Take your Bibles this morning and open with me to Isaiah chapter 41. This morning we're going to look at verses 21-29 to finish out the presentation that has been this courtroom scene. We started, if you'll remember, as God is calling the nations to come before Him to present their case. He tells them to keep silent, to let the people renew their strength or muster their strength, come near, and let them come to speak to Him in the place of judgment. And He begins in verse 21 this morning, "'Present your case,' says the Lord. In Isaiah 41, in the first seven verses, God predicted the coming of Cyrus, the great ruler from the north, coming to bring deliverance to the children of Israel, coming to defeat Babylon, and what is amazing about that prediction, and as we'll see especially in the chapters and the paragraphs, to come in the next few weeks. God names Cyrus by name. He tells us what he's going to do, and this is 150-160 years before Cyrus is even born. God is proving that he is God by proving that he is directing history, and God's name dropping. He's saying, I'm going to send Cyrus to do this thing that I've ordained for him to do, that we're going to learn in our text this morning, is actually a message of good news and of hope for the children of Israel. Now, as God predicts the coming of this great ruler, the nations do what the nations do when they hear the Word of God. They panicked. And you'll remember that they immediately ran to make more idols, because if there is one thing we do not have enough of, it is idols to worship and to distract us from the worship of the true and living God. So the nations are distressed that the God of Israel is going to raise up a ruler who's going to cut these nations down to size. So they think that the solution is not to bow to the God who's directing history, but the solution is to create more gods to try to fight Him and withstand Him and rebel against Him. Now, as we come to the end of the chapter, God addresses those idols and those who create them to worship them. He starts here in the first four verses, exposing them as idols. He says, "'Present your case,' says the Lord. "'Bring forth your strong reasons,' says the King of Jacob. "'Let them bring forth and show us what will happen. "'Let them show the former things, what they were, "'that we may consider them and know the latter end of them. "'Or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. Indeed, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination." As God calls to the idols, as He calls them into this courtroom scene, as He is the judge, He says, present your case. present your proof." And in fact, when he says there, "...bring forth your strong reasons," says the king of Jacob, he is literally saying to them, "...make your strongest case." Now, what is it that they're going to try to prove? That they're gods. Are these idols really gods? So he addresses them. Now, God knows he's talking to nothing, because idols are nothing, but he's talking to those who worship them to prove they are nothing, and he tells the idols, Prove that you are who these people believe that you are. Prove that you are a God. Make your strongest case. Now, I want you to understand God's sense of humor and even sarcasm. I really believe that sarcasm is a subcategory of the fruit of the Spirit. And some of you really possess a lot of it, don't you? But God is sarcastic with these idol worshippers here. He is saying this, and while He's saying this, He's laughing at them. Because He says, I want you to present your case. In fact, bring forth the strongest evidence, the best proof that you are who you say you are, says the King of Jacob. And what he's saying is most of these idols were idols, national idols, national deities. And so he reminds them, not that he's just a national deity, but that he is the king. And the term here, God says to them, I want you to prove that you are even gods at all. And who's asking? Oh, the absolute king and lord and sovereign and ruler of the universe. Who happens to be the god of Jacob, of Israel? Prove to me who you are. Psalm 95 verse 3 says, For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. If there is to be a hierarchy, even if there were other gods, where does God rank in that list? He's above them all. Because He is the Great God. He is the Sovereign. He is the King. He is the Lord. And in case there's any doubt, He tells us in the Word that He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. So even if somebody claims to the title to be a king or to be a lord, He is Lord over the Lords. He is King over the Kings. He is God over the gods. He is demanding proof from them because they have to prove it to Him because they claim to be gods, but He is God. Not just that he claims to be. He is. He's already proven his case to them by predicting and directing the future. By naming exactly what's going to happen. And in fact, that is the challenge that he makes to them. He says, I want you to make your strongest case. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen. Let them show the former things what they were, that we may consider them and know the latter end of them. He says, I want you to help give me an understanding of existence. And what's hysterical, not only does he tell them, all right, I want you to answer me, because, oh, by the way, I'm sovereign, I'm the Lord, I'm the king. But then he says, let them bring forth and show us what will happen. And the way that's phrased is, is he stops talking to the idols for a moment and talks to the people worshiping the idols, and he says, I've called for the idols to come before me and to present their case, but they can't seem to make it. Can you pick them up and bring them in here, please? This absolutely is sarcasm. He is calling for the idols to be carried into his presence so that they can make their case because they can't even move on their own. You know the only movement, the only movement we ever see an idol in all of scripture making on their own? Falling over. Rotten topple. Fix it, nail it, chain it down so it doesn't fall. Dagon fell over. He fell over and his heads and his hands broke off. The idols are always falling. They're always toppling. They can't stand. They can't move. And so God says, okay, idolaters, they need your help. Can you bring them before me so that they can answer my question? And after you've carried them in, I want them to explain for me the flow of history. I want to know if they can make sense of what has happened. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen. Let them show the former things what they were that we may consider them." God is asking the idols here, show me the patterns. Show me the cycles. Show me the routines throughout history. Show me the things that have happened in the past, and by that, prove to me that you can deduce what's going to happen in the future. Look to see if you can diagnose and even understand what has happened. and then tell me what will take place. Predict the outcome. Can you explain the past so as to make sense of the present and forecast the future?" And then he just outright says it, declare to us the things to come. He'd already done that. He'd already told them what's going to happen and you understand the nations believed him when he said what was going to happen because their response was panic and running to make more idols. So God said, this is what's going to happen, and the nation said, ah, this is what's going to happen. Why? Because God said it. Now that's not coming from a place of faith. That's coming absolutely from a place of fear. They fear there because they're not in control. So if you claim to worship your idols and you think they're going to deliver you from me and the one that I am sending to conquer, then I want you to predict the future. I want you to tell me what's going to happen. I want you to explain to me the flow of history. He says, "...show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods." Yes, do good or do evil. The phrase, do good and do evil, isn't do right or wrong. Literally, it's an idiomatic phrase. God says, you know, why don't you just do something, do anything. Prove that you are gods. How? Do something. You don't have to tell me about the past. You don't have to tell me about the future because you can't do that. So just do something other than fall over. Is there anything that you can do? In 1 Kings chapter 18, one of my favorite encounters between God and idols in all of the Scripture is Elijah on Mount Carmel. He challenges Jezebel, the high priestess of Baal. Understand Jezebel, Jezebel, she is a high priestess. In fact, her father entire was the high priest in the worship of Baal. So she is the princess, now the queen. She is the high priestess of Baal. She sends 450 prophets against one prophet, Elijah. And he says, let's meet on the mountain and let's prove who really is God. And the prophets of Baal said, we got this because here's the setup. Elijah said, bring them here. provide some calves for sacrifice, we're going to build some altars, and then I want you to call for fire, and I'll call for fire from heaven, and whichever God answers by sending fire from heaven is the true God and proves that they actually are God. Now that's significant because Baal is the God of fire and lightning. So, hey guys, call on the God of fire and lightning to produce fire and lightning. You'd think that He could at least do what His name says He is, right? Send fire from heaven. Don't put any fire on it, but send fire from heaven. You call on the name of your gods, I'll call on the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, He is God. So the prophets of Baal took the bull which was given to them, they prepared it, called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made, and so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them." It always helps when a prophet of God pokes an idiot with a stick. We've been calling out for four hours just for Baal, our God, to hear, just hear, just listen. Crickets, nothing, silence, no response. There'd been a three-year drought, not even a cloud in the sky, no fire, no lightning. So Elijah mocks them, cry louder. He's a God. Maybe he's deep in meditation and can't hear you. Maybe he's busy or on a journey. Perhaps he's sleeping and must be awakened. I want you to understand the level of sarcasm and mockery here. The phrase, he is busy, is very nicely worded. He said he's either deep in meditation and can't hear you, or maybe he's busy in the bathroom and the door's shut. Obviously, Baal didn't have a dog. When you have a dog, they're always in the bathroom with you, right? Nope, Baal's in there by himself. He's shut up. He's busy. He can't be bothered. He can't hear. He doesn't know. So, louder please. Keep raising that level. Maybe he went on a journey, didn't tell you he was leaving and he hadn't come back. Maybe he's sleeping and must be awakened. So, the prophets played their part. They cried aloud and began cutting themselves. They were going to make a blood sacrifice of themselves to try to get Baal's attention. Surely, if we sacrifice ourselves, he will hear. said they did that with knives and lances till the blood gushed out of them. When midday was passed, they prophesied unto the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention." Now Elijah prepared the altar. It was his turn. He was going to call to God. But he said, first, bring four water pots of water. These water pots were four to six feet tall. What had been going on in Israel for three years prior to this date? Severe drought. Where are they going to find four water pots of water? So he sends these guys traipsing down the mountain. They come back up Mount Carmel, four water pots of water, and he says, pour it on the altar. Pour it out? I thought you were doing this because we were thirsty and needed a break and this was the concession stand. Pour it out! He poured it out on the altar and said, do it again. And they did. And he said, do it again. By the time Elijah was done, he had completely drenched the altar with 12 water pots of water. And he's supposed to call God to send fire from heaven. It was like, Elijah, you've already extinguished it and it hadn't even been lit. But what was Elijah doing? What was a precious commodity? What was a sacrifice for the people to pour out 12 water pots of water over that altar? What did Elijah know? He had the people's attention, didn't he? Twelve water pots of water? Okay, that's something that's precious to us. That's a sacrifice. Now they're watching. So Elijah came near. And this is what he prayed. Sixty-three word prayer. And he doesn't even use the word fire. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, that I have done all these things at Your word. In other words, God, vindicate that You said to do this because You are God. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again. He didn't ask for fire, He didn't plead, He didn't jump on the altar, He didn't cut Himself. He prayed a 63-word prayer that God would vindicate His name. and the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up every drop of the water that was in the trench around that altar." But did you notice what Elijah said God was actually doing there? It wasn't significant that God sent fire. What was significant was He said, Lord, I want You to prove that You have turned these people's hearts back to You. When the people see the fire fall, They fell on their faces and said, the Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. Do you understand what they're manifesting? They're not manifesting, oh, He's God because He sent fire. They're manifesting repentance because God gave it to them in answer to the prayer of Elijah. He prayed for God to revive His people and turn them back to Him. Prove, Lord, that You have done that. Not even about the fire. It's about You turning Your people's hearts back to You. Now, what did God do here? He sent a word to Elijah. The issue is made. Elijah prayed. He turned the hearts of his people back to himself. He did send fire and consumed everything that was there. The people fell down and said, the Lord is God, the Lord is God. Then Elijah went off and prayed after they killed all the prophets of Baal. And what did he see on the horizon? A cloud. The drought was ended. It was a time of refreshing and of revival. God always blesses obedience. You see all that God did there. And God says through Isaiah to the idols, after the idolaters carry them in to stand trial, He says, just do something, anything, to prove that you can even hear. You can't do anything. You can't. And we're going here from prediction to direction. He says, yes, do good or do evil that we may dismayed and see it together. In other words, he says, surprise us. Do something and surprise us. Indeed, you are nothing and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination. You can't do anything. And if you did, we would be surprised. He said, in fact, there to surprise us to do this together means if you did do something, if you do respond to this, we're all going to be surprised all at once because nobody's expecting you to do anything because everybody knows deep down in their hearts. You're a false god. You've never done anything. All the stories that the idolaters ever tell about the things their idols have done, it's always past tense. It's not what their idol is doing. And when they ever predict anything that their idols are going to do, God proves that He's God and they're not, because God and His people overcome and the idolaters are defeated every time. So God says in verse 24, you are nothing. When He says indeed there, there's this idea that there is a pause. God says, show me the flow of history, show me that you understand what happened, predict the future, make sense of this if you can, and if you can't do that, that's fine, just do something, just do anything to prove that you're a God, and there's nothing. No response, no answer, silence, nothing. Indeed, He says, He really says here, you are what we're hearing, I asked you and you didn't say a word." And guess what it is we hear? What it is we hear? It's what you are, nothing. You are nothing and your work is nothing. The first nothing, these are two different words for nothing, the first nothing is literally translated, you are partakers in non-existence. That's the way God phrases things. It's not just that you're the absence of something. You're an absolutely full-on participant in non-existence. You don't even exist. Not that you're worthless, not that you're helpless, not that you're incapable, you don't exist. The second nothing means you are utterly worthless, and it can also be translated, I like this, you are insubstantial. Now, words mean something because you're all familiar with the word unsubstantiated. If something is unsubstantial, then there's not enough of it there. But he says you are insubstantial. That means you're imaginary. You're made up. You're not even real. You don't exist. Idols really are imaginary friends. No existence whatsoever. 1 Corinthians 8, verse 4 says, "...therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols," Paul says, "...we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other god but one." Idols are nothing. This really is an attack, by the way, on the root of paganism. It's an attack on this system that raises itself up against God in idolatry. You see, God is independent. These idols had to be carried in if they were even going to be present. And God insults them, and He laughs at them, and He mocks them, and He tells them, you're partakers in nonexistence, you're insubstantial, you are imaginary. But God is independent. John Oswalt in the New International Commentary on verse 24 said, God is absolutely transcendent. He acts independently of the system and predicts what the system will do even in new and yet unexperienced situations. He was asking the idols, look for a pattern. Just see if you see a pattern in history and can tell me where it's headed. God does things in history that don't match the patterns. Why is that? Because He's not just predicting, He's directing. God is working history out, even when it's something to us new and unexperienced. Now, Solomon got it right in Ecclesiastes when he said, there's nothing new under the sun. But there are things we have not yet experienced and we're not sure how to respond to. God already knows because nothing catches Him by surprise. It's not that He looks through the history of time and learns anything. He has absolutely transcended. He acts independently of the system and predicts what that system will do even in new and yet unexperienced situations. Those who follow idols, He says here, are detestable. You are nothing, your work is nothing, and he who chooses you is an abomination, he who follows idols. is doing that which is detestable. Deuteronomy 7, 25 and 26, You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing. Why? Because it is setting itself up as if it were God, and it is actually nothing. It is substituting a lie for the truth. Psalm 115 verse 8 says, "...those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them." Do you understand? People become like the gods they worship. We're being conformed into the image of Christ, but the same is true for idolaters. People become like their gods. Really, what this is an attack on, again, not just an attack on idolatry, it is an attack on that very basic thing that all sinners do, repressing the knowledge of God. This is Romans chapter 1. Starting in verse 18, "...for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things." To substitute anything in this created world to stand in for God is to so belittle and to blaspheme Him. Do you understand? This is what the children of Israel did. We've looked at it. When they went to Aaron and said, make us a calf. And he said, give me the gold. And of course, you all believe Aaron's explanation to Moses, right? I threw the gold in the fire, this calf was born. He crafted this calf for however many hours it took. And what did the calf represent for the people? It was not a false god. They called it Yahweh. They worshipped it and sacrificed unto it as the God who delivered them from Egypt. You see, the calf was not a false god, it was a false image of God. And the anger of the Lord then is the result. How dare you compare me to any of my created things? I am so far above creation. You cannot compare me to a created thing without belittling and blaspheming me. And how often is it that the idol that we make in our minds is making God not in the image of a calf, or a bird, or a tree, or a statue. We make an image of God that looks like us. We make God look like just a man. We humanize Him. Joshua 24, I think, applies in verse 14, "...now therefore fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt." Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell." Now I'm going to quote the part of that verse that's the part that always gets quoted. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But do you see the context? It's not just, I'm a good old boy American, I'm going to serve Jesus. It's not, but it's free in my house, we're going to church. It's not even, but it's free in my house, we will serve the Lord. It is, we will reject the idols around us and we'll serve God instead. And when he says there, if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, even if it cost something, the word evil there means it harms you. If you think it's going to harm you to follow Him. Now, let me give you the answer to that question. Is it going to harm you to follow the Lord? Those who strive to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer wealth, health, and beauty, will suffer persecution. Let me warn you, if you choose to reject idols and follow Christ, here's where it hurts. It will cost you your life. That's it. Sum total. If you follow Christ, it will cost you everything. What do you get in return? You get Jesus and everything that comes with Him. Not even to mention forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with the Father, adoption into the family of God, being able to reign and to rule with Him and enjoy the new creation in a glorified body, with a glorified mind, with a glorified spirit, completely free of the curse of sin forever. Never mind all of those benefits. If you come to Christ, you get Jesus. Isn't that enough? We've got to preach. Come to Christ because you want Christ. Because you can't go another day without Christ. Because you need Christ. Reject the idols and serve the Lord. In verses 25 through 29, now God makes His claim. He has disproved the idols. He told them to prove it, to make their strongest case, to tell Him something about the past, the future, just declare something, just do something, just do anything, and they can't even appear before Him without being carried in. There's no answer. They're nothing. They're imaginary. So God says now what He has done. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun. He shall call on My name, and he shall come against princes through mortar as the potter treads clay. Who is declared from the beginning that we may know, and former times that we may say, He is righteous? Surely there is no one who shows. Surely there is no one who declares. Surely there is no one who hears your words. The first time I said to Zion, Look, there they are, and I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. For I looked, and there was no man. I looked among them, but there was no counselor, who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Indeed, they are all worthless, their works are nothing, their molded images are wind and confusion." The Lord here, as He answers, We see, he says, he's initiating a historical movement. He's going to bring an event to pass. He's going to tell us about it before it happens. He's going to tell us by name exactly what's going to unfold. He predicts what will happen, and he directs things so that they do happen as predicted. Now, I want you to understand something. God does not just know the future. God does not look through and say, I see what's going to happen, so now I can predict it. God doesn't just know the future. He predicts and directs it to the specific outcome He has determined. Do you understand the difference? God does not just look and see an event unfolding in the future and say, okay, I'm going to prove I'm God by telling you. No. He's going to predict it because He has directed it. He's going to direct all of the circumstances that are necessary, the causes and the secondary causes, to bring it to pass, not because He sees what's going to happen, because what's going to happen is what He has already decreed. He is sovereign. History is directed by Him. He tells them Cyrus is coming. It's a future event. 150, 160 years in the future. He says, by the way, when this ruler gets there, he's going to declare, to proclaim my name. Well, Cyrus wasn't a Jew. He was coming with the Medes and the Persians to conquer the Babylonians and to free the children of Israel from that captivity. He was by no means a believer. How is Cyrus going to proclaim his name? Well, listen to what he wrote. In Ezra 1, verses 2-4, thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me, and he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is among you of all his people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is God, which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. What was residing in Babylon along with the Jews? All of the stuff that Hezekiah had shown to them all of those years before that they came and that they took back with them. And now what does Cyrus say? Take it all back. Why? Because your God is God. He's sending you back. Go back. May God be with you in going back, in rebuilding. Take all of this back with you. It belongs to Him. In verse 26, it says, "...who has declared from the beginning that we may know, and former times that we may say, He is righteous, surely there is no one who shows." There, the phrase, who has declared from the beginning, literally, who has declared before it happened. Who? The idols can't do that. Who? Who declares beforehand what's going to happen? Well, the answer is God. And it says, who has declared from the beginning that we may know, and former times, that we may say, He is righteous." The word actually isn't righteous as in righteousness. He says, who has declared these things beforehand? Who has told us in former times what was going to happen before it happened? God has, and when He did, every time, He's been right, He's been correct. His case against the idols has been proved. He asked them to explain the past, to determine the future, to predict what's happening. They couldn't do it, so God does it. And when He does it, the witness has to say, He's right. He's correct. What He's declared beforehand, it's going to happen. God is going to do this because He alone is God. There are three surelys here, not surely, surely. Three surelys. Surely there is no one who shows. Surely there is no one who declares. Surely there is no one who hears your word. Each of these adds to an emphasis. The first surely would be like saying, indeed. To say, indeed, there is no one who shows. Literally, indeed, there is no informant, there is no witness that you can call in this case who can disprove the testimony of the Lord. So, indeed, nobody can disprove what God has said. The second, surely, means, yes, indeed. So, indeed, no one can be called as a witness to disprove His word. And, yes, indeed, there's no reporter that can bring a response from the idols. Why not? Well, the third, surely, is, oh, yes, indeed. So he says, indeed. There's no witness to disprove what God has said. Yes, indeed. There's no reporter to bring a response from the idols. Oh, yes, indeed. There is nothing to report because there is no voice to be heard. There is no witness, there is no voice, there is no report, there is nothing coming from the idols to stand in objection to what God has said and to disprove the case He has made by directing beforehand the events of history. Oh yes indeed, there is nothing to report because there is no voice. Now we have good news in verse 27. He says, the first time I said to Zion, look, there they are, and I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings, one who is carrying forth good news. What is the good news? And the phrase there, the first time I said to Zion, look, watch, the first time means there, the first thing that happened was that I said. You see where history began? God just laid the foundation. What was the first thing that happened? God said, let there be light. In the beginning, God created. This is another slap against the idols. I want you to explain the past. Start by telling us where we came from. You know what? You can't. Why? Because I was there, because the first thing that happened was I. God created, God said, God spoke it into being. And so he says, look, I am the creator, I have brought this to be, so I want you to watch for these things just as I created it all and sustain it all and maintain it all and direct it all. If I'm telling you this ruler is coming in the future, you need to watch for him because his coming is good news for you. Now he's talking to his children. Watch for these things, because the fulfillment will be to give Jerusalem good news. What better news than for the children of Israel in Babylon to be told, go back, take everything that goes back to the Lord's house with you, rebuild the wall, rebuild the city, rebuild the temple. Go back. God is restoring them out of this. No better news at the end of that captivity. Well, you know we're watching for somebody to deliver us, aren't we? Isn't this the command of Scripture? We know what God has done in the past. We see the patterns. We see the direction. We see the forecast. He tells us that Jesus is coming back. And it's the same thing when He says, when I said to Zion, look, there they are, look, they're coming. Literally, watch for these things that I have said are going to come. This is the very same terminology that Jesus uses. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave and be strong. Watch, look out, pay attention, because Jesus is coming back. How do we know that? Because God has said that He is coming back. God has predicted it beforehand, and if God's predictions in the past about the future prove anything throughout Scripture, it's that when God predicts it, it comes to pass. To the point that this is the standard for prophecy, isn't it? If you prophesy and it doesn't come to pass, you're a false prophet and you're going to be stoned. How many chances do you get to fail before you're stoned as a false prophet? One time. Those prosperity preachers on TV? A billion times. They get one thing right. Oh, see, I'm a prophet of the Lord. The other billion you messed up. You would have been stoned in the Old Testament. The truth is, they're probably stoned now. That's the problem. They get it backwards. They're doing it wrong. They don't say it like it ought to be said. Why? Because when God says it, He's going to do it. His Word is sure. And the fulfillment will be good news for Jerusalem. In verses 28 and 29, He summarizes the nothingness of idolatry. For I looked, and there was no man. I looked among them, but there was no counselor who, when I asked of them, could answer me a word. Indeed, they are all worthless, their works are nothing, their molded images are wind and confusion. The idol-worshipping world has no sure voice. They have no revelation. They are unable to hear, not just because they're deaf, but because no one is speaking. The question for them again, who can explain history? Only the Lord, because only He is God, Isaiah 40, verse 13. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? Who gave God advice in creating the world? None of us. We weren't even there. That's what He said to Job. Where were you? Where were you when I did this? You didn't counsel me. You didn't give me advice. Sometimes that's the difficulty in our prayer life, isn't it? We go to God and we want to tell Him how to do things. God does not need us as counselors. God needs us as confessors. So there is no revelation. There is no word. The idol-worshiping world has no sure voice. When we think about that, how significant is it then that the One who became flesh and dwelt among us is Himself the Word? The idols have no voice. They have no revelation. They have nothing to say. There's nothing to hear. But in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the Word. He is the revelation of God. Those who follow after idols, they're following a delusion. In fact, he says, "...I looked upon them, but there was no counselor, who, when I asked of them, could not answer a word. Indeed, they are all worthless." The phrase, they're worthless, and talks about their works. Their works are nothing. There is no work. They're do-nothings. This is delusional. Following idols is chasing after the wind and confusion. It utterly is meaninglessness. When we look at accepting the lies and rejecting the truth, What is it really to follow after idols? Because again, we don't have the golden calf. We may not have, I hope not, the statues overlaid with gold or silver, but we have enough idols in our hearts and in our minds, don't we? That idol of self, that self-will, chasing after the things of the world, chasing after things that are deceptive, that are wind, that are confusion, that are meaningless, that have no voice, that leads to no results, Idolatry is pathetic, and yet we so often chase after idols. But remember, idols are nothing. Now that's significant because idols are the things that we take on to be God for us, the things that drive us in our pursuits, the thing that motivates us, the thing we want more than any other. These are our idols, and God says of idols, they're nothing. In fact, 1 Corinthians 12, 2, you know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols however you were led. Dumb, not stupid. Dumb, they can't speak. There's no voice. There's no revelation. There's no guidance. It's meaninglessness. It's lostness. Why would you chase after that? Worshipping idols is a bankrupt religion. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen, as he's preaching before he's put to death, He talks about the people saying to Aaron, make us gods to go before us. Ask for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt. We do not know what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Here's the heart of idolatry. They rejoiced in the works of their own hands. This is idolatry. Depending on myself and what I can do to be safe and secure and happy. There is the heart of idolatry, trusting the work of my own hands. What works do we have to bring before God that are worth anything? Let me tell you how we define idolatry today. It's got a snazzy, catchy name. It's called the American Dream. You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and somebody who's nothing can become something. You can work hard, do all the right things, and you will turn out better than when you started. If you end up with everything the world has to give, but you end up without Jesus, you have gained the world and lost your soul. This is idolatry, to chase after nothingness. John Oswald said, the gods are not false because they are represented by idols. Rather, the beautiful idols are worthless because the gods behind them are absolutely nothing. It is a bankrupt religion. Worse than that, worshipping idols is not just worshipping nothing. Revelation 9.20 likens idolatry with worshipping the demonic. but the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk." What's actually being represented in the world of idolatry, this nothingness that has no voice, what's really being represented is the spiritual principle of demonic wisdom. Trusting the work of my hands and replacing the truth of God with a lie. The result is then that there are truth and consequences when it comes to idolatry. Here is the truth. Jesus said in John 8.32, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Understand, that doesn't mean telling the truth is going to mean you're free. Sometimes you tell the truth and you go to jail for telling the truth. What is he saying? You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Well, turn over in John a few pages. John 14.6, where Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. So Jesus is truth. You shall know Jesus, and Jesus shall make you free. In John 17, 17, then He prays to the Father, Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. So then you shall know the truth, God's Word, and the truth of God's Word shall make you free. Therefore, the command in 1 Corinthians 10, 14 is, My beloved, flee from idolatry. Run from chasing after idols. Why? Because after the truth we have the consequences. Here are the consequences of idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and 10. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. What's amazing to me about that verse is that there are two sins in there that when you mention them, people threaten to throw you in jail and threaten you for committing hate speech. But did you read the rest of that list? The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Who are the unrighteous? Those who are deceived and who walk and who practice and who live in fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, who are thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. What's at stake? Worship idols and it's your soul. Ephesians 5.5, "...for this you know, that no fornicator, an unclean person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." And Revelation 21.8 tells us, "...the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." And Revelation 22.15, "...but outsider dogs and sorcerers sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. I hate looking at those lists because we're all in there somewhere, aren't we? What is our hope? It's where the word of God says, such were some of you, but you've been washed. Being washed in the blood. being freed from idolatry, being freed to walk into the Spirit and to be pleasing to God. He is the God of salvation. This is the good news amidst the meaningless of idolatry. God not only predicts, God not only directs world history, but the whole purpose behind it is His glorification in the salvation of sinners. Just in Isaiah we learn, I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, there was no foreign God among you, therefore you are my witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God. Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Have I no power to deliver?" He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore, His own arm brought salvation and His own righteousness. It sustained Him. God is the God of salvation. A final quote from John Oswalt in his commentary, it is only a God who is totally other than this world. They can never be imagined in any of these world's forms. Again, that's the second commandment. Don't make a carved image like anything that you've seen and bow down before it to worship it. It is only a God who is totally other than this world that He can never be imagined in any of this world's forms, who can explain to us why He created the world, and who can be free enough from it to direct it and redirect its progress so as to deliver it from itself. This is our God. He predicts because He directs. because He decreed. Idols can do none of that because they have no voice, but our God, He is God, the God of our salvation. Let's pray together. Father, we do thank You this morning for Your Word, for this presentation of who You are. We confess this morning, Your case is proved. You alone are God. There is nothing that the idols of this world can say to disprove Your testimony of Yourself given to us in Your Word, no matter how hard they try. Your Word is sure. It's steadfast, and as You have decreed it, You will bring it to pass. Father, we thank You this morning that You don't just know history, but You've already written it. You're directing it. Your purposes are going to be accomplished because you are God. I pray that you would strengthen us, grow us in our faith this morning by showing us and reminding us who you are and what you have done. Just that phrase, you alone are God. And in that confession comes this confession, Lord, we are not God and cannot be God. Protect us from the temptation to think that we can be our own God and go our own way and do our own things. continue to call us and equip us to follow after You, to be perfected in Christ, to be conformed to Your image, not to make You Lord, but to surrender to You because You are Lord. We pray in this week to come You would find us faithful and obedient servants, servants of our God who alone is the God of salvation. Praise be unto Your name because of who You are. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.