April 13, 2011

Isaiah 10:5-34
Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen? Here is a country that oppresses its own people. Here is a country that outlaws any conversion from Muslin to anything else. Here is a country which forbids any effort to witness to others. Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen?
God raises up people and nations for a purpose. He has a purpose for all of us. He has a purpose for the United States. He has a purpose for Lybia. If He is so purposeful, why is everything such a mess? It is simply that in the midst of doing that for which He raised us up, we rebel. We either refuse to be what He has designed us to be, or we taking the gifts, which He has given us and thinking that they originated with us, we wield them for our own glory boasting against Him, or we exceed the boundaries of what He intended for us.
Isaiah pronounces judgment against Assyria. God raised up Assyria to judge Syria and Israel, but Assyria went further than what God intended. Assyria exalted itself against the Lord (v.15). It went beyond His intended purpose. It sought to annihilate the Lord’s chosen people. You can read how Assyria devastated the individual cities as it approached Jerusalem. Look at the list! Aiath, Migron, Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah, Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Madmenah, Gebim, Nob, Jerusalem. But just when it seems that Assyria will have overrun them all and taken Jerusalem, “Behold, the Lord, The LORD of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron; And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.” That is exactly what happened within Isaiah’s lifetime. That is the way the Lord works. He lets the rebellion of man grow to its fullest, and then He simply lops it off. It has happened time and again throughout history. The unbeliever cries out, “How can God be just and loving and permit this?” The believer says, “It is God’s mercy that He waits so long and His justice that brings it to an end.”
What do we see now? In 1966 One of the 16 points of Chairman Mao’s cultural declared that all religions must be eradicated. The world watched in horror as millions, gave their lives and their freedom because they loved the Lord Jesus Christ more than life. Many Christians in the west thought that the church in China would be wiped out. Why did God raise up China? What is her purpose? Today there are probably over one hundred twenty million Christians in China. That is more than are in the United States! China is becoming one of the greatest missionary forces in the world! How cool is that? Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia another of one of the greatest missionary forces the world has ever seen? That is the glory of our Lord! He makes even the wrath of man to praise Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john