Sermon #1                                                               Series: Isaiah

 

          Title:       God’s Prophet, God’s Providence, and God’s

                         People      

          Text:       Isaiah 1:1

          Subject:  The Times, Circumstances, and Message of

                         Isaiah’s Prophecy 

          Date:       Sunday Evening - March 5, 1989

          Tape #

 

          Introduction:

 

          As we begin to study The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we should try to realize the importance of this prophecy and the circumstances in which it was written as well as the message it  contains for us.  These things are all indicated in the opening verse of the first chapter. 

 

          “The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezzekiah, kings of Judah.”

 

          Isaiah lived in days of great affluence and prosperity.  Uzziah, the King of Judah, had led his people in the achievement of both economic and political stability.  Under his rule, Judah had almost risen to the power, prestige, and glory of Israel in the days of David and Solomon.  But, as is almost always the case, as the nation increased in riches it became more and more degenerate.  Vice increased as wealth increased.  Isaiah lived to see the worship of God degenerate to lifeless, meaningless ritualism.  And he saw the nation and people he loved forsake the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

          In the midst of moral, spirtitual decay, God raised up this man, Isaiah, to proclaim the coming of a better day, to proclaim the coming of Christ the Messiah, the establishment of the  kingdom of heaven by preaching of the gospel, and coming of eternal glory by the grace of God.

 

          Isaiah has been called The Fifth Evangelist, because he, more than any other prophet of the Old Testament, spoke of the person, work, offices, and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And he does not merely hint at these things, he spoke of them with clarity and understanding.  Though he was a prophet who lived 800 years before Christ, he spoke as an eyewitness.  This prophecy is called, “The Vision of Isaiah.”  It is that which he received by divine revelation and wrote by infallible inspiration.  All that he wrote and spoke as God’s prophet he was personally acquainted with and had sure knowledge of.  Those who speak of God speak from personal, first-hand experience (John 6:69; I John 1:1).  And he knew that what God had revealed to him he must proclaim to man (Acts 4:20; II Cor. 4:13).  Unless he taught the people the truth of God, they had no hope of deliverance.   The nation and people he loved could not be saved unless he gave them the word of God.

 

          More than any other book of the Old Testament, except the Psalms, Isaiah is quoted in the New Testament.  In fact, except for the Psalms, Isaiah is quoted more often in the New Testament than all the books of the Old Testament combined.

 

·        John the Baptist began his ministry by quoting Isaiah’s prophecy about himself (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23).

·        Our Lord preached his first sermon at Nazareth from the Book of Isaiah (Luke 4:17-21).

·        Philip preached Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch from Isaiah 53

     (Acts 8:28-35).

 

          In every generation and society God raised up a man who, more than any other, is God’s ambassador and spokesman to his people.  For more than fifty years, through the reigns of four kings, in Jerusalem, Isaiah was that man.

 

Proposition:  In a day of idolatry, ignorance, and iniquity, the Prophet Isaiah faithfully preached the word of God and called for men and women to come to God in repentance, trusting the

Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who would soon appear to accomplish redemption for his people.

 

Divisions:  If we are to understand the message of this Book, there are three things with which we must acquaint ourselves.

 

1.   The Prophet of God

2.   The Providence of God

3.   The People of God

 

I.      THE PROPHET OF GOD.

 

          First, I want us to look at this man Isaiah, the prophet of God.  In the word of God there is always a great lack of information concerning God’s prophets.  By comparison, we are told alot about men like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and David.  But the lives of God’s prophets and apostles are hidden.  And Isaiah is no exception.  It is as though God hid the man, so that we might hear his message.  He kept his service in seclusion, so that God’s message, not God’s man, might be remembered.  Surely, there is a lesson in that - we are to focus our attention on God’s message, not on the man who delivers it.  But there are a few things we know about this man, Isaiah.

 

A.  Isaiah was a man of special election.

 

          We know that God’s election is free, sovereign, and unconditional.  He chooses none because of their virtue, or because of their vise (Rom. 9:11-13).  But usually, not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called  (I Cor. 1:26-29).  Isaiah was an exception.

 

1.   Isaiah was a man of royal blood.

 

          Jewish tradition tells us that his father Amoz, was a brother to King Amaziah, who was the father of King Uzziah.  If that is so, then Isaiah was Uzziah’s first cousin.  And the tradition seems to be confirmed by two things.

 

a.   The letters “iah” in a man’s name almost always imply     

          royalty.

b.   And Isaiah appears to have enjoyed exceptional access to the king’s court.

 

2.   Isaiah was also a man of great talent and mental ability.

 

          We do not know whether he was well educated.  But he was a man of great, unsurpassed literary skill, reason, and oratorical ability.  He was not a showman.  But he was a giant among men.  Isaiah was not a herdsman, a fisherman, or a farmer.  He was a man from the city.  He spent his whole life in the city.  He was a man of culture, a refined aristocrat.

 

3.   And he was the son of a prophet.

 

          His father’s name was Amoz, not Amos.  And whenever a prophet’s father is named that indicates that his father was a prophet too.  Amoz was apparently a prophet in the king’s court during the reign of his brother Amaziah (II Chronicles 25:5-8).

 

          Very seldom does God call the noble, the mighty, and the learned.  Seldom does God raise up prophets from the sons of prophets.  But Isaiah was all of these.  Yet, God chose Isaiah as the object of his love and set him apart as the servant of the Lord.

 

B. Above all else, Isaiah was a prophet.

 

          He was a man sent from God with a message for God’s chosen people.  And Isaiah was separated to the work God had given to him.  Though he was a man of learning and refinement, Isaiah had no regard for the opinions, customs, and traditions of men.  Like Elijah before him and John the Baptist after him, he commonly wore a garment of camel’s hair, and constantly called for the people to repent.  By the commandment of God, on one occasion, he didn’t even wear that.  He went naked and barefoot

for three years (20:1-6), like a slave, as a symbol of God’s judgment upon Egypt and Ethiopia.

          This man, Isaiah, was married and had a family.  But he was married to the word of God, the people of God, and the cause of God first.  We are never told who his wife was.  And he even used the names of his two sons to convey God’s message.  His firstborn son, he called, “Shear-jashub,” which means “the remnant shall return.”  His second son he called, “Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” which means “making speed to the spoil.”  In both, he described the salvation of God’s elect remnant by the mighty hand of Christ.

 

          And by the providence of God, Isaiah’s name itself describes his work and ministry.  “Isaiah” means, “the Lord shall save.”  And that is the message proclaimed throughout this book.  The whole book of Isaiah is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord who shall save.  Isaiah’s message is twofold (Isa. 40:6-11).

 

·        “All flesh is grass!”

·        “Behold your God!”

 

Isaiah was a preacher of salvation by the sovereign grace of God, through the merits of Christ’s effectual atonement.  He set forth in clear, unmistakable language . . .

1.  The Total Depravity of Man (1:4-6).

2.   The Unconditional Election of Grace (1:9).

3.   The Incarnation and Virgin Birth of Christ (7:14; 9:6-7).

4.   The Glorious Sovereignty of God (40:12-27; 45:5-25; 46:9-

     13).

5.  The Particular, Effectual Atonement of Christ (53:1-12).

6.  The Steadfastness of God’s Covenant of Grace (54:8-10).                  

7.  The Freeness, Fullness, and Firmness of God’s Saving    

      Grace and Pardoning Mercy (Isa. 55:1-11).

8.  The Irresistible Grace of God in Salvation (62:10-12).

9.   The Glory of God in Providence (63:12-14).9.

10. The Certain Accomplishment of God’s Everlasting Purpose  

       (66:1-24).

 

 

C. And this prophet of God was faithful unto death.

 

          Isaiah’s ministry extended to the beginning of Manasseh’s wicked reign.  Manasseh hated God and hated God’s prophet.  And the Jewish Talmud tells us that this godless wretch had Isaiah sawn in pieces with a wooden saw.  He is probably one of those heros of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11:37 who were “sawn asunder,” because of his faithfulness to his Lord.

 

II.   THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

 

          I have shown you the prophet of God, Isaiah.  Now, I want you to think about the providence of God.  Our text tells us that Isaiah’s ministry spanned the reigns of four kings in Judah.  He was God’s faithful spokesman in the land of Judah for more than fifty years, perhaps much more.  Gill calculates that he preached for one hundred and twelve or thirteen years!  That takes in a large piece of history, for one man.  And in all those years God was sovereignly accomplishing his own divine purpose in providence.  These four kings were but instruments in the hands of God, by which he sovereignly accomplished his purpose of grace toward his elect (Pro. 21:1; Rom. 8:28).

 

          Each of these four kings, by the providence of God, were used to accomplish eternal good for God’s elect.  And each of them provide important lessons for us.

 

A.  Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years in Judah.

 

          He was a good king, a powerful leader, and the kingdom prospered under his reign.  Everything he did prospered, until his heart was lifted up with pride.  Uzziah died under the curse of God, because he attempted to approach God without a mediator (II Chron. 26:16-21).

 

B. Jotham reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.

 

          Jotham was a devout man, a true believer, one who worshipped God, and prepared his ways before the Lord.  Though Uzziah did not know the Lord, he was used of God to build his kingdom, and used of God to lead his son in the way of faith (Ps. 76:10).

 

          Only eternity will tell how God has overruled and used the evil deeds of men to accomplish his purpose of grace for his people.

 

C. Ahaz was king in Jerusalem for sixteen years.

 

          He was a godless man, an idolater.  He was a pragmatist of the worst sort.  Ahaz sought help from a pagan king to protect the kingdom of God.  And in doing so, he brought Judah into captivity.  This weakling, wretch burned his own children upon the altar to Moloch!  Ahaz brought Judah shame, reproach, and bondage.  Ahaz turned the hearts of the people away from the worship of the Lord (II Chron. 28).

 

          Yet, Ahaz, with all his wickedness, idolatry, and unbelief did not hinder the accomplishment of God’s purpose.

 

D. And Hezekiah reigned in Judah for twenty-nine years.

 

          Hezekiah was a godly man.  He restored the worship of the Lord, reformed the priesthood, cleansed the temple, and led Judah in the ways of the God.  When Sennacherib thought he would destroy Judah, Hezekiah prayed and God sent his angel to slay 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (II Kings 19:32-35).

 

1.   Hezekiah shows us that the effectual, fervent prayer of a     righteous man avails much.

 

Then the Lord sent Hezekiah a message, telling him to set

his house in order, he must die.  But Hezekiah prayed again,      and the Lord added fifteen years to his life (Isa. 38:1-6).  There are some things to be learned from this prayer too.

 

2.   If we are wise, when we pray, we will seek not our own will but God’s will.

 

          The Lord gave Hezekiah his way.  He let him live another fifteen years.  But they were a sad, painful fifteen years.

 

·        His heart was lifted up with pride, and he showed the Babylonians all his treasures.

·        He prepared the way for the Babylonian captivity.

·        And he fathered Manasseh, the most vile, cruel, wicked king the world had ever seen.

 

Illustration:  The mother who prayed for her dying baby -                                          

                       later executed  for murder at Hunstville, Al.

                                    

3.   Yet, again, in all this we see the ever ruling hand of God in      predestination and providence.

 

          This too was used to accomplish God’s purpose of grace toward his elect.  After Manasseh came Josiah, from whom came the Christ, the Son of David, our Redeemer (Rom. 11:33-36).  Truly, our God does all things well.

 

III. THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

 

          Now turn your attention to the people of God, “Judah and Jerusalem.”  Isaiah’s prophecy and God’s providence concerns “Judah and Jerusalem.”  Without question, the Book of Isaiah has direct reference to the southern kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, the center of true worship in the Old Testament.  But the wider, full, spiritual scope of the prophecy is not about a literal kingdom and a literal city.  Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day were the church and temple of God.  And all that Isaiah says of that kingdom and that city finds its ultimate, spiritual fulfillment in the church, the kingdom of Christ, the Israel of God, the Temple of God.

 

          If you would understand Isaiah, or any of the Old Testament  prophets, this is essential:  You must understand that God’s true Israel is the church, the spiritual kingdom of Christ.  Even a casual reader of the New Testament would recognize this, were his mind not perverted by the doctrines of men (Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:3).

 

We are “The Israel of God” . . .

 

·        The Children of Abraham.

·        The Heirs of the Covenant.

·        The True Circumcision.

 

          Everything God ever has done, is doing, or shall hereafter do, he does for the salvation of his elect, the Israel of God (Rom. 11:20).

 

Application:

 

·        The Prophet of God is a man with God’s Message.

·        The Providence of God is the Sovereign Rule of our God.

·        The People of God are God’s Elect, Redeemed, Holy Nation.