Pentecost Sunday

SERMON - Children of God-Listen to the Lord!

INI

Text: Isaiah 44:1-6

“Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.’ One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s’ and name himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and the Last; besides Me there is no God.’”

In Christ Jesus, who together with God the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to instill within our hearts true faith and the hope of everlasting life, dear fellow redeemed:

Quite a few years ago while I was still teaching at our Immanuel Lutheran College, I attended an education workshop where I heard this statement: “Students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care!” While that statement has almost become a cliché, it does express a truth which can be applied in different areas, including our spiritual relationship with God. In our text today the LORD God urges us to listen to Him. Before He begins speaking, however, He reveals four things which show us how much He cares about us. He identifies us as individuals whom He has “chosen,” whom He has “made,” whom He “formed…from the womb,” and whom He will “help!” That is pretty amazing! God chose each of us in eternity to become His children, He made each of us by forming us within our mothers’ wombs, and He promises to help us right now—every day! Given that He cares so much for us, it only makes sense that we will care about what He has to say! CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO THE LORD!

I.

He says, first of all, you do not need to live in fear! Isaiah writes: “Fear not, O Jacob My Servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.” The names “Jacob” and “Jeshurun” (a term of endearment) simply refer to believers among God’s Old Testament people of Israel. They were facing along with their unbelieving neighbors God’s judgment. In the previous chapter the LORD described Himself as “burdened” with their sins and “wearied” by their iniquities, with this result that He would give them “to the curse, and…to reproaches” (43:24, 28). In view of Israel’s persistent rebellion, they would suffer God’s judgment through the destruction of their homes in Jerusalem and their being taken into captivity in Babylon. Yet, the LORD told the faithful remnant of believers: “Fear not…I have chosen (you)!” In the midst of upcoming judgments God wanted His believing children to know that He had chosen them for salvation—He would be with them and never forsake them!

My dear friends—God says to each and every one of us—you do not need to live in fear! That is because God has chosen us to be His own special people! Consider these Scriptural truths: Jesus says, “Many are called, but few chosen” (Mt. 20:16b). Are you and I among the chosen? Paul says, “He (God the Father) chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4). Paul also says, “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:13-14). We have been chosen by God in connection with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ to become His children and heirs of life everlasting! If you and I believe in Jesus, then we are among God’s chosen. Jesus has promised to be with us until the end of the age! (cf. Mt. 28:20) He has assured us that He is holding us in His hands and no one can snatch us away from Him (cf. John 10:28). CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO THE LORD as He tells you—you do not need to live in fear! Whatever it may be that haunts you—that causes you to lie awake at night, entrust it to God, for there is nothing too great for Him to overcome!

II.

Yes, CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO THE LORD as He tells you My Spirit will refresh you! The LORD says: “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.” When I first read this text in preparation for today my thoughts turned immediately to two accounts in our New Testaments—the woman at Jacob’s well and the first Pentecost. Jesus asked the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well for a drink of water, but then proceeded to offer her “living water,” which would “become in (her) a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 14). That is what Jesus does for us through His gospel. On the first Pentecost Jesus sent the Holy Spirit who poured out His gifts upon those early disciples enabling them to speak in foreign languages and so to communicate with all of the various visitors in Jerusalem about “the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11). Peter then explained that what was happening was just what the prophets had promised would happen. He referred in that first Pentecost sermon to the prophecy of Joel, but that prophecy mirrors the thoughts expressed in our text, that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the New Testament believers and bring great blessing to many!

Our Lord Jesus still sends His Spirit to refresh us. He does so by assuring us of God’s abiding love and forgiveness. He helps us focus our eyes on Jesus and all that He has accomplished on our behalf, rather than upon our own weakness and failures. Notice how the apostle Paul highlights the Spirit’s work in our lives in these words addressed to Titus: “When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (3:4-7). By creating faith in our hearts the Holy Spirit seals us, thereby identifying us as belonging to and protected by our almighty God! He, then, by means of the gospel word and sacrament, instills within us His fruits—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, (and) self-control” (Gal. 5:22). These form the temperament and provide the tools to work through the problems that confront us and guarantee for us ultimate success! Consequently, even though at times our lives may seem like dried up deserts filled with despair, we by the work of the Spirit become like vegetation that finds sufficient moisture along the rivers and streams so that we can grow and thrive even in the midst of the most unlikely situations! CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO THE LORD for He says, My Spirit will refresh you!

III.

He says, I am delighted to be identified with you! Isaiah goes on to record these words of the LORD: “One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” This verse may, at first, seem a bit strange. What is God talking about? He is talking about the personal identification that we human beings often make with those who are most important to us. On a much less important level, by way of example, and perhaps for some of us only on those days after they have performed well, we might say to someone, “Why, yes, I am a real big Minnesota Twins fan,“ or if you wish to live a little more dangerously in southern Minnesota, you might admit to being a “Packer Backer.”

In the context of Isaiah’s day, however, the LORD wanted His faithful followers to know that He was pleased and honored that in the midst of great challenges they would identify themselves as belonging to the LORD, as being a “Jacob”—one of God’s chosen patriarchs, and as being an “Israel”—which literally means being a “prince with God.” Being honored by that identification also meant that the LORD would step forward to defend not simply His name, but also His people. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who stood before King Nebuchadnezzar and proclaimed, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter (the threat to throw them in the fiery furnace were they not to bow down and worship his statue). If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Dan. 3:16b-18). Here were three men who identified themselves with the LORD and were, as you know, miraculously delivered by the LORD!

The LORD is delighted when we identify ourselves with Him, which at certain times and in certain places in this country and in this world is not necessarily a safe thing to do from a human perspective. You may as a professing Christian lose your job, or you may as a professing Christian even lose your life, but remember that the LORD ultimately is the only one to whom we are responsible and through whom we will be eternally blessed! So CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO THE LORD as He says, I am delighted to be identified with you!

IV.

LISTEN, as well as He says, I am your Redeemer—the only true God! The words Isaiah recorded to conclude this text are so very important: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and the Last; besides Me there is no God.” We live in a day when it is politically correct to say that all religions and all gods are equal, or that all religions and all gods are essentially the same. This is simply not true! Pressure, however, to conform to such politically correct views was evident recently in connection with the National Day of Prayer. I understand that the official prayers prepared by the national committee for the day and offered over the internet for use on that day, did not make mention of Jesus Christ, so that other religions, which do not worship Jesus, might not be offended and might feel more included. Even then the newspapers reported that Jewish and Islamic leaders were very critical of many of the events held throughout our country, for they did not feel like equal partners. To offer a Christ-less generic prayer, however, is to fail to honor the one, true God. That is why we here at Immanuel host our own prayer service on that day, for we want to address and glorify the true God!

The LORD—the God who knows and loves us, who reigns over us, who has redeemed us by sending Jesus to die and offer up His own precious blood, and who rules over the heavenly hosts—is “the First and the Last”…the only true God! There cannot be two “firsts,” nor can there be two “Lasts!” There is only one God who created the heavens and the earth, who “measures heaven with a span,” and who views the nations as “a drop in the bucket” and as just so much “small dust on the scales” (cf. Is. 40:12, 15). There is only one God who became incarnate to redeem the world and who will one day return to sit in judgment over the living and the dead! There is only one God who on the first Pentecost gave birth to the New Testament church and who indwells every believing child of God instilling and strengthening saving faith! CHILDREN OF GOD—LISTEN TO that one true God—THE LORD, for He has much to say to us, and as the apostle Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to understand and confess: “You (Jesus) have the words of eternal life!” (Jn. 6:68) We need to listen to and embrace those words leading to eternal life! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!