Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Is. 45. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Our text provides us with a remarkable insight into God’s sovereign rule over all of human history, including the great changes of national and world politics. This text is so dramatic and remarkable that unbelieving scholars have insisted that Isaiah could not have written it.
- You see, the “Cyrus” mentioned and described in our text came to power and fulfilled these prediction over 150 years after Isaiah wrote about him. Isaiah lived and wrote around 700 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem around 600 B.C., and Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylonia around 540 B.C..
- What is predicted in our text is the disposition of the great world powers over several centuries, and especially how God rules over all things “for the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen.” We see the same kinds of predictions in the book of Daniel, regarding the great world powers that followed the Persians – that of Greece and of Rome.
- So what are we to derive from all of this, and of what concern is such ancient history to us today? Well, if we are willing to listen, to learn, and to believe, we will become “WISE TO GOD’S WAYS,” and we will derive great comfort for our time and for the future. For it is clear from our text that:
I. God Is Sovereign, In Power And Rule Over All Things, And He Does All Things As He Wills
A. He Is The One Who Forms And Creates Light And Darkness
Text: “I form light and create darkness.”
B. He Creates Well-Being And Calamity For All People
Text: “I make well-being and create calamity.”
C. He Also Causes All Forces, Nations, And Political Powers To Serve His Will, And That Is The Blessing Of His People
Text: “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed. I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places . . . FOR THE SAKE OF MY SERVANT JACOB, AND ISRAEL MY CHOSEN.”
D. And This Is The God Who Has Saved Us, Providing Us With His Own Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, As Our Savior And Lord
John 3:16 “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
2 Cor. 5:19 “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
Statement: Note that God acknowledges that Cyrus did not know Him. It doesn’t matter – God uses all things and all people to act “FOR THE SAKE OF MY SERVANT JACOB, AND ISRAEL MY CHOSEN.” What He creates, whether light or darkness, whether well-being or calamity, all is created for the benefit of and must serve His dear people of faith.
Application: Who are these people today whom God is blessing? Why it is those who believe in the Lord Jesus, who “shall not perish but have everlasting life.” It is those of you who are believers, who are sitting here today in this place, in these pews, hearing and believing the Word of God! And Who is it today that calls world leaders to do His bidding and to bless His people? It is still the LORD, the God of Israel. Does this include our nation and our president and congress? Absolutely, beyond all doubt. Does this mean that they are sinless and infallible in all that they say and do, or that they are intentionally and knowledgeably serving God and His purposes? No more so than Cyrus was, nor than Caesar was! It matters not what they think, or what they think they are doing in regard to God’s will! The message of our text is that it matters not; God is ordering all of human history, including the creation and disposition of empires, “for the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen.”
Transition: This does not mean that all goes peaceably for God’s people, or that they are immune from suffering. The ten Northern Tribes of Israel were conquered by the Assyrians. The Babylonians carried the last two Southern Tribes Of Judah in to captivity. Even when Cyrus delivered God’s people and sent them back to Jerusalem they struggled mightily. No, the message of Scripture is clear that “we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God,” and that “in the world you will have tribulation.” [Acts 14:22; John 16:33]
But this much is clear from our text, that:
II. God Does All Of These Things So That All May Know Him
A. That He Alone Is God, The Only God, There Are No Other Gods
Text: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.”
B. So That All May Receive His Blessings, Especially His Salvation
Text: “I equip you, though you do not know Me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides ME; I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
1 Tim. 2:4 “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
1 John 2:2 “He is the blood atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
C. So Let Us Be Wise To God’s Ways, And Live Wisely As He Instructs Us
1. Rendering unto God what is owed Him, as Jesus taught
2. Rendering also to government what is owed it, as Jesus taught
3. Rendering to all what is owed them, which is love
Rom. 13:8 “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Statement: These are the realities, in place always and up to this day, and in place forever. Regardless of what people understand, including great and powerful rulers and leaders, in the end all people will know these things. We are blessed to know them now.
And if we are willing, we can also know the reality of the dynamics of all power and rule in this world; we can be “WISE TO GOD’S WAYS,” how He is working all things together FOR His chosen people, for the sake of His servants.
Application: And if we know these things, then surely we will never quit or forsake our relationship with God. We will continue to rejoice in His forgiveness and salvation, and we will continue to submit to His Word, and rejoice to praise and worship Him, and serve Him willingly and knowingly in how we live our lives. We do so because we are so richly and abundantly blessed to be “WISE TO GOD’S WAYS,” to the glories of His love!
Conclusion: The fact that God revealed these things through His prophet Isaiah years before they came to pass assures us that God knows and controls all things. Thankfully, He is also filled with love for us, and has provided us with life and salvation in Christ Jesus. May we rejoice every day in the assurances that all will always be well for us. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.