Feast: Who Do You Trust? (Part Four): You Shall Soar Like Eagles
#FT23-02
Mark Schindler
Given 01-Oct-23; 77 minutes
description: In Isaiah 40:1-31, God's called-out saints are assured that while they, in their mortal framework are as fragile as grass, Almighty God is eternally powerful and can provide strength to the weary and fainthearted who repent of their carnality and seek His guidance. God is especially protective and mindful to those who are poor in spirit and tremble before His word. If we should ever esteem ourselves better than others, assuming positions of greatness, as several of Jesus disciples had done, we forget that God wants us to behave as children, remembering it is only by the grace of God we have been given the opportunity to serve. Often, as God's called-out saints, we see people who have not yet been called exercise greater trust in Almighty God than we do, such as Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector hero on Hacksaw Ridge. We need to remember that (1) We have spent a lifetime doing the will of the Gentiles, from which God has mercifully called us, (2) Our sanctification will involve suffering and testing, (3) Our trustworthiness will not be consistent, and occasionally (4) Pride in our calling or spiritual gifts may become a blind spot in our spiritual growth. Even King Hezekiah, described as more righteous than even King David, stumbled. But Almighty God, like a protective Father, is always ready to pick us up, enabling us to soar like eagles.
transcript:
Please turn with me, as we begin this sermon on this second day of God’s Feast of Tabernacles, to Isaiah 40, where we will start in verse 1:
Isaiah 40:1-10 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people," says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins." The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.
Isaiah 40:21-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when He will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. "To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal," says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
What an incredible time lies ahead for us, when trust will be firmly established within all our relationships, as the whole world believes those spectacular opening words from God and know that everything God did has been done in perfect order. No more war, which is the ultimate end of the broken trust.
After thousands of years of self-centered division that began with questioning our Great God’s veracity and His perfect outgoing concern under the envious spirit of Satan, who made a whole system to expand enmity against God and all who He is creating in His image, there will be perfect trust and peace across the creation as God intended right from the beginning.
All men will finally recognize His perfect work to ensure this peace and cooperation that He has always been working towards, because mutual trust will have been assured by Him. A temporarily painful but necessary process to make all men in His image and likeness is taking place right now.
God has made it clear from the foundation of the earth that He is God and there is none like Him—certainly a declaration that we need to make the bed rock principle that drives everything we do. As Richard has taught in his, “I Say to You” series, “When God speaks, we had better perk up our ears and listen, and then carefully apply those things in our lives.”
Please turn to Isaiah 66.
Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist," says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
John Ritenbaugh, in a Feast of Trumpets sermon a while ago, said things along the line of, “The poor in spirit are those people who are so without power realizing how great God is, and how small we are. Our spiritual poverty will produce humility and a contrite spirit. This is the person God will look at.”
Quite a promise from our Great God! His full attention is drawn to the humble-hearted, aware of our sins and the work that only Christ can do to clean us up, so we can learn and live the truth of His Word.
The Good News Bible puts it this way:
Isaiah 66:1-2 (GN) The LORD says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house, then, could you build for me, what kind of place for me to live in? I Myself created the whole universe! I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me.”
Brethren, hopefully this is the main reason we are here today and throughout this week, assembled as members of the Body of Christ in one of the places that God has put His name around this earth, that includes us in this room keeping His Feast of Tabernacles 2023 and learning to fear God.
Hopefully we have made the trek here to these temporary dwellings knowing that the only thing we have to offer God is the enthusiastic attitude of submission to His sovereign authority and His Word with absolute humility—poor in spirit. After all, is this not the main reason we are here?
God has certainly given us these days for celebration! But the celebration needs to be focused on the peace and unity that only our Sovereign Creator can provide. It also needs to be done without sitting on the fence, as they say.
Now I would like you to listen as I read those same verses from the Contemporary English Version that will bring home the point. I especially like and find great comfort in how this translation paraphrases verse 2.
Isaiah 66:1-2 (CEV) The LORD said: Heaven is my throne; the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build for me? In what place will I rest? I have made everything; that's how it all came to be. I, the LORD, have spoken. The people I treasure most are the humble—they depend only on me and tremble when I speak. God treasures the humble who depend only on Him and shudder at doing anything else but living by the truth of His word.
Now continuing with verses 3-4 regarding what men do who are playing in the middle of the road and not depending only on God!
Isaiah 66:3-4 (CEV) You sacrifice oxen to me, and you commit murder; you sacrifice lambs to me and dogs to other gods; you offer grain to me and pigs' blood to idols; you burn incense to me and praise your idols. You have made your own choice to do these disgusting things that you enjoy so much. You refused to answer when I called out; you paid no attention to my instructions. Instead, you did what I hated, knowing it was wrong. Now I will punish you in a way you dread the most.
Verse 5 is where God reminds us of the cost involved in humbly and faithfully trusting Him while in a world that is enmity against Him driven by its carnal nature. However, I want you to note what His answer is to those who make light of the humble.
Isaiah 66:5 (CEV) “If you tremble when the LORD speaks, listen to what he says: "Some of your own people hate and reject you because of me. They make fun and say, 'Let the LORD show his power! Let us see him make you truly happy.' But those who say these things will be terribly ashamed."
We are gathered with brethren around the world this week to consider once again that next step in God’s plan following Jesus Christ’s return. He, and only He, can make these things possible.
We have been given this privilege to be here again to encourage us to continue our walk, with our focus on Jesus Christ and how much He expects of us to do our part to be like Him, even in the face of our own carnal-minded self-centered nature with which we will continue to battle till the day we die. As we are going to see towards the end of this sermon, this is a war we can never lose, if we keep getting back up we when stumble, and stay on course behind Jesus Christ, who will finish the work He has started.
However, as we have been considering over the last three sermons I gave, real and permanent trust is the lynchpin of the eternally peaceful and productive relationships in God’s Family.
First, we looked in that first sermon at the perfect trust that exists between the Father and the Son. Their trust is perfect. They trust each other in Their plan to add perfected men to Their Family.
Then we looked at the fact that God can always be trusted. We compared His wisdom that has been part of the way He does things from eternity, with the foolish short-sighted thoughts and actions of men.
Finally, we looked at the most heinous example of betrayal of trust and the horror of chaos and destruction that ensued from Satan and his demons. We considered what always happens when anyone, angel or man, refuses to humbly submit to our Great and Sovereign God. He has put each of us exactly where He wants us to be, the most beneficial position at this time.
I think at this point, it may be good to consider once again this initial disloyal breach of trust committed in envious, distrustful rebellion of God’s sovereign plan, which extends to everyone in His creation, because this is the root of all war that destroys peace and productivity. I do not want to put any emphasis on Satan, because this is all about Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever."
Proverbs 14:11-14 The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above.
We reread these scriptures because it is vital for us to keep this initial example of distrust in refusing to humbly submit to God’s Word, where real satisfaction comes from doing good in line with God’s Word.
God has given this example so that we can continue to see how much we need to learn to be as trustworthy as He is, if we ever want to be like and with Jesus Christ wherever He goes.
With this in mind, I would like us to consider a fine example of someone who humbly lived the Word of God—as far as he understood it, not being a member of God’s church, but still a good lesson for all of us.
Before we begin, I want to set a foundation for this, so please turn with me to Mark 9. In this chapter a number of events took place.
In verses 14-31 is the record of Jesus casting out a demon from a boy who had been possessed by a demon from childhood, because of his father’s belief. The disciples all apparently witness this as recorded in verses 20-27.
Mark 9:20-27 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Now picking it up again a little later,
Mark 9:28-41 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."
Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
There is an incredible battle going on the whole time we are in the flesh, being driven by the same satanic spirit that led to that destruction we looked at in the last sermon.
God has placed everyone exactly where He wants us and when we start esteeming ourselves better than others or envying another’s place, we forget that we all are children, who in their most innocent stage are eager to be taught and be a delight to their parents, not someone who fights and argues.
This is vitally important for us to keep in mind. It is only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ that we have this incredible opportunity and a bit more understanding than the world that we have been set apart from at this time. But there are others out there who may be more pleasing to God in their humble trembling at God’s Word even though they may not be numbered among God’s firstfruits.
I am going to give you such an example. But please do not get me wrong, I am not saying that humble works are ever going to put somebody in the Body of Christ. It is completely by the grace of God that you are sitting here today. But what I am saying is we can look to somebody knowing that they show a humble trust that we may take note of. God expects more from us, because we are sitting here today learning the revealed intent of His holy days.
Many of you have probably seen, or at least heard of the movie “Hacksaw Ridge.” It is a movie Mel Gibson made back in 2015 about the only conscientious objector to receive the highest military commendation, “The Congressional Medal of Honor.”
The movie does a fairly good job of sticking to the truth and telling the story of Desmond Doss, while focusing mainly on his heroics in saving the lives of over 75 men, both Japanese and American, in the ferocious battle that took place on the plateau that was only accessed by the Meada Escarpment called Hacksaw Ridge, an almost shear 400 foot cliff, during the battle in Okinawa in 1945. But the more complete story of Desmond Doss can be seen in the 2004 documentary by Terry Bennett entitled, The Conscientious Objector.
The movie is more concerned with the battle and only sets the stage with the difficulties Desmond Doss faced as a man who refused to kill or even carry a weapon into battle like the rest of the medics who were in the army to care for the wounded on the battlefield. Whereas the documentary that was made goes more thoroughly into the harsh reality of the severe trials faced by Desmond who totally trusted God’s Word, as far as he understood it, and humbly submitted himself to obeying it, regardless of the consequences during his military service.
I would encourage each one of you to watch this documentary that is readily available on YouTube.
Desmond Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist, who felt compelled to contribute to what he saw as “an assault of evil” by the Japanese in WWII. But he was absolutely convicted of his need to obey God and not kill and keep the seventh day Sabbath, while doing it. The documentary chronicles the mighty trials he faced way beyond what is pictured in the movie and the cost of staying trustworthy word to the point he understood.
Remember, I am not saying Desmond Doss has the same place within God’s plan and purpose as you and me sitting here today. But I would remind you what Jesus Christ said to the apostles when they were contending over someone’s right to do good in His name if they were not within His circle.
There is a reason why I am pointing you to Desmond Doss and his rock-solid humility, who trembled at God’s law, because within the place he had been sent he most probably was doing what was extremely pleasing to God and a very fine example of trust to us.
Remembering the exchange there in Mark 9:38-40 between John and Christ within the circumstances of striving for position and Christ’s admonishment to be as little children where we read, “Now John answered Him, saying, ‘Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side.’”
I would like to cite a section from a study by Martin Collins regarding this that should put the Desmond Doss example within this sermon in its proper context. Martin wrote:
John implies that since the person casting out demons in Christ's name was outside of their fellowship, he should not be trusted or empowered to invoke Christ's name, even if for the performance of a good work. But Jesus corrects John: “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me” (Mark 9:39).
In essence, Jesus cautions John to avoid interfering in the works that others are doing in support of the overall work. There is no good reason to discourage or make enemies out of those who are not working against us, including those whose level of belief and understanding we might judge as lacking. God can and does work with any and all persons as He sees fit, even compelling them to work for us.
I have gone to great lengths to help us understand we are going to see people around us that may be doing very fine things out of firm belief, that are very pleasing to God. They may very well be someone we can observe, admire, and emulate in their humble trust of His Word as far as they understand it, but it is only by the grace of God that we are put where He determines that we should be.
So with this in mind I would like to tell you a little about not only what this man did but what his whole life was apparently about in showing God he could be trusted with what he knew, as limited as it may have been, to do the Word of God. Perhaps God even intended his remarkable example for those of us that are assembled before Him this very day, as His firstfruits preparing for Jesus Christ’s return and work with Him through the Millennium.
Desmond Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist. Although he had not been given the privilege to understand what you do regarding the plan of God as revealed in His holy days, his convictions in the truth were firm.
When the United States was thrown into World War II by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, most young men felt compelled to enlist in the war to fight the Japanese and the Axis powers. The pressure, both personally and societally, was so great to join the fight that some who were turned down for reasons of being unfit for battle actually committed suicide, as one of the commentators mentioned in the documentary.
Desmond Doss considered it his duty to join in the fight against a consuming evil that had the potential to take over the world. But because of his unequivocal belief that killing of any kind was against God’s Word, along with his belief to keep the Sabbath, the government wanted him to serve in work camps that were set up for those who refused to bear arms. But as Desmond Doss said himself in the documentary, he did not consider himself a conscientious objector, but a conscientious cooperator, and thought he could be more useful in this battle that he considered good against evil, as a medic right in the front lines of the army.
We do not have the time right now to discuss the Hacksaw Ridge movie and the wall of adversity that Desmond Doss faced in his efforts throughout his time in the military. The movie did not give the whole picture. The actual men involved, and still living witnesses, including Doss, when this 2004 documentary was made showed a much clearer picture of the resolute conviction to trust and obey God. It very much reminded me of Isaiah 66:5, as written in the CEV: “If you tremble when the LORD speaks, listen to what he says: "Some of your own people hate and reject you because of me. They make fun and say, 'Let the LORD show his power! Let us see him make you truly happy.' But those who say these things will be terribly ashamed."
This pretty much describes Desmond Doss’ circumstances throughout most of his time in the military even after he began his heroic work during battles in the Pacific. Throughout his training and into the Pacific there was one thing after the other to break his trust in God’s Word with hatred at times, rejection most of the time, and others making fun of where he put his trust. The army even tried to get him discharged on a “section 8,” claiming his convictions were signs of insanity. He endured almost daily verbal and physical abuse, even from other medics.
Even after heroically administering medical aid to soldiers in the midst of battles in Guam and the Philippines, he still was, at times the target of scorn and rejection. He had even received medals and commendations for his courage in the midst of front-line battles, tending to the wounded of those still under fire. Still, he was dismissed by many as cowardly nutcase.
It was not until May of 1945 that his trust in keeping God’s commands for God’s glory became so evident that it could not be denied any longer. The army had been battling for almost a month to overcome the Japanese forces that had literally dug in to a system of tunnels and elevated sniper points on the plateau above the escarpment. Night after night the army had to retreat in the face of overwhelming forces that they could not even pinpoint. He remained behind going back and forth into the battlefield rescuing wounded soldiers, even Japanese, and carrying them to the edge of the 400 foot escarpment and lowering them to help below.
He saved between 75 and 100 that 12-hour night. Each time he came to the ridge he was exposed to fire, as a sitting duck, but after lowering the man to safety and exhausted himself, he prayed, “Just give me one more,” and stayed at it until dawn.
In the month the army had been trying to take that plateau, almost every soldier who had stood up on that ridge, being a prime target, was shot. Doss did it repeatedly through this particular night. There is even testimony from a Japanese sniper that on four separate occasions he had Doss in his sight and his gun jammed.
I want to read to you a short section, cited from Desmond Doss’ Medal of Honor commendation that was signed by President Truman:
As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Private First Class Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them one by one to the edge of the escarpment, and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and two days later he treated four men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making four separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety.
On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited five hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Private First Class Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm.
Desmond Doss lived out his 87 years, dying in 2006. He lived that time out with a lot of pain and suffering from the effects of the wounds he received in those battles, in fact he was on disability for most of his post-war time. He went deaf at one point because of the antibiotics received, and he had a cochlear implant while doing the interview in 2004.
He is buried among the very first Civil War Medal of Honor recipients in Chattanooga National Cemetery.
As far as I have been able to determine he remained convicted of his beliefs and trusting God’s Word as he understood it. He certainly was a very fine example God has given for us to see who had enough conviction to trust God to the best of his ability in very difficult circumstances.
How about us?
Are we ready to trust God’s Word with the same fervency and conviction and even beyond? Remember, to whom much is given, much more is required! We are here this week in the place God has chosen to place us, by His grace. We certainly can learn a great deal from those God may have used to drive home to us: Are we as convicted to be a trustworthy servant?
At this point, as we continue to look at our own life, time, and effort to become trusted servants of God, I would like us to turn to two sections in Revelation, and then one in I Peter that we need to keep in the forefront of our minds through the remainder of this sermon.
Revelation 1:4-7 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
I Peter 4:1-4 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.
I Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good as to a faithful Creator.
We need to keep four things in mind here. 1) We have spent a lifetime trusting the will of this world. Not only are we being delivered from this, but in this God is establishing a trustworthy priesthood. 2) It is going to involve suffering, as God continually tests our conviction to always trust Him. 3) Our trustworthiness is not a constant, but through Jesus Christ we can be assured that we will succeed even when we stumble along the way. 4) We must be careful that we do not let our privilege to become kings and priests under Jesus Christ become our blind spot in pride causing us to stumble.
Please turn with me to II Kings 16, where we will begin to lay the groundwork for the incredible example that God gives of trust that He expects in spite of the circumstances from He has delivered us.
II Kings 16:1-4 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
The abominations within the nation of Judah under Ahaz were so perverted that child sacrifices were common. That is the kind of world we live in today, a world overwhelmingly anti-God, abominable behavior becoming so common that morality crumbles.
II Kings 16:10-16 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. He also brought the bronze altar which was before the LORD, from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the LORD—and put it on the north side of the new altar. Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, "On the great new altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt sacrifice, . . .
Ahaz was making a mockery of God’s sacrificial system to his own gods.
II Kings 16:19-20 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Out of this mess came Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz. He was in no way like his father.
Please note the priests: I do not know why, but maybe it was because they feared the king, or maybe they were protecting their position, or what they could get from the situation. A bit later we will see how hard it was for them to recover from their untrustworthiness.
Please turn to II Chronicles 28 just to add another layer to how bad things were under Ahaz’s reign.
II Chronicles 28:1-5 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David had done. For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals. He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter.
II Chronicles 28:22-27 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD. This is that King Ahaz. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers. Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
This next passage is a fine example for us as we sit here today trying to keep our heads above water in the abominable world around us, while firmly trusting in the Word of God. I also want us to note when we go back, although firm trust is what God always expects from us, we may stumble along the way. But in the end, our personal hope lies in the work that only Jesus Christ can do, when we see our failures and repent.
II Kings 18:1-8 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. The LORD was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
He was the most trustworthy king Judah ever had, this included David.
II Chronicles 29:1-6 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, and said to them: "Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.”
II Chronicles 29:9-11 “For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense."
All the people—priests and Levites—had a job to do to return the face of the people toward God recommitting what God had set apart as holy. There was a lot of work involved in doing it for everyone.
II Chronicles 29:20 Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
II Chronicles 29:25-31 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped. Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD." So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
This what we are to be doing this week, to sing with joyful hearts, to bring our offerings before God! Not just the holy day offering, which is important because God commands it, but throughout this time, our offering to God is one of a joyful heart of people who have been set apart to do a service before Him.
But I would like you to notice of what may be of little note, but that should be carefully noticed by us, who have been given the privilege to be called now, to be priests under the Jesus Christ.
II Chronicles 29:32-34 And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
Note in verse 34. Were these the same priests that had followed Ahaz’s direction and used their office to be part of the idol worship? Had they become so blind to their own part in the sins of the nation under Ahaz that they could not see how necessary the wholehearted return to absolute and joyful trust in the Lord was, so they could not do what they had been called to do—in repentance? To clean themselves up? And somebody else had to pick up the slack? We do not want to be like that!
This is something we may want to consider: Do we live in this world but continue to hold onto what we have been called away from? Are we not doing our jobs whole-heartedly in preparation for our job for eternity, following Jesus’ lead? Are we just like these who should have been following Hezekiah’s tremendous example of trust in God but did not?
As you can read for yourselves (we will not have time for now) even the most trusted king in the history of Judah until Jesus Christ, stumbled along his way and failed tests. There were places along the way when he tried to placate the Assyrian king, 14 years into his reign, following the Assyrian’s taking of Israel, as you can read in II Kings 18:9-16.
It was Sennacherib’s boast against Hezekiah's momentary weakness, where you see Hezekiah’s weakness (in II Kings) where he started doing things he should not have, having witnessed Israel's going into captivity. This led to Sennacherib’s boast against God based on Hezekiah’s momentary failure to completely trust God. What Sennacherib’s envoys said when they brought the siege against Jerusalem, they were trying to demoralize Judah. They taunted God. They said when they brought the Assyrian army against Jerusalem, you can see that Judah was still looking to God, but sitting on the fence, which caused them to doubt.
II Kings 19:1-2 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
It is obvious, here, there was a moment of realization—repentance on Hezekiah's part. He sent them to Isaiah to ask what God wants.
II Kings 19:5-7 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: "Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."'"
II Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.'
You can see further down the chapter that Sennacherib’s whole army was defeated without anyone in Jerusalem raising a hand, because God took care of it.
Isaiah then goes on to relay God’s reassurance to Hezekiah in verses 21-34 of His continuous blessings protection to those who repent and trust in Him because His Word is absolute and He can always be trusted by those who turn and trust Him even if we slip along the way.
II Kings 19:35-37 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
But although Hezekiah trusted God more than any other king, we see him stumble again to trust God’s perfect wisdom and get caught up in trusting in his own health again as recorded in II Kings 19. But I would like to pick up this as it is recorded in the book of Isaiah, because I am hoping this will bring it full circle to the beginning of this sermon and the hope that lies before us, even in spite of ourselves.
Isaiah 38:1-3 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Hezekiah’s whole prayer is then recorded in verses 10-20 where he makes a plea not to be cut off in the prime of life because only a living man can praise him and make known his truth to his children.
However, once again, as recorded here in Isaiah 39, Hezekiah, this great king of trust, shows the weakness of the carnal man in his exposition of all of God’s wealth to the Babylonians. As noted in II Chronicles 32:31 God stepped back out of his sight to test Hezekiah in this, and he dropped the ball.
Brethren, we do the same thing. But it is not hopeless. There is a great hope ahead of us. This is what we are all going through on a daily basis. As firstfruits and priests in training we are going to have times when we trust God absolutely, and other times when we are going to fall flat on our face, because our Father is teaching us to ride a bike without the training wheels—running along behind us and sometimes taking His hand away from the back of the seat to see if we ready to ride on our own.
But the bottom line is that, as has been pointed out through this whole series, He can be absolutely trusted to get create us in His image, even in putting us back on track when we need to repent because we failed to trust Him.
I took us back to Hezekiah’s story as recorded in Isaiah because I find it extremely interesting that God’s comfort to His people immediately follows in Isaiah the account of the most trusted king Judah every had!
As we sit here today, we can be assured that our Great God can be trusted to get us through this, as long as we continue to diligently make every effort to be trustworthy to Him, even within the primary source of our trust Jesus Christ who will bring us back into line every time we stumble.
So now with this in mind, as we sit here this morning looking to the day when we shall work with Jesus Christ in the millennial peace, we will look to the bookends of this sermon expressed in Isaiah 40, which was the source of the choir’s offering to God before this message began.
Isaiah 40:1-5 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins." The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they [you] shall mount up with wings like eagles, they [you] shall run and not be weary, they [you] shall walk and not faint.
Brethren, we have to continue to work as diligently as we can within this incredible place God has put us to show Him we can be trusted, while knowing that our ultimate trust is in Jesus Christ, who we can trust to keep picking us up along the way, if we continue in this journey, if we keep trying.
We see many around us who seem to be much more trustworthy than we, but God has put you and me here, and we must continue to try as hard as we can because to whom much has been given much is required.
At the end of our journey with God (who can always be trusted), as we celebrate God’s holy Feast of Tabernacles He has set aside for His holy people to learn and act like Him from the inside out, I want to remind you of the English definition of trust. It is from the German word, treust, which means consolation, hope, and true. The primary definition that we have been concentrating on most of this sermon series has been reliance; resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice friendship of another; it is the firm reliance on the promises built on laws or principles with assured expectations. This is certainly what God has done to perfection, given us His laws, and His principles and what He ultimately wants from us to be just like Him.
But what I want us to think about right now is the secondary definition of trust: It means something committed to one’s care for safekeeping. Is that not what God has done for us? He has committed His law—His way of life—to us for our care and safekeeping; to learn to live as He lives.
And we who wait upon the Lord will mount up with the wings of eagles; we will not be weary; we will walk and not faint. As the choir sang: “They shall soar like eagles! Rise up and soar like eagles! They who wait upon the Lord.”
I hope you all soar like eagles!
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