Greeting
Good morning. It is a great joy to be with you this morning. The words to which I shall like to call your attention to are found in the book of Isaiah. Our scripture text this morning will be verses 9-10. We will read the whole chapter. In a sermon titled: What does God do? God’s decree and it’s execution in creation and providence. Hear the word of the living God
“Remember the former things of old [providence]; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, (v. 10) declaring the end from the beginning [decree] and from ancient times things not yet done [decree], saying, “My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all [providence] my purpose [decree],”
Isaiah 46:9-10
Introduction
Dear Congregation. Our God is the only God and there is no other, He declares the end from the beginning in His decree and his counsel will stand. He will accomplish all His purpose. Two weeks ago, we started a series on the major doctrines of the Bible. We posed the question, is the Bible God’s word? Doctrine of Scripture. All Scripture is God breathed. Who is God? Doctrine of God. His attributes and Triune nature. I AM Who I AM. We should ask what does God do? God plans things and does them. This is what we mean by God’s decree and execution of his decree.
Boys and Girls (Q. 7): What are the decrees of God? “The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”
Boys and girls: “How does God execute his decree?” (Q. 8) “He executes his decrees in the works creation and providence.”
From the Second London Baptist Confession (1689) Chapter 3.1 we learn that :
From all eternity God decreed everything that occurs, without reference to anything outside himself.1 He did this by the perfectly wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably.
2LBCF 3.1
Now, we come to one of the most profound texts on God’s sovereign decree in the book of Isaiah. As we approach these mighty doctrines we must come humbly and not go beyond the scriptures.
The book of Isaiah is named after the prophet Isaiah, whose name means the Lord saves which is the central theme of the entire book. Isaiah is about a message of judgement, deliverance, and ultimate restoration of God’s people. In chapter 45, Isaiah predicts more than a century prior to it happening, God will raise up Cyrus, the Persian emperor, to restore the remnant of God’s people in exile, Isaiah predicted the fall of pagan Babylon and the Babylonian idols in chapters 45-47.
The chapter we are in this morning, Chapter 46, is the later part of Isaiah’s message that is a warning against the false Babylonians gods and an encouragement of deliverance of Israel from exile. In verses 1-2 they are surrounded by the false idols of Babylon Bel and Nebo. Babylon the highest of nations at the time was soon to be brought down and there false gods carried off as plunder to Persia would become burdens. In verses 3-4, God promises to carry and sustain his people in exile from birth to old age. In verses 5-7, the Babylonian false gods cannot carry anything or speak because they’re made of metal. In verses 8-11, God speaks there is no God but him and his purpose from beginning to end will stand. In verses 12-13, God says listen his salvation will not delay. The raising of Cyrus points forward to a greater deliverer of salvation, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our sins, Jesus Christ our savior, who will consummate the kingdom of God in his second coming and bring restoration of the new heavens and new earth.
1. What is God’s Decree?
Let’s look at verse 9 and 10: for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, (v. 10) declaring the end from the beginning [decree]“.
Notice – It is God who declares because He is God. God declares. God makes his decree. God decides his purpose and plans. No one else. He is God there is no other. There is none like him. God’s decree is perfect because he is perfect. He is not like the false gods of Babylon that are just sticks and clay. The Babylonians claim their god is the I AM in chapter 47. But their gods cannot even speak at all.
Now, let’s look at verse 10 where God declares the end from the beginning. God’s decree is eternal – God has an eternal plan from the beginning. In contrast to the false gods of Babylon and the nations, who are wood and stone, that cannot speak or affect history, the Lord is sovereign over all events of time, past, present, future. God knows what will happen because he planned it. God already decreed it in eternity according to his counsel of his own will.
“My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all [providence] my purpose [decree],” Isaiah 46:10
In verse 10 we see that God’s counsel will stand. The Babylonian false gods stoop (v.2). God’s counsel stands. The idols have no power or wisdom. They cannot plan anything. God’s sovereign plan is immutable. It does not change because God does not change. Even the best of our plans change.
“God works all things after the counsel of his own will”.
Eph. 1:11
“God will do all his pleasure…”
Ps. 135:6.
To understand this point, let’s consider the following illustration. The Israelites were in captivity for 70 years. That’s a long time to be surrounded by pagan God’s. Many likely began to doubt and worship the pagan false gods while living in Babylon in exile.
Dear friends we are surrounded by false gods all around. Idols at every turn. We see the spiritual decline of the nation and the churches in our land. We see the worship of these false gods in our nation. But we aren’t going to worship them. We are not going to compromise on God’s word. God hasn’t given up on the church. God’s counsel will stand. God declares the end from the beginning. He Is God and there is no other. God has decreed. He has a sovereign purpose from beginning to end. And it’s not to leave you or his church in Babylon surrounded by idols.
So what is God’s decree? God’s Sovereign Purpose from beginning to end God’s Sovereign Purpose for YOUR Salvation for HIS GLORY.
“My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all [providence] my purpose [decree]…” Isaiah 46:9-10
2. What was all God’s purpose?
“I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”
Isaiah 46:13
His purpose was the salvation of his people for His glory. God is raising up Cyrus to crush Babylon and deliver his people from exile for the purpose of salvation for his glory. If you turn back to chapter 45:1 God declares he will raise up Cyrus to deliver Gods people: “Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him (Isaiah 45:1).
God decreed He would accomplish all His purpose by raising up Cyrus to deliver his people from exile. God also decreed he would accomplish his eternal purpose for salvation your in Christ Jesus:
“Our Lord…9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…”
(2 Tim. 1:9-10).
You see dear ones, God’s purpose to save you was planned before the world began. Turn to Ephesians 1:3-6.
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. “
Eph. 1:3-6
He chose us. Election means to be chosen by God. All Christians agree, we love God because he first loved us and that all glory goes to him and we do not give ourselves any credit. However, there’s been debates about this doctrine. You won’t find debates about it in the Bible. Some think it’s best not to speak about. However, that does not serve the church well because election is in the Bible for our good.
God is 100% sovereign and it is 100% man’s responsibility to respond to the gospel. It is not determinism, we are not robots. God made man with a freewill and human responsibility. God made many upright but he sought out many schemes. God calls all men to repent and we must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. The names of the elect are “written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). He chose us to be holy – Holiness.
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy Our election is to holiness.
“Our election must be as a root that yields good fruits.”
John Calvin
The purpose of election is for our holiness. To be like God. Are you striving for holiness? It is not just some high doctrine for theological speculation. The purpose of God choosing us his people, not because of anything in us, is to make us like him. Holy. For without holiness, Hebrews tells us, no one will see the Lord. Election is in love.
“He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love…”
Ephesians 1:3-4
Moses explained that God did not, “set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people…but because the LORD loved you” (Deut. 7:7-8).
Having predestinated us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, God predetermined to adopt you as sons. The bible is not a system of predestination so we don’t want to read predestination into every verse of the bible, but it is part of God’s sovereign decree. God is not cruel. His purpose is the adoption of his children into the family of God. It is all to the praise of God’s glorious grace. The end of election is the glory of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Look back at Isaiah 46:3 which says,
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb…”
Isaiah 46:3
God has decreed that Israel would go into exile for seventy years and he planned their deliverance. But he only planned to save a remnant. You see dear ones God has elected to save some and passed over others. “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[b] but on God, who has mercy.
But that’s not fair! “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making?” (Isaiah 45:9)
Paul uses this same imagery from Isaiah 45, in Romans 9, listen:
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Romans 9:19-21
Who are we the creatures to content with the creator God? Fairness would be we all go to hell. But God has mercy on his people whom he elected in love. Here dear one’s is the doctrine of reprobation. Passing over the non-elect. It should cause us to fear and tremble. If you died to today, where would you go?
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.”
2 Peter 1:10
Don’t go the way of Babylon. That ends in destruction. Turn from idols. Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe that you have been chosen in Christ in love before the world began all to the praise of God’s glorious grace.
3. How does God Execute His Sovereign Purpose?
Through his creation. How see,
(v. 9) “remember the former things of old”
What are the former things of old? Likely deliverance from Egypt, recounting God’s deliverance. vBut also his creative works. Verse 4: “I have made you. Chapter 45:18 says ,
“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, for he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:18
Dear ones, turn to Genesis 1:31:
“And God saw everything that he made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day.”
Genesis 1:31
Notice that – God made everything very good in six days.The atheist scientists will say the big bang theory, is what led to the existence of the world. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth! I declare the end from the beginning! God spoke the universe into existence. I will accomplish all my purpose! In the beginning God created! God created everything in six days, what did God create on the sixth day? God created man. Let’s turn to Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27
The evolutionist want you to think you came from a monkey. God says: “I made the earth and created man on it” (Isaiah 45:12)
You are created in the image and likeness of God. That means you have value, dignity and worth. And so do your children. The culture hates children. They abort them. It is murder. They’re inconvenient. God loves children. Jesus said let the little children come to me. He knit us together in the womb. Aren’t you glad we have children in the church? Sign of a growing church is babies crying and a little noise from children. What a blessing.
Notice that “God created them male and female”. Male and female. No other categories here lest we are confused by the false gods of our day that say there are other genders and you can change how God created you.We don’t decide. The government doesn’t decide. The pagan idols worshipers don’t decide. God does!
“I declare the end from the beginning!”
Today it is Father’s Day and we want to honor our fathers. I’m so thankful for the men of God serving in this church. Some good godly men here. Which is good because our idol worshiping culture for some time has ridiculed Christian fathers. It seems almost every movie portrays fathers as deadbeats. Some fathers have started to believe this about themselves. Oh man of God – don’t listen to what the pagans idol worshipers say. Believe what God says: “BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY.” Be godly. Be a man of God.
May God raise up an army of godly men on fire for God. Jeremiah’s that have the fire of God’s word in their bones and they cannot contain it. Men who refuse to bend the knee to the Bel and Neb’s of our day, but bow the knee to King Jesus and serve Him and only Him.
God also executes His sovereign purpose through His providence. Now see,
“My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose…”
Isaiah 46:10
Providentially, Israel’s holy city, once the gem of all the world in the glory of Solomon’s day was raised to the ground by the Babylonians. The temple destroyed. This was God’s providence as he decreed. It was not blind fortune, God is all seeing, it was not impersonal fate, God is our Father, or dumb luck, God speaks, that God raising up Cyrus to deliver his people from exile. “I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do it.” The world says it’s just random events, but God says, “I declares the end from the beginning, I will accomplish all my purpose“
You see dear ones God is in providential control of everything, he governs the universe. What God created, he sustains. God flooded the world but saved a family. The evil intent of Josephs brothers God meant for good to preserve a people from famine.
God causes kingdoms and nations to rise and fall.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of God.. He turns it wherever He wills.”
Prov. 21:1
God uses calamities to deliver his people:
“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.”
Isaiah 45:7
Jesus calmed the storm them with a word. Jesus says go and the demons are cast out. Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from God. He gives us this day our daily bread. All the hairs of our head our numbered. He is sovereign over death.
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”
Heb. 9:27
He punishes the wicked:
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:15
All the days of our life God sustains you:
“You descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. 4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:3-4
Providentially God tells his people, I have upheld you since your birth and carried you. Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he, I am he who will sustain you and carry you. This is God’s good hand of providence. The Babylonian false gods couldn’t carry anything. But God carries his people from birth to old age into eternal life.
What burdens are you carrying this morning? Bel bows down and Nebo Stoops. If you make anything your confidence instead of God, it will fail to bear your burdens and will itself become a burden to you.
“Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. He will not let the righteous be moved.”
Consider the good providence of God in times of plenty. Be joyful. Be thankful. God’s providence in giving you life, the providence of a family, the providence of keeping you from evil, the providence of a job, the providence of God giving you a way of escape in temptation, the providence of a church, the providence of your conversion. Can you say, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, indeed, I have a good inheritance” (Psalm 16)?
Consider the good hand of providence in times of adversity. The chastising fatherly hand of God when we backslide, the disciplines us for our good. Humble yourself. Do not be discouraged. Wait for the Lord. God’s people waited in exile 70 years and even longer to rebuild the second temple. God will sustain you. God will rescue you. The troubles of the wicked will be forever in hell, but for us who are being saved, the remnant, whom God has chosen in love, we will only suffer a little while, until the Lord brings us home.
This is his promise:
“I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed.”
Isaiah 46:13
In the fullness of time, we see the providential hand of God. But not to deliver us from exile. But to deliver us from sin and the wrath of God on the cross.
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Acts 4:27-28
God’s hand of power orchestrates his predetermined plan. (Whisper) The crucifixion of His own Son. Think about the providence of God’s providence upon the Son. The providence of God’s hand upon the Son in the wilderness tempted 40 days by Satan, starving. The providence of God’s hand upon the Son in the garden sweating drops of blood. The providence of God’s hand upon the Son being whipped. Crowds shouting crucify him. Crucify him. The providence of God’s hand as the crown of thorns is placed on the Christ. God’s providential hand, binding the hands of God incarnate. What he had predestined to take place. The Son of God carrying the cross up to Golgotha.The providence of God, the soldiers casting lots for his garments and God controlling every turn of the dice. The hands of the Son of God nailed to the cross.
Why? God said, I declare the end from the beginning..I will accomplish…all…my purpose. Why? I have loved you and chosen you. I have chosen to save you! Who are we? We were the pagan idol worshipers in Babylon! We had Bel’s and Nebo’s in our hearts! We didn’t worship the one true God!We were rebellious sinners!
Behold the mighty hand of your GOD! Behold what the I AM decreed before the world was made! That Christ would be crucified and crushed for your sins. This was the providence of God, the Lord lifting himself up to get a breath while carrying the weight of all your sins. God says, “I will…carry…you. I will rescue you.”
Behold the hands of providence, whether you’re young or old, that sustained you on the cross. Rescuing you from eternity in hell. God says, I will accomplish all my purpose, my salvation will not delay. This is the Decree of God, it was the will of the Lord to crush him instead of you.
It is finished!
Christ defeated death and hell and rose from the dead just as he had said and just as God decreed. Now dear ones, Jesus will return again to rescue you. His salvation will not be delayed. Jesus said, behold I am coming soon.
So what is God’s Decree?
God’s Sovereign Purpose from beginning to end.
God’s sovereign purpose in salvation.
How does God Execute His Sovereign Purpose? Through His creation and providence.
“remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, (v. 10) declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose,”.
Isaiah 46:9-10
Benediction
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25
