Truth #19 - God is soverign, He and He alone. No one can steal His glory! Isaiah 12-17

Isaiah 14:13-15
“But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
“Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.

In reading a recent report of an evangelical preacher, who at one time professed the tenants of the Christian faith and was a strong tower to a congregation of saints, it was sad to read his current message to mankind: Having faith in God is not necessary - we only need to trust in ourselves and the human spirit for our gratification.   He wrote about going on a years sabbatical, without God, to find his way in life.  He returned from this journey without God only to report that he now thought he was god.   He didn't say it in those words, but that is what he means.  He, like many in Isaiah's day and others in our day, think that they are the creators of their own lives and the sustainers of their own souls.  The believe they can "ascent above the heights of the clouds," if only in their philosophical minds and their transetory oasis.   The above passage is often cited and applied to Satan, when he was cast out of Heaven.   He exalted himself and made himself out to be like God and, along with a band of angels, was cast out of Glory.   The historical application, in Isaiah's day, was Babylon.  Babylon was being used by God to punish Israel for their sins.   Because of the power entrusted to them by God they thought it fine that exalt themselves ... to be like God.   In James 4:6 and in 1 Peter 5:5 we read that God exalts the humble but resists the proud.   God will cast down the proud of heart.   Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone.   God does not share His glory with anyone.  Only He is to be magnified and only He is to have His throne above others.   Note what Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians:

Colossians 2:9-10
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

In Christ and only in Christ is all authority.   He is the fullness of God.   In our society today we are seeing much boldness to mock God and Christ and hearing many claim self-rule and god-like status for themselves.    They believe they are the "captain of their souls."  In reality they are the living examples among us of what Isaiah wrote hundreds of years prior ... "I will ascend" ... "I will raise" .... "I will sit" .... "I will make"!!!   They will, however, someday, here: "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit."