Sermon Tone Analysis

Isaiah (10)

Autonomous man: to know the future

!!! *Doxology*                   /Hymn 23: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord”/

!!! *Call to worship and Greeting*

Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

(Hebrews 12:28-29)

!!! *Invocation and the Lord’s Prayer*

Our gracious and merciful Father,

Great and marvelous are your deeds, O Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.

\\ Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

(Revelation 15:3-4)

!!!!!!

The Lord’s Prayer

 

!!! *Hymn (screen):*                          /  “We praise You O Father”/

!!! *Scripture reading:                            */2Corinthians 6:14-18/

!!! *Prayer of adoration and Confession of sins*

!!! *Declaration of pardoning*

!!! *Hymn no 75:*          /  “For God so loved the world” (repeat)/             /  /

!!! *Announcements*

!!! *Offering and Dedication*

While the Offering is taken up, all (remaining seated) sing) Hymn* no 609*   /“For the fruits of His creation”/

!!! *Prayer of Intercession:*   

!!! *Praise time*

!!! *Bible Reading**            */Old Testament:/                                       /Isaiah 2:6-14, 22//  /

!!! *Hymn 562:*                                       /“Master, speak for I am listening”/

!!! *Sermon:**                                               */“Autonomous man – to know the future”/

!! *Introduction*

Dear Brother and Sister,

By now we understand that the message of Isaiah centres on the theme of God’s covenant with his people.

He called them out of nothing to be his people.

In the beginning they were faithful, but they turned against God and rebelled against his law.

True to God’s faithfulness and righteousness brought upon them his judgment.

He promised them restoration, but it demanded repentance and a holy life.

He promised them, by the mercy of his covenantal grace that He will not utterly wipe them out; from them a remnant will remain.

Out of them the Messiah would be born, and out of his work of complete salvation, the message of salvation and the covenant of grace would flow across the world and the church, now called the nation, or people, or new Jerusalem will be victorious in the Name of the Victor, Jesus Christ unto whom is given all authority in heaven and in earth.

We need to, first of all look at what one would call contextual markers in the chapter.

In studying a discourse or a context, one is usually led by the phrases that are repeated.

Those of you who are interested in the study of the meaning of words would say that contextual markers are words that operate in the same semantic domain within a given paragraph.

*8* If we now study this chapter certain recurring phrases stand out:

a.       *8* “the land is full of”.

This phrase is repeated four times.

So the next few weeks we will study these phrases.

*8* It actually constitutes the contents or substance of the rebellion of the Israelites.

Man wants to be in control.*

**8*

b.

The next major theme in this paragraph is the contrast between “Man” and “God”.

*8*  Words describing “Importance of Man” on one hand and  humiliation on the other hand:  “brought low”, “humbled” (:9); “arrogant”, “humbled”, “pride”, “brought low” (:11); “proud and lofty”, “humbled” (;12); “arrogance”, “brought low”, “pride”, humbled” (:17).

This is summarised in verse 22:

Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.

Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22)

c.        *8** *Words describing splendour and exaltation; “splendour of his majesty” (:10, 19, 21); “the Lord will be exalted” (;11, 17);

d.       *8* Words describing fear of retribution:  “dread of the Lord”, “The Lord Almighty has a day in store” (:12); “that day”, “totally disappear” (:17); to “rise and shake the earth” (:19, 21)

*8* If we sum it up and paraphrase this paragraph of Isaiah 2:6-22 we can put it this way: 

*8* In his arrogance man wants to cut himself loose from God.

He substitutes God with something else in an effort to become his own god.

*8*  But God will rise up against arrogant man and destroy arrogant man and what he put his trust into.

*8**  *Let us take this lesson from history:  Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.

Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22)

!!! *8* *Rebellion – the source*

To say that God’s people rebelled against Him, is to refer to the over-arching problem.

The question now is:  What constituted that rebellion.

We know by now that Chapter 1 of Isaiah forms an introduction to the rest of the book.

Let’s now look at the specifics and then apply it to our lives today.

*8** *Rebellion:  /Man wants to be autonomous/

·         *8* A desire to /know/ his own future

·         A desire to /secure/ his own future

·         A desire to /protect/ his own future

·         A desire to /control/ his own future

8 Today then:  the desire of man to know the future.

Autonomous man cannot really be autonomous.

Although he wants to be his own god, he very early in his journey alone, substitutes the only true God with something else.

Because God knows the future, which is good and enough for the child of God, the Christian is content to know God knows.

So-called autonomous man quickly runs for something else to provide that security.

He invents gods and is led astray be may-be and so-called gods.

This time autonomous man is happy:  he finds a god that is under him, a god he can control.

And if that is possible, he be in control of his life.

Verse 6 says:  “You have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob”, the reason:  *8*  “They are filled from the east.”

The word /fill/ here has in mind a ship so fully laden that there was no room for any thing further.

It can, to bring to the fore what the Hebrew wants to state, be paraphrased by, “The nation was filled up with the east.”

*8* The problem therefore was a worldview-problem.

*8** *(Biblical worldview:  God provides, God’s thoughts, God’s way, Exportation~/mission, Victory).

*8* (Non Biblical worldview) God’s people began to share the worldview of the pagans with whom they traded.

(*8* Economic Rationality).

The trade was good for the economy, but along with it, it brought a way of living, *8* a way of thinking, which saturated the thinking processes of God’s people.

*8* (neutrality) And instead of them being the Holy City to which the nations were supposed to flood to learn more about the Creator God, the nation of God became the pit into which each of the nations dumped their filthy philosophies and superstitions.

*8* (Invasion) Instead of God’s people thinking God’s thoughts after Him, instead if them being filled with the knowledge of God, they found themselves filled with the knowledge of other gods.

*8* (Defeat) And before they knew, they were worshipping these gods.

One of God’s prophets once said to king Asa *8* :

“Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin.

The LORD is with you when you are with him.

If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 2 Chronicles 15:2

On another occasion the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest.

He stood before the people and said:*8*

“This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands?

You will not prosper.

Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” 2 Chronicles 24:20

This is where God’s people found themselves.

But how did it happen?