Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Because man cannot live on lasagna alone, we want to spend a few minutes chewing on God’s Word.
Turn with me to Isaiah 66:1-2.
[READING - Isaiah 66:1-2]
The key to a right relationship with God is faith in Jesus Christ.
But even if we have faith in Jesus Christ, we may at time find ourselves not walking intimately with Him.
There may be many reasons for this…
…ongoing and unrepentant sin…
…the cares of the world sneaking in…
…carelessness in our studies and prayers.
But another common reason is found here in Isaiah 66:1-2—we forget who God is and how we should approach Him.
[TS] Notice two God’s Exaltation…
Major Ideas
#1: God’s Exaltation (Isa.
66:1-2a)
[EXP] The exaltation of God is described in three ways here.
First, it is described in terms of God’s elevation.
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.”
In effect, the verse is saying to us, “Look at the highest heavens.
God is more exalted than that, for that is just His seat.
Look at the magnificence of earth; that is where He rests His feet.”
You have a chair at home that you sit in and stool on which you rest your feet.
You are surely exalted above your seat and stool.
God is exalted above Heaven and earth.
Secondly, God’s exaltation is described in terms of man’s limitation.
“Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?”
In 1 Kings 8:27 Solomon asked…
In Acts 7:48-49 Paul said…
Man cannot build a dwelling for God.
And finally, God’s exaltation is described in terms of God’s creation.
“For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being.”
Heaven and earth are created by God.
All things that are have come into being —directly or indirectly—because of Him.
This is the exaltation of God…
…elevated above heaven and earth…
…not dwelling in any dwelling made by man…
…Creator of the world and everything in it.
[TS] The exaltation of God may make us ask, “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”
(Psalm 8:4)
But notice our approach to God in the second part of v. 2…
#2: Our Approach (Isa.
66:2b)
[EXP] We should all desire the look of God, so when He says, “To this one I will look,” our ears should perk up.
God will look to him who is humble.
To be humble is to genuinely recognize that we are lower in dignity and importance than God.
It is to genuinely recognize that God is exalted over everything—including us.
If we approach Him recognizing that He is most important, most deserving of honor and praise, and that we fall far below Him, then He shall look to us.
God will look to him who is contrite in spirit.
Another word for “contrite” is “repentant.”
God will look to him who has a repentant spirit.
Coming before God acting as if we have no sin, bragging on our righteousness before His holiness, that is the opposite of contrition, and God will not look to us.
However, if we come pleading, “God, have mercy on me a sinner,” then He will look to us.
God will look to him who trembles at His Word.
“Trembles” can be understood a couple different ways depending on our standing with Christ:
If we have not come to Christ Jesus for salvation, then we must tremble at God’s Word for its promise of wrath.
If we do that, then maybe God will look on us with grace and give us faith in Jesus Christ.
If we have come to Christ Jesus for salvation, then we have trusted the promise of God’s Word for salvation, but we must also revere God’s Word by hastening to God’s Word in obedience.
If we do, then God will look on us and we shall walk happily with God more and more.
Conclusion
But let me warn you: Despite what I’ve said, don’t make your happy walk with God dependent on your obedience to His Word.
If you do, and you obey His Word, your pride (your self-praise) will ruin any joy in that obedience.
Instead, you must continually remind yourself that your happy walk with God is rooted in God’s promise to you in Jesus Christ.
Your happy obedience to God’s Word must spring from gratefulness for God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
Let us humble ourselves before God, recognizing that He is worth more than we are.
Let us come before Him with a contrite spirit, recognizing that we are sinners in need of repentance and mercy.
Let us come before Him trembling at His word, quick to trust its promise of salvation in Christ Jesus and quick to obey it as a grateful response to grace.
[PRAYER]
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