Sermon: God's Sovereignty & Man's Responsibility

God’s Sovereignty & Man’s Responsibility

Isaiah 10:5-19

November 1, 2015

Pastor Tony Felich

           

Isaiah 10:5  Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! [6] Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. [7] But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; [8] for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings? [9] Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? [10] As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, [11] shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?” [12] When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. [13] For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. [14] My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.” [15] Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!            

“That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.”                                                                                    - C.H. Spurgeon  

• God’s sovereignty & man’s responsibility displayed in Isaiah 10  

• God’s sovereignty & man’s responsibility displayed in Scripture  

• How should this truth impact our lives?