Rev. David Holwick ZN Book of Isaiah series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 28, 1993
Isaiah 10:5-20
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I. When you feel like God is beating on you.
A. Preparing for meltdown.
The January 13, 1992 issue of Fortune magazine featured the
"Biggest Business Goofs of 1991."
In an act of corporate cooperation, AT&T had reached an agreement
with the power company in New York City, Con Ed.
The contract stated that whenever power demands exceeded the
utility's grid, AT&T would lessen their electricity consumption.
They did this by throwing a switch, unplugging some of their
facilities, and drawing power from internal generators at
their power station in lower Manhattan.
On September 17, AT&T acted in accordance with their agreement.
But when AT&T's own generators kicked in, the power surge kicked
out some of their vital rectifiers.
These rectifiers were supposed to handle:
4.5 million domestic phone calls,
470,000 international calls,
1,174 flights across the nation carrying 85,000 passengers,
and the total communications systems linking air traffic
controllers at La Guardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports.
The alarm bells at the Manhattan power station rang unnoticed for
6 hours.
The AT&T personnel in charge of the rectifiers were away
attending a one-day seminar on how to handle emergencies.
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B. What does God allow stuff like this to happen to us?
C. Does he use it to teach us something?
D. Sometimes the question, "Why me?," has an answer.
II. God can use anyone to do His will.
A. In Isaiah's day, God was fed up with Israel.
1) He called them "godless" and was furious with them. 10:6
B. When God is angry, he acts.
1) The proverbial "lightning bolt" is fortunately rare.
2) But God has other ways of getting his message across.
C. God's rod was the king of Assyria. 7:20; 10:5
1) This choice was shocking because he was pagan and brutal.
2) God can use anyone to do his will.
III. The results of your life do not indicate your relationship with God.
A. Many people have been mightily used by God, only to be rejected.
Even when good flows from our lives, we can be in danger.
Rev. Walker Railey was until 1989 one of the most powerful
preachers in Dallas, Texas.
His salary was $100,000 a year and he was provided with all
the trimmings, including a new car.
Railey's Methodist church had 5,300 members, a $2 million budget
and a staff of 65.
He was only 33 years old, five years younger than me.
Railey was a fantastic preacher and was not afraid to tackle
difficult issues like racism and social justice.
He began getting threatening notes from extremists, but also
positive coverage from the local press.
In March 1987 an intruder came up to his wife Peggy and
strangled her outside their home.
She did not die, but went into a deep coma where she remains
to this day.
The doctors say she is little more than a vegetable.
The police did a thorough investigation and came up with some
disturbing evidence.
They found that the threatening letters were written by
Rev. Railey himself on a church typewriter.
The message he left on their home answering machine made it
sound like he was in another city at the time, but it was
faked.
And for the last year he had been having an affair with a
psychologist.
When the confronted him with the evidence, he denied it.
But Walker Railey had inner compulsions that no one understood.
The next day he locked himself in his room and took an overdose
of drugs.
He left a note which read:
"There is a demon inside my soul.
For almost 40 years God has been struggling with my demons.
My demon has finally gotten the upper hand.
I am the baddest of the bad. I am the lowest of the low."
Railey did not die from the overdose, and there has not been
enough evidence to convict him.
He left the ministry, his lover abandoned him and he moved to
California.
His family is suing him for damages but he claims he is bankrupt.
Being used by God is not enough.
To receive the blessing, we must do God's work, God's way.
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B. We may imagine good coming from our sin, and think we're off hook.
1) Illustration:
Adulteress: wrong for me to leave my husband for Bill, but
his mom (a devout Christian) thinks I may lead him to
Christ, which she has been praying for.
She did not lead Bill to Christ.
She herself abandoned the church, as well as her family.
2) Your sin will be dealt with on its own terms, no matter
what kind of impact you make.
C. God can use anyone, good and evil, to be his instrument.
1) The fact that we have a good impact on others doesn't
necessarily mean we are good ourselves.
2) The only indication of salvation is an acknowledgment of
our sin and God's claim on us.
3) Don't look at your results, look at your obedience.
IV. How to interpret disasters.
A. God does not just "bless."
1) His goal for us is spiritual perfection.
2) He chastens as well as inspires, to teach us.
3) We usually learn from mistakes more than achievements.
B. Not every disaster is aimed at us, but we can learn from each
event in our lives. Ask yourself:
1) "Could any flaw in my life have brought this about?"
2) "Is my relationship with God where it should be?"
3) "What can I do to learn from this, and change it?"
V. Even "rods of God" must be accountable.
A. Assyria did not think like a puppet.
1) Had his own grandiose ideas.
a) His generals were greater than kings. 10:8
b) A long line of past successes. 10:9
c) Idols of other nations were powerless.
1> Subtle rebuke - Israel idolatrous like rest. 10:10f
2) Made self like God: own strength and wisdom. 10:13
B. Human pride always leads to disaster.
1) Assyria thought he was supreme.
a) They had tremendous military victories.
b) And just as tremendous defeats.
2) Mocking God is surest way to disaster.
a) On hearing that Pope Pius was ticked off with him, Stalin
replied, "How many army divisions does HE have?"
The pope has gotten the last laugh.
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b) God's rods have a way of being broken.
C. God's plan is unwaveringly moral. 10:12
1) When God is done dealing with Israel, he will turn to Assyria.
2) Assyria will fall in a day.
a) A few years later, it collapsed like U.S.S.R.
3) God always ties up the loose ends.
D. We are responsible for our actions.
1) God may use even our sinfulness, but still judge us for our
sin.
2) In the end, judgment catches up with us all.
3) Have we learned from our punishments? Blessings?
VI. God is sovereign. 10:15
A. Everything that happens, has a reason.
1) Isaiah does not get into ethical ramifications, like
Habakkuk does. He states ageless truth.
a) The ax is not greater than the axeman.
b) God is sovereign over all nations and men.
2) Modern to say only good is from God.
a) Bible is clear that hard things are also from God.
b) All things have a reason, if only for a negative lesson.
B. Yet God is not compromised.
1) He is not author of evil, and doesn't delight in it,
but allows it to happen for our good.
2) It only becomes good when we accept the lesson with faith.
VII. What matters is where you stand in the end. 10:20
A. Israel came to rely on God rather than political alliances.
B. Have your experiences, good and bad, sharpened you for God's
work?
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