See the Work of Your King

Introduction

e.g. Monday is the King’s Birthday holiday

For most of us, it doesn’t really mean much except day off

King Charles is largely just a figure head

His role has very little impact on our lives

Today’s message is about a very different King

As we continue through this message of Isaiah we come to the 3rd important phrase - your King (Isa. 43:15)

Unlike King Charles, this King has ultimate impact (& no birthday)

Not just in our lives but in the world, history & eternity

After the challenge of being a witness for God now God returns to comfort

Isaiah is developing further that the God of the Bible is the true God & only Saviour

While it is very true that God is King of all

Here the focus is that He is King of His people

Your King will do a new thing (43:19)

Again, we’re being led into the Gospel message

New thing will show us something of God’s redemption

Which is followed by a message of God’s mercy & forgiveness (43:25)

Which leads to the giving of God’s Spirit (44:3)

So today, let’s focus on a King who can make a real difference in your life

A King who is worthy of all honour & worship, who is truly worthy of my praise

Let us ask like the Psalmist:

Psalm 24:8 “8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.”

Psalm 24:10 “10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah”

If God has called you by name (Isa. 43:1) then this King is your king

Your King of Glory and Grace

Isaiah 43:14-15

Your King

Character of Your King

4 titles or characteristics are given to God here

Redeemer

Key theme of this message - Redeemer

He has paid the price to set you free

Placement here is important as a reminder

If Israel was going to be a witness of the true God then they must be freed

God sets people free from bondage so they can truly be a witness for Him

If I’m still bound but tell people I’m free I’m not a witness, I’m a liar

My witness for Jesus is powerful testimony because He has set me free from sin & death

I give Him glory by living in that freedom

Holy One

What a glorious name this is

As we’ve seen it is one of Isaiah’s favourite names for God

In Isaiah 1-39 it is a name which instills fear & awe

He is the Holy One who stands above all in purity & righteousness

He is the Holy One who must & will judge sin

In Isaiah 40-66 we see a new facet of that name

It is His holiness that makes Him able to save, able to redeem

He is your (my) Holy One

Creator

Creator of Israel

This people, nation doesn’t exist without Him

They are a direct & purposeful act of God

As God says of us, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10)

King

While both Creator & King express power

King is a more personal title

King, true kingship, implies personal connection to a people

Not just a king but your king

Implies because of that connection a responsibility to care, protect & provide for His people

Glory of Your King

Do you sometimes read things like this and wonder why use so many names for God in one sentence

Maybe you’ve heard a prayer and thought, we get it you’re talking to God

Sometimes one name isn’t enough

A sentence from one commentary caused me to ponder deeply here

The Message of Isaiah: On Eagles’ Wings ‘I Am the Lord … Your King’ (43:14–15)

As these terms

That term cascade put a word to what I felt this verse to be like

Isaiah isn’t just giving us a list of names, characteristics, titles of God here

As I pondered this verse it felt like a cascade

Yes, like looking at a cascade seeing it beauty as rainbows appear through the mist & hearing the power & life

More I thought on this verse the less I felt like I was looking at it and the more I felt as if I was beneath this cascade

Being overwhelmed as God’s nature crashed over me, reminded of things I know about God as they washed over me

Overwhelming with the wonder of this glorious God who is my Redeemer, the Holy One who can set me free & wash me clean, the one who has made me a new creation and stands over me to watch, care, protect & provide

This is the living water, the fountain of life

He is your Redeemer, your Holy One, your Creator, your King

Is Full of Grace

Working for You

God makes a promise that Babylon will not destroy them

As He’s said, Babylon is a tool of discipline & correction

God will deliver them from the hand of Babylon

All of who God is is at work for our sake

He is working for His people

Babylon will be overthrown for the sake of His people

A favourite verse of Christians, Rom. 8:28, shows us the same thing

God is working for our good, but why? We’ve been called to Him, redeemed, loved

He Loves You

He is working for us because we are precious in His sight, honoured, loved

Isa. 43:4

As the message proceeds we are reminded His work & His love isn’t because we deserve it

We haven’t positioned ourselves in a place where God must love us

God makes a choice to love us

This is so clearly seen in Israel’s history - though unfaithful God loves them

This is grace

1 John 4:10 “10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

And Mighty to Save

Your Enemy is Powerful

Babylon rejoiced in their strength - were proud nation

Rejoiced in their dominance in the world

They were a powerful nation, God would use that power for His purpose

Judah was no match for the might of Babylon - intimidating

Our enemy is powerful & often seems to big for us

Sin dominates our life, ruins us & condemns us to hell

Death reigns & no-one escapes

Even as God’s people our enemy is intimidating

Temptations that assualt us can seem too big for us

Every time we face our Apollyon we get knocked to the ground

Your Enemy isn’t Invincible

Here the focus of their might is that the very thing they rejoice in will be their method of fleeing

Our enemy is powerful but this is a reminder that they are not invincible

Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world

1 John 5:4–5 “4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Jesus came and crushed the head of our enemy under His foot

Your King is a Saviour

Isaiah 43:16-17

He Delivers His People

Remember His Works

Can God deliver from the Babylonians? He delivered from Egypt

God made a way through the sea

Are you uncertain if God can deliver you from the enemy today?

Look at what He has already done

See God

His message is more powerful than just look at the works God has done

Notice this is written in the present tense - makes a way, brings forth

It’s put into a present context to remind us that our faith isn’t in the event but in the God who can do those things

Don’t look for the power, wonder, awe for faith & encouragement

See the God who can do it

Why does that matter? How is it different?

The event is in the past, it’s happened, done

God who did the work is present now

e.g. Recently, lost several strong voices for God - John MacArthur, Charlie Kirk, Voddie Baucham

Look back on the influence they had, things they did & often asked who will continue that work?

Who will be the next great leader? We even talk this way about leaders of nations or companies

Why do we ask this? Because they did great things in their life but that will only ever be in the past

Their ability to work & influence is finished

It’s not that way with God

He is still present to work in power now just as He has done in the past

Trust Him

Our faith isn’t strengthened by believing in a God who has done these things, who could do these things

We’re called to trust God who does these things

Psalm 20:7 “7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

He Directs the Nations

God Moves in this World

Notice how God describes how these events happen

God will bring down Babylon & cause them to flee

How did the powerful Egyptian army end in the Red Sea?

God led them there

In both cases God moves the nations of the world to deliver His people

Do you want to know how much God loves His people?

He will move the world for them

That is seen in the ‘Last Days’ also

Do you want to know how great a Saviour God is

Galatians 4:4–5 “4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

At the perfect time, having prepared the world & brought it to a place where His purpose could be fulfilled

God moved the world to save people

God will move the world to finally save His people

He is Just

In Isa. 42:3 we were encouraged by God’s care, that He will not extinguish the flame of His people

Isa. 43:17 He will extinguish the flame of the wicked

In both examples given in the text (Egypt & Babylon) they had opportunity to do right & obey God

Both Egypt & Babylon rejected God & continued in their wicked ways

Your King is Redeeming

Isaiah 43:18-21

Learn from the Past

Learn from the Past

There is much to learn from the past & we ought to

If we weren’t then much of Bible is pointless

As you look back in the past, even your past, learn who God is

Don’t Get Stuck in the Past

Now Isa. 43:18 seems very odd

He has just used the past as an example and now don’t remember the past?

Same reason He speaks of Exodus in present

Don’t dwell on the past, don’t stay in the past

We have a terrible habit of making an idol of the past

Remembering only the good things, sanitising it

Often we wish we could remain in a moment

e.g. Like Peter at the Transfiguration

God doesn’t work in our lives, deliver us so that we will stay in that moment

This is what Paul means in Philippians 3

Philippians 3:12–14 “12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Look to the Future

God is Present

Why shouldn’t we hold onto the past? God doesn’t

God is constantly working in the present to bring about His promised future

Why shouldn’t we hold onto the past? We bind God to the past

We put God in a box defined by what we see in the past

This isn’t a ‘don’t put God in a box just think bigger’ sermon

It’s don’t put God in a box because of your limited understanding of who He is

God isn’t bound to work in the same way in every age

God doesn’t have to do things twice just to prove He can

God is absolutely consistent in His character & His purpose but His method of accomplishing that purpose may change

Dispensationalism recognises this & progress of God’s covenants show this

God is moving His purpose forward & acts accordingly

I have seen this often in churches

Remember the glory days when we had these programs & these things happening

If only we could get back there

God moves on & so should we

What is the lesson? Learn from the past but don’t be bound by it

God will Redeem

I will do a new thing is a deeply redemptive statement

This isn’t just about God trying new creative ways to do things

In fact, the heart of this new thing is the heart of the exodus & deliverance from Babylon - Redemption

This is still about God being the only Saviour

God delivered from Egypt, from Assyria, from Babylon, etc.

Ultimate work of deliverance will be a final one, that brings ultimate freedom

Wonderful new thing is Jesus

See God at Work

To Isaiah this seems obvious

He wonders how they don’t see it

“Shall you not know it?” = can’t you see it?

What I have done in the past & do in the present I will do in the future

He will bring life to dry land

Remember, these words are written to people who will be taken captive

They live in difficult times but God is reassuring them His best work was not in the past

He is at work now, even in their misery, and His best work is yet to come

That message is alive for you today - God’s best work isn’t in the past

He is at work today leading us to the great fulfilment of His work when our redemption is complete

Lift High the Name of Jesus

God is Working for You

Notice again the personal encouragement to His people

Isa. 43:14 - for your sake

Isa. 43:20 - to give drink to My people, My chosen

God’s work in this world is for the good, satisfaction, salvation of His people

Cascade of God’s character in Isa. 43:14-15 is the life giving water for His people

Sometimes this doesn’t seem true

Did the Babylonian captivity feel like rivers in the desert? No, they wept

Just because it doesn’t feel like God is working good doesn’t make it not true

Babylonian captivity was for their good - they needed to see it

Give Him Praise

All of this is so that they (we) will be witnesses of God’s glory

So that our lives will declare the praise of God & lift high the name of Jesus

Conclusion

See the work of Your King

See Him, today, as He is

God is at work for the sake of His people

He will satisfy our thirsty souls

Joy of God’s work and the satisfaction it brings are found in the work of God as Redeemer

His great purpose is in saving a people for His name, saving people from captivity of sin & death

He is the only God who can do that

You can know the new work of God in your life today

It begins by believing that Jesus is the only Saviour, the one who can deliver you from bondage of sin & death

Believer, God did work in your life by saving you from sin but that isn’t where His work has ended

He is at work in you today - making you more like Christ, leading you to a life of true joy & satisfaction

So, like Paul encourages, press toward Christ - He is your prize