Keep sharing good news without ads.
Recovering a Community of Faithfulness Isaiah 1:21-31
Please open your Bible with me to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1 starting in verse 21 be reading to verse 20 to verse 31. Hear the word of the Lord. How the fateful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice Righteousness lodged in her but now murderers.
Your silver has become dross your best wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless and the widow's cause does not come to them.
Therefore the Lord declares the Lord of hosts the mighty one of Israel. Ah I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and Remove all your alloy.
And I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward, you shall be called the city of righteousness the fateful city. Zion shall be redeemed by justice and those in her who repent by righteousness.
But rebels and sinners shall be broken together and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers and like a garden without water. And the strong shall become Tender and his work a spark and both of them shall burn together with none to quench them. May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word.
Well this past Thursday we saw the passing of a major symbol. Maybe even a leader in America's moral and spiritual course over the about the last 50 years the last two generations. Hugh Hefner died the founder of Playboy his son Cooper extolled his father this week.
As having quote an impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice. Behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time. And that's probably all true. His family and supporters see him a pornographer who advocated self-indulgence as being a voice for progress.
Now, obviously. Progress is in the eye of the beholder. Has the United States been improving. Is it on the right track? It's not a simple question because a couple of generations ago There were major things about this country that were just wrong people had to sit in the back of the bus.
They were of a certain race. There's been some progress in some areas. Well, but according Americans about 60 of Americans think the country is now on the wrong track. But I think if you spoke to those answering the poll Particularly the 40 who think we're on the right track you'd often find that what one person considers sort of a landmark of being on the right track is To another person a sign of being on the wrong track.
And in the year 2000 Hugh Hefner declared the good guys are winning. The city of Chicago had decided to name a street in his honor. He saw that you know someone like him. Was being honored like that awarded by a major city that is a sign of progress the good guys.
But to him was the pornographers and their supporters were winning. Others, of course. Would agree with the words of the rejected Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork that we are quote slouching toward Gamora.
Are we cycling upward. Are? Spiraling downward. Well more importantly is the church Advancing upward to greater heights or is it slowly sinking now? It's my published opinion that the Evangelical Church in America has been seriously declining especially over the last 100 years.
I believe it's nearly impossible to study the Puritans those great Christians who from about 400 to 300 years ago Strove to grow truly godly and radically biblical churches dedicated completely to worshiping God God's way.
So committed to that that they were willing to leave their country in England. Crossed the sea and those rickety old sailboats with the chances of getting killed. Sinking was high and come to a wilderness in America and started new new churches.
They came here to go to church and now you find across an ocean just go to church. And now you find people that won't even cross the street to go to church but I think it's impossible to get their vision of what thoroughly God-centered churches were like and then.
Look at many of our churches today and not have to admit that there has been a serious decline. Now if that's true Then how are we to recover? Well, Isaiah tells us he prophesied to the people of God who had already gone a long way.
Downhill, that's how he begins. He prophesies to tell them, you know used to be a faithful wife now. They are a common prostitute. They used to be a home for righteousness. Now, they're a haven for murderers.
They used to be valuable silver now. They're just worthless dross what the smelter of the throws away the garbage. They used to be good wine. Now, they're watered down just like the church in America over the past 100 years.
They've gotten worse and worse now here in the second half of Isaiah 1 God gives us three steps to reviving and renewing his true church the assembly of those who are truly his and those. These three steps are first be Shocked in verses 21 to 23 and be purged Verses 24 to 26 and finally be repentant verses 27 to 31.
So be shocked be purged and be repentant. The first step to recovery God tells us is to be shocked just be flabbergasted just surprised just Appalled that things are as bad as they are now. Look at that first statement in verse 21 is how?
It should probably be punctuated in English with it with both a question mark and an exclamation point. God was shocked. I'm not surprised being God. He knew all things but utterly revolted. The people with a godly heritage had sunk so low.
How has it come to this? Now today it's kind of. You know, it's just unsophisticated to have that kind of reaction. We just all know it's just that's that's the way the world is. That's that's life. What do you expect?
Yeah. That's the smug attitude. Don't fall for it. Don't fall for the smug attitude that mature people are are supposed to be just kind of used to it accustomed to it. That only naive childlike people are shocked and amazed at the hypocrisy of having high-sounding mottos.
The behavior that's driven by crass self-serving motives. Let our motives match our mottos. Let's be a little naive. Let's stop being used to our sins and our negligence. So just stop used to things being the way they are.
Let's stop having one set of lofty ideals in our speech written in our Church Covenant and an actual practice. Come on. Be serious. We all kind of know just a casual shrug of the shoulders. That our living is going to be on a much lower level.
Let's not be jaded and comfortable with our failure to live up to our commitments. It, you know, if it's immature to be shocked at our failures. Then some immaturity may be good for us. Notice how shocked how stunned with revulsion the Lord himself is in verses 21 to 23.
He begins with the astonished question how? The fateful city Has become a whore. Now my version the ESV there has that rough crude word and a crude word is appropriate Here because God is talking about crude things.
We shouldn't try to hide it or whitewash it understated. God's people were a Faithful wife to the Lord now. They are a whore. He calls them. They are a prostitute willing to do anything for anyone if the price is right in prostitution one takes what is precious and should be given only in love to one only one person to whom one has committed oneself to for life and puts it on the market for anyone to have.
One sells what is most private and intimate for some short term gain. And what is most precious for us for God's people. What is it that we in our relationship with God should only give in love? To the one divine person.
That would be our worship our whole lives lives as an act of worship to him, but specifically this. What we're doing right now this time we set apart to the Lord for worship. Worship is is precious and we should only give it to the one God to whom we have committed ourselves to for life.
The worship service is about God and there's no exceptions. A worship should never be sold for some other human. Agenda for politics. We want to get the vote out for our cause for our candidate for patriotism.
You know, you ever notice we don't have a flag here. That's there's a reason for that. I Believe in patriotism. I believe in saluting the flag. If you're an American citizen, that's all great. That's not what we're doing here.
And we'd have a problem here too because several of our members are not even citizens of this country. But that's what's not what we're doing here rallying around the flag. Other places are great for that not here raising money.
Maybe we want to build a new building. I can use this to whip you up to do that. No, that's not what this is for building up or tearing down other people not even socializing. But many people think church is for hobnobbing.
But you when you turn the worship of God into primarily a social function you are saying. You know that you find each other More interesting than God. That's fine to find each other more interesting, but that's not what this is about.
No, it's not fine to find more interesting. Excuse me. It's fine to find. Fine to find each other interesting, but not more interesting than God now when you don't come at all. You are saying that you find neither interesting that to sell our worship for mere socializing for even attracting greater numbers.
Is to become a whore? There was a time when evangelicals churches knew this. The Puritans were some of the greatest example of this. Let me share with you how one Puritan pastor Stephen Charnock describes spiritual worship.
Worship quote worship as an act of the understanding applying itself to the knowledge of the excellency of God and actual thoughts of his Majesty hence the songs it is also an act of the will whereby the soul.
Not just mine the soul adores and reverences his majesty is ravished with his amiableness. Embraces his goodness enters itself into an intimate communion with the most lovely object and pitches all Affections, I mean it's all feelings all love upon him.
That's the Puritan definition of worship. Now compare that to our day when the driving philosophy behind a lot of what goes on in churches. But they call worship it is not. That we should see the excellency and the majesty of God.
Be ravished by his goodness and then focus all our affection all our feeling all our love on the Lord in our day. It's You know, whatever will get the people to come back. Whatever packs them in. Whatever draws them.
It's the crowds. So everything including the worship of the one true. God is sacrificed for gaining numbers. We might think that that's at least understandable. You got to put people in the seats so they can give the offerings so they can pay the bills, right?
I think that's when they maybe that maybe the goal is more people here. We'll justify it that way. They'll hear so they'll be saved but God calls it prostitution. God's worship should be kept pure and there are no exceptions.
You see worship is not a means to an end. It's an end in itself. In fact, it is the chief end Of us all is the famous Westminster Catechism begins. What's the chief end of man? Not to attract more numbers make more money to glorify God and enjoy him forever and That begins with a God word heart and it will express itself by more concern eventually morality for justice and society especially protection for the weak and the defenseless all of that is part of our lives of worship as This passage shows us in verse 23 when commitment to the Lord goes we're really committed to something else, but then then soon goes our moral life to when we Ignore called the first table of the Ten Commandments the first five commandments those that tell us how to relate to God.
We soon violate the second table. Those that laws of God to tell us how to relate to each other at first. We become a whore spiritually and then we become a home To murderers and friends of corruption and oppression.
Shocking the gods assembly his church would be a base for corruption and oppression and it began with Spiritual prostitution when we sold what should have only been given to God when we sold it for something else.
Shocked is exactly what we are supposed to be. We're to look around and ask ourselves Instead of just being comfortable with it. Okay, that's the way churches are. Come on, that's life. We should ask yourself.
How did it come to this? How did we sink so low? Then we are to be purged and these verses 24 to 26 the Lord pledges to take action. He will purge us. He begins with therefore in verse 24. Otherwise in the beginning of that middle paragraph.
Therefore because you are like thus and so based on the above based on the spiritual prostitution because that's what you're like. All that corruption that naturally flows out of that your prostitution therefore now I God will purge you.
God will do it. Notice how many times there the words I will coming from God speaking to us. How many times I will occurred in verses 24 to 26. I will Get relief from my enemies. I will Turn my hand against you.
I will smelt away your dross. I will restore your judges. For I will not once as he say you can if you try harder. No, it's God saying I will from first to last it's exclusively a work of God some are purged of their sin and Others are purged out Because of their sins in verse 24, I will get relief From my enemies and avenge myself on my foes and this is meant to be this is terrifying.
This is what it's meant to be and notice how the Lord introduces himself first verse 24 therefore the Lord declares. This is sort of like a boxing champion coming into the ring list all his Accomplishments his victories.
He is the Lord of hosts. Was the master of host means this multitudes of armies? He's the mighty one of Israel. That's who he is. He's introduced like that. That's as he comes on to the stage. Terrifying then that this vast power the mighty one he is determined to get a just vengeance and Terrifying that he does indeed consider some people to be his enemies.
Notice that this is what he says and he's inspired. He's inerrant God's words here the sin of the people of God offends God's glory. And as we saw last week God values his glory above everything else.
And so we detest that which besmirches his glory and so he must get relief. He will get vengeance now the platitude that God hates the sin. But loves the sinner doesn't consider anyone his enemy. Well here needs to be balanced with this truth.
We see here that those who claim to be his people but who deny him by their actions who are spiritual whores. Those God calls my foes. You're my enemy God says and he introducing himself. He's the mighty one and he's calling himself your enemy.
That's trouble sin. Not only sets the sinner against God. It says God Against the sinner in our sins. We make ourselves God's enemies now imagine. We are left to ourselves. To our own devices to our own ways of doing things we are the we are the committed foes of the Lord himself.
There's this God introduced here the Lord who is infinite who is totally independent and free. He was billions and billions of forces at his beck and call. Who is the true mighty one who is majestic who is the Eternal champion who is a consuming fire and we pitted ourselves against him the the greatest.
What a mismatch in the history of combat and so he would be totally just to declare us all. Draws burn us all up, but here's the surprise. Here's something really shocking. He doesn't. He chooses to redeem.
Some he chooses to take some silver out of the furnace. And not just individuals as separate believers gonna loan sheep here and they're disconnected detached people. Individualistic, but he chooses to redeem and purify he says a city a community.
Oh gathering of people called Zion a heavenly Jerusalem the assembly of those. Born again says in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 the community here what he calls a community of faithfulness. Verse 26 the fateful city.
So there's this real city. Jerusalem called of these ideals is now a whore. It's unfaithful. But he's gonna redeem this fateful city. So God in this paragraph is looking for at these people. He's seeing their sins and he determines to raise his hand to get vengeance on his enemies.
Purge the dross from his true people. Now there are times of testing in which false believers are exposed. The Saints are preserved and they persevere through the furnace but others. They drift away. Because they were never of us in the first place.
God works to separate the silver from the dross and it's important for any church to recognize that. So that we don't keep claiming as many churches do today, you know, someone is silver. They're silver.
They're on our membership list. We hadn't seen him in decades or they're silver. When they're apostasy or they're turning we keep claiming their silver. When they're apostasy or they're turning away from worship puts their quality in question.
God is purging. You see that here? Now let's work with him. Not against him. Not everyone is cleansed. Not all will have Christ take away God's righteous anger from them. Some are dross some are alloys and they will be purged and Here God is especially incensed at their leaders.
He specifically mentions the princes in verse 23. He calls them rebels. Now this is just right. This would be a very strange and attention-getting phrase in Isaiah's day. Because you know only in Israel would it be possible for the princes?
Means that the king and his family the royal family. To be rebels and other nations that would make no sense at all. You know in other nations the king was law. He ruled. Absolutely. He could do whatever He wanted take whatever he wanted so to say the king is a rebel that makes no sense.
A rebel by definition is someone who Breaks away from the king, but Israel is different. In Israel the king was supposed to be merely the servant of the Lord the executive so to speak who applied and enforced the Word of God.
Especially the Covenant with God that's found in their law. But now they had begun they the royal family the king and his people they had begun to rebel rebel. By ignoring that covenant doing their own thing.
The leaders ruled any way they wanted. They thought they were an elite. They were strong they were powerful people they were hobnob with other wealthy powerful people even if they happen to be Assassins thieves, but we would nail now today call I guess, you know mafia bosses organized crime chiefs and The princes the king and his people they ignored the the widows and the fatherless.
Because there was nothing such weak people could do for them. Like they were they were powerless they couldn't give them a bribe they had didn't have enough money to bribe them. They these people these princes Had their eyes most of all on self-advancement.
What's in it for me? Now we have some The same today leaders in God's Church who lead not according to the Word of God. But according to the strategies they pick up in seminars and secular books on success people who elevate others.
Because this guy coming in he's a lawyer. He makes a lot of money. He's a doctor. He's a lot of he can give a lot. He's other people. I don't care about them. They're poor and what does ignore people who want to be esteemed and powerful you want to be recognized by other powerful people move and that among that kind of Society, even if they are ungodly.
They don't care people who will sell their precious worship of God for whatever earthly gain they can get. For example, they were there are times when upholding integrity and membership unless you. You attend the church.
You are a member of our church discipline or faithfully preaching all of Scripture will bring difficulty. Isn't it easier? Today. Just kind of go with the flow. To fit into our commitment fearing culture.
We have a covenant. Why not have a vision statement? That sounds great. I go along with the individualism of our time. Easier to do that. Make make your decisions by what's popular. It's easier to do that and skirt those hard passages so you can make everyone happy and try to turn God's church into a Respected another respected social institution with the decent people go.
So the world would embrace us. Sell worship to the highest bidder, isn't that easier and then. What this really says? Yes, self-promotion is easier for a while. But God says here that he will change that.
It may have looked easier at first. He's gonna work so it doesn't come out so easy it up at all. He will purge those who think themselves strong. He calls them in verse 31 they think they're strong that's what they call themselves.
They have the money. They have they can hire people to do their bidding and. They're the strong ones and because they think they're strong. They don't think they need to humble themselves and do things God's way.
They'll build worship centers. That are just like the pagans as he describes in that last paragraph. You know God, you know build around big trees around big gardens. They are the kind who will their influence not to take us back to turn us around toward God honoring faithfulness.
But keep pressing us to prostitute our worship for the worldly approval. The manward Will be purged. The God word will be reestablished. The Lord will restore he says in verse 26. He will restore Judges as at the first counselors as at the beginning.
He will Renew his people. In other words, he will eventually get rid of self-serving leaders men who are rebelling against him by doing their own thing. He will replace them with leaders who are like they used to be.
Like they used to be when Israel was a small struggling nation that only a true believer will want to lead. When I not full-grown shepherd boy from Bethlehem was so zeal was so full of zeal for God's and His glory that he took a slingshot and went out and faced a giant Philistine.
Leaders like the Apostle Paul who were willing to suffer much not because they saw in the church. Aha, here's a great opportunity for a cushy career in religion with a great pension coming after I retire.
But no because he really believed and the ideals of the Lord Jesus. He really wanted the reign of God over his life and nothing else mattered. The great leaders of the Protestant Reformation will be willing to risk their lives for for the truths of the gospel.
So we've been looking at Martin Luther like goods and kindred go this mortal life. Also the body they may kill God's truth abideth still he really believed that and put his life on the line for it. Another was William Tyndale who was an Oxford educated scholar in the 16th century who could have lived out his life.
It's just another respected professor at Oxford University. Smoking his pipe eating well living in a nice house with teaching the students in Latin and you know been like that but he decided the Word of God must be brought to the people of England and so he translated the New Testament most of the old into English but he Before but he was eventually hunted down and burnt to death for his work even in this country.
Early Baptists were often persecuted for the refusal to pay support to the state church in New England. Even in Virginia just across the state line there a wealthy man brought the local sheriff to a meeting of Baptists.
Who are can you believe those Baptists? They were meeting out in the worshiping in the open air. They didn't have a building. They couldn't afford one. It's out in the air. The sheriff brought took the preacher and had him flogged right there.
When the sheriff was done The preacher went right back to the worship service. Those are the kinds of people we had at the first at the beginning. And we need them again and God says He'll bring it about again.
Let's be shocked. How far we've fallen. Let's restore those old naive ideals and Let the Lord do the work of purging us. Finally, let's be repentant. It is the repentant who are in God's what he calls the community of faithfulness the faithful city to repent.
In Hebrew here just means simply turn. It's just a basic word. Not it's not a sanctified kind of holy word. This means turn turn. You're driving one way. You need to turn. You're going the wrong way turn.
Life is heading one direction. Now you turn it around go the other way. The redeemed will be Turners. That's what they're doing with their life. They're turning. It's not enough merely to be a bit. Sorry to have some regrets that show no change of life.
It's not enough just to say, you know, just to say you like those previous words in Isaiah chapter 1 My sins are scarlet to say Jesus of the Lord of hosts you must mean it and if you made it it will show in your life a good tree will bear good fruit and One of that fruit is churning.
It's really not that you must be. It's not that you must be truly repentant to be redeemed. It's that if you are redeemed You're the silver brought out of the furnace. You will be truly repentant. If you were removed from the furnace, you are not an alloy.
You're not dross and you'll show it. You are a citizen of the fateful city and your life will display that it will show it in first your relationship to God. That he is the center. You will be God word in your heart.
It's the only object of your worship. You'll be faithful to him that city is the fateful city because it's full of People with faith and then it will show in your life of righteousness a life of righteousness even when no one is looking.
When no one when there is no earthly advantage to being righteous. Just as there was no advantage, you know to bringing justice to the fatherless and the widow those who are poor who couldn't pay you back.
Because the truly redeemed will live a God word life. Understanding they live their whole life before the eye of God and so looking to please him and everything. Being saved by grace is also he says in verse 27 being saved by Justice seems strange phrase to us saved by even by righteousness.
God will not be unjust. And it would be unjust of him to not Punish those who had forsaken him the rebels. He has to punish them in order to be a just God. God cannot casually excuse sin, but he has created a way in which he can redeem or buy back sinners and Still be just still he can still be right and Redeem us at the same time.
The Lord Jesus took care of that in his death and resurrection and the punishment that he bore on the cross. He took God's Vengeance that he's been threatening here Toward his enemies. He took that on himself.
You know that moment on the cross when he cried out my God my God. Why have you forsaken me? He was seen by the father as If he were his enemy God's foe. God saw him like an enemy. So he wouldn't have to see us as his enemies.
So He could save us from being his foes. Said we could save us from his vengeance. And now that he saved us We will be repentant. We will turn. We will not use grace as an excuse to sin. We have been redeemed.
We have been bought back by righteousness by the righteousness of Christ that God now chooses. To credit to us to see us clothed in that righteousness. We are saved by righteousness and for righteousness.
How could we? How could we if we've been truly redeemed? Turn around. Not a repentant kind of turning. Turn around from God's grace and use grace as an excuse to sin. Doesn't make any sense to do so. Suggest that we're not really repentant then instead of being citizens of the city of faithfulness We are still Rebels as he calls them in verse 28.
There are those today who think that they can live any way they want. Who imagine that salvation is merely you you're saying you agree with certain statements a few basic statements. You know back when you said that you agreed with them back when you were a child and then for the rest of your existence.
For eternity you have fire insurance. That's some people's idea of the gospel. They think they can live any life in rebellion to God and Yet God is still obligated to protect them because they said they agreed with a few basic statements.
But such people have not turned they are not repentant. If they are living like rebels. Then they're rebels and God says in verse 28. They shall be broken. They'll be crushed. Shattered and they are the kind as he describes in those last three verses who put their trust in certain forms of religion.
They might they may not have you know that those forms are borrowed from paganism from the world around them they think as long as they May name the right name say they agree with certain things as long as they call on the Lord that they can worship.
Anyway, they choose or anything they choose. So they choose forms and styles. This strike them is beautiful not bothering to ask how God has said he should be worshiped and right here I think of many Americans think what is wrong with that?
Many people think is I'm gonna say I worship the Lord and no matter how I do it God is gonna accept it because I'm worshiping. Is it that good? No. These people were worshiping that he calls his enemies and they were doing it in ways that he threatens, you know in their day.
That mean using large oak trees must be a manifestation of divine Supernatural power, so we're gonna worship there by the oak trees our lush gardens. They apparently cared more about their sense of aesthetics of beauty of comfort and Traditions the way we've done it here in this Canaan land for centuries they they cared more about that than they did for worship it was truly pleasing to God and The profit in prophets like Isaiah told them to stop and the true spiritual that true spiritual worship must have God as its center.
Not human feelings not that this just looks good. Wow. Look at that tree. That's great. Look at this garden not human feelings. They must be driven by what God has said but strong the leaders. People with money that they could throw around get their way.
They wouldn't hear of it. They were too sophisticated. They were proud of their worship centers. I mean my we you know, how many thousands of dollars we threw into this garden here. They're orchards and yet God says I'll make you ashamed of them.
I'm gonna I'm gonna wilt your oaks and Parts your gardens. I withhold the water. So it turns brown and looks dreary. Though then I'll blow it away with the wind and then I'm coming for you. I'll throw you on the pile of those dry oaks that you love so much and now it's just Sticks it's just it's tender and I'll light a match With you and your oaks and set it on fire.
Those are God's enemies. Contrary to what we might have been told He does have them and he will get them. We better make sure we're not one of them. Because they're not all just Nazis or foreign terrorists or pornographers.
They are often respectable people here princes the strong. The wealthy those with money to throw around. They're not even secular. They love to grow sinners for worship. They'll they cherish religion.
As long as it's man-made Man-centered, they just don't care about God. They're rebels. They have forsaken the Lord they will be purged out and Thrown away. But God has For reasons we really can't understand the most shocking thing of this passage and not all the threats is fiery and really is Almost terrifying as they should be the most shocking thing in this passage is God has chosen to pull some out of that furnace.
He had no obligation to do that. There was nothing compelling him to do that it was there's no Reason that made him do that to restore us to redeem us by and for justice. Those those are the repentant.
He made them repentant. Those are the citizens of a new city a community of faithfulness the redeemed those brought bought back from destruction from Judgment from being God's enemies the true Zion Bought back by justice by God Justly punishing our sins on his son on the cross.
So that he could grant us repentance and declare us Not his enemies. But right with him you want to join that city. And be shocked. Shocked at yourself. When you let other things as we also naturally do Draw us away from a life of worship.
We'll pursue something else. We'll give our life to something else for that relationship for that money for that pleasure. We're prostituting ourselves our whole life shocked that we do that so easily so naturally from being Be shocked at that and said be faithful be purged.
Let him who is a consuming fire work in your life and let him cleanse his church the heavenly Jerusalem and be repentant a Turner a Not a rebel who sells what is holy for whatever he can get out of it.
But but a Turner someone who turns away From just what's in it for him the self-serving turns away from that to the Lord. You want to recover? You want to be a part of the city? Where God lives. Then have faith.
Be faithful.