AS GOOD AS DONE Isn’t it disappointing when someone lets you down? It’s frustrating when a person doesn’t follow through because you were counting on them and you were depending on them and you trusted them. And now you are either in a bind because they failed to do what they said they would do or you have to spend the time and effort to do it yourself. In any case, you would certainly think twice about trusting that person again if they promised to do something else for you. On the other hand, it’s refreshing when someone does follow through. It’s nice to know that you don’t have to worry because the person who said they would do it for you is dependable - and they have proved themselves to be in many different ways in the past. There’s a comfort level and a peace of mind that you have when you can rely on someone like that. We may have people in this life that we can always count on, friends and family members that never fail to follow through on what they promise to do; but as Christians we understand that the only one we can really rely on for that kind of dependability is our Lord. He is the only one that never lets us down. He is the only one that always follows through. And he has proved it at many different times in many different ways. In fact, he is so dependable that whenever he gives us a promise, it’s as good as done.
- God’s Sure Word through Isaiah
God’s people in the Old Testament should have realized that. The Lord had made and had kept many different promises to his people for thousands of years. And so when the Lord spoke through Isaiah about all kinds of different things that would happen in their future - both good and bad - the Israelites should have known that if God promised these things would occur, they were already as good as done. Through this prophet God promised them that they would be sent into exile; but he also promised them that they would one day return. The Lord promised them that the Babylonians would destroy their city and their temple; but he also promised that those precious sites and structures of the Jewish nation would be rebuilt. He promised them that their sins would not go unpunished; but he also promised them that their sins would not go unforgiven either. God promised them judgment and peace; wrath and mercy. And he promised them these things well over 100 years before the Babylonians would ever destroy Jerusalem and about 700 years before Jesus came into this world! But the Lord talks as if there was no doubt that these things would occur. He addresses his people with the understanding that if he promised something, it was already as good as done. Listen to the tone of voice he uses with his people:
“I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” “These are things I will do,” God exclaimed, “and I will not leave them undone.” The Lord promised destruction of their enemies but also guidance for the lost. He pronounced deliverance for his people and vengeance on those who would take them into exile. And these were not just simple wishes or mere possibilities. There was no debate! The Lord had made a decision and it wasn’t going to be changed!
- The Israelites’ Blindness
Unfortunately, God’s people to whom Isaiah preached these words were not quite as reliable as their God. They had the advantage of hearing the words of all the prophets in the past, but they had forgotten the prophets’ words. They had the opportunity to see many wonderful promises of the Lord fulfilled right in front of their eyes, but they didn’t care to remember any of them. And the Lord wasn’t happy. And so he not only predicted the future for them, he also rebuked them for what they had done in the past:
“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.” The Lord doesn’t sound too happy, does he? In fact, he sounds a little bit frustrated with the people that he had spent so much time and effort on throughout the centuries. “I’ve showed you my glory and my power and my love; and it has taken no effect. I have pronounced to you my warnings and my blessings; and it has gone in one ear and out the other. You are blind and you are deaf and I can’t rely on you. I can’t depend on you. I can’t trust that you’ll trust what I’m going to say. Look at how many promises I’ve given to you over the years and how many of those promises you have forgotten.” The Israelites were a very unreliable group of people. They were fickle. They were up and down. There may have been times when the Israelites as a whole were faithful followers of their Lord, but then the very next generation would fall back into the same blindness and deafness that had inflicted the nation in the past. And the Lord was none to happy with their unstable behavior. But tell me: how is that any different from how we act?
We can be just as blind and just as deaf sometimes. We can be just as unreliable. How many times have you seen the Lord work things out in your favor when you didn’t think it would have been possible? And how many times have you seen the Lord’s love displayed in the thousands, perhaps millions, of blessings he has given you? And how many times have you seen the Lord physically protect you from dangers or accidents when something far worse could have (and maybe even should have) happened? And now how many times have you forgotten what you’ve seen? How many times do you still worry about the future and have doubts about what is to come and get all worked up about what may be - even though what you have seen should convince you otherwise? Are we not blind in many ways? Are we also not people who fail to pay attention to what we have seen God do for us in the past? And think about this for a second: how many times have you heard the Word of God in your life? How many times you have read it and sung it and recited it and memorized it and studied it and heard it preached? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands of times? And so after all of those opportunities, how many times have you failed to do what God has clearly told you to do? How many times have you struggled to believe what you have heard God clearly promise? Are we not deaf in many ways? Are we not also people whose ears may be open every Sunday, but who actually hear hardly anything at all? We aren’t very reliable Christians, are we? We are fickle. We are up and down. We listen one day and we ignore the next. We honestly try to do what the Lord asks of us on some mornings, but then by the evenings we forget what we were supposed to be trying to do. We firmly trust God to take care of us in some situations, but then there are those other situations in which God’s sure promises are the farthest things from our minds. There is very little stability, very little dependability when it comes to our lives. We are about as reliable today as the Israelites ever were during the days of Isaiah.
But that is exactly what makes the reliability of God’s promises that much more remarkable! That he would actually keep his promises for people like us! Think of what he did with the Israelites: In spite of the Israelites’ blindness and deafness and unreliability, the Lord still promised them restoration and protection and guidance and ultimately salvation through the coming Savior. And he followed through on every one of those promises. God restored them to their homeland. God protected them from their enemies. God guided them in his Word. And God saved them through the sending of his Son to this earth when he died on the cross. God proved himself more than reliable throughout the history of his people, demonstrating that no matter what no matter what they had done to him, not one of his words would be left undone. The nation of Israel could depend on their Lord to follow through on all of his promises even at those times when the Lord could not depend on them for anything. I hope this hits home for you. I hope it is obvious that what the Lord did for his people in the Old Testament is the exact same thing he does for you now. When you are unreliable, you can always rely on the Lord. When you are untrustworthy, you can always trust in the Lord. When you sin, his promise of restoration still stands and he forgives you through his blood. When you are in trouble his promise of protection still stands and he shields you in his hands. When you lose your way and wander off from the sure foundation of Scripture, his promise of guidance still stands and he pulls you back into his fold with the sweet sounds of the gospel. When you are lonely, when you are scared, when you are lost, when you are hurting, when you are dying, God’s promise of salvation still stands and he will not only make everything work out well in this life but, more importantly, he will make sure that you end up with him in the life to come. After all, the Lord went through with sacrificing his own Son on your behalf! Don’t you think that if God was willing to go to that extreme to keep his promise of salvation for you that you can count on him to keep all of those other promises as well? You certainly can. You can rely on the Lord to always do whatever he says he is going to do. And just in case you’re not sure at times if his promises really will be fulfilled, he even gives you this reassurance through Isaiah the prophet: “These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
My dear fellow Christians, those who are living alongside me in an unreliable world among unreliable people, ourselves plagued by unreliable sinful natures: when God promises you anything, it’s as good as done. And he has proved that for the last 6000 years. He has never let you down before. He’s not going to now. He’s never changed his mind in the past. He’s not going to now. He’s never gone back on a promise, ignored a promise, or taken away a promise. And so he’s not going to now. He will be faithful to you and devoted to you no matter how you treat him. Because he said he would. He promised he would. And that is a guarantee that will never fail. And so enjoy the rest of this day. Sleep well tonight. And get up the next morning and every morning thereafter with the peace of mind that God’s love is exactly the same today as it was yesterday. God’s free forgiveness is exactly the same today as it was yesterday. God’s promises are exactly the same today as they were yesterday. And one of those promises he gives to you is that he will never change. And if that’s what he promises, it’s as good as done. Amen.
- “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” - Phil. 4:7
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment