INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• A few weeks ago Robyn and I decided to take her Toyota Highlander Hybrid up the mountain.
• I think we went to Ramsey Canyon road. Ok, we have a SUV; we can conquer the world with it even though it is a two-wheel drive and a Hybrid.
• We start up the mountain; all is well, well because the road is smooth. As we got high up, the road started to get rough and there were ruts in the road.
• I was trying to keep the SUV OUT of the ruts because I had this mental image of the rut tossing us off the mountain, that would not be good, but I saw enough roadrunner when I was a kid to know all would be ok.
• It was hard to navigate at times because the ruts seemingly tried to pull us into them.
• Then we got almost to the top and I got caught up in a rut and ALMOST got stuck. Well I did get a little stuck but my superior driving skills got us out of the rut. I did learn that a Hybrid is not much help when you get stuck by the way.
• We were enjoying the ride until the ruts in what was once a passable roadway for us ended our good time.
• Life can be that way, are you in a RUT right now? Have you been in a RUT before? Being in a rut is a bad feeling. When we get in the ruts of life, life just seems to lose its joy if we are not careful.
• The other thing about RUTS is they can pull you into them. Or people around you who are in a RUT can pull you into the RUT with them.
• God does not want you to be stuck in a rut; He wants you on the roadways He has prepared for you!
• Today as we continue our journey through the “New Year For A New You” series, we are going to explore some thoughts that will help keep us out of the ruts and keep us on the awesome roadways God has set before us.
• We are going to be in the book of Isaiah today in chapter 43, verses 18-20.
• I want to give you a very quick timeline of dates so you can see how incredible what Isaiah says really is.
• SLIDE #2 DATES
• Isaiah is a prophet from 739-685. BEFORE the Assyrians ended the Northern Kingdom in 722, Isaiah wrote about it. But that may not be as impressive as where we will be in scripture today.
• As a point of reference, Isaiah dies in 680 BC. In the chapter we are going to examine, Isaiah is make prophecies about how Babylon will one day fall. Remember Babylon will not take over Judah until 605 BC. So Isaiah predicts 75 years after he dies, Babylon will overtake Judah. Pretty impressive.
• SLIDE #3 LAST DATES
• THEN in Isaiah proceeds to tell the nation that one day the Babylonians will be taken down and the Jews will get to go home. Now mind you that this did not happen until 536 BC by the Persians some 144 years AFTER Isaiah dies.
• Now my last point of interest before we dig into the text.
• Not only does Isaiah predict the fall of Babylon, he also gives us the NAME of the leader who will take out the Babylonians in Isaiah 44:28
• SLIDE #4
• Isaiah 44:28 (ESV) who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”
• In Isaiah 45 you will read more about Cyrus.
• Let’s begin by looking at Isaiah 43:18
• SLIDE #5
• Isaiah 43:18 (ESV) “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
• SLIDE #6
SERMON
I. Resist dwelling on and living in the ruts of the past.
• I talk about this a lot with folks; it is so easy to get in the trap of focusing in on the past, whether the past was glorious or hideous.
• Really the only reasons to spend time in the past other than to reminisce would be to learn a lesson or to see how God showed His presence in your life.
• The past is not meant to be lived in or chained to. In this passage Isaiah is telling his audience not to dwell in the past.
• It is interesting however; that in verses 16-17 God reminds the people that He delivered them from the Egyptians through the Red Sea.
• This was to remind them that the SAME God who delivered them from the Egyptians would be able to deliver them when the time was right.
• The other subtle encouragement Isaiah was giving the people was this. God did a GREAT thing delivering them from the Egyptians, but the new deliverance would make the old one look rather small.
• God did not want His people living in the past; He wanted them to look ahead to the new miracles that would overshadow the Old.
• In the REAL long run, the miracle of deliverance from sin through Jesus would make the Exodus pale in comparison!
• We cannot allow ourselves to just live in the past, when we do this we miss out on a great present and a great future, we will just let it all pass by.
• As you live life if you want to get on the roadways that God has opened for you, you cannot allow yourself to stay focused in the ruts of the past. We need to get out of the ruts and get on the roadways.
• SLIDE #7
• Philippians 3:13–14 (ESV) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
• We cannot allow the past to hold us back. If we allow the ruts of the past to entrap us, we will never be able to have hope and joy for the future.
• God always has new things on the horizon for us if we will take the time to look and be ready.
• You cannot press forward if you are always looking backward!
• Let’s turn to verse 19!
• SLIDE #8
• Isaiah 43:19 (ESV) Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
• SLIDE #9
II. Realize that God can turn the ruts of the past into the roadways of the future.
• The nation was going to be in ruins in the not too distant future. They were going to be taken over by the Babylonians in a few years. That seems like a terrible rut to be in.
• It would be hard not to focus all their time and energy into being in captivity, but whenever there is a rut, God can produce a roadway!
• I dealt with a lady a few years ago who would frequently talk about a guy she used to date and how she wonders how different life would have been if she married this guy who went on to be a youth minister.
• I often wondered who much she missed out with her husband of the time because she was focusing her energy on someone she met in the past.
• In Matthew 9:16-17 Jesus taught…
• SLIDE #10
• Matthew 9:16–17 (ESV) No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
• In this passage He speaks to the problem of the resistance He faced by people who were so bound by the past that they could not see God working in His ministry.
• When the Israelites came through the Red Sea God created a dry path for them to walk on.
• God will create a roadway for His people to get out of captivity!
• This promise did not just refer to a path out of Babylon; it refers to God providing a way for all of mankind to get out of their personal captivity to SIN!
• Israel’s return from captivity is related to God larger purpose of restoring life to a barren world through Jesus!
• God can turn your rut into a roadway if you will allow Him to do so!
• God can turn your desert into a paradise!
• SLIDE #11
• Romans 8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
• I do not want to run this passage into the ground, but it is one you need to take to heart!
• I hope you have experienced the joy of this passage!
• Let’s turn to verse 20 for a concluding thought!
• SLIDE #12
• Isaiah 43:20 (ESV) The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
• SLIDE #13
III. Know that God will provide for your needs as you travel down His roadways.
• Have you ever been on a long trip and then you hit a stretch of road where there were no bathrooms, no fuel stations, no place to eat, no place to sleep?
• In 1976 my parents we went on a trip to Washington DC. My Dad miscalculated when we needed to stop.
• Of course this was before cell phones, GPS, and internet. We had driven for miles and it was late, there was no place to stop or stay.
• Fortunately we had a CB and a trucker (who thankfully was not a serial killer) guided us to motel.
• It was a little unnerving to feel as if we did not have what we needed.
• When you travel God’s roadway He will provide!
• In verse 20 we are told that God will so richly provide for His people that the animals will praise God!
• When we walk with the Lord, when we follow His path, we will be blessed and God will provide what we need to make in down the roadway.
• We do not have to wander aimlessly, we can follow the roadway and KNOW God is there and that God will provide!
• WE can receive spiritual refreshment from God whenever we need it!
• Albert Barnes in his commentary on this passages states:
• The sense of this passage is plain, and the image is highly poetical and beautiful. God would pour such copious floods of waters through the waste sandy deserts to supply his people, that even the wild beasts would be sensible of his abundant goodness, and would break forth into thanksgiving and praise for the unusual supply. Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament.
CONCLUSION
• Are you ready to get out of the rut and get on the roadway? God will help you out of the ruts of life if you will reach out and take His hand!
• Today is the day for a new start. Are you ready!
