The infidel, the unbelieving,
the religious agnostic, the blasphemer, reads the newspaper every day
and must say in himself, if not out loud, if there's a God in
heaven, why all the sickness, the turmoil, the war, the famine,
the envy, the strife, the hatred, the bigotry, the religious tomfoolery. Why all the evil that we see
in this world? That's how the ungodly think. If there's a God in heaven, how
could these things be? The scriptures give a very clear
answer. to all the evils in this world. These things come to pass exactly
as they do because God is in heaven and he has his way upon
the earth. Because God has put it in the
hearts of all men to do his will. God has put it in the hearts
of all men, reprobate and elect, believing and unbelieving, faithful
gospel preachers and unfaithful reprobate false prophets. God
has put it in the hearts of all men to do His will. And His will is the saving of
His people for the glory of His name. Open your Bibles to Isaiah
23. I want us to read this short
18 verse prophecy together. This is a prophecy about God's
judgment, specifically about God's judgment upon Tyre. Now,
if you want to grasp the message of this chapter, I suggest that
as soon as possible, while the message is still fresh on your
minds, that you read this chapter along with Ezekiel chapters 27
and 28 as soon as possible. That which we're about to read
is a prophecy of historic facts. They're all now matters of historic
record. But this precisely accurate prophecy,
now confirmed by the details written out in history, was not
written here by the finger of God just to prove that the Bible
is inspired, the inspired word of God, and that the prophecies
were all exactly precise and accurate. Though that is a fact,
it can't be denied. If you read this chapter, together
with Ezekiel 27 and 28, you will see that the burden of Tyre is
to be understood allegorically. For Tyre, you might substitute
London, Paris, New York, Moscow, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, or any
of the countries or all of the countries where those great cities
of commerce are found. More broadly, for Tyre, you might
substitute the whole world and the nations of the world. Even
more broadly still, you might substitute for Tyre all of Babylon,
the cursed peoples of this cursed world in rebellion to God. Have
you found Isaiah 23? Let's read what the word of God
speaks to us in this passage. Here we're told that God rules
the world to save his elect, and he does so in such a way
as to stain the pride of all glory. God rules the world to
save his elect, and he does so in such a way as to stain the
pride of all glory, the burden of tire. That's how the prophecy
begins. It's a prophecy of divine judgment.
It describes God's utter destruction of Tyre. A destruction so thorough,
so complete, that not one house would be left standing here.
Tyre was for Israel both a great burden, a great curse, and a
great blessing, and a great benefactor. You'll remember that Hiram, king
of Tyre, supplied both David and Solomon with timbers for
the building of the temple, and timbers as well for Solomon to
build his house. He provided Solomon with sailors
and ships to build his navy for commerce around the world so
that Israel could become a great prosperous nation. But later,
Tyre gave Israel Jezebel. the wife of one of Israel's most
ungodly, tyrannical, idolatrous kings, Ahab. And along with Jezebel,
Ahab led Israel in rebellion to God. So Tyre was both a blessing
to Israel and a curse. First, in verses one through
seven, we're given this prophecy of Tyre's destruction. Something that folks need to
learn, especially you who do not know God. The wheels of divine
justice may grind slow, but they grind to powder. They grind to powder. The burden
of tire, howl you ships of Tarshish. for it is laid waste, so that
there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Shittim,
it is revealed to them, be still ye inhabitants of the isle, thou
whom the merchants of Zion that pass over the sea have replenished.
And by great waters, the seed of Shehor, the harvest of the
river, is her revenue, and she is a mart, that is a marketplace
of the nations. Be thou ashamed, O Zion, for
the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying,
I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish
up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt,
so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Passover
to Tarshish. How will ye inhabitants of the
isle? Is your joy a city whose iniquity is of ancient days?
Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. The entire
chapter relates to the destiny of Tyre. History confirmed the
prophecy of this word to the letter. Tarshish of this chapter
is Spain. Shittim is the island of Cyprus.
The word merchant is the same word that is commonly translated
in the Old Testament scriptures, Canaanites. It's the same word. The Canaanites, you will remember,
were the people whose land God promised to Israel. The peoples
whose land God gave to Israel as a possession. But they were
a people Israel could never quite destroy. Israel could never quite
drive them out of the land. The Canaanites were always there,
troubling, stirring up things, bringing Israel to corruption,
promoting idolatry and ungodliness. The Canaanites often pretended
to be Israel's friends, but they never were. The Canaanites often
pretended to worship Israel's God, the Lord Jehovah, the only
true and living God, but the Canaanites never worshiped God.
They were idolaters. Even when they pretended to worship
Jehovah, they were worshiping Baal. This prophecy was delivered
when Tyre was at the height of prosperity. She was enjoying
her position as the marketplace of the world. The prophet Zechariah
tells us in Zechariah 9 that they heaped silver as the dust
and gold as the mire of the streets. Tyre was a wealthy, powerful,
influential city among the nations of the world. In the light of
God's judgment upon Tyre, let us be wise and hear the counsel
of our Savior. Here's Tyre, the mighty, wealthy,
envied city. Tyre, the place of commerce.
Tyre, where gold was like mire in the streets. That's rich.
Tyre, where silver was like the dust you wipe off your coffee
table. That's rich, that's rich. Mighty Tyre, brought to nothing
like that. Be light, wise, and hear the
word of God. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and
lose his own soul? The wise man Solomon tells us
of the wicked and the reprobate, God has set the world in their
heart so that they cannot find God. God sets the world in the
hearts of men so that they cannot find God. I beg of God constantly. Oh my God, don't set the world
in my heart. Love not the world, neither the
things of the world. If any man love the world, the
love of God is not in him. There was a parable that our
Lord gave about a man, a rich man, whose land brought forth
plentifully. You can read it in Luke 12. And
he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I had
no room where to bestow my fruits, this will I do. I will pull down
my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul,
Thou hast much goods laid up for many days. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then all these
things won't matter one bit. They won't matter one bit. Would
to God I would hear what I'm saying to you, and you would
hear what I'm saying to you. The wealth of this world is nothing
but something to use for the glory of our Redeemer. The wealth
of this world is nothing but something to use for the glory
of our God. The fame of this world, oh, how
men crave fame, a name to be known. How we overlook, we overlook
the most base, vile, disgusting behavior in men who are athletes
and have got a name, or politicians and have got a name, or wealthy
men and have got a name. Oh, what a name, he's such a
great, I'd like to rub shoulders with him. I wouldn't sit next
door to him. I wouldn't sit down with him
at the table, but he's famous. The fame of the world is nothing. The power of this world is nothing. The praise of this world is nothing. Did you hear what you said, Pastor?
The wealth of this world, the fame of this world, the power
of this world, the wealth of this world is nothing. Christ
is all. Oh God give you and me grace
to make Mary's determined choice. Mary has chosen that good part
which shall not be taken away from her. Take Christ, take Christ,
take Christ and push everything else aside. Push everything else
aside. And Bill, you gotta just keep
pushing everything else aside. But take that good part, and
it shall not be taken from you. Now therefore, God speaks by
his prophet Haggai, consider your ways. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
us that we might live unto him. who died for us and rose from
the dead. He saved us that we might live
to him. He redeemed us that we might
live to him to be his own peculiar treasure in this world, that
we might serve him, that we might walk with him, that we might
live not to ourselves, but to him who died for us and rose
again. He sent us forth in this world
to proclaim redemption everywhere, to proclaim his grace everywhere. He sends us forth for the building
of his church and kingdom as his witnesses. And he's given
us everything needed to do that which he's put in our hands to
do. And we take our time and our labor and our money and our
abilities and waste it. on wealth and fame and power
and praise from men who are but perishing pieces of withered
grass. Consider your ways. What do you get from the world? You get money to stick into a
pocket that's got holes in it. You get food and eat and drink
sumptuously and remain hungry and thirsty. You buy the finest
of things for yourself and you're beggars. Consider your ways and
set your hearts upon Christ and upon eternity. If ye then be
risen with Christ, Seek those things which are above where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affection on
things above not on things on the earth Samuel Rutherford wisely
warned Do not build your nest in any of the trees of this forest
They're all marked to be burned. I We will have that, I promise
you, upon which we set our hearts. Our Savior says, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things that you
fret about and fight about and grab after, what you eat, what
you wear, where you're going to live, All these things shall
be added unto you. You see your father knows you've
got to have a place to sleep He knows you've got to have something
to eat. He knows you got to have something to wear Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness now look at verse 8 and verse
9 Here the prophet raises a question and then answers it and Here is the who and the why of
all things. I don't think there's a passage
in the whole of Isaiah's prophecy more comprehensive or more instructive
in explaining to us the wonders of God's adorable providence
in the outworking of his grace to the salvation of our souls,
by which he shows man's nothingness and his supremacy, by which he
stains the pride of all glory. Isaiah 23, verse 8. Who has taken
this counsel against Tyre? The crowning city, whose merchants
are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth.
Isn't it amazing how that works? The rich merchants are the princes.
The princes, the traffickers, things in this world, they're
the men that other men honor. Who has taken this counsel against
them? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it. to stain the pride
of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of
the earth. There is a who to history, and
that who is our God. History is his story. He's the one who writes history.
He who has taken counsel against Tyre. He who has taken this counsel
against the merchants and the princes and the traffickers and
the honorable of the world is God our Savior. He is not merely
an observer of things in this world. He's the ruler. He's not
merely the geologist of the globe. He's the geographer. God who
built up the rocks manages all the surface work. He alters the
names, the boundaries, and the capacities of all places. He readjusts the map of the globe. The four seasons are his servants. He tells them what to do. Precisely
at this time, Chittim, Cyprus, revolted against Tyre, and the
Phoenician colonies began to be restless, and joined Sennacherib
when he attacked the mother city. Who did it? Who did it? God did
it. God did it. God shook the kingdoms. Egypt, Ethiopia, Babylon, Syria,
Israel, Judah, all quaked to their foundations because God
shook the nations. So it is today. While Tiglath-Pileser
built and enlarged Assyria, these nations were shaken. And yet
in due time, Tiglacpeles' neck was wrung like a chicken's, and
he was thrown away like a wasted garment. So God rules the universe. There are many kings, many rulers,
but they all have one king who rules over them, the eternal,
immortal, invisible God over all, the only potentate. All
others are just painted figures. Now I wrote that down and I thought,
let's be sure that's right. All the other mighty men, all
the other kings, they're just painted figures. No more, no
more, just painted figures. If you were putting on a cardboard
display of things in the world, they're just painted figures
sliding across the stage. Here comes another one. That's
all, that's all. Let us give them the honor that
God requires that we give men in this world, but think of them
not in any way except as God's servants in whose heart God has
set to do his will. Christ our God and King reigns
everywhere, always, over all things, absolutely. The King's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like rivers of water, he turns
it with us wherever he will. All gates fly back at the coming
of this king. All doors lift themselves at
the coming of this king to welcome and acknowledge his right to
come. The fact is there cannot be two almighties. There cannot
be two supremes. Jesus Christ our God, the triune
Jehovah, he alone is almighty, he alone is supreme. Things are
not ordered by the whims and the moods of petty toy kings
and politicians. Oh God, teach me this. little petty kings and politicians
come and go. They die of disease and old age
just like dogs and you and me. They're just a puff of smoke,
a vapor just like us. Flesh, withering flesh, dying
flesh, grass that withers and is blown away and is nothing. The Lord reigneth. Why does God
do things the way he does them? What is his purpose in everything
he does? The Lord of hosts has purposed
it to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt
all the honorable of the earth. He's done it that no flesh should
glory in his presence. God is determined in everything
he does to stain the pride of men, to smear the pride of men,
that thing by which man thinks he sets himself apart. Oh, now,
I'm not like other men. I'm not, I'm somebody, buddy. I'm somebody. I've worked hard,
made something of myself. I'm somebody. God's going to
put your pride in the muck and mire of your own excrement. He's going to stain your pride.
He does it in providence. He does it in redemption. He
does it in all his works of grace. And he will do it in the day
of judgment. By what instrument does God do these things in this
world? This is the third thing. Look at verses 10 through 14.
And here we see the instruments by which God performs his work. He's going to destroy Tyre. He's
going to bring the wealthy, the rich, the powerful to nothing.
Pass through thy land, O river, O daughter of Tarshish. There
is no more strength. He stretched out his hand over
the sea. He shook the kingdoms. The Lord hath given a commandment
against the merchant city to destroy the strongholds thereof.
And he said, thou shalt no more rejoice. O thou oppressed virgin,
daughter of Zion, arise, pass over to Shittim. There also shalt
thou have no rest. Behold the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not, this Chaldeans
was nothing, until the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell
in the wilderness. They set up the towers thereof,
they raised up palaces thereof, and he brought it to ruin. How
will ye ships of Tarshish? for your strength is laid waste.
The Lord God made the Chaldeans who were in Isaiah's day nothing. Like a mushroom, they sprang
up suddenly almost overnight. How distressing it is to the
proud to be brought low. It's even more so when the Lord
makes use of contemptible instruments. He takes the Chaldeans to destroy
Tyre. That's a humbling fact. It's
crushing. Turn over to Jeremiah's prophecy
for a minute. Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31. It's one thing to see God crushing
nations and tumbling them, but God's crushing of our souls and
tumbling them, that's what he does in salvation. You remember
1st Corinthians 1 26 you see your calling brethren not many
wise not many mighty not many noble are called God's taken
the base things the foolish things the ignorant things things that
were not to bring to nothing all the mighty great things of
the world And then he wraps it up and he says God does this
that no flesh should glory in his presence But of him are you
in Christ Jesus who of God has made into us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption This is all God's doing that
according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. God Almighty will break you and
crush you before ever he grants you his peace and his grace. I recall many years ago when
the Lips were here. Brother Bob Lips had the horse
farm out there, and I wasn't raised around animals. I was
raised in the city, but I had always seen pictures of fellas
breaking horses. And they'd break them, throw
a saddle on them and break them. And I was reminded of this just
the other day. I saw an example of it. And Brother
Lips raised those show horses. He said, oh, you don't want to
break them. You don't want to do that. What we do is we gentle
them. They'd lead him around in general and say, you don't
wanna break the spirit. And that's all right for a show horse. But
the only way God Almighty ever saves a sinner is he throws his
saddle on the wild ass's coat and rides it into the ground. He doesn't save any other way.
Jeremiah 31, verse 18. I surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised. As a bullock unaccustomed to
the yoke, turn thou me, and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord
my God. Surely after that I was turned,
I repented. And after that I was instructed,
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. We have countless
examples given in scripture illustrating how God breaks the pride of man
in grace. Hosea and Gomer, Hosea said,
okay, honey, I'm going to hedge up your way. And I'm going to
come in time and take away your corn and your oil and your wine
and your wool and your flax. And I'm going to uncover your
nakedness. And I'm going to expose your
lewdness in the sight of all your lovers. I'm going to strip
you and break you. And when I get done with you,
you're going to be tickled to death to go home with me. I will
allure you unto me in faithfulness and in righteousness and in truth. In Luke 15, that prodigal son
demanded that his father give him the portion of his goods
that was coming to him. Isn't that a way for a fellow
to speak? Daddy, give me what I've got coming. And daddy's
often a fool enough to do it. But in Luke 15, the parable tells
us the father said, okay, son. I'll give you what I plan to
give you when I die. And they gave him his inheritance. And
he wasted his substance and riotous living. And he wound up hungry. And with fame had filled his
belly with the husk the swine did eat. But no man gave to him. Dr. Gill suggested, and I think
rightly so, the suggestion is that that Jewish boy wound up
feeding hogs, and he tried his best to live on the husk of self-righteous
works. But no man gave him anything
to satisfy him. And finally, he came to himself,
and he came to his father. And he said, Father, I've sinned against heaven. against
thee and no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father,
before ever he got there, saw that boy coming, and he ran. And he fell on his neck, and
he kissed him, and he kissed him, and he kissed him, and he
kissed him, and he kissed him. My son's come home, rejoicing
to have mercy on a needy soul, but only on the needy. God is gracious to break the
pride of man, to stain the pride of man in mercy. You have a picture
of it in Genesis 32, I think it is. Jacob meets God, and the
angel of the Lord wrestles with Jacob. A lot of times folks say
Jacob wrestled with the Lord. No, no, the Lord wrestled with
Jacob. Just exactly the opposite. Jacob
wasn't interested in the wrestling. But the angel of the Lord wrestled
with Jacob and wrestled him to the ground. I've told you many
times, I'm not a great athlete. I used to wrestle and play football.
And the object in wrestling is to pin a fella, to whip him,
to get both shoulders down or get him in such pain he can't
go on. That's the object in wrestling. And our Lord wrestled Jacob to
the ground and he broke the hollow of his thigh. Jacob said, tell
me your name. The Lord said, why are you asking
after my name? And the Lord said, what's your name? He said, my
name's Jacob. And when Jacob finally acknowledged
who he was, Jacob prevailed with God. He said, not anymore, your
name's Prince with God. Because he was broken. And he limped on the hollow of
his thigh all his days. That's what God does for sinners
in grace. He stains their pride. Now look
at this fourth thing, and I'll wrap this up. In verses 15 through
18, we see the Lord God wisely and graciously mixing among his
Israel the people of Tyre. Now read this carefully. And
it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten
70 years. according to the days of one
king. After the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city,
thou harlot that has been forgotten. Make sweet melodies, sing many
songs that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after
the end of 70 years that the Lord will visit Tyre. And she
shall turn to her higher and shall commit fornication with
all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. I
think you read that same thing over in Revelation 17 and 18
about Babylon. and her merchandise and her hire,
watch this now, her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness
to the Lord. It shall not be treasured nor
laid up for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before
the Lord to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing. three
times, Isaiah declares to us that the time of Tyre's bondage
was exactly the same time in exactly the same place as Israel's
bondage. I can't avoid seeing the obvious.
Tyre was mingled with Israel during those 70 years of Babylonian
captivity. And while Tyre was mingled with
Israel. You see the fulfillment of God's
law being presented, how the Gentiles are brought into Israel. Shem comes and has his tents
possessed by Japheth, so that God's elect, scattered to the
four corners of the earth, are brought into God's kingdom, made
to be God's Israel, while Tyre is in Babylon, some at least
in Tyre. were obviously chosen of God
and the time of love had come and the reason God brought Tyre
to Babylon and Israel to Babylon for 70 years was to save his
elect among those in Tyre. Now pastor, how do you know that's
the case? I'm glad you asked. If you read
Nehemiah chapter 13, you will find that when Israel came out
of Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, to reestablish
the worship of God, there were some men of Tyre who came with
them. If you get to the latter chapters
of the book of Acts, chapter 21, I believe it is, you'll find
that the apostle Paul, when he was preaching, found disciples
in Tyre. And he stayed and preached and
worshiped God with them for seven days. You see, scattered through
all nations, among all people, there is a remnant, according
to the election of grace, who must be saved at God's appointed
time of love. And God raises up nations and
puts down nations, and He raises up other nations and puts down
other nations, exactly according to His purpose of grace for the
saving of His elect, a people loved and chosen of God from
eternity. A covenant people, a covenant
people to whom God will and must and shall remain faithful. A
people for whom Christ is the surety. A people sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ until the day
of their calling. A people redeemed with Christ's
precious blood. A people for whom the triune
Jehovah rules this world. God teach me that and teach you
that and let us walk before God with peace No matter what Walk
before God with confident faith no matter what God's doing everything
exactly right for the praise of his glory and the higher of
the harlot What strange words. The hire
of the harlot. Merle, I can't think of anything
more debasing than such language, can you? The hire of the harlot. What's it gonna be? Holiness to the Lord. And the riches of
Tyre shall be brought to those who dwell before the Lord. that they may have sufficiency
for their feasting. So it shall be when God gets
done with this world. For of him and through him and
to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Amen.