Isaiah 25:9
WHY WE WAIT
June 16, 2024
President Eisenhower said, "There are no victories at discount prices!" Our military knows that truth on every field of battle. Victory always demands a very high price! The victory that you and I have in Jesus this morning is ours because God paid the price of sending His Own Son to die for us on the cross. He paid the price so that we could have the victory. The victory I have this morning was not cheap! He gives me of His victory without asking for anything. All that is required for me to have victory is faith in His Person, His Plans, His Purposes and His Power. Whether we know it or not, whether we live it or not, whether we accept it or not, God's people are a victorious people! And, we do not have to live defeated and discouraged lives! In fact, quite the opposite is true, God has given us the victory already, Romans 8:36 says “Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The text says "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him;” We Wait for Him in Victory! 1 Corinthians 15:54 says “when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our text today pictures the Jews finally seeing their Messiah after having waited on Him for thousands of years. Often, what we perceive as His delay in coming causes many to become discouraged and disillusioned. Sometimes the enemy, old slew foot, will whisper in your ear “He’s not coming! You are wasting your time living for Him!” I just want to remind you that the devil is a liar! Jesus will come! One day, He will bridge the distance between us and Himself and He will come to take us home, to be with Him forever. That is His plan and that is His promise, John 14:2 says “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” In that day, He will replace our sighing with shouting! We will see Him and spend our eternity praising Him. This great verse gives us three themes that will form the basis of Why We Wait.
A. We Wait Because of His Steadfastness - We will wait on Him because He said He would come for us and He did! Notice the wording! “THIS is our God...THIS is the Lord”. The Jews are praising Him because He came like He said He would. May I just remind you this morning, we serve a steadfast God? He is faithful, Lamentations 3:22 says Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Not the least of His promises to you shall go unfulfilled. He will take care of you in this life, and He will safely transport you to His home in Heaven when the time comes. We will wait on Him because He did not let us down! For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (2 Corinthians 1:20).
B. We Wait Because of His Sovereignty - He is our “God!” He is the “Lord!” These two titles remind us that He is in absolute control of the path. It may get tough at times, but God is the One directing your steps and ordering your way, Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. We wait on Him because He is working all the time in our lives as we are on this journey, Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. And we will wait on Him to take us to a place where trials and sufferings cannot come. In fact, there is no comparison between the two, Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
C. We Wait Because of His Salvation - We can count on Him to come back as He said He would because He kept His word with His great salvation. Galatians 4:4 says But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. The prophet says we will praise Him for calling us, saving us and for keeping us saved. We will exalt His name for His marvelous, saving power! The word “saved” means “to rescue from all harm and danger; to make safe and sound.” What God has given us through Jesus is a perfect, complete salvation that will never fail until we are all safely home. Philippians 1:5 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: We are saved from the penalty, the power and ultimately from the presence of sin. Since we have the victory, God's people ought to be a rejoicing people – Paul said (Philippians 4:4) “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” We don't have to wait until we get to Heaven to praise the name of the Lord! We already have the victory because He lives! The song writer says “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!” Job says, He may not come when you want Him, but He will be there right on time... “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come (14:14).” Isaiah says, “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (40:29).” When Jesus rose from the dead with all power, He once again tells His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Day of Pentecost. They waited and received power! Holy Ghost Power! We wait because He always keeps His word! This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His Salvation!
