Choose You This Day Whom Ye will Serve
By Pastor Matt Black
July
23, 2006
Lord's Day Evening
Isaiah 8:9-15
Introduction: Last week we looked at Immanuel’s Land. We saw how King Ahaz thought that he was in charge—he was the one who had to protect Judah, and he ended up selling out to the Assyrians and the Egyptians. He made a bargain with his enemies, and it looked like he was on the road to utterly destroying the seed of the Messiah. The northern ten tribes of Israel were already going to be destroyed and they would no longer be a people.
Isaiah’s second son was born, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means essential “swift destruction”. That’s what happened to Northern Israel—they would become the Samaritans and would cease to be Jewish. The ten northern tribes were lost forever! Would the same happen to Judah? Well, if this was Ahaz’s land, that might be the case, but this is not the Land of Ahaz! Look down at verse 8. It tells us that the King of Assyria “shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.” Whose land is this? It’s Immanuel’s Land! And even though Judah would be reached to the neck in war with the Assyrians, they would be spared—not for their own sakes, but for the Lord’s sake and because of His mercy and grace alone. God would spare a remnant from Judah. They would not be taken away to Assyria. What we find in verses 9-15 is that what the people of Judah need to do now is put their trust in the Lord. They need to choose the Lord regardless of the consequences. So the title of tonight’s message is “Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve”. Let’s look at our first point. No matter what, we must not trust in man. That was Ahaz’s mistake. Man will always fail, but God never fails!
I. We need to put our confidence in the Lord. (verses 9-15).
Listen to the warning to Assyria in verse 9. Isaiah now turns to Assyria in his preaching. Listen to what he says: “Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.”
A. We see a warning to the Proud
1. First notice the subjects. Isaiah is talking to the “far countries”. He is addressing Assyria.
2. Then we see the summons. Isaiah warns Assyria to “associate yourselves.” The word “associate” has the idea of organizing their destructive energies. “Get ready to destroy Israel” the Lord says. In other words, they were to “do the worst they could do”. The Assyrians were very cruel, and Isaiah says, to bring on the worst they can possibly muster. “Do your very worst.”
Of course Assyria thinks it is acting in its own strength and power. But they are deceived. They are merely instruments in the control of the Lord whom He is using to punish His people. No nation or people can act in their own strength. Not one of us is a sovereign being. The life’s breath of every living creature comes from the LORD God Almighty!
3. The surety. We see now that whatever Assyria musters toward God’s people will be thrown back in their face, for God promises them THREE times “ye shall be broken in pieces.” Assyria would crush Israel, but God promises them that they will most certainly be defeated. Perhaps not now, but judgment is certain!
This is true for every one of us. One day it will be the Last Day. That day will be glorious for the redeemed, but terrorizing for the lost. It will either be a Day of Judgment or a Day of Redemption. Mercy and justice will both be meted out that on that Great Day of the LORD. So there was something sure. Assyria, like all of us, will be judged.
4. We finally see a surprise. But it is not Assyria alone that God is talking too. He is speaking to “all ye of far countries”. He says “gird yourselves” twice. He says “give ear”, listen up! You will ultimately come to destruction if you fight against the living God.
Application: These verse remind me of the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:44. Christ says if you stand against him you will be ground to powder, but if you fall upon him, you will be broken. Look at Matthew 21:44, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Listen to me tonight. You can have your own way, but you will be pulverized—ground to powder! You don’t want that! You need to fall broken upon Jesus tonight.
I Peter 5:5 tells us that “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
So we hear this Warning to the Proud Assyrians, and to all proud people. Then we see…
B. Secondly we see the Weakness of the Proud.
Look at verse 10, “Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought [NOTHING]; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.” The Assyrians plans would ultimately come to nothing. Yes, they would destroy Israel, but in the end, they too would perish. Such is the way of the wicked.
1. We see in this the curse to the wicked—no matter what you achieve in life, you ultimately earn death! Go ahead and take counsel together—it will always come to nothing. Ultimately your best achievement “shall not stand”! Psalm 1 tells us the blessed man will prosper. But what does verse 4 and following tell us about the wicked? “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” The way of the ungodly will come to nothing! It will utterly perish. The wicked can plan and prosper in this world, but “what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
2. The comfort of the righteous—This is written to those in Judah who love the LORD. They have not forsaken God. Even though these terrible judgments are occurring, the one who fears the Lord has nothing to fear. We have the same promise that the believing children of Israel had in Moses’ day when God was judging Egypt.
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Israel and Judah put their trust in themselves or in the earthly powers. We must say with Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
We must cry to God to “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man” (Psalm 60:11).
We say with David in Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
So we need to put our confidence in the Lord.
II. Secondly, we need to receive our counsel from the LORD.
In verse 11, God now turns to Isaiah. He says, “11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people,
A. To receive the Lord’s counsel, you must hear the voice of the Lord talking to you “with a strong hand”? God was moving in Isaiah! It was God speaking to Isaiah!
To receive the Lord’s counsel, you must also realize you are vulnerable to any kind of sin. Even though Isaiah is a prophet, he is always vulnerable to the evil. The moment you believe you are not vulnerable, you will stop walking with the Lord. Never think you are beyond temptation. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Remember, no matter where you are or who you are—you are vulnerable to the wicked of sins and iniquity.
God’s counsel to Isaiah was much like the Lord’s counsel to the Blessed man of Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
B. To receive the Lord’s counsel, you must be vigilant in doing God’s will. You must be listening to the voice of the Lord and obey diligently! You must be ruthless about it! Look at verse 12, “saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy [A CONSPIRACY, OR A TURNCOAT]; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Here God reveals that our greatest idol is the FEAR of MAN! Here is a principle. People were saying of Isaiah, he really doesn’t serve God—he is really a friend of the enemy! He’s a friend of Assyria, and he wants Assyria to destroy us!
Listen to me, when you do right, you have to have your complete trust and confidence that God will take care of the circumstances. If your trust is not in God, it will be revealed. You will crumble under the pressure. Let God be your rock and foundation! The fear of the Lord ought to fall upon you, for “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).
So we need to put our confidence in the Lord, and we need to receive our counsel from the Lord.
III. But thirdly notice, we need to ultimately choose the Lord. There is a crossroads when you enter the Christian life. Christ is either your Saviour or He is your Judge. He is either your comfort or your condemnation. That’s exactly what verse 14 of our text says. Look at verse 14, “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin [TRAP] and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
A. We see here a clear choice.
Here we learn that God is either a sanctuary or a snare for you. You will either taste of his protection, or taste of his punishment. There is no middle ground. Who is on the Lord’s side? Joshua said boldly, in Joshua 24:15 “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Look at Matthew 7: 13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
You tonight are either serving God, or you are serving yourself. You cannot serve both God and your own ambitions. What has your choice been up until tonight? Are you serving God or yourself?
B. Secondly, we see that there are clear consequences. What does verse 15 say? “And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
So we need to put our confidence in the Lord, and we need to receive our counsel from the Lord, and ultimately we need to not just say we are Christians, we need to choose the Lord on a daily, minute by minute basis.
Conclusion: Is God your sanctuary or is he your snare? Is God for you? Choose the Lord at this moment. Paul said, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3:13). Forsake your sin, and forsake your way of living and cling to Jesus Christ! Choose Jesus Christ, and you cannot fail! It doesn’t matter who stands against you! Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Are you choosing God on a minute by minute basis no matter what the cost? I pray that God would open our eyes to the reality of our choices.
Closing Hymn: 333 Open Our Eyes Lord