A New Thing for a New Year

Introduction

Good evening and welcome back.

Tonight if you will, start turning in your Bibles to .

Tonight we are going to briefly get into the subject of “A New Thing for a New Year.”

And with it being the last service we will have in 2018, It is appropriate that we spend a few minutes this evening talking about New Years resolutions.

And the thing about New Years resolutions is that we have a hard time keeping those resolutions.

We talk about and say we are going to do all of these different things differently in the New Year.

Like the changing of a date is going to actually change our behavior in some way.

Well, the problem with this is not that the things that we desire to change are necessarily bad, the problem is that our commitment to change is rooted in the wrong things.

Our reasons for change may be noble but our unwillingness to commit to taking the steps to actually change hinders our ability to actually change.

And the #1 reason for all of this is because our reasons for change are rooted in ourselves and not what God’s will for us actually is.

We have good ideas and intentions but we fail to consult God before we try to make these changes.

And the further and further from God’s will that our ideas are removed, then the more likely that idea will fail.

And again, that does not necessarily mean that our idea is bad, it just means that we forgot to bring God on board and allow God to condition us and get us ready for the change.

Which is exactly the problem that the children of Israel are going to run into in our passage for tonight.

In the passage, the children of Israel have been carried off into bondage by the Babylonians and are having a hard time understanding why they are in the situation they are in.

Why God was not doing what they wanted Him to do.

After all, they were in bondage and they wanted God to free them from that bondage.

Which is not a bad idea or even a bad thing for them to be asking for.

However, they did not want to understand why or even what God’s will was.

They just wanted God to get on board with what they wanted and what their desire was.

Which brings us to the focal passage for tonight.

So, if you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you stand with me if you are able.

I will be reading verses 18-21, but we will be covering verses 14-28 of that chapter.

Isaiah writes this, speaking on behalf of God . . .

Scripture Focus

Isaiah 43:18–21 NIV - Anglicised

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Isaiah 43:18-

This is what the Lord says (vs 14-17)

**God is revealing his mercy and his glory as well as His will.**

And the key word that we need to be paying attention here is “I.”

And the “I” being referenced is not the people, but rather God, which we will get to in just a moment.

But first I do want to back up and look and the situation surround their circumstances.

Starting back in verse 14 . . .

Isaiah 43:14–15 NIV - Anglicised

14 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”

So, here God is actually answering the prayer of the Israelites a bit.

They desire to be delivered from the hands of the Babylonians and God in his overwhelming mercy says that yes, this would happen.

He says that #1 He is their Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Which is something that I believe we sometimes forget.

We forget that God is our eternal redeemer.

That when we get into situations where we need saving that God is the one what is going to save us.

We have a tendency to search all around us for redeemers in all sorts of situations and circumstances but forget that God is our one and only true redeemer.

Now, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t use people for His work, but rather we need to give credit where credit is due.

Thank the person that God has sent your way to help for their obedience and willingness to do God’s work (whether they know it or not).

But ultimately we need to be giving God credit, and God glory for the saving work in our lives.

So the first step here is acknowledging God and who God is.

And what did God do?

Well, he is promising to send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.

In other words, God is saying I will show my might by bringing down the strongest nation on earth in the same way they took down others.

And I will also pause and say this, If God did it to the Babylonians, he can do it to the United States of America.

No one is above God and beyond God’s reach.

But again, we need to notice and acknowledge who is in charge of this.

God is, not Israel.

Not some other nation.

God.

And who is this God?

Isaiah 43:15–17 NIV - Anglicised

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.” 16 This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Isaiah 43:16–17 NIV - Anglicised

16 This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Isaiah 43:

And he is talking about Egypt here.

How he delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt.

However, we also need to remember that they were in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years.

And they did not come out of Egypt until it was God’s time.

Until they were willing to follow God and only God.

Until they were willing to stop making resolutions about what they were wanting and start resolving to be God’s people.

And the same thing holds true for each and every one of us.

A New Thing (vs 18-21)

**God is the one in charge of doing a new thing in our lives, not us**

**When we think we are in charge, our plans end up messed up and incomplete.**

**The only attainable resolution is a revelation by God and submitting to that revelation**

However, this was not Egypt that the children of Israel were dealing with here.

This was a different people in a different time.

This was Babylon and although there were a lot of similarities between the two, the Israelites were not making clay brinks and being beaten with whips.

They were under control of the Babylonians but their type of rule was one of assimilation and not torture.

The Babylonians were more refined and understood that if you could get the people to adopt your way of life as their own, then they would forget that they were prisoners.

Only when someone got way out of line did they use fear as a tactic.

No, they operated much like sin does.

It sucks you in, all the while making you think that you are in control and that you are in charge.

But the reality is, it is your master and when if you forget and get out line, it will drag you right back in with avengeance.

If you don’t believe me, then why do you keep committing the sins you do?

What is keeping you from changing?

Think about it.

Again, we make all of these resolutions and have all these ideas but we are powerless to really change.

And when we think we are in charge, we end up deeper and deeper in bondage.

And God knows that the children of Israel now were not like the ones in Egypt.

Their hearts and minds belonged to the Babylonians.

They said they wanted freedom but they were unwilling to submit to God to attain that freedom.

So, God tells them this . . .

Isaiah 43:18–21 NIV - Anglicised

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Isaiah 43:

And we need to take a minute, slow down, and hear what God is saying here.

First he is telling them, forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

The “good ole’ days” (which were not really so good anyway) are over with, we can’t go back.

Our sins of the past, once we have repented are over with, we can’t change it, so there is no sense in dwelling there.

We have got to be forward thinking.

We have got to be people in tune with God and what God is revealing to us now that will move us into the future.

The past is just that, past.

Reflect, remember, and move on.

Because God is telling them, and us, see, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

And that is the problem.

We fail to perceive the new things that God is trying to do in us and through us.

And the main reason we are failing in this area is because we are failing to submit our lives to God.

We are failing to allow God to be the director and conductor of our lives.

We are trying our best to make changes, but we are leaving God out of the mix.

The truth is that the only attainable resolution we will ever see is when we receive a revelation from God and submit our lives to that revelation.

Again, God is saying I am doing a new thing.

Not, “Buford is doing a new thing,” or “PUT YOUR NAME HERE, is doing a new thing.”

It is God and 100% God.

And as as long as we continue to fool ourselves and continue to leave God out of the mix, then we will continue to hobble along in this life.

Failing to Give God Credit (vs 22-24)

**For all of God’s mercy and grace we still fail to acknowledge and worship him.**

**We fail to even honor God by being obedient.**

**Instead we continue in our sin.**

However, unfortunately we will not listen to this .

We will leave here and go right back to doing the exact same thing, hoping for a different outcome.

Which is exactly what the children of Israel were doing.

Want to know why they were not immediately delivered from the Babylonians?

Look at what comes next . . .

Isaiah 43:22–24 NIV - Anglicised

22 “Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honoured me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. 24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offences.

Isaiah 42:22–24 NIV - Anglicised

22 But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no-one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no-one to say, “Send them back.” 23 Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? 24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law.

We want all of these things but for all of God’s mercy and grace, we still fail to acknowledge and worship Him.

We still fail to be obedient to God in our lives.

We still continue in our sin and idolatry.

When all God wants is for us to trust Him.

To be obedient to Him.

To let Him make our resolutions for us.

But yet we do not.

Let’s Argue Together (vs 25-28)

**We are without excuse for our behavior.**

**The only real answer is to submit to God and give in to God**

And because of that God reminds us . . .

Isaiah 43:25–28 NIV - Anglicised

25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. 26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. 27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me. 28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple, and I will consign Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn.

We, like the Israelites are without excuse for our behaviors.

For our failures with regard to following God’s will.

For our continued bondage to sin and death.

And the only real answer is for us to give in to God.

To submit to God.

Altar Call

But, are we willing to do that?

Are we willing to let go of everything and let God be our God?

To let Jesus be our Lord and Savior?

To let our New Years resolutions be obedience to God and God’s will for us?

To allow God to reveal to us His will and resolve to follow His will?

If it has not been but you want it to be, then I would encourage you to come.

Place that burden on the altar and give everything over to God.

Whatever your need is, I would encourage you to come and allow God to minster to that need.

Will you do that tonight?

Or will you leave here the same way you came in?

It’s your decision to make, what will the choice be?