Well, let's open our Bibles to
Isaiah chapter 10. The book of Isaiah chapter 10. And I hope the Lord will enable
me to speak to you this evening on the subject, Fear Not the
Assyrian. That's our subject, Fear Not
the Assyrian. And we are going to go to Isaiah
chapter 10. Let me read a couple of verses
for you. Those would be verses 24 and
25. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Oh, my people that dwellest in
Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian. He shall smite thee with a rod
and shall lift up his staff against thee after the manor of Egypt. For yet a very little while and
the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction."
As I study the scriptures, I find there are four doctrines
that give me great joy, great peace, and great comfort. And whenever things look bleak
to the eyes of the flesh, whenever there are times of distress, when I'm driven to look at outward
circumstances and be discouraged and disheartened, And when I
look within and I find no good thing within me, and when I look at the world
with all of its troubles, with all of its corruptions, and when
I look at the events going on around me and they just don't
seem to be making sense to me, when it seems things don't have
any rhyme nor reason, I find that a remembrance of these four
things are used of the Lord to refresh me and to renew my spiritual
joy. These are four blessed gospel
truths. They are the very pillars of
our faith. They're the joy of our hearts. They're the encouragement
of our souls. Number one, the absolute sovereignty
of God. That's not merely a doctrine
for which we contend. This is a truth which, when we
really believe it, will be a great refuge to us even if we find
ourselves in the midst of a heavy trial. The God we worship, the
God we believe, the God we serve is absolutely sovereign in all
things. What is sovereignty? Well, the
root word is reign. God reigns. That's what we mean
by sovereignty. When we say God is sovereign,
we're simply saying God is God. We're talking about the authority
of God. We're talking about the kingship
of God. What is sovereignty is God's
absolute independent right to govern all of his creation according
to his own goodwill. It's not only his right, but
it's a right that he exercises. God is sovereign. There is in
glory, even now, an exalted man, the man Christ Jesus. He got
to the throne of God by way of his successfully finishing the
work of redemption that God gave him to do. The Lord sent him
to finish a work, the work of reconciliation, the work of removing
the sins of all of his people. the work of establishing righteousness
for all of his elect. And our Lord Jesus finished that
work to the Father's full satisfaction. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures, and God raised him from the grave. God exalted
him to glory. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father, and absolute universal sovereignty and authority has
been given to King Jesus. Now you who are the people of
God, remember this, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our
Elder Brother, That One who stood for us in the covenant of grace.
That One who is the surety of the new covenant. He is now exalted
and He has absolute sovereign authority over all things in
this world. There is nobody who lives. There
is no angel that exists. There is no demon from hell that
works evil in this world, but what our Lord Jesus Christ is
sovereign over all of it. That gives me great joy, doesn't
it? It gives me great peace of heart
to know that things are not happening by accident. We don't believe
in fate. We believe the Lord. The Lord
who rules over all things according to His pleasure. To say that
God is sovereign is to repeat the words of Nebuchadnezzar,
that God does according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? To say that God is sovereign
is to say that He is the Almighty. He is the possessor of all power
in heaven and in earth, so that none can defeat His counsels,
none can frustrate His purpose, none can resist His will. To say that God is sovereign
is to say that He's the governor among the nations. He sets up
kingdoms, He brings down kingdoms. He establishes empires, and then
He dissolves the empires. He puts a man in a position of
rule and authority, and after he's finished with that man,
He brings him down. God is sovereign in all things. To say that God is sovereign
is to declare He is the only potentate. He is the King of
Kings, and He is the Lord of Lords. God is sovereign over
all the events of my life, over all the events of your life,
over all the events of all the people in this whole wide world,
and that gives comfort to my poor soul. In creation, He is
sovereign. In providence, He is sovereign. In salvation, He is sovereign. Jonah said salvation is of the
Lord. Now it's obvious that everyone
isn't saved. Why not? because God doesn't
save everyone. It's not God's will for all men
to be saved. It is God's will for His elect
to be saved. They were saved. We were saved
before the world began in God's election of grace. We were saved
at the cross of Calvary. We were saved when the Spirit
of God revealed Christ Jesus to us. And now is our salvation
nearer than when we first believed. God saves whom He will. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. I praise God for His sovereignty,
don't you? That God does what He will with
His own. He has the right to do that,
and He exercises the right in doing that. We call on everyone
to believe the Gospel. Well, who will believe this gospel
of glad tidings of salvation fully dependent upon and fully
accomplished by Christ Jesus the Lord? Who will believe this
gospel? As many as were ordained to eternal
life, those are the ones who believe. Thank God for His sovereign
grace. The reason we believe the gospel
tonight, if indeed we do believe this glorious message, is because
God is sovereign in His mercy and He overcame our rebellious
wills. And He made us willing to be
saved in His way by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
made us willing in the day of His power. God is altogether
sovereign. He does as He pleases. God said,
I will do all my pleasure. That gives me comfort. That all
that's going on today God is executing it all. God
is bringing His will to pass. I can't explain it. I can't tell
you how things are working together for the good of God's elect.
I can only say this, God says they're working together for
the good of His elect because He's the one who's working them.
And we rejoice. Here's the second thing that
gives me great joy. The Lord Jesus, God's dear Son,
our Savior, has already redeemed His people. I'm redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb. His name is Jesus. He shall save
His people from their sins. Well, did He do what He came
to do? That is the question. Oh yes,
because it's written of Him by the prophet, He shall not. fail. In the covenant of grace,
our Lord Jesus took upon Himself the legal obligation of discharging
all of the debts of His people by His life, by His sufferings,
and by His death. If I'm in debt to a bank, and
one of you, my dear friends, comes along and you realizing
that I have no ability to pay my debt, if you pay the debt
and you receive a receipt that says paid in full, then my creditor,
my creditor no longer has any claim over me whatsoever. The debt is paid. Whether I know
it's been paid or not, That doesn't have anything to do with it.
All my creditor wants is full payment for my debt. Now when
I find out about it, I'm going to come to you and I'll hug your
neck and say, thank you so much for paying my debt. Now listen,
the Lord Jesus came to this world to pay the indebtedness of all
of His people. And indebtedness we've racked
up to God. And He paid it in full with His
own precious blood to His death. Now I didn't know that He paid
it. But He was still paid. I didn't know anything about
it until the Spirit of God crossed my path with the Gospel. And
then He showed me long ago another, a suitable sacrifice to God. He came and retired your indebtedness. That's what the Spirit of God
taught me. And I was made to rejoice in Jesus Christ and love
Him and thank Him and worship Him for paying my debt. I get great joy. I just can't tell you the thrill
that floods my soul when I just think about this. Just sit down
and think about this. I'm debt free to God. I'm debt
free. I don't owe anything. I mean nothing. In fact, not
only do I owe no debt, I have a positive righteousness. For
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ has been imputed
to me. And I stand before God Almighty
in the perfection, in the beauty, in the comeliness of my Savior. I am saved forever. Oh, what
peace floods my soul when I think about that. This death of the
Savior that was substitutionary. And that was successful. I'll
tell you something about redemption. I wrote this down today. Redemption
is, at the same time, the greatest act of mercy and the greatest
act of justice. Both at the same time. It's the
greatest act of mercy and it is the clearest act of justice. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the third thing. It
makes my soul rejoice. Salvation is by grace alone for
sinful people received by God-given faith alone. That gives me hope. For this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." What a great consolation
to me. The Savior came into the world,
He lived, He died, He arose, He ascended, and He makes intercession
for sinners. Hallelujah. Bless His name. He's my mediator. And the more
you can convince me of my sinfulness, the more of the Word of God you
take me to that establishes what a wretch I am, the more qualified
I am to the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. So I don't mind you telling
me I'm a sinner. I hear people say, oh, they preach
too much on sin over there. You can't preach too much on
sin. You can't preach too much on
the blood. You can't preach too much on
grace. You can't preach too much on
imputed righteousness. That's an impossibility. Saved
by grace. Oh, that helps me. And when you
tell me it's not of works, lest any man should boast, I say,
hallelujah, because I couldn't do any work. I need God-given salvation. That's what I need. That's what
I got. Because He gave it to me. No strings attached. No conditions. He didn't say, if you will, I
will. The Lord said, I will love them
freely. That's what He said in the book
of Hosea. I'll love them freely. And He gives us faith to believe.
And here's another truth that helps my poor soul. In this world
where things happen that trouble God's people, things that are
unsettling to us, this is what helps us. Our Lord rules over
all things by His wise and holy will. Divine providence gives
us a great consolation. Let me show you that here in
Isaiah chapter 10. In Isaiah chapter 10, Isaiah
is being shown of the Lord that He would raise up the Assyrians
to be a scourge against Israel because of the sins of the Jewish
people. Look at chapter 10 verse 1. Woe unto them that decree unrighteous
decrees, and that right grievousness which they have prescribed. to
turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from
the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they
may rob the fatherless. And what will you do in the day
of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To
whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your
glory? Without me, they shall bow down unto the prisoners,
They shall fall under the sling. For all this, his anger is not
turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." You see,
God is going to use, this is what the Lord is telling Isaiah,
the Lord would use the Assyrians, all of the nation of Assyria,
and He would use their vile king, a man by the name of Sennacherib,
He would use them in His hand in order to inflict punishment
upon Israel. Look at verse 5. The Lord speaks
about using these. O Assyrian, the rod of My anger. God says Assyria is the rod of
My anger. And the staff in their hand,
that's Mine indignation. You mustn't think for a moment
that the Assyrians were operating independent of God. Now, they
were a godless society. They had their false gods that
they worshipped. But the Lord says, I'm going
to use them as the rod of my anger. And the staff in their hand,
that's mine indignation. And he says in verse 6, I will
send him against a hypocritical nation. Against the people of
my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take
the prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. God used these Assyrians in order
to punish the evildoers. Now, to be sure, The Assyrians
had no idea they were being used by the Lord. Their only thought
was this, we're advancing our cause. That's their only thought. But look at verse 7. After the Lord has said, I'm
going to send them, he says, albeit he meaneth not so, neither
does his heart think so. In other words, he has no idea
that he's being used by me. That's what the Lord is saying.
But it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off the nations, not
a few. In other words, all the Assyrians
are thinking about, and all this King Sennacherib, all that he
has on his mind is pushing further and further, trouncing one nation
after another nation until finally he would rule the world, which
he did. Which he did. But Sennacherib and the Assyrians,
they had no awareness of the fact that God was using them
to fulfill his purpose. God is using everybody to fulfill
His purpose. Did you know that? Everybody
and everything is fulfilling God's purpose. And most people
are unaware of it. They are like the Assyrians,
just as we would say today, just doing their thing, just going
about life's way. The Assyrians were thinking of
themselves and advancing their cause, and had no idea of the
fact that in all of their actions, God was working out His purpose. Keep that in mind. That will
help you in a day of trouble now. You file that away. And of course the Assyrians,
they were an arrogant people. Drop down to verse 13. For he
said, that is for Sennacherib, and all of the Assyrians, for
he said, by the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my
wisdom. For I am prudent, and I have
removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures,
and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man, and my hand
hath found a nest as a nest the riches of the people. And as
one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth?
And there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth,
or peeped." In other words, Sennacherib is saying, I'm doing all of this. Look what God says in verse 15.
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth wherewith? Or
shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it,
as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up,
or as if the staff should lift up itself as if there were no
wood? In other words, God is saying,
Assyria, you're my axe. You're my axe. You're my saw.
You're just weapons that I'm using. It's my hand that's upon
you. It's my hand that's wielding
the axe. It's my hand that's directing
the saw. God says, I'm doing all of this. I'm lifting up the staff. Oh
beloved, listen, all things are of God. Even when the enemy,
even when those who are opposing us, even when they seem to have
authority over us and they be doing bad things to us, always
remember this, there are just so many axes and saws and staffs
in the hand of God Almighty to accomplish His purpose concerning
you. Doesn't that comfort you? That is a comfort to me. It was
a comfort to Isaiah. Here is Israel. The Lord says
the Assyrians are going to come in. They are going to attack
and seek to take over. But remember Isaiah, I am still
in control here. It is not the Assyrians. Listen,
I know there are wicked people in this world who are covetous,
they're envious, they're vile, they're wicked, they're doing
a lot of mischievous things in the world, but back behind every
action is an absolutely sovereign God bringing His will to pass. And if we can remember that,
when all seems bleak, when things are happening that we can't understand,
when we can't make rhyme or reason out of anything, if we can just
remember, my Lord is ruling all things, all things are in His
hand, that will kind of lower the blood pressure. You'll find
your pulse going back down. And you'll rest easy upon your
pillow and say, my Savior, He knows what He is doing. I may
be hurting, and this may be a severe trial for me, but He governs
all things for His glory and for my good. You see Assyria,
Sennacherib, there are just so many palms in the hands of God. And the Lord said in time, He
would pour out His judgment upon the Assyrians. In fact, look
back up in verse 12. Wherefore, it shall come to pass
that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion
and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart
of the King of Assyria and the glory of His high looks." In
other words, God says, when I'm finished with Him, when I've
used Him to fulfill my purpose, then judgment will fall upon
Him. Look what he says in verse 16.
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among His
fat ones leanness. And unto His glory He shall kindle
a burning like the burning of a fire. And the light of Israel
shall be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame. And it
shall burn and devour His thorns and His briars in one day." In
other words, Sennacherib and all of the Assyrians, they're
like thorns and briars. And God would consume them in
His time. Because you remember this, your
enemies are God's enemies. And God's enemies better be our
enemies. Did you know that? It works both
ways. Look what he says in verse 18.
The Lord shall consume the glory of His forest, and of His fruit
fulfilled both soul and body. They shall be as when a standard
bearer fainteth, and the rest of the trees of the forest shall
be few that a child may write them." In other words, God says,
when I get through with Assyria, when I get through with Sennacherib,
just a little child can say, hey, there's nothing left there
but a tree or two. It won't have to count very high. Listen and understand. Everything
God does is either directly or indirectly for the spiritual
benefit of the remnant according to the election of grace. Now
look at verse 20. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the remnant of Israel, there's always a remnant
according to the election of grace. The remnant of Israel,
and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more
again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the
Lord the Holy One of Israel in truth." In other words, they
will cease to lean upon the flesh. They'll trust their God. And so he says in verse 21, the
remnant shall return. even the remnant of Jacob. Who
shall they return to? Unto the mighty God. To the mighty
God. You see, God brought Sennacherib
on the scene. And the Assyrians, who would
be in opposition against Israel, in order that God might put them
in a position of being in trouble, then they would call upon Him. And when they called upon Him,
He answered them. He answered them. And so He says in verse 24, Therefore
thus said the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in
Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians. And I say to all of the people
of God tonight who are here and who are watching, that Assyrian
in your life, that Sennacherib, that's a thorn in your flesh,
don't be afraid of him because God controls him. God rules him. Those Assyrians that trouble
you, they're being used of God for His glory. and for your good. Look at this passage. And I've
got to go over here. 2 Kings chapter 19. Let me take
you back to this. 2 Kings chapter 19. King Sennacherib of Assyria. He sent a letter by some messengers
to King Hezekiah of Judah. And this is what he says. 2 Kings
chapter 19. Look at verse 10. 2 Kings 19, verse 10. Thus shall
you speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God
in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall
not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold,
thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria has done to all lands
by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? Had
the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed,
as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezath, and the children of Eden, which
were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath,
and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sevarim,
of Hedonah, and Ivor? Here's Sennacherib. By the message, he sends a letter.
Do you think your God is going to pull you out of this? Do you
think your God is going to defend you? We have defeated all the
gods that we faced. You better throw up the white
flag of surrender. You know what Hezekiah did? Look at verse 14. And Hezekiah
received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and he read
it. And he didn't go to his advisors. He didn't go to the general of
his armies. Hezekiah went up to the house
of the Lord and he spread the letter before the Lord. And Hezekiah
prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest
between the cherubims, thou art the God. That's what we need
to remember. He is the God. even thou alone
of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.
Lord, bow down thine ear and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes
and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent
him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of
Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, Here's what
Hezekiah said, it is true that every nation is falling before
them. That's a fact. And they have
cast their gods into the fire. But Hezekiah says, for they were
no gods, but the work of men's hands. Wood and stone, therefore
they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God,
I beseech Thee, watch the language, save Thou us out of His hand,
that all of the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art
the Lord God, even Thou only. Do it for Your glory. Do it to
the exaltation of Thy name. He closed his prayer. The Lord
sent Isaiah to King Hezekiah. And Isaiah said, the Lord's heard
your prayer. Look at verse 21. This is the word that the Lord
hath spoken concerning him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
hath despised thee, and lath thee discord, and the daughter
of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted
thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high, even against the
Holy One of Israel? In going against God's people,
they were going against God. Remember that. Don't be afraid
of the Assyrian. Look at verse 23, "...by thy
messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said with
the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of
the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the
tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof,
and I will enter into the lodgings of His borders, and into the
forest of Carmel." They make big boasts. But God says, of
King Sennacherib, look at verse 27, I know thy abode, and thy
going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. In other
words, Isaiah tells King Hezekiah, the Lord said, don't you worry
Isaiah, God says He knows exactly where Sennacherib is. And God
knows where your Sennacheribs are, where the Assyrians, He
knows, and He governs them. He governs them. Look at verse
29. This shall be a sign to thee,
King Hezekiah. You'll eat this year such things
as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth
of the same, and in the third year sow ye and reap and plant
vineyards and eat the fruits thereof. In other words, King
Hezekiah, you're just going to keep on going. But this Sennacherib,
I'll take care of him. Children of God, the Lord will
take care of your Sennacherib in His time. That's what you
have to remember. In His time. Because look at verse 31. For
out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant. There they are again.
And they shall escape out of Mount Zion. How do we know? The zeal of the Lord of hosts
shall bring this to pass. Look at what God says in verse
34. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake
and for my servant David's sake. I'll do it because of the covenant.
I'll do it for Christ's sake. Look at verse 35. He came to
pass that night. that the angel of the Lord went
out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 104 score and 5,000,
185,000 Assyrian soldiers. And Israel never lifted up a
sword. The Lord said, He will fight
our battles for us. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. And so Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, he departed, he went and returned. He dwelt
in Nineveh. And it came to pass as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that Adrammelech and Cherezer, his
sons, smote him with a sword. His own sons assassinated him.
And they escaped into the land of Armenia. Esarhaddon, his son, reigned
in his stead. Don't be afraid of the Assyrian.
Let me show you one more thing. I know my time is gone. Go back
to Isaiah chapter 10. I want to just show you this.
Isaiah chapter 10 again. You say, Jim, how long will these
afflictions of the flesh, The Assyrians. How long will
the Sennacheribs, how long will they be a troublesome thing to
us? Isaiah 10, look at verse 25. For yet a very little while. That's all. Just a little while. And then the Anointed One is
going to come. Look down here at verse 27. It shall come to pass in that
day that His burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder. In other words, He won't be a
burden to you anymore. And His yoke will come off from
thy neck. The yoke shall be destroyed because
of the anointing. Literally, because of the Anointed
One. because of Christ Jesus who is
going to destroy them. Well, who is this anointed one?
Chapter 11 verse 1. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. Christ Jesus the Lord. He is the anointed one. Don't
you worry about this Syrian, okay? Don't you worry about that
Sennacherib in your life. His days are numbered, and God
Almighty, your Savior, your Redeemer, He's governing these Sennacheribs. He's governing these Assyrians. And they'll fall in their time,
but God is using them for this purpose, to bring you to the
Lord. It is a fact. That in our days
of trouble, that's when we fall upon our faces before God, isn't
it? We call upon Him, and He's there. He's always there to help us.
Let's sing a closing song.