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Isaiah 1:1-20 Eat or Be Eaten
So Isaiah chapter 1 starting verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 20 here the word of the Lord the vision of Isaiah the son of Amos which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah Jotham a has and Hezekiah kings of Judah.
Here Oh heavens and give ear over earth for the Lord has spoken. Children have I reared and brought up but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey is master's crib, but Israel does not know.
My people do not understand. Ah sinful nation a people laden with iniquity offspring of evildoers. Children who deal corruptly they have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged.
Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint from the sole of the foot even to the head. There is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds.
They are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate. Your cities are burned with fire in your very presence. Foreigners devour your land. It is desolate is overthrown by foreigners and the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard like a lodge in a Cucumber field like a besieged city.
If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few for survivors, we would have become like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord. You rulers of Sodom give ear to the teaching of our God. You people of Gomorrah.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beast. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.
When you come to appear before me who has required of you this trampling of my courts. Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations.
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of burying them. When you spread out your hands. I will hide my eyes from you.
Even though you make many prayers. I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good.
Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause. Come now. Let us reason together says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson. They shall come like wool. If you are willing and obedient You shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel You shall be eaten by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
What do you think a conversation of God? Would be like I Mean if you could talk to God, of course, but you can from your point of view, but right now. How do you think it would go? You probably know what you'd say.
What you because that's what your prayers are. Like you you are talking to God. But what if you knew God would talk back? What do you think you would say? How would the conversation go? What would it be about?
But the football games yesterday. One's coming up today. How many weeks until the basketball season starts? What do you imagine God? Would talk about how we think that Christians Would speak to us and what what he would say to us is perhaps best summed up how we think understand.
What's what I'm talking about? What we think God would say it's probably best summed up in the wildly popular Footprints poem. I always intrigued when people make up something for God when God speaks because it shows What they think God would say.
There's a lot of material in the Bible which God actually speaks. Why are you making up stuff? That's not in the Bible, but that's not the point. But today what something that's wildly popular is though this footprints poem you've seen it.
I've seen Bibles Wrapped in covers these Bible covers that have the poem written on it. And I've wondered whether the owner of the Bible pays more attention to the poem on the outside than the Bible on the inside.
It is supposed to be the poem is supposed to be from someone Who is seeing their life as a set of footprints on the beach? Most of the time there are two pairs Walking together, which is the narrator of the poem and God himself walking side-by-side.
But sometimes there is only one set of footprints and Especially the in the poem those one set of footprints come during the hard times of life. And so the narrator, you know questions God. How could this be?
As he or she decides to argue it out. Come let's reason together with the Lord, but why there's only one set of footprints during the hard times and God who's not at all indignant about him being implicitly accused of abandoning the narrator explains.
Imagine this is what we now imagine God would say it was then that I carried you. So sweet, isn't it? This nice pious Thought that's today what we imagine God would say when we try to reason with him now in this passage Isaiah chapter 1 we see what the real God says when he is indeed reasoning with us.
We see that in three rounds what I think of three rounds of conversation. There's three rounds of commands. Conditions and questions which lead to at the end in verse the last few verses there an invitation and Then an ultimatum.
What do you imagine God would say to you? Crimson tide played really well yesterday. Is that what we think he would bring up? Hope the Eagles do well this afternoon. Yeah, Wayne says yeah, he'll say that maybe not here.
Well first he commands Here in verse 2 and he's not speaking to actually to Israel or it's a people but he says here heavens earth heavens he means space outer space the universe earth to bear witness and He's hearkening back to Deuteronomy chapter 32 where the Lord called the same witnesses Heavens earth to To see that he was making a covenant with Israel.
So now hundreds of years later. He calls to them again Witnesses you were there when I first made this covenant with Israel now witness. What has become of that covenant? Here heaven earth listen to this.
This is the condition of Israel. Conditions right commands conditions children. I have reared and brought up that they have rebelled against me. Now reared is nurturing. He's been a good father to them.
He's nurtured them. He caught God called them my people. There's children. They are the people that he set apart set apart by God. He delivered out of bondage. He nurtured he raised them on his law and his ordinances his ways of worship.
We saw some of those in numbers. This is not he's not talking here about the the world of sinful people with no knowledge of God it's about God's people what we would today call the church and What he says to the church is very different from what a lot of Christians today would think that God would say here heaven earth.
What is the condition of? My people. Their condition is rebellion and Rebellion against the Lord. It's just stupid. I mean, that's what's what he says. It's dumb. Verse 3 the ox knows its owner. Ox are smart enough.
Ox aren't known for their intelligence, but they're smart enough to know who their owner is. That's where their food comes from. The donkey its master master's crib. The donkeys aren't so smart, but they know where their food is.
But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. You know oxen and donkeys no better than them. Even those dumb animals know their master. They know where their food comes from. But these people don't their condition is worse than livestock.
They've forgotten who who it was who it who provided for them. They've forgotten that the Lord Reared them and the Word of the Lord is their food. It's in Deuteronomy where God says you should not live by bread alone.
But on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, they've forgotten that so they wander off looking for a life and entertainment or personalities or never day more literally and idols empty rituals and Their religion.
These are the people who were supposed to be walking with the Lord people He had saved from bondage and given his instructions to train them for righteousness. They are he says in verse 4 A witness Heaven earth their condition a sinful nation a people laden Burned down packed down with iniquity.
Offspring of evildoers children who deal corruptly. Despite all the advantage they had of being raised on God's Word. He concludes they are utterly Estranged they're alienated. They're cut off from me.
That's their condition. Then in verse 5 comes the question that will Knock that footprints in the poem plaque off the wall the command here heavens and earth here God's testimony against them the condition.
Rebellious, they're laden with iniquity, you know, I'm kind of like a kid with a book bag. That's far too heavy. It's hunched over utterly estranged the question finally Why will you be struck down? And God is asking them how much more are you going to have to be afflicted Before you finally come to your senses and repent Why are you?
Bearing all this affliction instead of repenting the NIV translates it as why should you be beaten anymore? In other words, haven't you had enough you've been beaten already haven't. Haven't you had enough isn't getting through?
The question is because of their Because of their condition their physical condition what's going on in their life verse and in their life in verse 7 and 8. Your country lies desolate your cities are burned with fire in your very presence foreigners devour your land.
It is desolate is overthrown by foreigners. In other words They have been invaded during the life of Isaiah. Judah was invaded by the Assyrians who destroyed almost every town killing thousands Pillaging and burning everything and finally they besieged the city of Jerusalem Intending to destroy it.
They didn't get to but that they wanted to that's their that's Israel's condition to imagine the whole country is almost almost obliterated with Jerusalem now surrounded by these but these besieging enemy armies intent on destroying It too and finally just wiping the country completely out.
They have they've been pillaged. They've been burned and Today we would think You know about that situation you were in Jerusalem with that our enemies armies all around foreigners. All over your countryside.
You're just hiding behind these walls hoping they'll keep you safe today we would think that that that was something purely for God to comfort us about. You know as though we were out of his control. As at least many people would see it that way.
He's that this is all why is God a look? Maybe someone's a guy's God allowing this or maybe just God can't do anything about it. So it's our free will and nothing can't do anything about it. He's really sorry.
We're going through it, but there's not much he can do about it. But here though the Lord He knows he takes responsibility for this. The assumption from the Lord is that he is in control of this entire situation and that he is he is inflicting it and You need to learn from this affliction.
That's the assumption behind it all. The the Lord is asking the question then because he is in control of this. Isn't this enough already? Has it gotten through yet? In verse 8 He asked he says that Jerusalem the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard like a lodge in a cucumber field.
That may seem. What does that mean? It seems odd to me. Well, in other words the country was like a field think of a field that had been completely harvested. There's only stems and bare stalks left. Nothing really edible left.
It's been completely plucked clean. The only standing the only thing standing there is a little temporary shelter. That you know, maybe what we would like consider like a bus stop kind of shelter that they put up during harvest time.
They were for the guards they They were they would put up these little shelters when the harvest came due when it came near. For guards because they would hide guards to be in the fields to make sure no one came and stole the crop.
Just you know when it was ready to be harvested. I said they put up these little shelters For the guards and so you can imagine the typical field in their day when harvest came first. They would put up one of these booths for the guard and it would be standing there in this full field and then come the harvesters and they would get to work and plucking all the everything is harvested here cucumbers or grapes, and of course, they would also, you know, probably pluck a lot of stems and Leaves too and after they're done.
There's there's really nothing left in the field. Except the little booth for the guard. It's the only thing standing and here Isaiah says the Lord says that Is like Jerusalem. It's standing there. Nothing else left in your whole country.
The invaders have come and burnt and destroyed everything only Jerusalem is left now the Lord's question. Given that that's their condition their physical condition in verse 5. How much more will you have to suffer before you get on your knees and sincerely turn from your evil?
Why don't you repent now? One version translates it as. Why do you seek further beatings? You're gonna have to get beaten more if you don't repent now as hard as it sounds to our ears. It does sound very harsh doesn't this is not what we imagine God would be saying to people.
But what he's saying is if you don't stop rebelling, I'm gonna have to beat you some more. Another translation puts it. Where can you still be struck if you will still be disloyal? Another translation where will you be stricken again?
There's almost nothing left. I can beat on you till another translation upon. What will you be beaten more that the image here is of someone being flogged? What they would call in Singapore Cain the flogger is looking for.
Looking at the person being disciplined in verse 6 and sees that from the soles of their feet to their head. There's nothing but bruises and sores. The whole body is covered with welts and wounds hasn't been bandaged up.
Just a horrible condition. No, no soothing oil put on it. No ointment and yet the criminal being flogged. Covered in wounds like that still won't repent. They still won't be submissive in meek so the flogger has to continue.
Inflicting the punishment, but now he's almost out of places to flog. The criminal has been beaten so much looking where else can I beat you now? You're completely beaten all over. So this is the stage for the question you're beaten.
You're desolate you've been burned you've been occupied. There's nothing left. Jerusalem is the only thing in it's like a shack in the middle of a field that's been stripped bare. Now will you finally learn but they're not.
Sin is such a terrible power in people's hearts that it blinds them so that they don't learn from punishment. Maybe they'll invent a God in a poem. Tells them that they don't have to learn it. They're not being punished that they're everything is fine.
There's this is obstinacy here in Isaiah 1 in the face of affliction. We see that in our current spirituality. You know if we're afflicted. What do we think? We think we question the Lord, right? That's the normal thing.
We do we call witnesses against him as if God were always. God is always supposed to be our companion. No matter what no matter what we're doing. He's always on our side helping us out, right. Whether it's divorces or children out of wedlock or foolish self-indulgent decisions.
Getting ourselves deep into debt because we just said we had to have everything we wanted and then we asked God once we live. Like that, what do we do? We ask God why God did you let me get in this? Why did you let this situation get like this?
We did it. We've never learned when we're afflicted so we think still he's the one who has to carry us through the rough times. So we'll be able to get through that's what's his job. Yes, there are trying times.
There are trying times. It's true. They come to the faithful during which the Lord will stand by our side. We saw in John last summer the Lord Jesus tell us that in this world. We will have tribulation.
Sometimes we suffer not because we're doing wrong sometimes because we're doing right and Jesus immediately encourages us take heart. I have overcome the world. So the footprints poem is not all wrong.
It's not all wrong. There are times when we need to be carried. That's true. But then again, there are times that the Lord makes us go through. Precisely. Not because we were fateful. But for the opposite reason.
Because there is sin in our lives that he is judging. He is disciplining us. And when we refuse to look at our lives. To search our hearts examine ourselves to compare our actions with what Scripture models for us.
We just assume That we're okay. You know, even if we got a few things wrong He's okay with us when we assure ourselves that we're doing fine. And you know, whatever we've missed God will indulge because that's after all that's the way he is.
Says so on the plaque. Right when we do that friends we no longer we prolong and Sometimes exacerbate we make worse. God's discipline when we think God is only the one Who will carry us through the rough times and not the one who is in complete control of those times.
The one who actually caused them to come upon us for a purpose then we miss a lesson he is trying to teach us and. So he may continue trying to teach it to us to afflict us until we get the point. But we refused to even consider that we're wrong to refuse to even question ourselves even after so many afflictions.
Are just thoroughly beaten. He'll reach a point where he asked Upon what will you be beat more? What more can I do to you? Even the soles of your feet are full of welts. For example when Baptist churches took their beliefs seriously and upheld their church covenant and Responsibilities of membership and upheld them with discipline, you know following what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 18 God blessed them with growth in the 19th century Baptist churches in this country grew at twice the rate of the population.
Right, that's good. Right, but when the churches began to see growth first. Things changed when churches began to think that they knew better way. They knew better ways to run the church than those laid out in Scripture.
And that Matthew 18 passes began to be neglected and ignored they neglected their membership their their covenant and What the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew 18 said about sin of the congregation then the worship service became more more geared to pleasing people.
Because you're seeking growth first you want to attract them then in pleasing God. And now we're afflicted now Baptist churches are shrinking. God's taken away the one thing they wanted most growth numbers power of Success.
So people who and and it's happening from the inside out. People who were raised in the church often children are raised in the church fall away sometimes into worldliness. Idolatry and morality whatever the bat the churches themselves allow members to go years without attendance.
Some members may not even know what's in their church covenant must less strive to live by it. And so when we experience God's discipline talk about Baptist his chastisement. Rarely, do they consider as they are now and they're shrinking.
Rarely, are you hearing, you know, maybe we ought to repent from the way we've been doing for the last century and and go back. To seeking the Lord we might consider more advertising or more popular music.
Maybe that's what we need. Need a praise band the guys in shorts. That's nothing wrong with that. But that's what that's what they think that we need. Maybe we need maybe what we really need. We need shorter sermons.
That's what we really need. That guy talks too long. He's keeping the people out. But we rarely consider turning around going back taking our doctrine seriously. Obeying the Lord Jesus on how to deal with sin in the body.
Abiding by the church covenant is rooted in the Word of God fearing the Lord more than we fear our neighbors disapproval. It's the same with our personal lives. When affliction comes we need to seek God seek him for comfort.
Yes. But not just for comfort. Seek him to show you. You know if this is something because it's something you need to repent of. And if you and I can guarantee you you will always find something to repent of this side of the resurrection.
A Healthy part of a mature as Christians life is to be wrestling in anguish with the source. Our Release what may be the source of our affliction with our looking for our sins. What have we been doing wrong that caused God to unleash this problem on us?
We must be smug and think well this bad stuff happens. Didn't happen to me for a reason. I don't really deserve it. It's always all because I'm perfect. We must have be smug that God is only there to hold our hands and help us go through.
Whatever bad times that we always deserve comfort and never correction. That's so much part of people today. All right. They think they always deserve the comfort never the correction. The great evangelist of the 18th century George Whitfield.
Perhaps the greatest evangelist the world that we have ever seen he would agonize in prayer with God over his sins. He would see it as a great triumph of the Spirit if he could find new areas of sin in his heart.
This is sinful. He found that I've been simple in that area and he would then repent of them be cleansed of them. He preempted God's affliction of him him with his self-examination and Confession and that was probably one of the secrets to the great power of his ministry in colonial America and Britain in Britain.
So let's not be smug. Let's not be people to whom the Lord has to ask. Haven't you had enough punishment? Do I really have to beat you some more? Before you finally get it. The punishment God's people had to suffer was so bad.
They were saying this is their part of the conversation in verse 9. This is what they are saying. If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.
Okay. This this can be interpreted as it sounds like it could be like almost like that. Feels a little bit like that footprints poem, doesn't it? There's only one set of footprints. Oh, it's the Lord carried us that we have a few survivors.
That's because the Lord left us survivors. Notice the Lord is just leaving the survivors. From their point of view because this is their saying back to God the Lord didn't afflict them. The Lord left us a piece spared some he left us survivors.
He's on our side. Can't you see? It's kind of sweet and pious. This interpretation, right. And God loves sweet piety, doesn't it? So look at the Lord's response in verse 10. Speak to Sodom Gomorrah. Did you say Sodom Gomorrah?
Hear the word of the Lord you rulers of Sodom give ear to the teaching of our God you people of Gomorrah. In other words God's response to these sweet pious words in verse 9 is oh, yeah speaking of Sodom and Gomorrah you're just like them and.
Thus begins another round this conversation command conditions and questions starting at verse 10 the Lord commands them. This time them to hear this time. The people need to hear they need to hear especially.
What is their true condition? You know, these are religious people. That may surprise us from what the first what the first thing he said about them. But they're being laid with iniquity and all that.
But they're religious people the Lord describes in verse 11 to 15 their conditions their multitude of their sacrifices. They're frequent coming to the temple to church. There are many prayers. He says about it all.
What do you think of God loves all that stuff? No, he says I know it's all fake. Verse 11. I've had enough of your offerings. Keep it to yourself. I don't want your Sacrifices go have a barbecue. Don't bring your animals to me.
In verse 12, he says practically you stop trampling my courts don't even come. I'd rather you stay home. Don't be walking all over my temple like you mean to worship me because you don't. In verse 13, he calls their offerings vain and their incense.
Remember that incense and and Numbers a sweet fragrance aroma pleasing to the Lord. He calls it here. It's an abomination. It's disgusting. Your incense it stinks. In verse 14, he says he hates their special days for worship.
There's their holy days. I hate it. You're looking forward to it. I don't want. I'm not God says now we often think that some religion and some occasional church attendance is better. At least it's better than nothing, right?
That's true in one way that there is in church. If you have an effective ministry a greater opportunity to hear something that will break your heart and lead you to a true deep Radical commitment to God rather, you know.
There's more chance of that happening than if you just stayed home and watch the NFL pregame shows, I guess maybe. But if someone has been coming maybe just occasionally coming to church, you know year after year and still content.
Just living with sin living side by side with injustice has no zeal for God in his ways. That person's a little bit of religion is worse for him than if he had none. A few weeks ago. I saw someone online comment about his childhood home in Arkansas.
About a generation ago. He said, you know the 1960s. Attendance at the prayer meeting was high, you know, everybody knew, you know, Wednesday nights. There was a church night. The churches didn't send off automated phone calls like they do now because they knew everyone's in church.
Those were the good old days. You know with the old-time religion. And I ask okay. What did that church do about segregation and racism being in the South? during those times. It's almost a ridiculous question, isn't it?
You're not supposed to ask that question. God doesn't care about that. Does he he just cares about attendance at prayer meetings. Doesn't he? God hates insincere hypocritical worship that lives content with injustice.
Look at verse 13 and 14. You don't want to bring Worship that's an abomination. It's it's vain. It's empty that it stinks. That's disgusting. That's what abomination means. It's detestable. I Abhor it think of something that's disgust you.
That's what God thinks of this kind of worship. You don't want to have God say to you your church attendance. It's a burden to me. I'm weary of burying it. I wish you'd stay home. Stay home watch ESPN in the Sunday mornings.
Don't bother me with coming to church. I don't want you there. You see nothing is dearer to God than his own glory. And so there's nothing which he more strongly detest than to have it insulted with fraudulent worship.
This is why friends where we labor to worship God in the right manner. To to offer to him the sacrifices that please him to have a worship service that is saturated in the Word of God. So when we talk to God in our prayer, like I let us in a prayer earlier I model our part of the conversation on the psalm.
We sing a psalm so that we were singing to God. We're singing God's words. We're letting his words Shape ours. That's why sometimes those psalms we sing seem awfully strange. We end up singing things that we would never sing just we were left up to songs of human composition.
And we we find it strange because we're used to God. Say we're used to we're used to Telling God what he should say to us. We're not used to him telling us what to say. But that's partly what we come to church for is to learn how to talk to God.
Learn what our part of the conversation should be and then learn what he's saying back to us. Of course, we're foreign people. Now they think they've solved that. You know, we'll sing the Psalms and get there get our doctrine fine-tuned.
But understand here in Isaiah 1 even if all our songs were psalms and all our prayers were Directly from Scripture and if my sermon was perfectly biblical and correct It could still be a vomitable worship.
Otherwise stinking and disgusting in God's eyes. If all it is is just entertaining ourselves with right doctrine and then we go out and we just live for money live for pleasure we ignore Justice for our neighbors, you know.
We take advantage of illegal aliens because we know they can't report us to the police if we don't pay them, right? We live like that and our worship as precise and as biblical as it would is it could be would still be nothing but a stench in God's eyes.
Don't believe me notice verse 15. Here's the verse this the opposite of that footprints in the poem. Footprints of the sand poem. God is saying that when they pray as they often did with uplifted hands.
You know, we sang that song lift up your hands. That's biblical. He looks away. He looks away. They're praying and he's and he's. I don't want to see it. He can't stand to look at it. So imagine that plaque saying that poem.
Oh, yes those times when there were only one set of footprints in the sand. That's because I was so disgusted with the sin in your life. I couldn't. I couldn't walk anywhere near you. That one might not sell as well.
It may not be as popular. You might not want to wrap your Bible in that one. But that's their condition. The question the Lord asked him this the same question that he asked religious churchgoing people today who think all he cares about is Attendance or songs or a fine-tuned doctrine is in verse 12 who asked this of you?
That was who taught you that where did you get that idea? That where'd you get the idea that that's all I wanted is just what you that all I'm concerned about is what you do in Church, we're in the world.
You learn that. That's what the Lord asked back. In the face of all their religion religion that lives happily with injustice. Discuss the Lord the hands lifted to God in prayer. They had blood on them.
Lord says here how repugnant that they would lift up blood-stained hands to the Lord in prayer. If we pray on Sundays and then pray on our neighbors the rest of the week. Cheating them as whatever we can taking advantage of them.
We make our standing with God worse than if we had never prayed at all. If we sing praises to God in church and then use that same mouth. To slander people as soon as we leave or maybe because we don't like their politics.
Whatever God would rather us never to have sung to him in the first place if you're praying with bloody hands or Singing to the Lord with filthy mouths that have been lying and cursing and slandering throughout the week then in verse 16 God says wash yourselves.
And first wash make yourselves clean and that meant first use the means the Lord provided to cleanse and we saw One of those a few weeks ago with the offering of the red heifer. Of course, it doesn't mean just do the ritual you got to reform your whole life.
But seek to be clean and use what the Lord has provided now now. We confess our sin. We seek the cleansing the red heifer portrayed and the Lord is faithful to the sacrifice. He provided it just and he he won't go back on his promise and he will cleanse us from all Unrighteousness as in first John chapter 1 verse 9 and that cleansing will change us that leads to a new conditions, right.
Our commands conditions. There's new conditions in verses 16 and 17 if. If you're if you've been cleansed you have to learn To do justice notice the way that's put what verses that there's 16 and 17. Yeah verses 17 learn to do good.
Notice how the implication of that learn you say all this religion, but you need to Learn to do like the implication is you haven't even started to learn. What doing good means yet? You know all this religious stuff, you know all these rituals, but but you haven't.
Haven't you haven't even got into first grade as far as learning to do good goes. Then seek justice correct oppression bring justice of the fatherless plead the widow's cause. Now in ancient Israel widows and orphans, that's the way he mentions them that.
Because they hadn't they had no man to defend them. Remember there's no police force can't call 9 -1 -1. Everybody needs men in their family to defend them and widows and orphans don't have anyone so they were particularly vulnerable to oppression.
And Isaiah is here saying their true godliness is Partly measured by how we treat people who can't reward us who are vulnerable. Who have no protection no power to help us and There's nothing that they can do back to us.
If we hurt them like I say some people with illegal aliens, they know they can take advantage of them. They can pay them less than minimum wage. They can just not pay them at all they can cheat them and they think I can get away with it because.
The guy they're not gonna report it to the government because they're afraid of getting deported. So people people take advantage of them like that. They have no protection it still goes on. You're part of that would you still treat them as though God was going to defend them.
How do you defend those who have no power to defend themselves or return favors? Christians should have an intense interest in justice now. Thankfully many Christians have done that over the church history and the Roman Empire.
Christians objected to the gladiatorial games. You know, it was not right that people would be killed for the entertainment of others. You know and eventually Christians were able to put an end to the two gladiatorial games.
That's why we don't have those anymore. Because of what Christians did and the middle ages Christian softened and slowed the incessant warfare of that time so as to get justice for the common people the serfs who were suffering because of all the Battles and the warfare and the ravaging in our country.
It's been the same sincere Christians standing up for the oppressed. It was principally evangelical Christians who were the driving force behind the end of slavery that radically unjust institution. So when you bow your head in prayer and you want God to hear you.
Ask yourself, what are you doing for oppressed people who can't speak up for themselves? We have that challenge today in the atrocity of abortion on demand, you know. And here's a case in which we know.
By our science that the fetus the unborn baby is fully human has all the chromosomes of a human being. You know, the fetus is not regardless of what some people claim. It's not part of his or her. The fetuses mother's body.
We know that because the DNA is different. Every person has different DNA and the fetus has DNA that is separate from and distinct from the mother's. In fact 50 of the time the fetus is of a different sex than the mother.
So obviously it's not part of the mother and if the unborn baby is growing and taking in nutrients it is by definition alive. Therefore we know by science that it is a living human being and you know what we do with our science.
We use it to kill them whenever we feel like it. The unborn child has all the rights to justice as does any other human being and so it's it's wrong to take any person. Because of their race or their age or their Immigration status or whatever and allow him or her to be killed to be murdered to be oppressed at the convenience of others.
So we should seek justice. For the unborn. I think that's reasonable. What would God say? If you've got to have a conversation with him. Let me say back to you in verses 18 to 20. Comes this great invitation.
Come now. Let us reason together. Here's something it's really right about what we now think God would say. He does even like in the footprints, but he does indeed invite us to dialogue with him. Here is a God.
He is a God that we can question and. This is wonderful, isn't it? You say that you see that in the book of Job the question God first when he shows up. He steers the conversation the way they didn't expect.
But this is wonderful that God would condescend to reason with us. What we're reasoning about with him is. Not though is probably very much different from what we expect. We often expect footprints poem the shack.
Whatever else that God is the one on trial, but CS Lewis called in his great book God in the dock in British courts. The dock is where the accused person stood and so CS Lewis was saying in our culture today.
We think we assume we imagine that God is on trial and he must answer our questions. We are interrogating him. Well here he asked us to reason with him. Let's see what he says. What's our condition? He says the command in this third conversation is come he's inviting us come.
Reason what conditions are we reasoning about? About whether God was right to leave only one set of footprints in the sand. Whether he was right about letting us suffer this or that. No, no. We're the ones on trial.
Here it's our condition that's the subject of the conversation. Notice that. What's he immediately say come let's reason. Though you're. We want to say God though you were. Misbehavior you are failing us and this or that is wrong.
We think explain to us. Maybe that's what we want to say. But God says though you're. Sins. Are a scarlet. Striking bold like crimson. Our sins are not just a slight tint. Something just a little off a little shading.
Maybe a pale yellow. They're not pastels. They're they're brilliant. They're obvious and Yet God calls to us. Come. Let's argue it out. Let's test each other. Tell me you talk about your sin. It's it's it's bold it's striking and yet why do you think.
You're right to question me. Tell me you Baptist. Why is it you don't follow my commands on resolving sin and holding each other accountable. We might reply. Oh. We didn't think it was very loving. Oh.
So you thought you knew what was loving better than me. I Guess we were wrong then and tell me why didn't. Why was it that you didn't do anything for the unborn? Oh. We thought Christians didn't get involved in politics.
So let me get this straight you you thought letting millions of people die made in the image of God be murdered. Was it something God was concerned about? Yeah, I guess we missed that too. Kind of a big one too, isn't it?
Our sins are as scarlet. Shocking and obvious in the light of reason. We might just be so used to them. So absorbed in them. We're kind of take them for granted. This is the way things are step back reasonably.
That's this this is just this is wrong. There's no excuse for this you know one of the I Think one of the stages in my sort of long process in seeing how bad how just radically abominable how Indescribably Unjustifiable the racism of the South was one of it was just a quizzical look.
I remember in Singapore giving this little talk and I described something about the Racism in the South even among the churches and there's just this young Chinese lady just looked up. How could they do that?
Just that look. It just See from the salad you used to it. This is the way things are you're absorbed in it. This is this is life. Take it for granted. It's like if you were No. You're surrounded by blue a little bit of blue.
Does it really seem that striking? Take a back step back. You're on the other side of the world. You're trying to look at it. It's it's crimson. It's it's scarlet. It's horrible. It's there's no excuse for it and what God says.
Now you see it reasonably. But you can be cleansed of it it can be as white as snow to the Lord's invitation to reason. The sinner's eyes are open to the to the Reasonableness of submitting to God the rightness of God's demands and the final Unreasonableness of our sins the fact that what we were sure You know before in our in our times of weakness our times of compromise.
We had good reasons to do that. Now in the light of God's truth. Those reasons they hold no water. Whatever whatever excuse we use to justify our sin. It doesn't doesn't make any more sense. Now that we see it reasonably.
And so we to sometimes speaking for God. Maybe we have to speak to someone that we know is trapped in sin. We we have to call people call people to reason. Why is it you think sex out of marriage is acceptable?
Basically, it's because I want to you think everything you want to makes it wanting it makes it right. That's not reasonable. Is it? Why are you thinking breaking your word is not a sin? I Don't feel like keeping anymore.
Well, that's not that's not reasonable. Why is it you seem to miss church nearly every Sunday. Do you really think the NFL pregame show is better for you than the Word of God. That's not very reasonable, is it?
Well, there's the invitation come. Let's be reasonable subject your sins to the light of truth and Then you can repent of them and be cleansed and forgiven. You know, don't be as Unreasonable as an ox or donkey be reasonable here's kind of an irony here because what they were wrongly trying to Achieve being right with God sort of they weren't really trying to be right with God.
But they were trying to make peace with them by religious manipulation by paying him off. It's now offered to them freely. If they'll only meekly listen to God. And listen to his reasons. If you'll just meekly submit just believe God more than you believe your passions your own excuses your own opinions have faith and Submit submitting to God is Not unreasonable now sure.
Sometimes God's ways will save it to be beyond our ways. Sometimes a beyond our ability to fathom. But they are ultimately the most reasonable. After all, who is it more reasonable reasonable to believe knows what he's doing ourselves in all our limitations and ignorance and self-absorption in our all our passions to believe ourselves or an infinite God.
Who knows all and an infinite God? Who by the way? Provided his only son To die to cleanse us of our sins. No, who's it more reasonable to believe. Come. Let's reason. That's the invitation. But it's followed by an ultimatum.
If you are willing and obedient. That is if you are meek and you will submit to my word you're willing you want to. You you want to hear God's ways and hear his word. Keep them then. You'll eat the good of the land.
You'll get a feast. You'll get to eat the best the earth has to offer. You will as someone would later tell us Inherit the earth if you're meek. To be meek is to be tender-hearted before God to humbly know your place before him.
To be the kind that doesn't have to be afflicted over and over again before you finally learn your lesson. You will feast on God's blessings. You get an appetizer here and the main course is to come but you get a feast.
But if you're meek and the opposite of meek is to be as he says in verse 20 again. He started with this in verse 2 and he ends with it in verse 20. Rebellious. The kind of professed Christian who reads God's Word thinks that won't work.
The you know. He knows better he thinks the kind who doesn't think he needs to come to worship or Sunday school because he you know. Very often he knows it all anyway. He is it all figured out and he doesn't need some pastor or some Sunday school teacher.
Confusing him with something different. The kind who refuses who instead of being tender-hearted is stiff-necked those kind he says. They don't get to eat. They will be eaten by the sword. By affliction God will finally completely unleash his judgment.
Discipline will turn into punishment and they will be devoured by it. So in the end. Want a choice? Let's be reasonable about the choice that's ahead. Alright, you want to be reasonable? Here's the choice.
If you pick the one you think is most reasonable. Eat. Eat a feast a delicious feast. Eat it eat or on the other hand be eaten. Either eat the good of the land. Eat the blessings that God gives to those who humbly submit to him or be eaten by the wrath of God.
That he has in store for the rebellious. There it is. Eat. Or be eaten in Light of that. Come let's reason together.