The Sermon for Sunday, October 22nd, 2024, the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity
The Lessons: Psalm 13; Isaiah 59:9-20; Mark 10:46-52
The Text: Isaiah 59:9-20
The Topic: God fights to bring justice to earth, and he sends the Redeemer
INTRODUCTION
Carl Steinman was fascinated by volcanoes, and, going against the advice of his guide, he ventured to the edge of an active volcano while visiting Mount Hecla, Iceland. The volcano was showing every sign of erupting, and as Steinman leaned over the edge, the earth grumbled and quaked, throwing him forward. He fell into the crater, his feet lodging themselves in blocks of lava; and there he hung, suspended over the yawning gulf. He later wrote:
“Oh, the horrors of that awful realization! There, over the mouth of a black and heated abyss, I was held suspended, a helpless and conscious prisoner, to be hurled downward by the next throe of trembling nature!
“ ‘Help! Help! Help! – for the love of God, help’ I shrieked, in the very agony of my despair.
“I had nothing to rely upon but the mercy of heaven, and I prayed to God as I had never prayed before, for the forgiveness of sins, that they might not follow me to judgment.” More tremors sent rocks tumbling down the sides of the crater and rolling into the caldron below. But Steinman’s terrified pleas were answered by his guide, who, risking his life, scrambled to rescue him, shouting, “I warned you!”
“You did,” cried Steinman, “but forgive me, and save me, for I am perishing!”[1]
ISAIAH 59:1-2: SINS SEPARATE MAN FROM GOD
Our First Lesson today confronts us with the effects of the separation from God caused by human sin. Isaiah 59 begins with these telling words:
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
(Isaiah 59:1-2, KJV)
If we think these words were directed at Israel only, we are sadly mistaken. In the third chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul testifies that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, KJV). In Romans 3, St. Paul makes his statement clear by quoting various passages of the Old Testament that concern man’s sin, including Isaiah 59:7-8a (KJV):
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not.
These verses characterize people who have rejected God by the way they live their lives.
THE EFFECTS OF SIN: ISAIAH 59:9-15
What effects does a sinful, rebellious lifestyle have on people? The result is that justice and righteousness are far from us, since they have separated themselves from God by living sinfully. “Righteousness does not overtake us,” warns the prophet (Isaiah 59:9), speaking on behalf of God’s people. Though we may look for light, that is, all that is right and good, we find only darkness. In Romans 1, St. Paul describes in this way people who have not believed, but have rejected God:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21, KJV)
Such people walk in obscurity, in darkness, and have become spiritually blind, groping for support, and stumbling in the clear light of day. This situation is common to all who have not believed in Jesus Christ, nor received him as Lord, nor follow him in obedience. Isaiah 59:10 describes us as “dead men.” Even if we do not physically roar like bears or moan like doves, our spirit cries out for God, and for righteousness and justice. Now we must remember that God was speaking through the prophet Isaiah as he diagnosed the sickness and the sin of Israel. They were God’s people, who had gone seriously astray. The words of Isaiah sum up not only Israel’s sinful condition in God’s sight, but the plight of all peoples and nations. Salvation is far away – at least it was so before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin pays a wage, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The picture of sin’s effects on people reminds us of hell, and its outer darkness (Matthew 25:30).
Our transgressions and sins are multiplied before God, and our sins testify against us, since they are always with us (Isaiah 59:12). Such is the condition of sinful man, and such is his need for a Savior. People deny God, turn away form following him, speak oppression and revolt, and they think of lies and tell them (Isaiah 59:13). All this leads to justice turning back from the company of people, righteousness standing far off, truth falling in the street, and the person who turns from evil becoming the prey of evildoers (Isaiah 59:15).
GOD’S ACTIONS
When God saw the sorry plight of mankind, he was displeased that there was no righteousness or justice. God also perceived that there was no man who could intercede for mankind (Isaiah 59:16).
The only way God could save mankind from this deplorable condition was to use his own spiritual strength to win the battle against the hosts of evil. Putting on righteousness as a breastplate and salvation as a helmet, garments of vengeance for clothing, and zeal as a cloak, God enters the battle to defeat sin, unrighteousness, and injustice (Isaiah 59:17-18), and all his enemies. To those who have done wrong, God will deal recompense for their rebellious ways, and the end result of all this is that people everywhere will fear the Name of the Lord God. But for all who are longing for salvation and righteousness, God will bring a Redeemer to Zion, for those that turn away from their sin. We believe that this Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ. Together with the promise of the Redeemer comes the promise of the Holy Spirit, who will never depart from God’s people. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is the Intercessor for God’s people, as we read in Hebrews 7:24-25:
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
(Hebrews 7:24-25)
CONCLUSION
It is to this day we have come, the Day of Salvation, when all who turn away from all their sins and come to Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, receive the Holy Spirit, who remains their eternal companion and guides them into all the truth.
What difference has your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ made to the way you live life, and to your hope for the future?
[1] p.81, D.L. Moody: Prevailing Prayer. Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.; quoted on p.433, Robert J. Morgan: Preacher’s Sourcebook of Creative Sermon Illustrations. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007.