isaiah 43:18-19

intro: we serve a sovereign God everything is done towards his will. He’s in control, he doesn't play back seat driver our jobs as Christians are to put our faith in his decisions for our lives my favorite phrase nothing you do in his will will come back void. 

Sermon Title: From Egypt to Canaan: God’s Ongoing Work of Deliverance

Text: Isaiah 43:18-19““Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Introduction

Illustration: we know a lot of people are farmers or you just grow a garden yearly. This year we’ve had issues with things that used to grow good. Now you see it doesn’t come up or it does and doesn’t get enough water or our current forecast too much water. Do you give up? Say this isn’t the time or you know people depend and you have to get something together. Just like we try to redeem our garden by pulling fresh soft dirt to the surface fertilizing the ground. That’s what God did over time and he told the prophet Isaiah. This is a foretelling of the new covenant.

Main Idea:God calls His covenant people to stop dwelling on past deliverances or failures, because He is sovereignly working a new act of redemption that surpasses the former—ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

Point 1: Forgetting former things and focusing on the faithfulness of God not through our own carnal thoughts 

Scripture:Philippians 3:13–14 – “…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…”

Illustration: think about going on a drive where do you look. I know myself I check my mirrors but I’m focused on what’s in front of me. How far would you ever get if you just looked in the rear view the whole drive. I’d say some of us have been down that road in life and the ditch took us right in. But keeping your eyes focused on God will keep you away from the ditch.

Application:Don’t let past failures or past victories blind you to God’s present and future work. He’s not finished with His church, your family, or your life.

explanation :God calls Israel to not focus on how he handled past works and not to limit him to a past ways approach but to understand he’s in control and doing things according to his will.

Point 2:God is the redemptive author 

Scripture: Hebrew 10:19-20

Illustration: where my car people at. So most guys in the back of their mind have a car they want and want to fix up or work on. Sometimes one drops in your lap that needs some serious tlc. This is what we needed when we came to God. You start working like he did and scrubbing and painting and building and eventually you have a masterpiece of your own. God does the same; he doesn't throw us to the side and pick one that is easier to fix up or doesn’t require work he reforms us and shapes us and we’ll be finished work on the day he says you’ve done well my Good and faithful servant.

Application:Look for signs of renewal in your life, even in slow or unexpected forms. Trusting God’s grace is working underneath the surface. Patience and anger is one I’ve dealt with. I trust God everyday that I’ll learn from my mistakes but that’s the issue: the flesh is weak if it gives in too easily. That's why you have to deny the flesh to show you're not controlled by the flesh.

Explanation :Behold, I am doing a new thing” is a declaration, not a suggestion. God is not stuck. He is always bringing about His redemptive plan. For Israel, this points to return from exile—but ultimately it points to Christ and the New Covenant.

Point 3: A way to righteousness before  a  righteous God. 

Scripture:John 14:6.

Illustration: Remember way before GPS you have to navigate using a map and actually follow road signs. If you strayed or made a wrong turn you’d end up in Arkansas when you were heading to Florida. I remember doing land nav in rotc someone paved the way they went out, set the control markers and mapped it out. Your job was to read the map and figure a way to each point. We have a way to the father that's been mapped out all we have to do is follow and put your faith in the son.

Application:When you’re spiritually dry or in deep trial, don’t assume God has abandoned you. That may be the place where His grace springs up in ways you’ve never seen. Faith without seeing is strong just cause you're in the trenches doesn’t mean God isn’t working.

explanation :God promises to make a way through the wilderness, not out of it. He leads His people in dry, desolate places and provides sustenance where there was none.

Conclusion

Recap:The ultimate “new thing” is the coming of Christ. He is the Way, the Living Water, the new creation, and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive promise.

Final Illustration/Testimony: Everyone has a past, no one was born righteous, we all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. But our past doesn't define who we are. If you constantly look in that rear view you’ll constantly fall back. Look at lots wife she looked back after being told not to and turned into a pillar of salt. “Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭62‬ ‭ESV‬‬ now if Jesus said this why do we continue to look back. Give up your past and focus on the new you Paul says in one of his letters you are a new creation in Christ. Don’t hold the past and let it define you.