For the Glory of His Name

Isaiah 47:1-15; Isaiah 48:1-22

Introduction

This week is the beginning of Advent

Anticipation of Christ’s first coming

When Christ was born shepherd’s saw heaven’s filled with angels proclaiming Him

Luke 2:14 “14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!””

Strangely (perhaps) we find some depth to this praise in a prophecy about the fall of Babylon and the call to stubborn Israel

This is a time of year that we will think a lot about God’s salvation

We’ll sing songs of praise about His coming & salvation

Is that what the angels meant when they sang glory to God in the highest?

Do we give God glory by talking about salvation or singing of His glory?

Why did Jesus come to save people from their sins?

Read Isaiah 48:9-11

This is the key section of our text today

It holds the key to understanding Christmas, salvation & life

So let’s go back 700 years before Jesus

Read Isaiah 47:1-15

God is Glorified in His Justice

Isaiah 47:1-15

Babylon will Fall (Isa. 47:1-5)

The Fall of the City

This is 3rd time fall of Babylon has been discussed (Isa. 13-14; 21; 47)

God speaks to them with authourity

‘Come down & sit in the dust’ like telling dog to ‘sit’

There is condescencion & mocking in God’s words

Babylon was a city, nation, full of pride

God calls them ‘virgin daughter’ which is probably a reference to fact they hadn’t been conquered

That gave them the illusion of power

They were like the man who build his house on the sand (Matt. 7:26)

Illusion of stability but it’s fall was great

They thought they were so great they believed they were the ‘Queen of Kingdoms’ (Isa. 47:5)

Believed they would always be the Queen of Kingdoms (Isa. 47:7)

They believed they were above trouble (Isa. 47:8) & wouldn’t suffer loss

God describes their fall & it is a great humiliation (Isa. 47:1-3)

Queen of nations will be turned into a peasant girl

Persia’s conquer of Babylon was swift & complete

Daniel 5:30 “30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.”

The Fall of the System

Why does Bible give so much space to fall of Babylon, a city?

It uses Babylon as an illustration of something bigger

It’s the illustration of lives lived in opposition to God

Babylon has a long history of rebellion (we’ve seen this before)

It represents for us a system that is worldly, temporal, sinful

It’s a system, philosophy, way of life that is both political & spiritual

Babylon is the example of worldly wisdom and success

So while Isaiah speaks of the actual city here there is much more in view

This is a prophecy of God’s destruction of worldly, rebellious living

How do you know that?

Revelation 17-18 speak of this idea of Babylon being destroyed by Christ

Uses the same descriptions & words Isaiah uses

Revelation 18:7–8 “7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”

God is saying, not just a city, but every part of creation that lives in opposition to Him will be brought down

Wicked people rule our world, influence our government

Ungodly morality defines what is successful, what is right in this world

It’s frustrating, angering, difficult to live in but God will bring the proud to their knees

Faith in God (Isa. 47:4)

God’s ultimate victory over the wickedness of this world raises many questions

If you live in Babylon will you be destroyed with the wicked

Isaiah 47:4 is a reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God

For the world, the wicked, Babylon God is a conqueror

For His people He is a redeemer, He is almighty, He is holy

Have faith in your God

Reasons Babylon will Fall (Isa. 47:6-15)

Despise God’s People

God doesn’t haphazardly judge nations & destroy cities

He gives 3 reasons here why Babylon will be destroyed

3 reasons given for city of Babylon are echoed in Rev. 18-19 for system of Babylon

Isa. 47:6 gives the first reason - treatment of God’s people

God brought Babylon to chastise Israel for their sin

Babylon took this to increase their pride

God positioned people like Daniel (& even Nebuchadnezzar) in influential places so Babylon would know God’s work

They didn’t take it to heart

They treated Israel harshly

This is part of a promise God made beginning with Abraham

Israel holds a unique place in God’s program

This is also part of what will bring the downfall of the nations

Rev. 17 describes the kings of the earth as being committed to ways of Babylon (Rev. 17:2)

1 of their great purposes is to destroy the people of God

Revelation 17:6 “6 I saw the woman [Babylon], drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.”

God will not let this stand

Rev. 18:7-8 quotes Isaiah 47:7-8 indicating God will bring judgment for this

Deify Themselves

This second reason is the heart of the other 2 & most egregious of thier sins

Without doubt this is the fundamental sin we all share

Deification of self (Isa. 47:8-10)

In our assumptions of how good we are we believe we are immune from hardship

Or don’t deserve any hardship

We trust in ourselves, our own morality

Don’t think of God or give Him any value or place in our world

We think we are king (or queen)

1 way to see that in our world is everyone’s assumption that they deserve entry to heaven

We’ll also make judgments about who shouldn’t

Divination and Sorcery

Here God mocks them again

This time for their idolatry & sorcery

You can’t say our society is more sophisticated than this - we’re not!

We will say God has no place in society yet we’ll look in a thousand other places for guidance

e.g. In 2010 World Cup you could place bets on games based on the predictions of Paul the Octopus

e.g.2 Go to fairs etc. where Anaya busks and there are always physics, card readers etc.

e.g.3 Nostradamus & Mayan calendars gets dragged out regularly to predict the year ahead

These will be burned up in fire

Not nice, useful, warming fire but destructive fire

God is Glorified in His Grace

Isaiah 48:1-22

God Declares His Glory (Isa. 48:1-11)

Pay Attention to God’s Word

In the first 16 verses the word for ‘hear’ is used 16 times

It’s a word that means to pay close attention to

It implies hearing is to be followed by action

This is a call to them in their stubbornness, hard-heartedness

He makes a case for why they should listen

They call themselves God’s people, people of Jerusalem

If that’s true then you can’t ignore what He has to say

Another case He makes is past fulfilled prophecy

He has told them before things happened

e.g. Exodus, etc.

So that, when they do happen they can’t credit anyone or anything else

God Pursues His Glory (Isa. 48:9-11)

Here is the crux of the message

e.g. Song ‘Above All’

I used to like this song & sing

Generally I think it is a good song

Speaks of God being above all other gods & kings & above all treasures

In some ways putting the crucifixion into a beautiful context

Last line bugged me (maybe I’m pedantic)

‘You thought of me, above all’

The line fits out modern conception of reaons for crucifixion

God’s love for us is the main motivating factor of the crucifixion

Except that’s not God’s main motivating factor for saving us

It is undoubtedly part of why He does it but not the main reason

Main reason that God does anything, including saving people, is for His own glory

God has just described Israel as stiffnecked & stubborn

Clearly He didn’t choose them, deliver them because they were superior in any way to others

They didn’t make themselves lovable so God loved them

God shows love & grace because it is His nature

The display of that love & grace gives God glory

God is relentlessly in pursuit of His own glory

Often referred to as the God-centredness of God

Perhaps you responded to that idea the same as many people do

“Wow! God sure is selfish. What a megalomaniac”

Paul shows it one way in Phil. 1:9-11

Philippians 1:9–11 “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

God saves us & fills us with fruits of righteousness so that we will give God glory & praise

Absolutely everything God does is to exalt Himself above all else

Babylon says “I am, and there is no one else besides me.” (Isa. 47:10)

Humanity says, “I am the ruler of my life, God has no say over me.”

God says, “I will not give my glory to another.” (Isa. 48:11)

God is the greatest, most valuable, most worthy being

It is not wrong for God to seek glory in all things, rather it is absolutely right

In His absolute perfection He alone is worthy of all glory, honour & praise

God’s Glory is Your Good

Our problem with thinking this way is because we’re naturally selfish

If we seek our own glory it is because we want to gain over others

God’s absolute perfection means when He seeks His glory the result is our good

God is glorified in judging Babylon (& all wickedness) because justice prevails, evil is judged

God is glorified in delivering Israel because His grace & faithfulness prevail

When God seeks His own glory we benefit

I like the way Randy Alcorn expresses this

https://www.epm.org/resources/2011/Apr/1/god-seeking-his-own-glory/ accessed 28/11/2025

God must uphold his own glory as the supreme value of the universe because 1) he is true, and it would be false to hold up any other glory as supreme; and 2) he is loving, and it would be unloving to offer us as supremely satisfying anything less than what is infinitely and eternally satisfying—namely, himself.

God’s Glory is Your Good (Isa. 48:9-22)

For His Glory He Defers His Anger

How is God’s pursuit of His own glory good for me?

It is for His name sake that He defers His anger

For His praise that He restrains His wrath

Israel’s sin makes them guilty before God - worthy of punishment not praise

God is glorified by saving some from wrath

He is glorified by showing grace, longsuffering & mercy

God is right, just, honourable & praiseworthy for judging sinners

God is right, just, honourable & praiseworthy for saving sinners

You can be saved from Your sin and know true peace & freedom because it brings glory to God

For His Glory He Refines His People (Isa. 48:10)

“I have refined you, but not as silver” is a tricky statement

No commentary etc. I read agrees on the exact meaning of that statement

That is, what does it mean ‘not as silver’?

Refining silver is to remove the dross from it - this takes great heat

Possible what is meant is that if God did refine them with the intensity of refining silver it would destroy them

God’s intent in putting them through the furnace of affliction was to destroy them but refine them

God is glorified in purifying His people

No-one enjoys that process, it’s hard & painful but it’s for your good

Fire God brings to Babylon is destuctive (Isa. 47:14) but the fire to His people isn’t

It doesn’t bring God glory to destroy His people in the refining fire

God is glorified when that fire refines you

You come out of that fire stronger, purer, more beautiful

For His Glory He Provides Peace

It seems clear that Isa. 48:16 speaks about The Servant, Messiah, Jesus

God is glorified in us by saving us

He has done that by sending the Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross paying my debt - Redemption

Here is a call to find your good in His glory - for you to be saved from your sin

How does that happen?

Heeding His commandments

Stop trying to live life your own way, ignoring God, living for your own glory

Repent, that is turn you life to live God’s way, to seek His glory

What is the result of that? Peace like a river & righteousness like waves of the sea

There is no peace (in any sense) for the wicked but for those who trust God there is rivers of peace

Conclusion

Everything that happens in this world happens because God is relentlessly, passionately pursuing His own glory

Wrong will be made right because of who God is

This means 2 basic things:

Those who oppose God will be judged for their rebellion

Those who believe & follow God will be saved from judgment

Both of these things are true, right & give God glory

If you believe Jesus as Saviour you can know true peace & satisfaction

He is glorified in Your salvation & you receive unmerited, unmeasurable good

Believer, there is an important truth for us to consider here too

God is God-centred, passionately pursuing His own glory

If we call ourselves His people then this will lead us to passionately pursue God’s glory in our lives

I believe John Piper is right to say, ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him’

If God is God-centered you should be God-centred

In God’s glory you will find great good