Isaiah Lesson 48

Yes, would you open us up in a word of prayer brother, amen to that, Lord you are a sovereign

God and your ways are beyond our knowledge but we we rest in your sovereignty and as we look to the passage and we understand how

King Hezekiah was nigh unto death and God had proclaimed but but Hezekiah prayed then he prostrates himself before the

Lord and the Lord hears father God you ordained sickness for your purposes and we accept that but yet Lord we we desire as we look into your scripture today to understand how your love and your mercy you care for your people give us your wisdom we pray in Jesus name amen amen in another sign of the providence of God and his being with us we come to Isaiah 38 today and the topic is sickness of all things obviously our church has been struck with a multitude of people who have been sick number in the hospital by God's omnipotent power a vast majority of the people who have been ill are being raised up and are being healed that is the the power of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to heal there are still at least one probably a couple people that are still quite ill and and we don't know if the

Lord will heal them in the way that we desire or heal them with with life face to face in heaven we trust

God for his sovereignty in matters like that one of the things that I've noticed in this wave of sickness that's come over our church is it has been followed by a wave of love our church has loved one another in the midst of these sicknesses meeting one another's needs checking on each other it's a daily thing where people from this church are contacting one another praying we've prayed like never before and maybe that's why we're seeing such a move of the

Holy Spirit with regard to people being rescued from abortion and the things that happened we don't have time to get into it now but just to let you know after the training session

Jonathan and Brian Ottinger from North Carolina went to the to the abortion mill the murder mill and the

Lord opened an amazing door of opportunity for us that that seems to be just supernatural

Jonathan was telling me about it so a place for us to to go and stand that's right next to it so just the providence of God of the people being there at that moment it's just the power of the

Holy Spirit involved in that God works in mysterious ways and those ways often include sickness all of us will have periods of sickness in our lives but it causes us to call to him in our distress and not just for ourselves but to learn to pray and intercede for others he has the power to speak the word and his servant would be healed but he has purposes also in allowing sicknesses to be prolonged and we don't know his purposes but that often includes ultimately for all of us to die and so today we will address these issues of sickness and death and life through Jesus Christ so read me read with me if you will

Isaiah 38 John would you be my reader today we'll just do the first verse and we'll progress one verse at a time in those days

Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amos came to him and said to him thus says the

Lord set your house in order for you shall die you shall not recover okay immediately for those of us who have read the story we have a problem yeah here's the problem the word of the

Lord said you will die and yet as we read on in fact he doesn't die has

God's Word failed may it never be what's happening here is God is speaking into the sphere of our human experience from the perspective of us as we live not knowing the secret will of God but living within this realm as these events of our lives unfold this is what will happen now that doesn't remove from God his freedom so what we need to understand about the decree of God is that he knows things that are secret to us and yet he condescends to us and reveals things as they pertain to us so we need to keep these two spheres separate if we can do that we can understand now some people say well here's a problem with God having a decree he clearly changed his mind but that would imply more than what any

Christian would ever want to say because if God simply has foreknowledge of events by looking down the corridor of history and seeing what's going to happen he even then would know what was going to happen to Hezekiah the problem would still be there right so whether you take the

Calvinist understanding that God has a decree or the

Arminian position that God has simple foreknowledge by learning by looking down the corridor of history and discovering what's going to happen even before it happens in either case

God knows what he's doing the problem remains so we need to understand these two spheres of sovereignty and the best way to do that that I know of is from Deuteronomy 29 29

I know many of you can quote that verse can you do it rich the secret things belong to God but the revealed things belong to us to our children amen you see things belong to God amen there is a dichotomy in terms of the secret things that belong to the

Lord our God and those things that are revealed that belong to us the

Bible is spoken as revelation to us and when the Word of the Lord comes it comes to us as revelation but there's still a higher sphere of God's sovereignty his decree his plan from eternity past that is utterly free that he knows with certainty because God is not learning things and being surprised by the fact that Hezekiah will pray within God's decree there is no change

God himself is immutable he's unchanging Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever within the spirit which we live here this prayer actually changes things when we call on God the circumstances of this life that seem to be immutable to seem to be inevitable can actually be changed so that's where we go to next in verses two and three

John would you read for that that Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and said please

Oh Lord remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight and Hezekiah wept bitterly so Hezekiah turns his face to the wall this action is is like a physical demonstration of a broken man just turning into the wall he's got no one else to turn to even himself nothing can rescue him he turns his face to the wall and he weeps bitterly and he prays this is a teaching about prayer the power of prayer he begins to pray the

Lord please Oh Lord he's not demanding the word please means if it be your will it is a submissive kind of attitude of heart

Oh Lord remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with the whole heart and have done what is good in your sight he's appealing to God for mercy on account of their relationship

I know you you know me and even his sins have been forgiven and he appeals to God on that basis so how do we put these two things together then the decree of God which is immutable and prayer that changes things well

I think about you know the fact that he repented he wept bitterly for one thing yeah

I think about Jonah you know God was going to destroy Nineveh but they repented in sackcloth and fasting so God responds to man's repentant heart okay and I'm sure

Hezekiah generally has a repentant heart as like a believer he's repenting of sin but I think that verses two and three actually picture just the bitterness of dying

I don't think he's in sin I don't see any reference to sin in fact he appeals to his own integrity the way

Job does so rather than repentance here I think it's just the distress of life the weight of being so sick that you're dying and he's weeping because he's been told you're gonna die yes there's where it is in that distress of heart he turns to the

Lord and prays let's get the next verse before I tie those two things together four to six John thank you then the

Word of the Lord came to Isaiah go and say to Hezekiah thus says the Lord the

God of David your father I have heard your prayer I have seen your tears behold

I will add 15 years to your life I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and will defend this city okay now this is where it gets interesting

God has spoken you will die intercession takes place for himself

Hezekiah begins to plead with the Lord and another word comes saying you will not die it is essentially saying

I have seen your tears behold I will add 15 years to your life how do we fit those two things together well

I don't think God when he said you shall die and not live eventually he's going to die yes what

God is doing is just prolonging that so I don't think the statement that God said was necessarily right inaccurate okay there's not a technical contradiction in the actual language okay that is one interpretation of how to reconcile those two things and it could be the case says

God will never change his mind but it doesn't say he won't be moved in his heart his heart is clearly moved okay so you're gonna distinction between heart and mind all right there is a route to go that way that it was only technically that he he wasn't saying that you're gonna die now in 15 years he's still dying just 15 years drawn out in which case he really wouldn't be dying in this episode

I think the better answer is to understand that God ordains the means as well as the ends in other words when

God spoke you will die it was with a built -in assumption unless I myself interpose there's a built -in idea that God himself could change his mind that is assumed in the statement he's not speaking in a in a grand sense as an absolute you will die there is built into that unless I interpose meaning the means of prayer was ordained before the foundation of the world

God knew that hezekiah would pray he ordained that hezekiah would pray in the sovereignty of God he gave the circumstance of impending death and told him that he would die in order to break the man knowing knowing with certainty that hezekiah would pray and the answer would be given this was all a part of the decree including the rough circumstance and the prayer that from our perspective in the sphere of our world appears like God has changed his mind from our perspective he did that's the idea before John interceded for someone from our church that person was gonna die that was the course he was on but when we joined together brothers and sisters and two or more agreeing in his name

God from our perspective changed the course of history you see and what was inevitable death became life so he knew he was going to relent absolutely that's what

I'm teaching and he not only knew it by learning it as if like he could look down the corridor of history and say oh hezekiah is going to turn his face to the wall and pray and meet bitterly and I'll be moved in compassion and I'll do something about it beyond that he ordained the whole of it including the turning this was the plan there's nothing out of sorts here and that's so hard for us because when we're in the midst of these struggles when sickness touches your body remember what

Satan said to Job after even his children had died everything else had happened what will a man do for his life but touch him and so Job was was afflicted with boils and by the way these this is probably a similar suffering that hezekiah has at the end of the chapter we'll we'll learn about a boil that was breaking out on him probably like the black death kind of thing that you learn about where the boils under the armpits and something like that when he was being overtaken by this disease when you're physically suffering it is so hard to trust sovereignty but that suffering is part of what

God has prescribed for us Philippians 129 I quote it often for it has been appointed to you not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him the suffering itself which is part of the curse of the fall all of the horrible things that happen in this world are appointed

Acts 4 27 and 28 when the four conspired

Pontius Pilate the Jews Herod the Gentiles conspired to crucify

Jesus even this was according to that bigger predestined plan for our salvation everything is decreed it doesn't threaten his decree to operate and condescend to us in speech of this nature it's not an absolute statement he's speaking to Hezekiah this is gonna lead to death it implies he himself can change that but as things are progressing it's inevitable that you can't be healed there's no medicine that can heal you you can't do anything you're gonna die but God and when he prays that was part of God's plan it's inscrutable remember you know

Isaiah 55 11 as high as the heavens are above the earth so my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts you're never gonna fully understand yeah a lot of times

I think the world allows it to increase our faith we have to just accept it by faith right right

God's got our best interest at heart yeah so there's two ways to read this one is to take the approach that by a technicality 15 years later he still dies and so it's technically true but that wouldn't really apply to this particular illness leading to death the other way is to see this as a built -in assumption that God himself can from our perspective change his mind so that it's not he wasn't saying absolutely even

I can't change the situation he's from your perspective human wise the way this is going this is deadly this is not just an ordinary illness you're dying from this get it but that itself was part of God's plan that Hezekiah would pray and then he would rescue in answer to pray that's all

God's big plan so basically what you're saying is Hezekiah had only one thing to do and he did there you go right yeah absolutely and God ordained for him to walk in that good work that was ordained for him to do so let's get another reader who would like to read for me

Isaiah 38 7 and 8 thank you and this is the sign that the

Lord will give you to prove he will do as he promised I will cause the sun shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of a hat so the shadow on the sundial move backward ten steps hmm no you got it before you go outside yeah a few weeks ago you were you were out and I was in Joshua 10 yeah the reality

I had to put on my engineering hat I apologize I remember

I listened to your service this can't this can't happen right but God but God yeah it's it's a reminder of who we're dealing with here he can make the same

Sun stand still for a day without people flying off according to the rotation of the earth by gravity in this case he not only stopped it but he made it go in the other direction yeah and nobody noticed except for one person who saw the shadow yeah it's just it's a supernatural miracle that can't be explained by ordinary right laws of physics it's just God and every miracle is that way it it opposes yeah and the greatest miracle of the

Bible is Genesis 1 1 right in the beginning God who created the heavens and the earth the entire universe spoken into being if this is the

God we're dealing with then we should not be afraid when we're sick and when things like this happens saw a film what's your name new age movie actors anyway she was saying

I am God I am God yeah I'm thinking make the Sun stand still and walk on yeah yeah yeah yeah amen amen so is it wrong to ask for a sign or would

God ever give signs signs and wonders let's talk about signs and wonders for a moment

Gideon there you go judges 636 to 40 just what did he do what did

Gideon do he threw a fleece he said let it be wet on the fleece and dry them around then he did the other way right dry on the fleece and wet on the fleece right and balancing that good oh

I was just as we were talking here problems 25 to came to mind which is it is the glory of God to conceal a thing but the glory of Kings to search the matter out

Wow so yeah we absolutely and this little commentary is really cool it says so it is with the

Lord his truth is concealed for us not from us Wow yeah that's and I think that's an important so when it comes to signs of this nature a wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign but none shall be given it but the sign of Jonah first Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the earth so the

Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth in the fish in the earth in this case

Jesus rebukes them for not only seeking a sign but demanding a sign you see the difference it is not wrong to ask

God for signs in our life it's wrong to demand it of you and for our faith to be built on that it's enough that Jesus died was buried and rose on the third day we don't need to see a sign in the heavens to prove

God's Word to us we have we have the word but God graciously not demanded but offers and provides here in seven and eight a sign he often does that how many times has

God given you a sign to confirm something that you've been struggling with a prayer that you've been offering over and over again he does this and that's something we should recognize yeah okay who wants to read a big section here 9 to 15 on death and dying rich will take that no fear brother now before you read that think about what we get here we're gonna get hezekiah's insight into what it felt like to have been at the point of death sickness and the the terrible feeling that was going on inside of you know what it's it's when once you read it you'll realize though it's real this is not a watered -down sugar -coated version of what it means to walk as a

Christian notice as rich reads this the real anguish and distress of being at the point of death even for a believer because hezekiah does walk in uprightness yeah to what verse just read 9 through 15

I said in the prime of my life I shall go to the gates of Sheol I am deprived of the ringer of my ears

I said I shall not see Yahweh the Lord in the land of the living

I shall observe man to more to no more among the inhabitants of the world my lifespan is gone taken from me like a shepherd's tent

I have cut off my life like a weaver he cuts me off from the loom from day until night you make an end of me

I have considered until morning like a lion he breaks all my bones from day to night you make an end of me like a crane or swallow side

I chattered I mourned like a dove my eyes failed from looking upward

I'm impressed undertake for me what shall

I say he has both spoken to me and he himself has done it I shall walk carefully all my years in the there is a bitterness to this dying what do you notice is heaviest on hezekiah's heart in that bitterness yeah he just didn't feel like he had enough like he wasn't done yet he was running a race and it just he's only halfway done the middle of his life it's a reminder to us of the brevity of life that no day is promised it's just a vapor here one day gone the next and only one life it will soon be passed only what's done for Christ will last we need to remember this life is short and whenever a person comes to death

I think it always kind of feels like that even the elderly you know is it really my time

Lord is this is it over now and there is a grief with that because life is so good this actually teaches how precious life is yeah

Billy Graham told his grandson will yes yeah when he was 99 yeah he feels like his bones are breaking like a lion is crushing and there's a heaviness to it weary looking upward oppressed but he's looking to God I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul now through those verses you're seeing the reality of the anguish of death and dying but look on who'd like to read verses 16 through 20

Oh Lord by these things men live and it all did all these is the life of my spirit

Oh restore me to help and make me live behold it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction for you have cast all my sins behind your back this for she old does not thank you death does not praise you those who go down to the pit do not hope for hope for your faithfulness the living the living he thanks you as I do this day the father makes known to children your faithfulness the

Lord will save me and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the

Lord now Isaiah has said oh you can stop right there we'll do 21 and 22 just a minute that that's a beautiful summary there of how

Hezekiah and it's so rich Christians we are pro -life pro -life pro living

Hezekiah says the living the living he thanks you life is such a gift it is so precious to dwell on this earth that God has made and to represent him in his image and to thank him and praise his name that our breath would give him honor and glory that's the meaning of life to glorify

God and enjoy him forever that's what we're here for and we know that and so we value life now we live in a culture of death at the abortion centers where precious lives are extinguished as if nothing yeah yeah it is a culture of death from beginning to end and we as Christians need to value life now looking back at verses 16 and 17 what do you see is the lesson to be learned from Hezekiah very interested especially the beginning of 17 what does that remind you behold it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness who else would have said something like that Jesus would be an amazing example for the joy set before me endured the cross many examples in the

Bible who else James James why James consider it all joy brother when you kind of various trials exactly consider it all joy brother when you encounter various trials because these produce character and hope and all the virtues of Christianity who was it that was thrown into a pit and suffered for years in a dungeon in Egypt but what did he say in Genesis 50 20

God meant it for good again and again in the scriptures we see that even the sufferings that God lets us go through even the bitterness of sickness was intended by God for our good

Romans 828 God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose so that's what it says in verse 17 of Isaiah 38 and then there's that it was for my welfare yeah then there's that big little word which is so even though even the bitterness for a season had a purpose and then there's that little

BUT but in love you have delivered my life God loves to rescue us to deliver us from our distress yeah we do we all do

I heard it amen I think it was Louisa she was reading she had to pause and give an amen when it said for you have cast all my sins behind your back hey man hallelujah if he's given us nothing else but the forgiveness of our sin eternal life with him as a result and he gives us no health what if we're sick the rest of the days of our life he's still good what if the boil never heals and hezekiah dies at the midpoint of his life blessed be the name of the

Lord says Joe he's going he has his sins forgiven so Christians in all of these things even in the reality of the pain of suffering without making light of death and dying we still have hope and we're still joyful that's why

James can say that counted all joy when you encounter struggles of various kinds amen brother so God shows the living the inherent goodness of worshipful living at the end of verses 18 to 20 notice why he wants to be alive shield does not thank you if my bones are in that resting place that shield until Christ rises from the dead and the heaven is created then finally the kingdom the new heaven in the new earth nobody

I'm not praising you from the grave if I'm just waiting now he his spirit would still be present but there wouldn't be a representation on earth or an imago

Dei he's saying I want to live to praise you those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness the living the living he thanks you he recognizes that the meaning of life he did

David said the same thing he thanks you as I do this day the father makes known to the children your faithless he's thinking about his kids

I want to be here to train my children to walk in your ways and now the sad thing is in the next chapter we'll see that his children won't and hezekiah will not intercede for them the way he did for himself so there's going to be a sad conclusion to this but here that's not in view here what's in view is this prayer is godly and good he wanted to live this is what he prayed when he turned his face to the wall and he wept bitterly he's saying things like this

I'm too young to die I want to teach my kids to praise you I want to raise up a godly generation and God honored that prayer and gave him more years the father makes known to the children your faithfulness the

Lord will save me and we will play my music on stringed instruments he wants to go to the assembly it play music and worship at the house of the

Lord okay now 21 and 22 any questions or thoughts on that okay would somebody like to read 21 and 22

Carol's got it now this is a little bit disjointed from the flow of the text it's kind of like an addendum at the back of the book giving more information a little bit more filling in details of something that happened earlier notice in verse 21 now

Isaiah had said so you need to know this little bit of information let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil that he may recover now who said that Isaiah the

Prophet said that's not Hezekiah in the flesh saying call the doctor fix this boil no this is the word of the

Lord and so what can we learn from that as this little addendum this is why I think it's in here what can we learn about medicine okay what about medicine in general like as a field hospitals doctors it's under God's sovereignty and it's not inherently wrong there's many

Christian dominations Christian scientists and and cults usually that think it's wrong to take medicine but God ordains the means as well as the ends if God heals one of our loved ones from the church using an oxygen tent in an

ICU and she comes out and recovers that's no less a miracle from Almighty God just because it involved medicine the medicine itself was from God and so what in this story was the the ointment or the actual medicine and somehow applying that to the boil that he may recover so it was instrumental that word instrumental is important it's an instrument that God it's a means prayer is an instrument that God uses medicine is an instrument that God uses and we need to recognize this overarching sovereignty of God the suffering was part of his plan it didn't take him by surprise the prayers that all of God's people raised to him were ordained to happen that way the doctors were at the particular hospital that you got taken to apart from your even being able to know what was happening

God knew all of this is within the sphere of his sovereignty and within our sphere were instructed to pray from our perspective he'll change his mind now does he actually change his decree was

God did God actually change his mind no no it's impossible for God to change his mind we're told in the scripture so both of these realities are true from God's perspective his decree had all of this plan from our perspective within the sphere in which we live we pray we intercede and it changes things we see people being saved and baptized through prayer meetings doors opening at the abortion clinic for a place for us to stand and worship that comes comes by prayer and fasting the instruments that God has given us so we're advancing within the sphere in which we live and that's not incompatible with God still having a decree for all of it once again this theological concept that comes up so often

Isaiah chapter 10 compatibilism God has a decree and we have real responsibility the prayerless

Christian will have an anemic life there's another aspect to the yes who that Isaiah let them take some fig newtons and apply it to the boil yeah okay so there are there are those who understand these oils are terminal there are there is no answer to these boils these oils mean death but God allows others to participate in it and see yeah good yeah excellent and the last caveat the last thing thrown in verse 22 has a guy also had said so this again is filler for earlier information member what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the

Lord we learn now that it was actually Hezekiah that asked for a sign earlier in the text it just says yeah he had told us that part it just said this shall be the sign to you what we learn at the end of the passage

Hezekiah had asked for a sign which is why you guys got the question right that it's not wrong to ask for a sign you can ask

God to show you my on the right path here can you can you give me a sign we can ask that of God now can we demand it of him no and if he doesn't give it should we pout no but when he does you'll know you'll feel confirmed you'll have that um that sense that that he's leading you in the right way when you're in the center of God's will you know it there are ways that you know it and he confirms it through interactions you have with people and an email that confirms something or or just some answer to prayer you know that God is with you when you're when you're walking in the spirit so application approach death with the attitude to live as Christ to die as game now that's that fearlessness right that Paul displayed all through his ministry but listen

Hezekiah reminds us of something that can't be just like a flippant no big deal kind of attitude when

Paul told when Agabus tied up his hands and he prophesied you go to Jerusalem they're gonna bind you and Paul says

I'm willing not only to be bound but also to die that's not a reckless spirit of someone who doesn't understand suffering that's a person who's been beaten to within an inch of his life five times that's a man who once was stoned and left for dead in Lystra he's been shipwrecked this is a man who's counting the cost and truly gets he's not just devaluing life what

Hezekiah is saying here remember from Hezekiah's example life is precious and dying is bitter it is it is difficult there is a real human suffering that goes with that even for the faithful Christian remember

Job's sufferings he was really going through it and we don't diminish that we need to be compassionate to those who are suffering and recognize when you're suffering and you don't even feel close to God sometimes because the pain is all you can think about God is with you in that pain he's sovereign over it all and Hezekiah gives us a glimpse of what that felt like to him it was real distress and yet he's calling on the

Lord and God delivers him in this case so all of these lessons about death and dying remind us of the value of life we ought to value life and fight for life our lives the lives of others and remember that we're here the reason for living every breath you have is worship amen amen