April 6-8, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Isaiah 43:16-21 “YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!”

LENT 5

April 6-8, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Isaiah 43:16-21

“YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!”

1.     Dwell on God’s Promises not the past.

2.     Remember your purpose.

Isaiah 43:16-21 (EHV) “This is what the LORD says, who makes a road through the sea and a path through mighty waters, ¹⁷who brings out the chariot and the horses, the army and the strong warrior. They will all lie down together. They will not get up. They are extinguished. Like a wick they go out. ¹⁸Do not remember the former things. Do not keep thinking about ancient things. ¹⁹Watch, I am about to do a new thing. Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it? Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness. In the wasteland I will make rivers. ²⁰The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me, because I am providing water in the wilderness, rivers in a parched wasteland, to provide water for my chosen people to drink. ²¹This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.”



          Now for all you English grammarians out there let’s get this out of the way. I know. I know ain’t ain’t a word in proper English. But it is in American English and the well know phrase that serves as our theme so I’m going to keep using it! You ain’t seen nothing yet! That’s what God’s word urges us to hold on to and to help you remember that I want to show you something. This used to be one of my prize possessions. It represents and proclaims the high school state championship that my team won in 1984. As I said it used to be a prized possession. Now it is a work jacket. It is dirty. It has holes. And while I don’t totally agree, Chris says it smells and should go. I think not because I still like it—as a work jacket. What happened? Why don’t I care anymore? Well at the time in life when I first got this jacket that championship was important to me. So were my other sports trophies. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better trophies. A trophy wife, trophy children and you are my trophies. You matter to me. Old victories don’t. Something better does.

          In a similar but much more important way the Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah calls on all God’s people to dwell on God’s promises, not the past. He said, “This is what the LORD says, who makes a road through the sea and a path through mighty waters, ¹⁷who brings out the chariot and the horses, the army and the strong warrior. They will all lie down together. They will not get up. They are extinguished. Like a wick they go out.” Those of you who are in the Sunday morning Bible Class know exactly what this is talking about. It’s alluding to the time when God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through on dry ground and then when the Egyptian army pursued them God let the waters flow and they all drowned. Can you imagine what that must have been like to see? You are walking on what minutes ago was a muddy river bed covered over by water with walls of water on either side of you miraculously held at bay. Then when you are out and this fleet of that time’s tanks called chariots is bearing down on you and all of the sudden whoosh! The walls of water let loose and they are destroyed. There’s a trophy for you. That’s was worth remembering and talking about and even supposed to be talked about when the Passover was celebrated. And yet what did God say? “Do not remember the former things. Do not keep thinking about ancient things.”

          What gives? You ain’t seen nothing yet! God doesn’t want His people dwelling on the past. Even the dwelling on the past commanded in the Passover celebration was to help the people dwell on God’s promises. His promises of help and deliverance. So it was for the people of Isaiah’s time. “Watch, I am about to do a new thing. Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it? Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness. In the wasteland I will make rivers. ²⁰The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me, because I am providing water in the wilderness, rivers in a parched wasteland, to provide water for my chosen people to drink.” “You ain’t  seen nothing yet!” God was saying. A little context. The people who were listening to Isaiah had heard that they and their families would be carried off to the far off land of Babylon. Their nation conquered. Many killed. This was because idol worship had become so common place the believers’ faith life was threatened. Yet not what they wanted to hear. You can see why they were longing for the good old days of God’s miraculous deliverance. God said, “Don’t dwell on the past! Dwell on my promises. I’m going to save you in a miraculous way too. When the people heard how God would provide life for them like making a barren desert a lush garden, they had something to look forward to. God would deliver them too. Dwell on the promises not on the past.

          Brothers and sisters, that’s a good message for us to take from here. Don’t dwell on the past because you ain’t seen nothing yet. Dwell on the promises of God’s deliverance. You see, at our time, what Isaiah proclaimed is history. It’s the past. God kept His promise. He rescued the people from Babylon. He brought them back to their land and even though it seemed lifeless then God gave them new life. And still they hadn’t seen anything yet. Because all of that was part of the bigger plan of salvation. They were brought back to the land because of God’s promise to send a Savior. And Jesus came as promised. His perfect life for sinners slain. He has given us new life. And although it almost sounds blasphemous to say when we think about what our Savior went through and the glory of His resurrection, dare I say it? You ain’t seen nothing yet! God has promised we will see greater things than parted Red Seas and Babylonian rescues. We will see greater things than Good Friday and Easter Sunday. That’s hard to say but true. We are going to see God face and face and He will dwell with us and we with Him in such a glory that we can only begin to imagine. Friends you ain’t seen nothing yet. So don’t dwell on the past, dwell on the Promise.

          And remember your purpose. You see God has a reason for telling His people things ahead of time. Here it is. “This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.” What God was expecting to happen with the people of Isaiah’s time is the same thing He was expecting when He delivered Israel and brought them through the Red Sea. Praise. Grateful praise. God had formed them and shaped their lives for that very purpose. They would rejoice in what God had done for them and realize they ain’t seen nothing yet and the would lead to people who  praised God by giving Him the credit. It would lead to a people who felt privileged to be called His people and let is show in speech and actions. Now those who are in the Sunday morning class know how the people back in Moses’ time responded. How about the people in Isaiah’s time? Here are the next three verses of Isaiah 43. “Yet you have not called upon Me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for Me, O Israel. ²³You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. ²⁴You have not bought any fragrant calamus for Me, or lavished on Me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins and wearied Me with your offenses.” Sounds like they forgot their purpose.

          But you won’t. Brothers and sisters, you ain’t seen nothing yet. You can look at the history of what God has done to save you eternally. I also ask you to look into your past. Think of all the things that caused you to worry. All the problems you have had that seemed like they would break you. All the problems and struggles and unfair happenings. Now give glory to God. He has brought you safely through all of them. Whether you can pinpoint the actual reason or not He has worked all of them for the good. And with every time you responded with a failure of faith or a weeping and gnashing of teeth He has swooped in with the sweetness of forgiveness won by Jesus and remembered your sins no more. Now, forget about it. Don’t dwell on the past. Dwell on God’s promise. You ain’t seen nothing yet. God’s best for you is yet to come. And may the next three verses of your life read: “You keep calling on me in time of trouble, O Jacobi! You weary yourselves for Me, so busy and careful with the work I gave you to do! You bring offerings of thankfulness and honor Me with your daily lives as living sacrifices. You do your best and offer your best. And rightly so because you are the people I formed for myself to declare my praise and just wait until heaven. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Amen.