The Sunday after Ascension

SERMON

Text: Isaiah 64:1-9

Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence. For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!

In Christ Jesus, dear fellow-redeemed:

When a young child cries there may be many different causes. The crying may come from being in unfamiliar arms—neither father nor mother. The cries may come because of hunger or an issue with the diaper. The crying may come because of hurt or it may just be mad and stubborn crying of not getting one’s own way.

An experienced parent is, oftentimes, able to recognize what lies behind the crying by the type or tone of the cries. A parent has to determine the cause of the cry to know how best to deal with it. A bottle of milk won’t solve the cries that come from a pinched finger, and giving a young child whatever he wants won’t be the best way to handle an angry cry of stubbornness.

As children of God we cry out—not physically crying all the time, but crying out to our heavenly Father. Similar to babies’ crying, our cries have many different causes and come from many different needs.

Sometimes our cries to the heavenly Father are stubborn angry cries of complaining against what God sees fit to bring to us, being fed up with life on this earth or selfishly wanting more. But there are many other various needs in this world for which we cry out to our Lord for help. This is exactly what God wants us to do for He says: “Call upon Me in the Day of Trouble…I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me….” (Psalm 50:15). We also know that God answers those cries as we hear in the Psalms, “They cried out to the LORD in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way” (Psalm 107:6-7).

Each of us has many individual situations in which we might “cry out” to the Lord. There are, however, three cries which each of us can send up to the Lord day by day because the need that lies behind them doesn’t change.

Each of these three cries is of a little different type. Our Lord knows exactly what lies behind each one and He knows exactly how best to answer them. We use the cry of Israel in Isaiah’s time as our basis this morning as we say: LORD GOD, I CRY OUT TO YOU! I. God Almighty, reveal Yourself! II. Holy God, I have sinned. III. O Lord, my Father, have mercy.

I.

The people of Israel in Israel’s time were faced with various kinds of oppression and the looming judgment of God which would come upon them because of their sins. Israel was no longer the dominant nation it once was. The heathen nations were all around them and were, in many ways, succeeding more in what they were doing than was Israel. The heathen nations were rising up against Israel and oppressing them. So the people of Israel cried out, asking God to reveal Himself in dramatic fashion and reveal Himself in judgment upon the wickedness of their wicked neighbors. Behind the cry for God to take action against the enemy nations was, ultimately, the plea for their deliverance. “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!” [vv.1-2]

It seemed as if God wasn’t doing a lot. He was certainly keeping the world I motion, but Israel prayed: “God show your POWER! Show YOUR MIGHT! All of these nations are acting wickedly, they’re following false gods, they’re oppressing Your chosen people—show them SOMETHING! PROVE to them that You are the true God and that what they’re following is false. DELIVER us from them!”

The Children of Israel knew exactly what they were talking about because they knew full well just how powerful God is. They knew EXACTLY how He could come and show His power in dramatic form. The plea goes on to say, “When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.” [v.3]

There are any number of examples we could cite from the history of Israel that would have given the people the background knowledge necessary to say, “we know what You can do, God!” They had in their past history, the Flood—how God had brought judgment upon the people of Noah’s day in such dramatic form and destroyed the whole earth except what HE kept safe in the ark. They had the story of Sodom & Gomorrah—fire and brimstone raining down from heaven upon the wicked cities. They had their deliverance as a nation out of Egypt. They knew what had happened at Mt. Sinai when God gave the Law—the mountain shook, the sound of the trumpet went out, lightening flashed and thunder rolled, and the mountain itself was smoked. The people KNEW that God could dramatically show Himself to the world as being God and such was their plea.

There were reasons for God to reveal Himself to the world. The deliverance for the people of Israel was part of it, but the plea of the people goes on to say, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him”[v.4]

God reveal Yourself so that the world sees and understands that YOU are the ONLY GOD from beginning to end and forever—for eternity from before time was created and after time ends.

Eve thought that the Devil and his words were her ticket to greater things, but no, they brought destruction. There is no one else who acts for His people other than the true God.

Pharaoh thought that his magicians in Egypt were the ones who could keep up with Moses and Aaron and prove just how foolish their God was. No, they couldn’t keep up with the true God because He is the One who can do all things. He is the One who acts for His people who wait for Him.

Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal thought that Baal was the one who could come and help them, but no, this true God of Israel is the only One who acts for the ones who wait for Him.

False gods can’t act to help their followers because they’re not real. They aren’t God and are not able to help. The Devil deceives people into thinking that he will serve them and he does have a certain amount of power to do amazing things. However, the Devil (and all the powers of darkness) is serving himself. He is not acting FOR anyone other than himself. He does not act from a desire to serve, but rather from his own twisted desire to bring as many souls as possible into the eternal ruin that he brought upon himself when he rebelled against God.

The true God is the ONLY ONE who has the power to help and will serve those who follow Him and wait for Him. And so, the cry goes out: LORD, the world needs to see who You are. You can help! You DO help! We cry out to You to reveal Yourself to the world! Reveal Yourself against the sin and wickedness of Your enemies! Reveal Yourself for the benefit of Your people! Reveal Yourself so that others will likewise see that You are the true God.

God did act and did answer His people—not always right away. He still doesn’t answer everything in a way that is immediately evident. He doesn’t always answer our cries in the way WE choose or in the time-frame WE have created; but to those who put their trust in Him, He promises to deliver and reveal Himself as powerful and helpful.

As we think of this plea, we’re not oppressed by heathen nations but we are surrounded by a world of unbelief. We, like Israel can look around and see this wickedness and opposition to God all around us. Sin makes living in this world dangerous at times. So, cry out: LORD REVEAL YOURSELF AND TAKE AWAY THE DANGER, YOU HAVE THE POWER! There is false philosophy almost everywhere we turn. We can cry out: LORD REVEAL YOURSELF! SHOW THESE THINGS TO BE FALSE, EXPOSE ALL WHO ARE MISLEADING PEOPLE AND ESTABLISH YOUR TRUTH! When we see the wickedness and sin in the world, we can cry out: LORD HOW LONG WILL YOU ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE WITHOUT JUDGMENT. COME! SHOW THESE EVIL-DOERS WHO IS GOD AND WHO IS LORD.

There are times when these things around us might become so wicked and evil that we become frustrated and impatient,—“c’mon God how long before You do something!?” We CAN and SHOULD cry out for the Lord to reveal Himself, but also wait patiently for His will to be done. God WILL act for His people, for His purpose, and in His time.

We can see from examples in Scripture how God did act, did bring judgment, but also through it brought salvation. When the spies went into Jericho and found Rahab she described a fear of Israel among her people. They had heard about the things God had done for His people. God had been revealed to the Jericho citizens as the almighty God and Rahab for one had heard more and been brought to faith in the true God of Israel.

God revealed Himself to King Nebuchadnezzar by saving the three men from the fiery furnace and also in making the king insane for a time. That demonstration of who God is led Nebuchadnezzar to later confess the truth about the true God.

Likewise, the centurion at Jesus’ death declared, “Surely this was the Son of God” after the darkness and the earthquake and the splitting of rocks, and the dead rising to life from among the tombs. He had seen God’s power revealed and Jesus revealed to be who He had said He was.

These examples show God’s purpose in revealing Himself to the world. In Jeremiah we hear, “Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.” (Jeremiah 33:9).

If we grow impatient and cry out, “Lord reveal yourself NOW!” We can remember that God is working this greater purpose of bringing people to faith. The natural disasters—hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, volcanoes, raging fires—can all work to reveal who this God of heaven is. Every display of power and might reveals His unlimited power and control over all things. We also remember that God reveals WHO He is and the way for life with Him through His Word. God doesn’t always use the big and dramatic earthly things to reveal Himself and in truth, those cannot bring salvation—they are only starting points for a greater/saving knowledge from the Word of God.

The prophet Elijah was up in a mountain and God told Elijah that He would reveal Himself to him. “And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.” (1 Kings 19:11-13).

In God’s revelation to Elijah, none of the dramatic things were the way in which God chose to reveal Himself. It was, instead, the still small voice. Oftentimes, God does reveal Himself to us and to the world—not in the big, dramatic, and powerful; but rather, in the simple and in the Gospel message of His Word.

When we pray for the Lord to reveal Himself to the world we can think of the big dramatic things that might lead people to realize that He is great indeed and then look for more. But we also remember the POWER of HIS WORD through which He has revealed Himself to us. O LORD, REVEAL YOURSELF TO THE WORLD for our salvation, the salvation of those yet in unbelief, and for Your glory!

II.

The second cry turns from looking around us and seeing things in the world to ourselves. We look and see the things in the world and cry to God asking Him to solve the world’s need…and now US. Now, comes the cry of the sinner to the Holy God who expects perfection. It is a cry of sorrow and a cry of lifelessness: “Holy God, I have sinned.”

“You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved” [v.5]

It was the faithful people of Israel who were speaking these words. In their plea they proclaim that God does help every one who rejoices, does righteousness, and remembers the Lord in his ways. Then comes the confession: “You, Lord, are angry because we have sinned.” The trouble that Israel was experiencing was because of their rejection of God as a nation. It wasn’t God’s DESIRE to be angry with them, but their sin produced His righteous anger. The confession goes on in a sobering way—a course which our confessions also rightfully take—“in these ways, we continue; and we need to be saved..”

Despite all the things that God has done; despite the many ways in which He has given us His saving Word, we still continue on and sin. We need to be saved.

There’s a problem. The confession goes on…“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.” [vv.6-7] Yes, we do continue on in our sins. We do need to be saved, but our problem is that the BEST things we do (all OUR righteousnesses) are as filthy rags in God’s eyes. They do NO good. We are sinners sinning. We cannot save ourselves, so we cry out: “Holy God, we are sinners, help us.”

This confession of our sins says, “You have consumed us because of our iniquities,” literally = “You have caused us to melt away.” We are weak, we are helpless, we deserve the same kind of judgment for which we pray when we say “God reveal yourself in judgment against the wickedness of this world.”

Elsewhere in Isaiah we hear these words, “You will be punished by the Lord of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of devouring fire” (Isaiah 29:6). If we want God to judge the wickedness that we see around us, then we likewise need to appreciate the fact that the wickedness within us deserves the same judgment. We come before God confessing these sins.

We need to be careful. We are redeemed sinners and our sins are completely forgiven through faith in Christ, but we need to be careful that we don’t treat our sin lightly. We dare not assume the attitude: “There’s forgiveness anyway, so this is OK.” We, without even thinking about it, can become like the Pharisees and say: “Look at all that wickedness out in the world. The news is reporting these things day after day. Thank goodness that at least we’re not that way!” And in this way we have diminished our sin because of the greatness of the sin in the world around us. We need to be careful that we don’t diminish our sin because it is great. It deserves the same punishment as any other sin.

Our text goes on to declare, “You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter.” [v.8] We need to remember what our position is as we come and cry out to the Lord. He is the potter, we are the clay. In Isaiah chapter 45 we hear, “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?” (Isaiah 45:9). In Romans, Paul speaks in the same way, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” (Romans 9:20-21).

We are sinners but at times think we are better than what we are. We will go against God who is our Maker—He is the Potter we are the clay, but we think we know best. We complain against God: Why are You doing it this way? Why did you make me this way? Why are You bringing this to me? The humble crying out of a confession of sins puts all such thoughts aside. We are the clay. We dare not come to the Potter and suggest what is best, because He KNOWS what is best. Instead, we come like the Publican in Jesus’ parable: “Have mercy upon me, a sinner”(Luke 18:13).

III.

Of ourselves we have no hope and that leads to the third cry: “O, Lord, my Father, have mercy.” Where we are with these first two cries is pretty hopeless. We know that we sin continually and need to be saved. We can’t save ourselves. All our righteousnesses are filthy rags. The world can’t help either because we that it is filled with wickedness. Thus, we put ourselves at the Lord’s mercy.

In this world, when someone puts himself at the mercy of another, he may not survive. When throw ourselves upon the mercy of our gracious God there is life. “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!” [vv.8-9]

Our Lord has taken us, the clay. He has shaped us by bringing us to faith and making us His people. He has designed our lives for His glory and He continues to do so day by day. We are that cold, rock-hard clay that you cannot form. Through the warmth and power of the Gospel working in our hearts, God has softened our sinful hearts and molded them into what pleases Him.

What a humble submission to the Lord’s mercy it is when we say: “Lord, I am the clay shape me with your Word in Your way.” It is the same humble prayer for the Lord’s mercy from Jeremiah, “Turn (Restore) me and I shall be turned (will be restored), for You are the Lord my God” [Jeremiah 31:18 / KJV (NKJV)].

“Lord, we can’t do it—for Your mercy’s sake and because of the salvation Jesus has won, do it for us. We are sinners in need of salvation, bring us into the salvation which Jesus has won for all sinners and keep us in that salvation.” Our plea for mercy is that we receive Christ’s righteousness through faith. As Paul wrote the Philippians, “[that I may] be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith“ (Philippians 3:9).

We have filthy rags but through Christ we have put on a clean, white, crisp, sparkling garment of righteousness. That is what we pray for God to keep on us. To keep the rags far from us, keep us in faith, and thereby keep us in that righteousness. “Don’t be furious, O Lord, I know I sin Lord, very much each day; but for Jesus’ sake—because, He died on the cross for my sins—Look! I am Your child. Put away my sin and do not remember my iniquity forever.”

God responds to this prayer by saying, “With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I WILL have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, Your Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:8). God promises that there is grace and mercy for each one of you as you come crying to Him in need. When you come confessing your sins and trusting in Jesus for salvation from those sins, He will look upon You as His redeemed children and deliver you.

In this life we cry out: Lord! REVEAL YOURSELF….Lord! I have sinned….Lord! Deliver me in Your mercy. Thanks be to God that He does! Amen.

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt