Well, let us turn to God's Word
in this portion that we've just read, Isaiah 48, and directing
you to the words that we have in verse 10, Isaiah 48, 10, Behold,
I have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee
in the furnace of affliction. I want to take for a text the
second part of the verse, those words that we have At the end,
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. The theme then
is simply that of chosen in the furnace of affliction. Here in Isaiah 48, the last clause
of verse 10. It's a strange portion that we
were reading just now. And it does well for us to consider
something of the historical context. In many ways, what we have here
is a reference to the Babylonian exile, the captivity that came
upon the children of Israel, and then also, of course, the
promise of the restoration. We certainly see that towards
the end of the chapter. Verse 20, the commandment is
given, go ye forth of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans with
a voice of singing, declare ye, tell ye this, utter it even to
the end of the earth. Say ye, the Lord hath redeemed
his servant Jacob. And it's also indicated here
in verse 14, the end of that portion we were reading all ye
assemble yourselves and hear which among them have declared
these things the Lord hath loved him he will do his pleasure on
Babylon and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. It is then
a prophecy that concerns what was going to befall Judah some
100 years after the ministry of the Prophet. And certainly
the opening part of the chapter, the first eight verses are a
prophecy. Words written long before the
captivity and the restoration. As God says here in verse 3,
I have declared the former things from the beginning And they went
forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did them suddenly, and
they came to pass." It's all in the prophetic perfect, God
speaking of events that had not yet taken place, but would surely
take place in the fulfillment of His purpose, the certainty
of God's prophetic words through His servant, the prophets, having
their fulfillment. The exile itself was very much
a punishment upon Judah because of the folly of their idolatry. What a great sin it was. They
wanted to be like the nations round about them. They wanted
to have gods like those that the other nations had and they
made their idols. And we have reference to that
In verse 4, I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is
as an iron sinew, and thy brow brass. I have even from the beginning
declared it to thee. Before it came to pass, I showed
it thee, lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them,
and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them. How they were always ready to
ascribe good things, so far as they were concerned, unto these
idols. And all the context there in
the previous chapters is the rebuke of their idolatrous ways. In chapter 46, for example, verse
5, to whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare
me that we may be like. They lavish gold out of the bag,
and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and ye
maketh it a god. They fall down, they worship.
They bear him up on the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in
his place, and he standeth from his place, shall he not remove?
Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save
him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves,
men. Bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from
ancient times are things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. And so God
is challenging them. and showing them the foolishness
of turning to their idol gods. And God judges them. Ultimately,
as we know, Jerusalem was taken by the armies of the Babylonians
and the people were removed into exile and languished there in
Babylon for those 70 years. But what was God doing? He was chastening them. They were His people. And so,
here in the words of verse 9, For my name's sake will I defer
mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee that
I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee,
but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. Oh, they are people who are going
to be chastened, but they're not going to be utterly destroyed. There will be a return. Jerusalem will be re-inhabited,
the Temple will be rebuilt, and we know these things because
we have the historic books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the rebuilding
of the Temple, the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. in
order that in the fullness of the time he who is the true fulfillment
of the temple might come, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Well, as we turn to consider
the words that I announced, this last clause in verse 10, I have
chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. chosen in the furnace of affliction."
Three points. First of all, to consider something
of God's favor, God's favor seen in election. Secondly, God's
gospel call that comes in time. And then finally, God's furnace
in Jerusalem. These three headings then as
we seek to consider and unfold the words that are before us
tonight. First of all, God's favor in
election. What does he say here in the
middle of the 10th verse? I have chosen thee. Very plain statement. But it
reminds us of God's sovereignty and it reminds us that God is
the one who in that sovereignty has chosen a people for himself. he says at the end of verse 11 and he will not give his glory
unto another the beginning of that verse for mine own sake,
even for mine own sake will I do it I will not give my glory unto
another Sovereignty is an absolute sovereignty. Nothing outside
of God himself moves him with regards to that choice that he
has made. We're familiar with the language
of Romans chapter 9 which so emphasizes God's sovereignty
in election. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. The fallacy of man's free will,
it is not of him that willeth, it is of God that showeth mercy. I will not give my glory unto
another. And when, here in the words of
the text, he says, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction,
He is reminding them and also reminding us of deliverance from
another furnace. Even the experience of their
fathers when God brought them out of the bondage which was
Egypt. There in Deuteronomy 4.20, the
Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace. even out of Egypt. That was the
experience of their fathers. They had been those who were
there in Egypt under the heel of the Pharaoh and God delivered
them. And why was it that God delivered
them? Well, the basis, of course, is to be found in the fact that
He had chosen them. They were His people. They were
the elect. You only am I known of all the
families of the earth, he says in the prophet. But there, back
in the books of Moses, in Deuteronomy 7, and verse 7, The Lord did
not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were
more in number than any people. For you were the fewest of all
people, but because the Lord loved you. and because he would
keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, that the Lord
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of
the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt."
And notice just what is being said there, we have the sovereign
love of God, here is the reason, because the Lord loved you. Well,
that's the reason why He chose you. And that's the reason why
He brought you out of that iron furnace, but also we notice the
faithfulness of God, and because he would keep the oath. He is
true to himself, he is true to his word. The election of God,
we see quite clearly in this text then, is an eternal and
sovereign election. It is a free and an unconditional
election. It is nothing to do with those
who are the object of His choice, but the reason, the cause is
found only in the Lord God Himself. For mine own sake, even for mine
own sake will I do it. I will not give my glory unto
another. But turning in the second place
to what I said is God's Gospel call in time. Whereas we see
how God works from eternity into time, He has chosen His people
before the foundation of the world, and all that that implies,
before ever He had created time, His choice is an eternal choice,
God works from eternity and works into time, but we consider matters
from time back to eternity. We're told, aren't we, whom he
did predestinate, them he also called. And so we have the exhortation
in Peter, Give diligence to make your calling and election Sure. And it is interesting that we
have that particular order in the syntax there. He speaks of
calling previous to election. The secret things belong unto
the Lord our God. The things that are revealed
belong unto us and to our children. It's the experience of effectual
calling that must come before any assurance of our eternal
election. Some might be tormented with
that great doctrine that we've just spoken of, God's sovereign
election, God's free choice of his people. How can I know if
I am included in that number? How can I have an assurance that
I am of the company of the election of grace? well we cannot look
into eternity but we live in time and we know that in this
present time state God is executing his eternal purpose of election
and he executes it by means of the call of the gospel that efficacious call that irresistible
grace whom he did predestinate he also did call. Think of the language that we
have there at the end of John's first general epistle. The whole world, John says, lies
in wickedness. The whole world lies in the wicked
one. He is the prince of this world,
Satan. And so, John also exhorts those
believers that he's addressing, those little children in his
first epistle. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, he
says, the love of the Father is not in him. All that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And Christ
has chosen his people out of this world. Out of the common
mass of that fallen humanity, God saves the people. He actually saves His people
here in times. And how does He save them? By
His efficacious grace. He works in their hearts, He
makes them feel their sins. You see, when we think of the
imagery that we have here, chosen in the furnace. In the furnace
the metal is not in its pure condition. The whole process
of putting the ore into the furnace is to separate the dross from
the gold, the impurities. will be separated
by the appliance of the heat. And all those impurities, all
that dross will rise to the top of the molten metal, and then
it will be tapped away. As the impurities are there,
you see on the top of the surface, what do we see in the imagery
here? God's people will be made aware of what they are when God
begins to effect His choice. I'll feel something of their
sins, I'll see something of their sins. How David cries out in
Psalm 51, My sin is ever before me. When a man is dead in trespasses
and sins he has no real sense of what he is in the eyes of
a God who is holy, a God of eyes too pure to behold iniquity.
But when the Lord begins How that person is made to see and
feel what he is as a sinner before a holy God. Again here in chapter
38 and verse 17 we have those words of King Hezekiah. What does he say? Verse 17 of chapter 38, Behold,
for peace I had great bitterness, But thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast
all my sins behind thy back. The Lord will make his people
aware of what they are, he will make them see something of the
pit out of which they've been hewn. But here is deliverance
from the pit, the casting of sins behind the back. And we
see the sort of characters that the Lord saves when the Apostle
is writing to the church at Corinth. And remember the words that we
have there in 1 Corinthians 6. And verse 9 he tells these believers,
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be ye not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, nor shall inherit the kingdom of God." He gives
this tremendous catalogue of the most awful sins, and then
he says, and such were some of you. And such were some of you,
but you are washed. but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. I have chosen you out of the
world, says the Lord Jesus Christ. These people are to be a people
brought out of their cores by that efficacious grace of God
that becomes that irresistible core. and may to see themselves
have brought to an end of themselves God turns them to destruction
and then says return ye children of men they that are whole have no need
of the physician says Christ I came not to call the righteous
but sinners to repentance sinners are high in his esteem and sinners
highly value here. Lord, they see them what they
are. They see something of that awful dross when the Lord begins
to deal with them. And then finally, I said we'd
say something with regards to God's furnace in Jerusalem. Isn't
that what we have in the text? Behold, I have refined thee,
but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. And the believer's soul, from
when the Lord ever first begins to deal with him, the believer's
soul is like that furnace. And so it continues in all the
dealings of God with him. Back in chapter 31 and verse
9 we're told the Lord whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in
Jerusalem. And what Is Zion what is Jerusalem? Spiritually, is that not a reference
to the church? The people of God? The Lord's fire is in the midst
of his people in Zion. The Lord's furnace is there in
the midst of Jerusalem. And Peter, Peter tells us, Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try
you as though some strange thing happened unto you. Twice he says, you know, it's
not strange. What you're experiencing, you
have to think it strange. Something that other believers
don't experience. No fiery trials, a furnace of
affliction. This is the experience not of
just a few, but it's more or less the appointed lot of all
the people of God. That's what Peter is really saying
there. It's not a strange thing. The
Lord teaches his people. And so we have it here at verse
17, Thou saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which
leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. And we can
observe three particular truths with regards to God's furnace
in Jerusalem, God's fiery trial that He brings His people into,
three things. First of all, there is that purpose
of purging. What sort of a furnace is it?
Well, it's spoken of here as the furnace of affliction. All God's people will know afflictions. They'll know something of tribulations,
trials, and troubles. But there's a good end that God
has in view. The hymn writer says, afflictions make us see
what else would escape our sight, how very foul and dim are we,
and God, how pure and bright. By the Lord's dealings, we understand
something more of who God is, but we also learn something more
with regards to ourselves. It's in the fiery trials that
the preciousness of saving faith is really discovered. Again,
Peter says it, doesn't he? The trial of your faith, being
much more precious than the gold of perish it that would be fried
with fire, is found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. The Lord will appear in the midst
of all those troubles that come into the lives of his people,
in the midst of all their afflictions. In the world, he says, ye shall
have tribulation. cannot be escaped all the time
we're in this world but be of good cheer Christ says I have
overcome the world and faith has to look to him as that one
who is truly the great overcomer or they're chosen in the furnace
of affliction there's the purpose of purging purging away all the
dross in order that the pure gold of saving faith might become
ever more apparent. But also, secondly here, there
is the promise of God's own presence. God doesn't leave his people
alone in that furnace of affliction. No, he's there with them. Remember
the words that we have back in Isaiah 43, this 43rd chapter
of the book. But ne'er thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and thee that form thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. when they walk us through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flying kindle
upon thee." Oh, the Lord God Himself will be with them in
the midst of all these things. And we have the example, of course,
of those young Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, there in
the book of Daniel. I'm sure we're all Familiar with
the story of those young men when they're put into the fiery
furnace there in Daniel 3 at verse 23. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego fell down, bound into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Their nebuchadnezzar, the king,
was astounded. and rose up in haste, and spake,
and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men, loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
Remarkable scripture. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. There,
even previous to the great mystery of the Incarnation, for men it says, He's there,
but He's the Son of God. There to comfort those three
young Hebrews. Or we read of them previously
that at verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said
to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer
thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and
He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto
thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which thou hast set up." Or the following of
Israel back in Isaiah 48 where we have seen that they wanted
to ascribe so many things to their idol gods, the folly of
their sin, but these young men they knew the Lord God and they
had that promise that He would be with them in the midst of
all their trials and all their troubles, the promise of God's
presence and then thirdly here there is the promise of God's
protection. He is that one who is the refiner
And we think of the words then of Malachi, that last book of
the Old Testament scriptures, and the words that we have in
Malachi chapter 3 and verses 2 and 3. Who may abide the day of his
coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth. For he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons
of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." The refiner.
The Lord Jesus Christ. How the refiner carefully watches
over the crucible. He looks upon what's taking place
in that little furnace, a crucible. And what is he looking for? He's
looking to see his own image that will eventually be reflected
in the purified gold. When all the dross and all the
rubbish has been burnt away and tapped away and gone. And he
looks over the crucible. And what does he see? He sees
his own image or the Lord will protect his people I know the
thoughts that I think towards you, he says, thoughts of peace
and not of evil to give you unexpected end those words originally given
of course to those who were going into the captivity the words
of the Prophet Jeremiah as God's mouthpiece to reassure them there
would be an expected end, there would be a restoration God will
protect his people he protected them throughout all those years
of exile and he brought the remnant back and Job Job says he knoweth
the way that I take when he has tried me I shall come forth as
gold oh that's the Lord's purpose with his furnace in Jerusalem it's a furnace of affliction
there will be sufferings but what does Paul say there in Romans
8 17 if so be that we suffer with him with Christ that we
may be also glorified together or there's a suffering with him
but ultimately there's glory and isn't that the end really
of that golden chain that begins with his foreknowledge of his
people how he has set his sovereign love upon them how he has made
choice of them, He's predestinated them, He's called them, He's
justified them, ultimately He will glorify His people. So the words of our text this evening, Behold, I have
refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine
own sake, will I do it. For how should mine name be polluted?
And I will not give my glory unto another. May the Lord bless
the word to us. Let us now sing our second praise,
the hymn 872, the tune is 276. Gold in the furnace tried, ne'er
lose his ought but dross. So is the Christian purified
and bettered by the cross. Afflictions make us see. What
else would escape our sight? How very foul and dim are we,
and God, how pure and bright. The Hymn 872, Tune 76.