The Glory is the Lord’s
By Pastor Matt Black
13 May
2007
Lord's Day morning
Isaiah 14:1-15
Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of Isaiah 42:8. The title of tonight’s message is “The Glory is the Lord’s”. Our main text tonight is Isaiah 14, but I’d like us to stand and read Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
[Prayer for guidance]
Turn back to Isaiah 14. Tonight we are going to learn from this passage that God is glorious, and all of His creatures should give glory to His worthy Name. And yet many in this present world take what belongs to God and credit it to man. We should all say with Paul, “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). But the wisdom of this world is to say as if we’ve made ourselves—that made it on our own. It’s common to say ‘so and so is a self-made man, implying that his own brilliant ideas made him rich and famous. Child of God tonight, there are no self-made people, only God-made people. All that you have is by the grace of God. People can do what they only do because God gives them breath and life. Therefore, I can take credit for nothing but my failures and my sin. But God gets all the credit for any good that comes from man! To God be the glory!!
Isaiah’s 14th chapter tells us that in the end, the glory is God’s! At the end of the day, God will defend and restore any glory man has tried to take for himself. God will share His glory with no one.
In chapters 13-14 Isaiah is giving the Lord’s message against Babylon. We can clearly see that God chooses nations and uses them for His own purposes. Any success America has is from God! God raises nations up and then He puts them down.
There are really two predictions in the prophecy concerning Babylon:
You know that when Isaiah gave this prophecy in 712 BC, the great empire of Babylon was still developing. The Lord was giving history in advance. Even before Babylon became great, God gave this prophecy, so that when it was exalted, God would cast it down like glass jar on a hard kitchen floor to show how much He loves His people! God would use the Medes and the Persians to bring Babylon down to ruin. Babylon becomes an infamous example that God will share His glory with no one.
God is in the business of humbling man in salvation and humbling man in judgment. In verse 1, we see God’s humbling of man in salvation and mercy. God raised up Babylon and brought her back down to nothing to show mercy to undeserving people. All men are proud, but to some men He shows mercy by doing good to bad people. That’s what God did to the people of Judah. They were very bad, proud people, but God says, even though they’ve done so much evil, I will still be good to Israel (speaking of the southern tribes).
That’s exactly what our text says in verse 1. This is one of the major themes of this chapter and really of the entire Bible! Verse 1, “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel” We don’t deserve it, but God wants to show mercy to us. He wants to clear our guilt. He wants to be on our side—pay our debt and be our advocate! Wow! Who on earth would be that nice? Only the Lord is that gracious! How have you disregarded the Lord in your life, not listening to His voice? God will yet show mercy to you. God is patient and longsuffering! And he’s got a plan to vindicate his glory, and show forth His mercy.
Tonight we are going to see three things.
So our first point is this:
I. Human conflict has an end!
Context. Verse 3 says that “it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve”. God’s people had been run out of their land, and the sorrow and heart ache of divided families and the oppression from Babylon had given the families of Judah great sorrow. Yet God promises that He will take away all the sorrows of Judah and deliver them from the Babylonian oppression.
Application: Babylon is a picture of this world system that is anti-God, and anti-the Lordship of Christ. Perhaps you are feeling oppressed by this world. Jesus said if this world hated me it will hate you too. Jesus Christ has come to bear your burden! Remember “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
A. Conflict will cease—it is so certain we can sing about it!
Friends, human conflict has an end. God promised that the great Babylonian captivity would end, and there would be a great song—a proverb as verses 4-5 says. Verse 4, “That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!”. Babylon would come to an end. Judah would sing about it! And on that day as verse 5 says, “The LORD [will] hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers”.
B. Application to our own culture. Our own culture is at in a conflict with God. Now there is a general principle here. Babylon is used to describe the world, or this present satanic world system. It is this world system that always says it knows better than God, always exalting itself above the authority of God. Babylon always oppresses God’s people and pictures the desire of the world to take the place of God. In the 60s they proclaimed that God was dead. Today it is much more subtle. Today people are turning the home upside down, bringing down marriage, and turning morality inside out, calling good evil and evil good. What arrogance proud creatures have! God is not silent or neutral toward this our culture. The latest trends in our culture and in our country are not simply opposed by Christians; they are opposed by God Himself! May God have mercy on our country.
C. All who are in conflict with God in their pride, and who insist on fighting against the Gospel of grace instead of submitting to it, will come to an end. All people are born “condemned already” (John 3:18). What we learn in this chapter is that in due time, all that rises up against God will be brought down under His mighty hand of judgment. God will most certainly break the “the staff of the wicked” (verse 5). God resists the proud, and he will “dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel [a clay pot]” (Psalm 2:9). —all who would rise up above Him.
D. We as believers are also involved in this conflict, on God’s side.Today the church is in conflict. We are told to “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12). We are to be “good soldier[s] of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).
E. This conflict began not with the king of Babylon, but in the Garden.
But there is an end appointed for this conflict that began in Genesis 3 between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. There is a conflict between two sides: the Redeemer and His people vs. Satan and His people. But the conflict has an end!
1. That is true of course for the individual believer. At death his soul goes to be with Christ, and his body awaits resurrection glory.
2. But there will be an end for the church as a whole. Jesus Christ will come in clouds in the glory of His Father, and all His might angels, and at that time “in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:22-25). The whole church of God will be utterly triumphant and glorified with Christ. And all Christ and the church’s enemies will be put down for ever and ever.
F. Very soon all conflict will be removed completely. And so the final scene in the Bible is one where there is no conflict; there is no sorrow. In Revelation 21:3-4 we see this clearly: “I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
G. Don’t be discouraged at the conflict dear brother and sister in the Lord! There is a glorious outcome to all of the mess that you see from day to day! But meanwhile as we wait for the coming of our Lord, we battle on. But there is the assurance for the individual Christian and for the church of God as a whole. The church will triumph, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it! We who believe are promised a day when we will come into our full inheritance as children of God. We are joint-heirs with Christ! And he who spared not His only Son, how shall He not freely give us all things?
Beloved, there is a conflict now, but the glorious day of ultimate triumph is coming closer every second that ticks away. The world as we know it will not go on forever. And the conflict for us will not go on forever. There is an end! There is most surely an end!
II. Secondly, Human Arrogance has an end. Verses 6-15. We do not say that the wickedness of the human heart has an end. We are going to see several general principles in verses 6-15. I’m going to give you those principles, and then we are going to get into these verse and see them worked out.
A. General Principles.
1. The sinner’s own pride will torment him in hell. In hell, the damned will still be wicked, and they will still hate God. Their hearts will be unchanged and unrenewed forever and ever. But there will be no more place for the expression of the pride of the heart of man. His will torment him forever and ever. His own anger will be a bitter gall for all eternity. This will be a part of the misery of those in hell. Part of their punishment is that the hearts of wicked people in hell will still be wicked—still rebelling against God. But there will be no place for the expression of it. They are cast into “outer darkness”.
2. The end of all human arrogance. Young people remember this—in the end, that’s all that pride gets you. It gets you cut off from goodness forever. It gets you cut off from the very God of love forever. There will be no one to be angry at. There will be no road rage in hell, no child abuse. There will be no murder. No one will be hurt by your anger and pride but you. Those in hell will have no one to vent to. God will not hear them. The devil will not even hear them. They will be utterly forgotten and forsaken.
3. Only the infinite wrath of God will restrain man’s pride in hell. There will be an everlasting restraint against those in hell from human arrogance because they will be everlastingly under His wrath. His judgment which manifests the glory of His power and justice will be upon all those who die in their sins without a Saviour.
We are going to see all these principles in the great exaltation and fall of the king of Babylon. The higher the pride in this world, the deeper the fall into hell. That’s the main principle in the King of Babylon’s life.
B. Exposition. Let’s dig into these verses.
1. Verses 6 through 8.
Verses 6 through 8—this is part of this proverb—this song of sorts, “He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.”
So great was Babylon’s power that Babylon’s fall brings rejoicing over all the earth! Babylon’s wickedness, her relentless cruelty and oppression was so widespread, that when Babylon fell, the world here is pictured as rejoicing! The whole earth takes a deep sigh of relief. All the inhabitants break forth into singing. The very trees even sing at Babylon’s fall.
Application: Pride is such an oppressive thing. Pride will cause you to say thoughtless things to people. The greater your pride is, the greater relief people have when you are not around! Prideful people are no fun to be around. Are there prideful habits in your heart?
· Do you cut people off in conversation?
· Do you have to have the last word?
· Do you genuinely care about the needs of others?
Application: Selflessness is the opposite of pride. It is what is most attractive in a human being. We sometimes call these people heroes. They sacrifice self for others. True Christian selflessness is a daily discipline. It’s very practical.
· It happens by showing interest in what others want to talk about.
· It happens by not being offended and covering any hurt feelings with love.
· It happens when you are driving, when you are at home, when you are at church when you refuse to be offended. It is essentially identical with biblical love. God so loved the world that he gave… God sacrificed. He was selfless. Work for the good of others.
The King of Babylon did not work for the good of others, but was only concerned about himself. He was the epitome of the Burger King slogan: Have it your way every day! The Christian says: Have it God’s way every day!
As I said before the higher the pride in this world, the deeper the fall into hell.
2. Look at Verse 9.
Then verse 9, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” In hell, because of the arrival of the King of Babylon, there is a disturbance. The word “hell” is “Sheol”. This is the word in Hebrew that can refer simply to death, or in context it can refer to the place of conscious eternal punishment used in connection with the wicked. In verse 9, it refers to the place of torment. And it says that the inhabitants of hell are stirred up to see the King of Babylon coming to be where they are. Other kings that are in hell are raised up from their thrones in hell. Now this is a way of saying that these kings gained the whole world—they gained great power and authority on earth, and they brought it with them to hell, but they lost their own soul.
We need to ask ourselves the question, “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?”
3. Now in Verse 10 we find an interesting conversation.
And in verse 10 and following we have a conversation between the kings of the nations in hell as they speak to the King of Babylon who enters into hell. Look at verse 10 and 11, “All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?”
Here the other inhabitants of hell, and especially the former kings of the earth, rise up from their torment, and they are simply amazed. They say, ‘Look here, here’s the king of Babylon! Of all people—he’s become like us! That king of Babylon that we were all afraid of; that we thought was invincible, and look—here he is!’
Those who are proud on this earth will be brought down low in eternity. Those who were so praised, so self sufficient, and so arrogant in this earth will be scorned in eternity.
4. Verse 11.
And so verse 11 we read, “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.” Remember that hell is a place “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:46).
All his “pomp” –that is his luxury “is brought down to the grave”—and the king of Babylon is in hell. There are no lazy chairs in hell. There’s no plazma TV. No internet. No food. No water. Just death. The clear solution to all of this is forsake your pride and selfishness and love God alone. Glorify God!
Now in verse 12, we come to the chorus of the proverb. This is the refrain. It is as if all the kings of the earth say in unison together how the king of Babylon has fallen.
5. Verse 12.
And then verse 12 describes the height from which the king of Babylon fell. Verse 12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” The term “Lucifer” means the ‘day star’. Though the ideas in this verse and following verses show great similarities to the devil, this passage is referring directly to the king of Babylon, even though they can be applied to the “accuser of the brethren”. There are many similarities because Satan is the ruler of this age and the god of this world. He is the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Even so, this passage refers directly to the king of Babylon, and that is the primary way we are going to look at it. This verse says that the king of Babylon was once as high as the sun in the sky, but has now fallen. He is like a fallen star—he’s been brought down, in other words, from his lofty position.
6. Verse 13 and 14.
Then we see in verse 13-14, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High”. The king of Babylon wanted to take the place of God. He wanted to be above the stars of God. The reference of the “mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” is a reference to the Temple (Psalm 48:2, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King”).
Babylon’s king wanted the place of God, wanted to be worshipped in the Temple of God, wanted to be crowned in the City of God, and wanted to be worshipped as God. The king of Babylon wanted to be the center of attention. God won’t have it.
7. Verse 15
But verse 15, we find that anyone who dares stand up to God will be promptly and eternally sat down, “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” The idea of “the sides of the pit” is a dead body being cast into a ditch that is out of the way. The greatest of the world’s kings are thrown aside like dogs in eternity if they do not bow the knee to King Jesus.
So the Lord will completely bring down the glory and pride of Babylon and its king.
Next week we will get into verses 16-23. We are going to find out that the worst thing about eternal conscious torment is the separation from a loving and good God. The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are wagering their eternity for fame now, not knowing that they will be eternally forgotten. Next week, we will look at …
III. Thirdly, the Memory of those who steal God’s glory will come to an end (verse 16-23).
Conclusion: God will share His glory with no one. Listen to Paul in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
Instead of you as a finite man trying to cut out your own agenda in life, the safest thing to do is yield to the agenda of the Lord. Philippians 2 says every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess the Lordship of Christ on the Last Day. Don’t wait until then to do it. If you are lost, exchange your life for the life of Christ. If you are saved, daily bow your knee to Jesus Christ. Worship him! Abide with Him. He is the King of Kings and Lord of lords! There is coming a day when “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom s of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).
Closing Hymn: 12 All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name