Isaiah 14
Notes
Transcript
Primary point
Isaiah is continuing his sermon against the nation of Babylon as he steps into Isaiah 14. Specifically he is speaking of the King of Babylon. The question will come up well who is he writing about here? As we saw last week there are multiple layers to what the prophet will see. There are peices that will fit perfectly with the king of Babylon. Some say well look it may be about the Assyrian… Sure. You will find another that is mentioned that gets even more connections than those.
Notice a couple things about the writing of the Prophet...
Prophets describe the biggest, grandest things first. They describe the distant and then grow specific.
Prophets are not recounting history alone. Isaiah is not just telling the events, It is a preaching from God to the people.
Don’t miss the opener. What you find is the assertion that God is faithful to his promises. He is faithful to his covenant. God is the performer of his works and his words rest in the unchangeable nature of his Word.
God’s faithfulness to his covenant
Notice in this passage the faithfulness of God. In fact though many are familiar with the 5 I will statements of Isaiah 14, few are familiar with the statements about what God “HATH DONE”.
What the Lord hath done...
1. The Lord has had Mercy on Jacob (1)
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it:
It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;
But he shall be saved out of it.
2. Broken the staff (5)
Remember, current events are Assyrian as the rod to enslave; then Babylon.
Who is this king?
Assyrian?
Babylonian?
Nebbuchadnezzar?
Balshazaar?
AntiChrist?
3. Sworn oaths (24)
3-7 “in that day” a proverb – if 1-3 is the fulness of Israel, then this is end of world i. “The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked” – World oppressor stopped.
4. Purposed to accomplish destruction to the king.
Lesson we learn about Hell...
1. It is real.
Oh no, preacher you don’t understand the Old Testament didn’t have a teaching on hell. They were just backwards shepherds they didn’t even understand an idea about hell.
2. It isn’t soul sleep
Why are they talking.
The fall of this king to hell ...
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
5. Founded Zion (32)
This is the promise of what God has done for the family of Jacob. Notice that this work was done through the history of Israel but stands uncompleted till Jesus coronation day.
It is in these 5 things God hath done that we spot the idea of who this king of Babylon is.
The Fall of Lucifer
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
I will Ascend into heaven.
I will Exalt my throne above the stars (angels)
I will sit upon the mount
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most high
Recognize that from the beginning Satan has an agenda.
We know what “Lucifer” means… because of the KJV.
Modern interpreters want to change it to morning star. But we know to whom he speaks.
Now we get an additional option for the king of Babylon...
“Lucifer” – type of the devil as a bearer of false light – 2 Cor 11:14
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Lucifer’s five-fold purpose “I will ascend/exalt/sit also/ascend above/be like”
Notice how wicked Satan’s plan is...
I will ascend into heaven…
How dare he have you ever heard of anyone saying they ‘want to go to heaven.’
I will exalt my throne above the stars (angels)
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
I will sit upon the mount (be where God is)
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
I will be like the most high
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Wait, it sounds like what Satan wanted is what is promised for you and I. Here is the difference. You can only have those things through faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Satan wanted it on his own. He wanted to have all these blessings the way he wanted to do it.
The foolishness of the one that thinks he can do it without God.
His purpose is heavenly and universal as is the mystery of Christ – 1Co 2:7-8
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
I Corinthians 2.7-8 tells us that the evil powers that worked out the death burial and resurrection would never have done it had they known the end result would be that you and I have the blessings of God because of the obedient death of Jesus. Because of simple faith in his resurrection. But they revealed their foolishness and pride in imagining they could kill the threat through killing Christ.
They only made it accessible to us...
Trying it without God will produce pride...
Good without God is devilish
Right without God is devilish
Anything without God is devilish
The danger of the Christian Moralist.
Christian moralists tend to reduce the Bible to a manual for moral behavior, often centering on such passages as the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments. The moralist relies on his moral actions: if he prays, goes to church, and helps his community, then he is good with God. Moralism says that, if you don’t lie, cheat, steal, or cuss too much, then you are a good person and deserving of heaven. But the moralist is self-deceived in thinking that his good behavior somehow merits eternal life.
Moralism cannot replace the gospel. We are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and grace. Moralism has no power to justify or sanctify a sinner. We are saved by grace, through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8), not by keeping a moral code, however biblical that code may be. “By the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20) pretty well sums up the ineffectiveness of moralism in taking care of the problem of sin. The moralist may receive the accolades of men who appreciate his good behavior—his mantle may be crowded with civic awards—but receiving honor in this world does not guarantee honor in the next. The moralist still needs Jesus. The command to unregenerate sinners is not “be good” but “believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31).
https://www.gotquestions.org/moralism.html
The Legalist...
The one that thinks he is going to heaven because he has been ‘good enough’.
Maybe your here this morning earning your way to a walk with God. Or you are proving to God just how good you are. You are in one of these two camps.
Either you are a moralist… where you have all this in your Christians power
Or you are a legalist … God is bound to see just how good you are.