Sermon March 29, 1998 Dwelling on the Past based on Isaiah 43:16-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Guilt can really get you down. It may cause Physical problems, such as: listlessness, imagined sickness, real illness, headaches, stomach disorders, vague pains and exhaustion. It may cause Emotional problems, such as, depression, anger, self-pity, feelings of inadequacy, and denial of responsibility. It may cause Spiritual problems, such as: a sense of alienation from God, inability to pray, reduced fellowship with believers, no feeling of joy, and an inability to read the Bible. Finally relational problems can occur, such as, irritability, blaming others, withdrawal, profuse apologies, inability to relax, self-justification, refusal to accept compliments, and outbursts of temper.

Guilt over the past is hard to let go. Most people can list regrets they have over their past behaviors. They have a hard time forgetting what they have done wrong. They have trouble letting go of the guilt.

Dwelling on guilt is not only emotionally troubling, but it is also a sin. When God tells you that your sins are forgiven and your guilt remitted but you don't really believe it, then you are making God out to be a liar. You are doubting that God's promises are trustworthy. You are imagining that you are indeed still guilty of your past wrongs.

In fact, failing to trust in the forgiveness of the Lord means we have rejected that forgiveness. Not believing in Jesus means we still have the guilt of our sins. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit who will assure us of the forgiveness we have in Christ. He also says that the Holy Spirit will convict us of guilt for not believing in Christ. Jesus says in John 16:8 "When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me." So, the guilt remains for our sins if we do not believe in Jesus. We are sinning by not believing in Jesus and we are still in our guilt because we reject the forgiveness Jesus promises us.

Because we forget, God reminds us. Because we reject, God reminds us. Our text today gives us another lesson in God's grace given to us. We benefit from the constant reminders of what God is like and how He thinks of us. These reminders from God's Word benefit us in that we can once again know that our God is a forgiving God, who takes away our guilt.

Admittedly, our text is more challenging. Yet, we are urged by the third commandment not to despise God's Word, but gladly hear and learn it. We should rejoice in the opportunity to hear once again of our Lord's grace, freely given to us.

The text opens by giving a statement of who is speaking, "This is what the Lord says..." Here we have no doubt who is speaking, where Lord here is the actual name of God: "Yahweh." But it goes on to describe Yahweh as "He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters." This is the same God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The words here recall how God so graciously saved His people by parting the Red sea. He made a way, a path or road through the sea. His people would have been reached by the Egyptian army or drown if God had not parted the waters for them to walk through.

Then the Lord took care of the Egyptian army also. It says the Lord is the one, "who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together." He drew them out and caused them to be collected together. Then the text jumps ahead. Rather than reporting that the Lord destroyed the Egyptian army, it just jumps to the scene of their destruction. Thus it says: "and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:" It is reported what happened to the Egyptian army after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea. The Lord caused the water to return and the Egyptians were caught. There they were drown, extinguished, the water putting out their flame of life.

Thus far our text has all been introduction, explaining who is speaking. The Lord is introduced to us as one who saved His people, but destroyed their enemies. This is the gracious Yahweh who is now speaking to us. We learn of what type of God we have by how He treated His people in the past. We learn of our God's attributes toward us.

He next speaks to us a puzzling statement: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." By this statement, He is not suggesting that we just utterly forget and disregard those things that have happened. Actually, this is a promise of greater things to come. It is a statement directing our attention forward instead of backward. It is like the Lord is saying, "If you thought what I did in the past was good, wait till you see what I do in the future."

This understanding fits based on the next verse where the Lord says, "See, I am doing a new thing!" This new thing that the Lord is doing will be even greater than the old. It deserves our undivided and prolonged attention. We ought to look for it right now. He says "Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" We are to look at the Lord's actions of the past and expect Him to continue to behave in the same way in the future. We should expect new and further demonstrations from Him of what He is like and how He cares for us.

The new thing the Lord is doing is compared to the old thing of making a path through the Red sea. The new thing is described in our text, where He says, "I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." This time, rather than transform the sea, the Lord will transform the desert. He will make a path and provide water there.

We are reminded of our Savior, who says He is the way, the truth and the life. Our Savior provides a way through the desert of our sins and this way leads to life and to the Father. Our Lord also calls Himself living water. The benefits of this water are clear, where it is written in John 4:14 "but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Our Savior Jesus makes a way for us through the desert of sin and gives us a stream of living water in the wasteland of our fallen state.

The benefits of this divine grace reach the animal world too. "The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls." A small sampling of animals are spoken of, jackals and owls here, perhaps because their sounds are an unconscious praise of Yahweh. Not only is there a concern for the human race expressed here, but also the sufferings of all creation. When the sufferings of the people of God are brought to an end, then the sufferings and groanings of all creation will also terminate.

Romans 8 speaks of this groaning of creation. "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."

And so, if the animals honor the Lord, then they are experiencing a sense of relief which people also are graciously given. Why do they honor the Lord? Again the new thing the Lord does is described in terms of the desert and wasteland. He says, "because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen." He provides the water, the living water, for His people and this causes the animals to honor Him.

God provides us with His grace. He gives blessings to those He has called to be His people, His chosen ones, set apart by faith in Jesus Christ. We are the people He set apart for His special purpose. The last verse of our text explains our special purpose, our reason for existence. It identifies God's chosen people as, "the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." In other words, we were created, or formed, for the purpose of praising God. We were developed so that we might honor God for all the wonderful things He does for us. God brings Himself glory by all the grace He shows us.

In order to proclaim His praise, we do well to remember the wonderful things the Lord has done for us. We should especially remember how He saved us from our sins through Jesus Christ. We remember the other things the Lord has done, but we especially focus on the new thing He did. In this new thing, He sent His only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for us. There He endured what we deserved. His suffering made a path for us into life eternal. He provided a stream of water in the desert to satisfy our thirst in eternity.

This Savior took away our guilt too. He who was guilt-less, died as if He were guilty, to free us from our guilt. As we remember how our Lord has saved us, we can once again learn how we are freed from our guilt. The Lord, who has done all sorts of wonderful things for us, also took our guilt away. This cleansing of guilt is brought out by Hebrews 10: "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." We can have a full assurance that there is no need to hang on to our guilt. We know this is true, because the one who promised it is faithful. Let us bring praise and honor to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.