Here, once again, the word of the living God. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains, tread him underfoot. Then shall his yoke depart from off them. and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts have purposed and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out. And who shall turn it back? The word of our God. And may he bless us under its sound this evening. You live in God's world. You live under his dominion, under his scepter. That's the message that the prophets carried consistently before gathered congregations, before kings. They proclaimed that you live in God's dominion. And we've seen that so far in several instances throughout this prophecy. The prophet comes to remind both the congregation gathered in Jerusalem and by extension, all who are his readers, that we live in God's world. Friend, our text this evening very much returns to that basic theme. It reminds us that you and I, we, though we in our flesh rebel against the truth, though the natural man despises God's reign, We do indeed live in God's world. Now, it's important, friend, for us to remember why the prophet takes us here at this particular time, back to this general theme. He came to the church, to the gathered people of God in Jerusalem, and he gave them, as God's servant, the promise that the Lord God would work for the good of his people. Now friend, that's quite significant because as we've seen so far, the way in which God was going to procure the good of his church was to topple empires. He was going to take down kingdoms, great geopolitical forces would be reduced for the sake of his people. For a people that as best we can tell numbered no more than 26,000 at that day. God said that he was going to reduce the empire of Assyria, the capital of which, as best again we can tell, numbered nearly 100,000 people, just the capital. The entirety of the Assyrian empire numbered somewhere between three to five million souls. And yet we're told in this text that God is going to work all things. He's going to reduce empires for the sake, friend, of a people that did not even amount to more than 50,000. Millions would be given, says the prophet, for the good of a people that was infinitesimal in the eyes of the world. You can imagine, friend, that that message requires, well, it requires some further explanation, doesn't it? Because the human heart at this moment rebels, doesn't it? Is God really working all things out in the great stage of this world for just a handful of people? Are we really called to believe that all of the machinations of politics and of society are turning, as it were, just for the good of this small number of souls? Well, the prophet tells us that we are to believe that. Because the one who has promised is the one who holds all things under his dominion. And even for a very small number of people, he can and he does order all things for their good. We see that in several ways in our texts. In verse 25, you'll notice that there the prophet is speaking particularly about the Assyrian empire. This is not Babylon. Don't take it that way at all. Everything in the text is speaking to us about Assyria as an empire. And the reason why is straightforward, isn't it? That was the great geopolitical power in Isaiah's day. That was the empire, the imperial force that everyone in Isaiah's congregation would know most. Though he's talked to us about Babylon and about Babylon as an empire, to those who heard Isaiah's preaching, that was in their day, just a city state. the one day, of course, to become a great empire themselves. No, the Lord is turning our attention back to the great political power of Isaiah's day. And what does he say? He says he will bring it to utter ruin. And as you look through the text, you'll notice that he has special concern, again, for his church in this work. Again, this empire of somewhere between three to five million souls will be reduced for the sake of God's people. We see that in the text when he speaks about the Assyrian tyranny being lifted from the Lord's land, from his mountains. His land and his mountains, they're metonyms, they're symbols that describe the church. He's saying, I am going to reduce Assyria for the sake of my own. But what you and I are to notice in this text, friend, behind this, from verse 24 right to the end of verse 27 is what is emphasized most of all. That tone, as it were, that is struck in this particular portion of the text, well, friend, ultimately it points us to divine sovereignty. Four times it said, I have purpose. In terms of the substance of this promise, the reduction of the Assyrian empire, there's nothing new. We've already been told before, if you remember back to chapter 13 and right through, and even before that, we were told that Assyria would fall. But friend, in this text, what is emphasized is that he who has so promised is the sovereign God who does according to his purposes. purposes that none can thwart. This is God's sovereign will, he says. My friend, this is for the church's comfort, isn't it? The church, again, looks at herself as a small entity on the earth. Again, small in the eyes of the world and small in their own eyes. And what we're told in this text is the God indeed, the sovereign God has purposed and so will act for her good. This is for her comfort. For her, tyrants will be destroyed. For her, empires will be reduced. Though never so small, all things will accrue to her good. Because, says God, I have purposed. Not because of the greatness of your number, not because, friend, of your great strength, but because I have purposed. The one friend who rules all things is the God of Israel, the church's great Redeemer. But even in friend, as you have this as a comfort to God's people, you need to remember why this is a comfort. It's a comfort because it's a reminder, a reminder of the theme that you and I encountered in chapter 13. where God is presented to us as the commander of all things, who has a prerogative and who exercises that prerogative to order, to muster all of creation to his service, to accomplish his will. It's a reminder, friend, that he is imbued with absolute power and authority. And so it's not the church's significance. It's not her greatness. not her glory, that friend makes her the epicenter of the world's occurrences. It is the sovereign God who has graciously purposed. That is why all of these things happen for her good. As we look at this text briefly this evening, I want you to notice how the prophet presents this to us. He shows us that God's purposes are immutable by first of all, showing us that these purposes come to us as it were in the form of an oath. And then secondly, I want you to notice, he also shows us that there is a particular ordering to God's dealings on the earth. And finally, friend, he also shows us as well, the overcoming or the invincible will of God. So take first of all, the oath. You have that in verse 24, the Lord hath sworn we're told. Something of an anthropomorphism in the sense that, that friend, oaths are something that really belong to men. In the scriptures, we are called to make oaths by swearing by the name of God. It's a means according to the law to bind man's soul. That's the purpose of an oath. And it's always a solemn thing. It is to be done with the utmost reverence. because one is, as we'll find in just a moment, swearing by the greater, swearing by something greater, by God who is greater than himself, but greater than man rather. But even in this text, friend, you see the force of an oath, don't you? Not only the form, you see the force in that, again, the Lord tells us that he will surely bring to pass his purposes. Surely he says, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass. Now, as you look at that in the original, there's something that's quite striking. In the Hebrew, the words are literally to be translated, if it is not as I have thought. And you should envisage something of an ellipsis at the end of that, a trailing off. What do we make of that? Well, in the scriptures, you and I find that. We find that form of the oath elsewhere. where somebody promises to do something, they swear the oath, but that oath says, and if I don't do thus and such as I have sworn, then let something evil happen to me. And we'll see what that means. For instance, whenever Solomon says such, he says, God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his life, And you can find other self-maledictory oaths throughout the scriptures that are like it. If I don't bring this to pass, let thus and such calamity befall me. What's striking is that is how the Lord speaks in our text. He has sworn, he says in verse 24, and if it does not come to pass, then friend, we'll see what he means is precisely what Solomon said. It amounts to him saying, then let me cease to be God. It is that serious. It is that solemn. And you see what he has sworn, his thoughts and his purposes, that which he has intended, that which he has planned, he has sworn that it will come to pass. And what you and I learned from this text is that God then must execute his decree. God must execute his decree. And before we define even terms, I want us to return to the idea of the oath in the text, because that's how it comes to us. The oath, as the scriptures teach us, is that by which men swear by the greater. But in our text, friend, it is God who swears. So by whom does he swear? Well, again, in Hebrews six, we find out that it is by himself, by his own name, that he swears, because there's none greater. So he swears by himself. But again, friend, as you look at the text, the form is that of a self-maledictory oath. That is where God says, if I do not bring this to pass, he swears, if I do not bring this to pass, then, as I said just a moment ago, as it were, let me cease to be what I am. Strikingly, friend, this is not the only case in which God himself swears such an oath. So you find it in 1 Samuel 3, if the iniquity of the house of Eli be purged, it's the same form that we have in the text. Or if I lie unto David, Psalm 89, if they shall enter into my rest, Hebrews 3 in verse 11, all of them trailing off. But the implication being this, John Owen puts it this way, If it be so, if I don't do what I've sworn, then let me not be trusted, believed, obeyed as God. That's how solemn, friend, the Lord presents his case to his people here. He says, if I do not bring my purposes to pass, then let me cease to be what I am. He swears by himself. Now, friend, what is the decree? What is that plan that he has intended from eternity? Well, the decree is his eternal purpose, or his eternal counsel, or his eternal will. In the scriptures, all of those terms are used. It is that which he has predestined to come to pass. And that which is his eternal purpose, that which he has decreed, friend, he's done so in perfect freedom. There was no force to coerce God. There was no higher power, no higher throne to force him to plan, friend, in such a way. It was himself, his free and eternal purposes that are decreed. The apostle puts it this way, according to the good pleasure of his will, according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. God has freely decreed what he has decreed. And yes, he must decree according to his nature, but that by no means inhibits his freedom. Friend, what you and I are to learn in this is that God possessed absolute prerogative to decree according to his good pleasure. But what our text goes on to say is that that decree is immutable. That decree is unchangeable. And in our text, that comes to us in the form of a solemn oath, where God swears by himself that he must bring to pass what he has decreed. So he has freely decreed, but upon the decree, friend, he has bound himself freely to accomplish his purposes. That's exactly what Hebrews 6.17 says. The immutability, the apostle says, of his counsel. The decree is immutable. And why is it then that God must accomplish his purposes? Why must he fulfill his decree? There are two basic explanations, aren't there? If he altered, friend, his eternal purpose, it must be because perhaps, well, perhaps he gained a new information. Perhaps he found that that which he has decreed was not so good as perhaps another alternative. And friend, if that's the case, then that means that our God is not omniscient, not eternally so. If he gains new information at any point, then friend, he is not the omniscient God. So it can't be that. It can't be because he later on discovers some greater, some better alternative. But neither, Friend, can it be because he's been somehow prevented in the execution of his decree? For that would mitigate against his omnipotence. And so friend, as he is the omniscient, as the omnipotent God, he must bring to pass that which he has purposed. Yes, he has purposed it freely. But friend, that council, that eternal decree that is his, He must bring it to pass as our text says. Our friend so solemnly as it's given to us or cease to be God. I do want that to register with you this evening. That is how the Lord God speaks of his purposes. That is how he speaks of his eternal counsel. He must bring it to pass. And friend, the implication for us is really simple, isn't it? is it's not an awesome truth. He was free to create the earth and all that is in it, free to create the cosmos. None coerced him to do so. But in our text, we're told that he must then execute his will in creation. He has bound himself so to do or cease friend again to be the living God. He's bound himself by his own name, sworn by his own name to bring to pass his eternal counsel. It's a staggering thing. But how does he do so? I want you to look with me at verse 26. The purpose, that which he has decreed, he says, is purposed upon the whole earth. Now here you and I, we see synecdoche, perhaps. You could say, well, he's speaking about Assyria. And so he's speaking about the whole earth, but he means really just Assyria. He's talking about the greatness of the empire, whatever. But friend, I think you and I are supposed to go even beyond that. What he's telling us here is that he is working his purposes in or over all the earth. In other words, it's not Assyria only that's in view here, but all of the earth, as it were, is the stage upon which he executes his will. And we see that in the next line. It's his hand that is upon all the nations, not just Assyria. His hand is at work and upon all of the peoples of the earth. And even that word against, you and I, we should understand that he's speaking about moving upon rather than being set against. It's moving upon the nations, the peoples of the earth. That's exactly what you and I saw in chapter 13. where God is the commander of all, musters all to do his will. From the farthest ends of the earth to the greatest and to the smallest of his creatures, all accomplishes eternal purpose. Now friend, as you and I look at this text and we see what he says here, we find that God is telling us that he orders all to be in concert with his will, to be in concert with that which he presented to us in verse 24 as a solemn oath, sworn by his own name. All is ordered, all is again concerted to actually fulfill that decree. That means, friend, that there is no maverick atom in the cosmos. There is not a single molecule, friend, outside of his sovereignty. His purpose he works through all of his creatures, no matter how small, no matter how great. Empowers invisible, such as the angelic host, and empowers visible that you and I know. God says in this text that all of that is put to the purpose of executing his will. As you look throughout the scriptures, you see how this is given to us. It's given to us in those terms, from the highest to the lowest of things, all are in concert with the eternal purpose of God. He sayeth to the snow, that is friend to every flake, be thou on the earth. And likewise to the small rain, says Job, every drop ordered commanded by God. That's how the scriptures present to us divine sovereignty. We can go further. The Lord make it the hinds to calve. The beasts that have their young out in the middle of nowhere and no man, no woman sees or hears. God is the one we're told who has commanded that to come to pass. His sovereignty even extends there. And then, friend, it arises even to kings. The king's heart. not just his lips, not just his hands, not only his orders. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever he will. All friend are in concert with the divine will. He executes his will. He performs that which he has sworn. Friend, as he pulls all of his creatures and puts them to his service. And you may say at this point, well, does that not then make God the author of sin? And friend, that's a large topic that certainly is beyond our text this evening, but we can address it briefly and quickly this evening, and we should. The answer is no, God is not the author of sin at all. The scriptures present this to his friend in a way that's staggering. Do you remember, friend, as the apostle prays in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, there Peter recounts the history of the life of our Lord on the earth. And he comes to a point where he says thus, he prays that he, that is Christ, was delivered by the determinate counsel and for knowledge of God. Sorry, rather he preaches to the people whom he had taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." And note what he says, first of all, to those who crucified the Savior just weeks before. He says, Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Not just the foreknowledge of God, but by the determinate counsel. God had decreed that the Lord Jesus Christ would be put to death. It was in his decree that he would be crucified by wicked men. But Peter shows us there that they were not thereby, the Jews were not thereby absolved from their guilt, just because it was decreed. For then he goes on to say, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. It was determined from eternity, but your wicked hands are altogether guilty. Friend, the living God throughout scriptures is presented as he who orders all things according to his good and his holy will. Friend, that leaves nothing outside of his dominion, not even sin. But the scriptures also teach us that that which God permits, friend, to a holy end, Man wickedly executes according to his unholy, to his wicked desires and ends. So yes, God orders all things. Every atom as it were friend is under his dominion. Like, if I can make an analogy here, like a maestro, like a conductor in a symphony. The orchestra, every instrument plays differently. but all of them are in concert under the conductor. However various their instruments, notwithstanding the various kinds of skills required for each of them yet all are ordered according to his command, according to his direction. A friend he orders men and angels in such a way that he does no violence to their will He does not coerce them, but he also is one who is not sin's author. He remains the holy, the sovereign God. But thirdly, and finally in our text, I want you to notice also how the will of God is presented to us as that which ultimately and utterly overcomes his enemies. He's presented to us again as the Lord of hosts. In the scriptures, friend, the Lord of hosts is a reference to his majesty, The host there is, of course, a reference to the angelic host. Those creatures that are most glorious, the great instruments, invisible instruments of divine providence, he is Lord over them. And so it emphasizes his unique, his peculiar prerogatives and glory. But in our text, friend, we find that the Lord of hosts indeed has no rival. He answers to none. For our text asks, who shall disannul it? That is his eternal purposes. And note, friend, the language, disannul. It's the legal language of the Old Testament. One would disannul an oath, for instance, in the law. What is the Lord God saying in the text? Well, friend, remembering the language of verse 24 is that of an oath. He's saying there is none to make it void. There is no higher power to dissolve this self-imposed oath by God. Who could disannul that which he has so solemnly sworn and by his own name? And who shall turn it back? The text continues to ask. That is then there is no greater power that could thwart his will. And beloved, this teaches us then indeed that God's will is invincible. There is no power, no authority in hell, in earth or in heaven that can thwart the eternal counsel of God. That's what the text of scripture is teaching us. He doeth, the scriptures say, according to his will, both in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him. What doest thou? So we leave this text and close this evening. I want you to remember just what we've seen thus far. That God's purposes in the text are presented to us as immutable. They come to us with the force of an oath that God has bound himself to order all things and to overcome every seeming obstacle according to his eternal counsel. This is that which he has sworn, that which he has purposed, that purpose that works throughout all the earth, his good and his holy will. Friend, it's important to remember that the natural man hates this. He hates such a reminder that he lives in God's world. In fact, the natural man would love to have a higher power that could bind God or some way to escape his eternal and good purposes for them. But the scriptures are clear. Hath not the potter power over the clay? of the same lump to make one vessel under honor and another under dishonor. Try as he might, man is still clay in the potter's hand. For the natural man despises that. And by the way, your flesh despises that too. If you allow your thoughts just to penetrate deeper into the theme. Are you willing to submit, friend, to he who is ruler over all? The people of God say, we are the clay and thou art the potter. They don't rebel, they don't certainly resent the fact. Instead, they're quite happy to confess it. Is that true of you? Secondly, friend, do you delight? Not only, friend, do you submit, one could submit some ways begrudgingly. That's not the kind of submission that we're speaking of here. Do you actually delight that he rules over all? The scriptures teach us that that's how we are to respond to this. Under the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. That's how the apostle presents to us his delight in this sovereignty of the Lord God. He praises God that he is so. The church sings, God is the king of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. Friend, not only is their sovereignty something that which they resign themselves to, it's something which they delight in. And they delight in it, friend, because they love the one who has decreed. They love the God who rules all things according to the counsel of his own will. But for our comfort, friend, I want you to notice this. Friend, there are many times when the Lord God has made promises in his word. And that means that God must deny himself if he does not fulfill those promises. Again, go back to Hebrews 6. That's exactly the language of the apostle there. And among those promises are this. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Friend, if any sincerely call upon the name of the Lord, they must be saved. Or as in our text, God must cease to be what he is. And that friend should be a comfort to us. God must cease to be God should anyone come to him really through the Lord Jesus Christ and not be saved. But also for the church, For in this text, again, I believe is most calculated for the encouragement of God's people. God must cease to be God if he does not fulfill his gracious purposes, which he has sworn freely. God has bound himself by an oath, says the apostle. He's confirmed by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, that we might have a strong consolation who had fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Friend, when you read throughout the scriptures of God's gracious purposes for his own, it's important to remember that they are immutable. And they're not immutable because the church is is of themselves a powerful people. It isn't because she possesses of herself any kind of intrinsic beauty or glory. It's because God has freely and has graciously purposed. And therefore, friend, all of his purposes for her must be executed. We leave the text with three exhortations. The first friend is repentance. Here, you and I, we see clearly divine sovereignty. Everything, over every moment, God is king. Over every providence, friend, you see the execution of what he has purposed from eternity, that which he must bring to pass or again cease to be who he is. How heinous is it then to complain against providence? How heinous, how wicked friend is it for clay to complain against those purposes which God has so solemnly purposed? Though this text certainly does require repentance of us. To be a people who are resigned to the divine will. He must execute his decree. And so friend, you and I, we must be pleased to submit to his will. Would you wish for God to deny himself, friend, in order to serve your own desires? When we complain against providence, we do. But secondly, friend, this text also orders us to resignation. We are not only to repent, but positively friend we are to resign ourselves willingly and happily to his purposes. So says David, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. That's whenever David was, his life was from a human perspective on the line. Let him, says David, do to me as seemeth good unto him. But thirdly, the exhortation is to repose. You who have fled to the Lord Jesus Christ, friend, you and I, we are to rest and to take great comfort and to meditate carefully on the fact that God orders all things in the earth for your good. You who are in Christ Jesus. such that all of God's people can say, as does the psalmist, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Beloved, there you have an invincible oath, like that of our text, identical in fact, to that of our text. An invincible oath that cannot be annulled. So beloved, take comfort from this text. Rejoice that you are under God's sovereignty and in God's world. And if you are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ this day, friend, flee to him now, for he has promised that whosoever, he has promised in his own name, that whosoever shall do so shall be saved. Amen.