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The
Second Sunday after The Epiphany.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost
govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy
people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Our
sermon text is taken from Isaiah 45:1-15, but let us examine, briefly, first
the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1 - It was in conformity to the law of the
covenant that he be baptized as all others because God leads wherever He goes.
Christ fulfilled the Law of the covenant when eight days old through
circumcision.
He
fulfilled the Law of the Spirit through water baptism at the beginning of His
earthly ministry.
There are three profound examples of
baptism we read from Holy Scripture:
1. Baptism of an entire family - 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering
of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that
is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20)
2. Baptism of an entire nation - 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be
ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through
the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor 10:1-4)
3.
Individual baptism of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as
recorded in the Gospel text today.
Jesus, by
His humble example, shows each of us alike must come to God through the medium
of faith and baptism. And the greatest of prophets, John the Baptist, was
called and anointed long before his parents were ever born.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3) 730 years BC.
And
The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Mark 1:1-3)
One
clear truth I pray that each of us will understand from these passages is this:
God calls and anoints us each to a special service and mission. It is incumbent
on each of us to diligently strive to know that calling and anointing.
Isaiah 45:1-15
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hus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose
the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall
not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the
crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in
sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of
darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the
Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I
have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God
beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and
from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace,
and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies
pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth
salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created
it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the
potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What
begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? 11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of
Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and
concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I,
even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I
commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will
direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives,
not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts. 14 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt,
and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over
unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they
shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make
supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else,
there is no God. 15 Verily thou art a God that hidest
thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
When a
young boy, I used to read of the exploits of the first great, benevolent king
to rule the known world – his name was Cyrus (or Kouroush in the Persian
language). I would sit on the front porch swing during the long summer months
and read the story of Cyrus with great amazement while the bees and cicadas
made happy music that I shall never forget.
I
was drawn to Cyrus because my elementary fourth grade teacher had us read about
him in our Appleton Reader. You see, in those days, it was not unconstitutional
to read biblical accounts in school.
When
I travelled to Iran to live there more than five years (modern day Persia), I
could not believe that I would actually be allowed to visit the grave of King
Cyrus the Great and to view the tombs of his sons and grandsons carved into the
solid rock of the Mountain of Mercy overlooking the ancient city of Persepolis.
Standing
before the tomb of Cyrus, a few yards from his home place, I felt a spiritual
awe that I cannot explain. I knew that the great prophet Daniel had stood
precisely on the same ground as my feet trod.
And
then to stand before the tomb of his son, Darius the Great, Cyrus’ son, was a
similarly overpowering experience. Just a few steps away was the tomb of Xerxes,
the King whom Queen Esther married.
And
looking down the slopes of the Mountain of Mercy was the panoramic view of the
ruins of the splendid City of Persepolis. And I knew that God had called and
anointed each of these great kings, but Cyrus had he anointed especially for an
important work. Let’s read about Cyrus from Isaiah 45, beginning at the 1st verse –
1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45:1-13)
Please
note the Book of Isaiah was written between 760 and 707 BC.
The Great
King, Cyrus, came to Babylon in 535 BC and took the city through miraculously
prophesied measures….. 1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose
the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates
shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked
places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder
the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness,
and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD,
which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
On the day Cyrus conquered Babylon, there
was a great feast hosted by Belshazzar. It seemed to be a drunken orgy. At
last, in the heat of a drunken stupor, King Belsahazzar ordered the golden
vessels captured from the Temple at Jerusalem to be brought forth and used as
vessels of drunkenness.
This
was a step too far for the Lord to condone.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels
that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem;
and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in
them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the
gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers
of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of
the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that
wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance was
changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were
loosed, and his knees smote one against another (Daniel 5)
None of
the astrologers or fortune tellers of Babylon could decipher the writing.
Finally, Belshazzar sent for Daniel who told the king the meaning of the
writing:
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast
not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23 But hast lifted up thyself against
the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee,
and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in
them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood,
and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy
breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 24 Then was the part of the hand sent
from him; and this writing was written. 25 And this is the writing that was
written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the
thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and
given to the Medes and Persians. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they
clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a
proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 In that night was Belshazzar the
king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius (under command of King Cyrus) the
Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
When King
Cyrus and his entourage entered Babylon, Daniel showed the King the 200 year
old prophecy of himself: how God had called and anointed him 200 years before
his birth to capture Babylon and restore the Temple at Jerusalem. The King was
overwhelmed. He made the following prayer and commandment:
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king
of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made
a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing,
saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The
LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath
charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you of all his
people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah,
and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in
Jerusalem. 4 And whosoever remaineth in any place
where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with
gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the
house of God that is in Jerusalem. Ezra 1:1-4
Notice
this decree was issued the very first year of Cyrus’ reign. He wasted no time
in obedience to God.
Long
before you were ever born, God gave you a name and an anointing. Have you
obeyed the voice of God as Cyrus has done, or do you ignore the most important
Voice you can ever know?
