Expensive Freedom
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Welcome & Opening Prayer
Music Ministry
Victory in Jesus (#473, #1&2)
O, How I Love Jesus (#529, #1&2)
The Blessing
Intro to Service Topic
Things are not always as they seem
Things certainly are more complicated than they seem
Today, we look back to the OT seeking wisdom
seeking to understand “ Expensive Freedom”
We begin in with Isaiah 10:1-4
Word of God - Isaiah 10:1-4
Message: “Expensive Freedom”
We need a little history on the book of Isaiah
Isaiah is one of the prophetic books of the Bible, so it tells us what IS GOING to happen
It is the story of Isaiah and a record of his prophecies to the court of Judah during the decline of Israel just before the Assyrian conquest.
Just because Isaiah talks about the demise or death of a country doesn’t mean all countries are being talked about
but understanding what was said then helps us to understand how God works
We also know the difference between the people of a nation and the government of said nation
God, through Isaiah predicts the demise of Assyria and Assyria is indeed gone
I, for one, like learning from the mistakes of others more than having to go through the pain myself
So, I study stuff like this to learn principles that I can apply for the living of my life
Let’s learn together
The beginning of our core text today was Isaiah 10:1-4
Which is a warning to oppressors
When the rich and powerful take advantage of the poor and weak
God takes notice as we see in
Isaiah 10:3
3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
Not one of us anywhere can hide from God when we take advantage of others
God’s vengeance is real, predictable and severe
But, God does not always punish in the way we might think
And this is the core of our message today
Verse one today spoke of iniquitous [iˈnikwidəs] decrees which just means morally wrong and obviously unfair
It’s important that we get the players right in this story
God is angry with His people, Israel
God is talking about the people of Israel, not the institutional government of Israel
The people turned away from God
So, this is what God did: Isaiah 10:5-6
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Assyria is many things in Scripture
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Biblical Relevance)
1) as an object of judgment but also an instrument of judgment,
2) as an example of pride and its consequences
As was common then (and now even), Assyria had their own god(s)
Countries and people-groups had some object of their worship
these “little-g” gods were given credit or blame for the success of their people
All the while the one true God, Yaweh, was using them for His divine purpose
This brings us to a major point in our study today
There is both a Divine decree and human culpability side by side in Scripture
That God gave us “free will” to choose our behavior does not mean we won’t be held responsible
Psalm 103:17-19
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Clearly, God is sovereign - ruler over all the world and everyone on it
If God is over all, where does our human or free will fit in?
If God decrees all and controls all
then what about free will?
What about personal responsibility?
Let me just tell you that in the end, we each ARE responsible for our choices
the responsibility is for each person
and for the larger people-group
community or country
The king of Assyria believed their military victories were spiritual victories over the idols of the cities he conquered
Look at Isaiah 10:8-10
8 for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
The king was proud of his ability to conquer others and make their kings subject to him
The king also elevated himself up to “semi-god” status thinking he was superior to others
This pride would lead to their downfall
But first, Assyria would take down Jerusalem
Isaiah 10:11
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
The king was all proud of his accomplishments and threatened to take down Jerusalem/Israel
This is one of those “but then God...” moments
Isaiah 10:12 happens
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.
To be clear the term “speech” above actually means “fruit” in Hebrew.
So, the “fruit” of the arrogant heart of the king and his boastfulness is about to be punished
Isaiah goes on to quote 2 Kings 19:22-24
Where God says that he knows the king is mocking God by claiming that the king has the power
even though the king doesn’t even acknowledge Yaweh
Then in 2 Kings 19:25 God reminds us that God told us these things would happen
25 “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins,
Yeah, feel all powerful, but God “called his shot”
because God is sovereign
God knows all ahead of time
So God says in 2 Kings 19:27-28 that there is a reckoning coming
27 “But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.
So, here we are on the fourth of July, 2021 - Independence Day
From the quick review of Scripture we just completed we know this
“Freedom of choice is not the same as freedom from consequences”
I have to admit that I THOUGHT I read and remembered the Declaration of Independence of 1776 fairly well
I was wrong
I remembered the beginning and end, but not the meat in the middle
The beginning should be familiar
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--
I encourage you to read the FULL text today!
It’s basically like a divorce pleading, but it’s not a “no-fault” divorce
In the middle is a laundry list of complaints against the English King/government
Some would argue that the US is guilty of the same things today
We are human after all
God is in the beginning and end of the Declaration
The Declaration ends with this:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
We need to read our full history and learn from it
And learn about the signers
What they really stood for, not what the media would tell you
Karen, my humble wife has a cousin named Charles Carroll (of Carrollton) was one of the original signers
the only Catholic signer
By signing the Declaration of Independence there was great risk
this new country was free to live for values of their own making
Just like we decide as individuals whether we will live for God or live for ourselves as the Assyrians and Jews of our Isaiah reading
We decide whether it is worth our time to study and learn from our past
or we can be willing to pay the price for our ignorance and lack of obedience
The great expense of our freedom is not in the lives of those who died defending our freedom
as great as that cost is, and I give thanks for those who have sacrificed
No, the greatest expense for our freedom would be if we continue to turn our back toward God
If we continue to worship our idols of
Personal power
Serving self over others
If we oppress others because we can
If we celebrate our ability to physically conquer without regard to purpose
Then we can expect to be used as an instrument of God, but may destroy ourselves in the process
In our freedom today, a freedom purchased both by the blood of soldiers and blood of Christ
Let us choose to accept God’s adoption of us
that we maybe God’s people first and foremost
That others may experience God when interact with them
Let us be on God’s side and May God Bless America as we repent and embrace God and His ways!
Amen!
Invitation “Open Our Eyes Lord”
Apostles’ Creed
PRAYER
To ask forgiveness
To ask for reconciliation
Holy Communion