Preaching the Word: Isaiah—God Saves Sinners
Overview
In this expository commentary on the book of Isaiah, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., argues that Isaiah imparts a single vision of God throughout all sixty-six chapters. It is a unified, woven whole presenting God’s revelation of himself to mankind, breaking through our pretense and clashing “with our intuitive sense of things.” Ortlund makes a point of man’s disinterest in God and his unfailing inclination to disbelief, and thus the need for God to “interrupt our familiar ways of thinking.”
Isaiah is widely considered the deepest, richest, and most theologically significant book in the Old Testament. It is, without question, a profound statement by God about his own sovereignty and majesty spoken through his chosen spokesman, the prophet Isaiah.
The emphasis of this addition to the Preaching the Word series is this: God saves sinners. He saves them willfully and powerfully and needs no help from us, presenting himself in all his unmistakable glory. The message of Isaiah, shown thoroughly and thoughtfully in this commentary, will reignite a passion for the glory of God in the hearts of believers and will present that glory clearly and potently to those who have yet to be brought to saving faith.
Top Highlights
“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrias and all the big shots of this world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child. His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.” (Page 99)
“Every time you hear the Word of God preached, you come away from that exposure to his truth either a little closer to God or a little further way from God, either more softened toward God or more hardened toward God. But you are never just the same.” (Page 81)
“The remnant is known, first, by the presence of God.” (Page 95)
“But this very human word says something about God. It describes his passion for our salvation” (Pages 93–94)
“His holiness is simply his God-ness in all his attributes, works, and ways. And he is not just holy; he is ‘holy, holy, holy,’ each word boosting the force of the previous one exponentially. No other threefold adjective appears in all the Old Testament. It takes a unique linguistic contrivance to convey meaning beyond its meaning as the seraphim strain at the leash of language to say that God alone is God. He is not like us, only bigger and nicer. He is in a different category. He is holy.” (Page 77)
Product Details
- Title: Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
- Author: Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.
- Publisher: Crossway Books
- Publication Date: 2005
- Pages: 495
Reviews
4 ratings
Mark Middlekauff
9/27/2023
As I sat under Ray Ortlund, Jr's teaching in a seminary class on Isaiah I regularly thought, "I cannot wait to preach on the Book of Isaiah some day." His commentary is even better than the class! If you are a preaching through Isaiah (or leading a study) and you can only have one commentary, then this is it.
Matt Bedzyk
3/23/2023
Philemon Schott
1/14/2022
Bivin Mathew
6/18/2018
