
your God
is the real God.
Can your God
predict the future?
Because the God
of the Bible
gets 100%
success rate
every time.
He's never
got it wrong.
And God says
to the idols,
can you do that?
Can you predict
the coming
of the Babylonian
domination,
which God
spoke to Isaiah
in chapter 39?
Can you predict
who the world
conqueror will be
and bring down
Babylon?
Can you tell
what the ruler
of that nation,
who will come
almost 200 years
from now,
what his name
will be?
Because Isaiah
gives his name
at the end
of the chapter.
Here is the reality
of the living God
when you start
to take it in.
You start to realise
what an amazing
difference this
should make
in your life,
that we follow
and we trust
this God.
Because if you
know the God
of the Bible,
you know
the God
who holds
the future
in his hands.
And the God
who tells you
what that future
will be like
in prophecy.
So don't you
think that it
makes sense
that you can
rest in him
at the start
of this year?
And you can
walk into
that future,
you don't know
what the future
is for you.
None of us do.
But God does.
So God says
to you at the start
of verse 8,
do not tremble.
Fear not.
Don't be afraid,
trust me.
And if you
walk into the future
holding my hand,
you have nothing
to worry about
because I know
what is there.
I'll be your
rock,
that's it.
Don't look for a
rock elsewhere
because there is
no other.
There is no other.
I'm the only one.
Do you see what
God is doing
before he gets
to the absurdity
of the idols?
He's saying,
if you have a
God like me,
why would you
ever consider
messing with idols?
Paul Newman
was a very
famous actor
and he was
quite well known
for his devotion
to his wife
Joanne Woodward.
And Paul Newman
was once asked
when he worked
with so many
beautiful women
in the Hollywood
industry,
why or how
he stayed faithful
to his wife.
And Newman
famously quipped,
why go out
for a hamburger
when you have
stayed at home?
Now,
I'm not sure
that his wife
appreciated
what he was
saying.
I'm sure she
appreciated the
sentiment behind it.
But that's the
kind of argument
you've got
as I've already
thought.
Why mess
with idols
when you've
got the true
and the living
God?
when you've
got the fountain
of the living
waters?
When you've
got the first
and the last
of the living
God?
Here is the
reality of the
one true
God.
Well,
at this point
Isaiah says to
us,
we've just
heard from the
sovereign living
God.
Stay tuned
because after
the break
I'll be taking
us on a field
trip to God's
shop.
And you won't
want to miss
this one.
And sure enough
after the commercial
we see Isaiah
in the idol
shop.
And it's
a haven of
activity and
busyness.
So the
verses 12
and 13
the futility
of idols.
The
eidensmith
takes a
cutting tool
and he
works it
over the
coals and
he fashions
it with
hammers and
he works
it with
his strong
arm.
He becomes
hungry.
His strength
fails.
He drinks
no water
and he gets
faint.
And the
carpenter
scratches a line.
He marks
it out
with a
pencil.
He shapes
it with
planes.
He marks
it with
a compass.
He shapes
it into
the figure
of a man
with the
beauty of
a man to
dwell in
a house.
Isaiah
wants you
to see how
much work
goes into
idolatry.
You've got
an island over
there.
You've got
a carpenter
over here.
And there
are various
kinds of
wood.
And it
all involves
a lot of
skill to
make what
are obviously
works of
art.
It's saying
this isn't
haphazard.
This isn't
random.
This is
something that
people take
very, very
seriously.
And the
reason they
take it
seriously is
because they're
very religious
people.
How do I
know they
are religious
people?
Because
everyone,
everyone is a
religious person.
Everyone
worships
something.
And if you
don't worship
the one true
God,
you won't
worship nothing.
You'll worship
something else.
in search for
meaning and
significance.
About a
year ago,
a couple of
years ago,
there was a
big fuss,
wasn't there,
in the media
about the
Sunday
Assembly.
Do you
remember it?
It's the
Atheist
Church.
And in the
article,
the Atheist
Church in
London met
in a
disused
church
building.
And if you
look at the
picture,
it looks very
much like a
regular church
service.
It's got the
architecture of
the church
building.
It's got a
PowerPoint.
You've even
got the
casually dressed
preacher with
no tie.
Instead of
Charles Wesley,
the article
said they
signed
Stevie Wonder.
And instead
of Isaiah,
they read out
Alice's
Wonderland.
They lectured
instead of
sermons.
Instead of
the reading of
the law,
the Ten
Commandments,
the Sunday
gathering has
ten ethical
guidelines.
Now,
doesn't that
strike you
as terribly
ironic?
That there
is an effort
to offer
something that
rejects religion,
the Sunday
Assembly,
but all it
could do
was imitate
religion.
All it
could do
is provide
more religion.
Because every
single person
in this world
is a deeply
religious person.
And they
obviously take
a lot of
care about
this,
a lot of
thought and
preparation
has gone
into it,
just like
in Isaiah's
shop.
Because we
are all
religious people.
And Isaiah
wants us to
see in the
middle of
this God
shop the
absolute
absurdity of
what is
going on
here.
He says
these men
they come
together and
they work
together to
make this
idol.
They're
its creators.
They've
made it and
now they are
worshipping what
they've made.
And it
seems a little
strange.
What does
the idol
resemble?
What does
the idol
resemble?
Surprise,
surprise,
the end of
verse 13,
it resembles
them.
Looks like
them.
And what's it
made of?
It's made of
wood,
wood from a
tree in a
forest that's
dependent on
the rain you
know.
You do know
don't you,
you can't have
a God unless
the weather is
quite right.
And so then
Isaiah asks
one of the
carpenters to
explain,
you worship
an idol.
You worship
an idol of
wood and the
carpenter
replies,
well,
yes,
it's more
leftover wood.
And because
we've got a
fire and the
fire is there
to keep us
warm and we
need the fire
to cook our
food over the
fire,
but we had
some wood
left over
after we
built the
fire so we
made it into
a God that
we worship.
And we bow
down to it and
we pray to it
and we ask it
to save us and
they say it all
with a straight
face.
Firewood,
bakewood,
wood and
Godwood.
All from the
same log.
What a great
deal.
Buy your
wood here.
Two for the
price of one.
Got firewood,
bakewood and
Godwood,
all from the
same log.
You couldn't
make it up.
Archimuthier
spouss out the
absurdity about
this.
He says,
the idol's
ancestry is
earthly.
Its cultivation,
human.
Its life derived
from the
creation and
its deity is
the chance which
allowed it to
survive the
needs of the
kitchen fire.
The idol's
logic suggests
that what has
been given to
him, the
physical benefit
of cooked
food and the
comfort of
bodily warmth
can also
nourish his
soul.
But it's how
Isaiah brings
an end to
this section of
this little
field trip
that I think
is so instructive.
Can you look
at verse 9?
And then
verse 18.
Old-fashioned
idols are
nothing, and
the things they
delight in do
not profit.
Their witnesses
neither see nor
know that they
may be put to
shame.
And then
verse 18.
They know
not, nor do
they discern, for
he has shut
their eyes so
that they cannot
see, and their
hearts so that
they cannot
understand.
There's some
debate about
verse 9, whether
the witnesses are
the idols
themselves or
the idol makers.
I think it is
the idol makers.
But Isaiah is
making a
connection, which
I really want
you to make
this morning,
between the
idols and
the idol makers.
And he
says, just as
the idols are
blind and
ignorant, so
are the
idolaters who
have made
their idols.
The
idolaters, can
you get it, have
become like the
idols.
And we've
already seen that
in the prophet
Isaiah.
But let me
take you to
another passage
in Psalms, which
says the same
thing.
Psalm 115
says, why do
the Neesians
say, where is
their God?
Our God is in
heaven.
He does whatever
it pleases him,
but their idols
are silver and
gold made by
the hands of
men.
They have
mouths, but
they cannot
speak.
They have
eyes, but
they cannot
see.
They have
ears, but
they cannot
hear.
They have
noses, but
they cannot
smell.
They have
hands, but
they cannot
feel.
They have
feet, but
they cannot
walk.
Nor can
they suffer
after a
sound of
their
throats.
Then what
does he
say?
He says,
those who
make them
will be
like them.
And so
will all
who trust
in him.
And that
is what
Isaiah is
really wanting
to say to
you and I
this morning.
Those who
make idols
will be
like the
idols.
And so
will all
them put
their trust
in idols.
You get
like the
people you
live with.
You get
like the
people you
worship.
Greg
Beal says,
we resemble
what we
revere,
either for
ruin or
restoration.
I try to
think about
this.
The last
few months
as we've
been going
through these
passages,
how do
we become
like the
idols that
we worship?
what does
it mean?
It can't
mean, can
it, that
if you
make money,
you're
idols, that
somehow you
become like
money.
That isn't
it.
That you
take on
some
characteristics,
or if you
make your
career the
central thing,
which you
derive all
your significance
that you
become like
your career.
I don't
think that's
the right
train of
thought.
And it
makes me
think that
Isaiah has
got something
that is more
general in
mind.
At its
most basic
level, he's
telling you
and I that
if we choose
to devote
ourselves to
anything other
than God,
something that
is lifeless,
it will render
us spiritually
dense.
Spiritually
blind and
just like the
idol, which
in the end
will bring us
to ruin.
I've been
milling back
and forth
with a
friend on
this.
And I do
think that
Jesus gives
us a
wonderful
illustration of
this.
He gives
us an
illustration of
what Isaiah
44 is
talking about.
About how
we can
resemble what
we revere
and worship,
either for
ruin or for
restoration.
And the
illustration comes
in the
parable of
the rich man
and Lazarus
in Luke 16.
So can you
put a paw in
Isaiah 44,
a finger in
Isaiah 44,
and turn
over to
Luke 16,
which is on
page 875.
And in
the most
famous,
this famous
parable,
Luke tells
us, in
Luke 16,
verses 14
to 15,
which is on
page 875,
the Pharisees
were lovers
of money.
And they
heard all
these things
and they
ridiculed him.
They were
lovers of
money,
money is
an idol
for them.
And they
ridiculed
him.
And he
said to
them,
you are
those who
justify
yourselves
before men,
but God
knows your
heart,
for what
is exalted
amongst men
is an
abomination.
And it's
God,
in God's
sight.
So here
are religious
church-grown
people,
and they
are steeped
in idols.
They are
steeped in idols
to which they're
oblivious.
Here are
people who are
consumed by
money,
with wealth,
and with
accumulation.
They found
their identity
in their bank
balances,
houses,
and the
size of
their homes,
and what
job they
had,
and what
phone they
had.
And so
Jesus tells
them a
parable,
and the
parable
involves
two
people,
a rich
man and
Lazarus.
And Jesus
introduces his
characters to
the listeners
like this,
look at
verse 19.
There's a
rich man
who's clothed
in purple and
fine linen,
and who
feasted
sumptuously
every day.
And on his
gate was
laid out a
poor man
named Lazarus
covered with
swords.
Jesus sets
up a
really simple
story of
compare and
contrast
between the
rich man
and Lazarus.
And the
contrast is
between what
they wear.
The rich
man is
clothed in
purple,
and Lazarus,
well, he
is barely
covered,
really.
There's a
contrast in
their diet.
The rich
man had
really great
food.
The
Lazarus long
scraps
are falling
on the
table.
But they're
not the
big differences.
What is the
big difference
in the story
of the rich
man and
Lazarus?
What is the
main contrast?
It's very,
very easy to
miss it.
The big
contrast is
one of the
men has
got a name
and one
of them
hasn't.
This is the
only parable
in the
Gospels
where Jesus
gives someone
a name.
But here's
the thing.
You would
think if Jesus
was going to
give one
character a name,
he would
give both
characters a name,
wouldn't you?
wouldn't he?
But he
doesn't do
that, and
he doesn't
do that
deliberately.
And he
gives Lazarus
a name, but
the rich
man has
none.
And I
think in
that, we
have the
greatest
illustration of
Isaiah 44.
The consequence
of running
after idols.
Why does
Jesus not
give the
rich man a
name?
The rich
man, I
think, does
not get a
name because
a rich man
is all that
he is.
He's just
a rich man.
And he's
nothing.
Or he's
nothing.
Him being
a rich man
with all
his identity.
And he
has become
what he
worships.
And in
contrast,
Lazarus, who
is the one
who trusts
God in
this picture,
he has
nothing, but
he still
has a
name, he
has an
identity.
And
Lazarus
knows who
he is,
and who
he is, and
he knows
what his
purpose is.
And despite
all the
terrible
circumstances
in his
life, there's
still an
identity, there's
still a
self through
it all.
But when
it comes to
the rich man,
his whole
life was
built around
riches.
His status,
his wealth,
his sins, and
if those things
were to go, there
would be no one
and nothing
left.
And so when
the rich man
died as he
did, his
identity died
with him, and
he's simply the
man with no
name.
And I think
that is Jesus'
way of pointing
to us the
result of
rejecting God
and following
idols.
the rich man,
his idol was
his wealth, his
identity was
that he was a
rich man.
But if that
is your idol,
isn't it,
something happens,
you lose your
money, the
bottom drops
out of the
market, and
you melt down,
you become what
you worshipped.
And it could
well be,
couldn't it,
that this
morning your
idol actually
is not money,
it is your
reputation.
or it is
sport, or
it is your
popularity, or
it is your
looks, or
it is your
career.
And whatever
it is, that
idol has become
your whole
self, so if
it was taken
away, life
wouldn't be
worth living
anymore.
And you've
lost yourself.
And that
wasn't what you
built your
life on, but
now you've
lost it, and
you've become
a shell of
who you
were.
And you
resemble what
you revere
in the worst
case for
ruin.
And so
in hell
this morning
there are
people who
are fathers
because they
made their
children an
idol.
And they
are architects
because they
made their
architecture an
idol.
And they
are rich
men.
And there
are people
that bound
their identity
in anything
but God, and
they've lost
their identity.
You become a
shell of who
you were, you
resemble what
you revere, and
in the worst
case for
ruin.
And the
irony of all
this is while
these idols
that Isaiah
is speaking
about are
nothing, he
wants us to
understand,
therefore, that
they do have a
power in our
lives.
So go back
with me to
Isaiah 44,
verse 20.
Isaiah 44,
verse 20.
He feeds
on ashes, a
deluded heart
has led him
astray, and
he cannot
deliver himself.
Is there
not a lie in
my right hand?
Why can't he
save himself?
He can't
save himself
because he's
enslaved.
Sin
enslaved.
And the
idolater is
hooked on the
idol, and
he's lost all
capacity to
free himself
or herself.
And so we
see, don't
we, the
wonderful irony
at the end
of verse 20.
Is there
not a lie
that I am
holding in
my right hand?
And the
idolater thinks
that he is
holding on to
the idol, but
the truth of
Isaiah 44 is
that the idol
is holding on
to him.
And he
cannot break
away from
the bondage
or of what
he calls a
lie that is
false in God.
He's still
holding on to
it.
Is this
no lie?
He won't
give it
up.
He's lost
his freedom,
the absurdity
of idolatry,
and Isaiah
shows you how
futile it is,
and how
enslaving it
is, and
how you
should run
away from
it.
Isaiah's
commentary
drips with
sarcasm, but
you and I
need to feel
the weight.
That the
one true
God has
revealed himself,
and there
is no one
like him.
But if you
and I decide
to run after
other things
for your
significance,
for your
meaning,
for your
glory,
for your
identity,
you will
become
spiritually
lifeless,
and dense,
like those
lifeless idols
that you
pursue,
in the end.
In the end,
you lose
your very
self,
and you
become
nameless.
Well,
Isaiah
isn't quite
done yet,
and he
wants to
come back
to give you
and I
the good
news,
and that
is the
redemptive
reasons why
you and I
should worship
God.
Thirdly,
the redemptive
reasons why
you and I
should worship
God,
and the
reason comes
in verses
21-23,
can you see
that?
Remember these
things,
O Jacob
and Israel,
for you are
my servant,
I formed
you,
you are
my servant,
O Israel,
you will
not be
forgotten
by me,
I blotted
out your
transgressions
like a
cloud,
and your
sins
like mist,
return to
me,
for I
have
redeemed
you.
Sing,
O heavens,
for the
Lord is
dead,
shout,
depths of
the
earth,
break
forth into
singing
of
mountains,
of forest
and every
tree in
it,
for the
Lord has
redeemed
God says
to his
people,
his church,
do you see
how the
idolaters
fashioned you?
They're
gods of
wood,
I fashion
you,
I fashion
you,
you're my
people to
whom I
committed.
And he
calls on
the people
and he
calls on
us to
remember
two things
which we
need to
remember
as we
come to
the
table,
two things
which set
God apart
from an
idol,
every other
God in
this world,
first of all
he says I
always keep
my promises,
it's what
he's saying
when he
says I
will not
forget you,
remembering
and forgetfulness
in the
Old Testament,
it's
covenantal
language,
it's not
that God
suddenly,
oh I
have
forgotten
and now
I
remember,
no of
course not,
God has
said I
made promises
to you and
I will act
on those
promises,
and you
can be sure
about that,
I will never
break my
promises to
you in
2017,
I don't
care what
your idol of
choice is
today,
and there's
probably as
many as
there are
people today,
I guarantee
you whatever
idol you're
tempted to
pursue,
it never
keeps its
promises,
that's it,
the relationship
that you
thought would
bring you all
the satisfaction
in the world,
has it done
that?
Of course it
hasn't,
you've got the
money,
you've got the
job,
has it brought
the satisfaction?
Of course it
doesn't,
whatever
cares,
my idol
dangles in
front of you,
whether it's
success,
prosperity,
or happy
family life,
or perfect
children,
or a fat
bank balance,
the promise
will be
broken,
and yet
God says
to you,
I have
never,
I have
never,
and I
will never
ever break
my promises
to you,
and secondly
God says
I want you
to remember
also that
I've forgiven
you when
you failed
me,
I love
the picture
of verse
22,
I've blotted
out your
transgressions,
swiped
them away,
I've
swiped
them away,
I've blotted
mouths like
a cloud,
and your
sins like
the morning
mist,
an idol
will never
forgive you
when you
fail it,
let's say
your idol
is your
career,
and that's
where you
gain this
great reputation,
and it's
where you
derive your
ultimate sense
of significance,
and importance
in life,
and you've
been so
diligent in
making offerings,
you've worked
long hours,
when other
people have
gone home,
you've been
there,
you've missed
really important
times with your
friends and your
families,
because you
had to work,
and then you
back off maybe
a little bit,
you realise
it's beginning to
affect your
health,
or your
family tells
you,
you've got to
back off,
or because of
your conscience,
and does your
idol say,
no that's
okay,
I'll be
there for
you,
no chance
does it,
it says no
more offerings
to deal it
off,
an idol never
forgives you
when you
fail it,
but the
Bible,
he'll forgive
you,
because he
has forgiven
you,
have you
failed God
this morning,
I know I
have,
and I've
got pretty
good sense
listening to
my Christian
life,
what the
idols in
my heart
are,
and they
tend to pull
me away
from God,
and when I
fail him,
when I go
after these
other things,
because I
think they're
promising me
things,
and they're
promising me
things that
they can
never give,
how foolish,
what does
God require
of me when
I fail him,
look again at
what he says
in verse 22,
he says,
I have blotted
out your
transgressions
like a cloud,
and your sins
like a mist,
return to
me,
return to
me,
for I have
redeemed,
just notice
at the end
of verse 22,
return to
me,
for I will
redeem you,
is that what it
says,
no it's not,
fear not,
for I have
redeemed you,
God doesn't
say,
come back to
me this
morning,
and maybe,
you know,
we can talk
about it,
we can work
this through,
you try harder,
and I'll
redeem you,
I'll forgive
you this
time,
no return to
me,
because I've
redeemed you,
return to
me,
because I've
already slept,
away your
offences are
a cloud,
you see the
order,
that is the
gospel,
you and I,
we don't
earn our way
out of
idolatry,
we can only
turn back to
God when we've
gone the other
direction,
because he has
already done for
us by his
grace,
he's dealt
with our
sins,
he's dealt
with our
idolatry
already,
he's redeemed
us already,
you say,
how has he
done that,
well for the
Israelites they
would have
looked back to
the Exodus,
that redemption
of which God
is speaking
about,
but for the
Christian today
our focus is
different isn't it,
we look back to
another day,
we come to the
Lord's table and
we look back to
a greater redemption,
a greater
Exodus,
because the
New Testament
says you look
back to the
cross,
and that's
where he
redeemed you,
and so the
Apostle Paul
writing in
Colossians 1
says he's
delivered us
from the
domain of
darkness,
and he's
transferred us
to the
kingdom of
his beloved
son,
in whom we
have redemption,
forgiveness of
sins,
it is on the
cross that
God redeemed
us through
the death of
Jesus,
it is on the
cross that
God swept
our offenses
like a cloud
away,
on the cross
the Lord
Jesus bore
the penalty
for our
offenses,
Jesus bore
the penalty
for our
idolatry,
and it's
through the
cross God
says to
you I
want you
now to
have a
new
start,
I want
you to
have a
new
life,
and I
want you
to experience
transformation,
and to
know what
real significance
is,
and what
real meaning
is,
and the
things that
the idol
promised you
that they
will never
deliver,
he says in
Christ redemption
is already
yours,
in Christ
the forgiveness
of sins
is guaranteed,
God says I've
done it,
and so return
to me,
or for those
who are here
this morning
who can't
return because
you've never
turned to
begin with,
he says to
you this
morning,
turn to
me,
because if
you turn
to me,
and you
trust in
me,
this can
be true
of you
as well,
your sin
has been
painful,
it's been
wiped clear,
and you
this morning
can be
redeemed
to you,
and as
you read
through this
chapter like
I have
this week,
you think why
on earth do
I ever go
after those
other things,
why do I
look at the
Babylonians and
the Assyrians
around me and
think maybe
there is
something to
this
idolatry
do,
and you
read a passage
like this and
you realise how
absolutely mad it
is to mess with
lifeless and
dead idols,
when the
living God
invites you to
know him,
you shall
not have
any gods
before you,
you shall
not make
for yourself
an idol,
why,
because the
living God
invites you to
know him.