Isaiah Lesson 53

Romans, Ephesians, Titus, and the Message of Sin and Salvation

If you were to look in a lot of the teachings in the New Testament, let's say we're in Romans. Romans 3 .23, for all of sin, fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6 .23 tells us that the wages of sin is death.

If you go to Romans 5 .8, it says, but God demonstrated his love towards us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You get the message of salvation, but the message of salvation has a precursor.

You're a sinner. If you were to go into Ephesians 2, and it talks about how we followed after the course of the world, the prince of the power of the air, fulfilling the lusts of our flesh, then it says, but God, and then Ephesians 2 .8, for by grace I say, through faith.

So you've got the message of salvation, the hope of the New Testament, but there is the reality of sin. If you go to Titus 3 .5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, well, that really implies that there's something wrong with us.

There is a message in there of sin, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by his mercy he saved us, there's the message of hope, there's the message of salvation. Really a predominant theme and approach in the New Testament.

Did you get the message you're a sinner? Then did you get the message that because of sin there's this separation, spiritual death, but I've got a better hope for you, and that's the hope of the Messiah, that's the Ewangelion.

We learned a lot about Ewangelion last week, didn't we? Who was it that spoke on Ewangelion?

At the pastor's conference, Tim Jacobs.

Yeah, wow, amazing stuff. Interesting, the last time Jeff spoke, two weeks ago I guess it was, he was in the beginning of chapter 42. Jeff, do you remember what the emphasis in that passage was?

That's the servant song, the first servant song.

And what's the takeaway from that servant song?

That Christ is the promised servant that Isaiah foretold.

It's so beautiful, it's so beautiful. Jeff, I want you to read the first verse of chapter 43.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine.

So we've got, again, at the other side of the passage we're going to look at today, at the front end of it was the first servant song, the promise of the coming Messiah. Then at the end of it is this, okay then, but I've got a solution for you.

So in the middle is where we are today. It's Isaiah 42 verses 10 to 25. The message of a Messiah and the message of the promised Messiah, the message of God's provision of a Messiah becomes so amazing when you put it in context of the reality.

I'm a sinner. If you put it into context, I need a solution. We go to Romans, we go to Ephesians, we go to Titus, the message is all throughout scripture. You're a sinner, you're dead, but I got good news, the euangelium.

God sent his son, John 3 .16. With his love he sent his son. Where we are today in this section, Isaiah 42, 10 to 25, it has some beautiful promises and some beautiful realizations from God, but interspersed with all of this is the fact that although Israel is called, they fall short.

Although mankind is called, mankind falls short. We're going to see that as it plays through this section, doing it a little bit at a time. We see God calling to mankind, but then we see God's powerful and victorious actions that he takes, and then how he acts and how he calls, and then he's going to turn back and he's going to put a big old thumb on top of the meaningless idols, and then he's going to go back to Israel, and they're deaf and they're blind.

Although I call out to them, and then although God's law is on display, Israel just, his people just don't get it, and then it's going to close out with the heat of God's wrath. That's kind of the overview of what we're going to do.

We're going to take this piece at a time, but I got good news for you because next week Pastor Jeff is going to start out with 43 verse 1. After we're going to learn about the heat of God's wrath, you leave.

The good part for me, you take the hard part.

Yeah, go ahead and read that again, because I don't want them leaving here feeling down.

But now, thus says the Lord, he created you.

But now, says the Lord. After all this stuff we're going to read about today, but now, says the Lord.

But now. What an incredible.

We're doing a little bit of Geno Jennings and his reader.

Read!

Have you ever seen any of the videos of Geno Jennings' services? He stands up and he has this guy sitting down, brother so-and-so, Joseph or whatever, and he'll be reading and Geno will do what I just did, and just banging the emphasis.

Go ahead.

Fear not, for I have not named you.

I am not Geno Jennings.

Fear not, for I am with you. No, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.

Would you open us in a prayer?

Yes.

So, Father, thank you so much for your word.

We love your word.

Your word is truth, so sanctify us by your truth. Lord, we thank you for the gift of knowledge that comes by the scripture, and we pray that you would increase our knowledge as we study. We pray also, Lord, that we would be conformed to your likeness as we learn about you and.

Who you are.

God, we pray that we would grow in conformity to the Son of God, change us, and help us to live out the things that we are learning. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you so much. Jeff, in Isaiah 42, you're going to give me 10 to 12 first. Isaiah 40, verse 5, little Ricky, if you want to get Isaiah 40, verse 5 ready, I would appreciate.

That.

So, go ahead.

All right.

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth. You who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Keter inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Selah sing for joy. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the coastlands. The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war, he stirs up his zeal.

Okay. That was good. 13 will come next. But I want to take this little section here, and I believe that this section validates the fact that God is actually calling all mankind. It's not just his chosen people, Israel.

Now, he's going to focus on it, but let's remember that Israel, in fact, they were called, they received his word, and they're to be a light in the world. That's Israel. And we know that, well, they kind of fall short on that all too often, not only in their relationship with God, but in their being a light and a testimony to the world.

But this section, I believe, can be shown to emphasize that all mankind gets this call.

All right.

In verse 10, I back up just a little bit. In verse 10, it says, sing to him, lift up your voice and shout from the mountaintops. These are exhortations to be vocal, to be proclaiming from a heart that has received and has perceived what God has to say.

There are so many loud voices out there that even call themselves to be evangelical that are today proclaiming too many falsehoods. They're dimming the lampstand that they have. And much worse than that, we do have the name of claimants.

These guys are so charismatic, and they're so enthusiastic, you can't help but get excited when you hear some of, Jimmy Baker, was that who it was? Just because you have something loud, and just because you can sing it with enthusiasm and charisma, that's not a good thing.

What he's calling on them now is to sing to the Lord a new song and his praise to the end of the earth. He's calling for people to have a reaction and a response to God, and then to the rest of the world, and then to be a light in the world.

How can you possibly be going back and singing to God a song that's deceitful or that's compromised? No, he is looking for the people. And who is he talking to? He says, you that go down to the sea, all that fill in the coastlands and their inhabitants, the deserts and their city.

He's talking a panoramic view of the world as they had it in that part of the world, whether it's the coastland or the wasteland. It's not just the Jews, this is all mankind, and he's calling them to sing out and let the inhabitants of Sila sing for joy.

To have the reality of what God is proclaiming in your heart, into the depths of your heart, so that it turns into a song of joy, is really what God is looking for. What does the Lord God want but our hearts?

He wants our entire attention. And so when you've heard this message and it becomes understood and it becomes part of you, you cannot help but sing out. Even the rocks sing out. All of God's creation sings out in obedience and recollection of who he is.

So singing out for joy and giving glory to the Lord and singing praises to his name. This is what he's calling mankind toward. Everybody who hears and who receives is encouraged to sing out for joy. What happens if you do have the truth of God in you and you remain silent?

What happens?

It bursts forth. I mean, I'll read a book now by Michael Youssef called Empowered by Praise. It's just natural if you're filled with the Holy Spirit to want praise, huh?

The Holy Spirit is not satisfied if you do stay quiet, but I'm going to challenge you that if you do stay quiet, you're grieving the Holy Spirit and you're starting to become either numb or susceptible to the compromises that are out there.

But the other side is that God in his choice and according to his sovereignty uses humans to proclaim his glory to other humans. I mean, we know that some plant in some water, some give the harvest, okay?

We are involved and we're encouraged to sing out to the Lord and proclaim his glory to all the earth. Isaiah 45, do you have that? 40 verse 5? Yes, please.

Yes, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

All mankind gets to see that through the general revelation of God who he is. Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament show his handiwork. All of creation, all of mankind receives the general revelation and then we have the proclaimed word of God.

It's given to his people to spread out. His word is to go out and we know from God's exhortation to Abraham and then all nations will be blessed through you. This word is to go out. We are to do. Now, this is what's supposed to be going on at the beginning of this passage.

And then the substance and the authority behind it is in verse 13 and Bob, I'm going to ask if you would get Psalm 27 ready and Kristen, I know how to say your name now, get Deuteronomy 20 verse 4. If you would get that ready, give me 13 again.

The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war. He stirs up his zeal. He cries out, he shouts aloud. He shows himself mighty against his foes.

I love the way this mighty man, this mighty, mighty God and the emphasis, the picture of battle that's going on. Why does he use the imagery of him as God being involved, being a mighty man, being a mighty force in battle?

Why does he use that imagery?

Because he hates sin. He hates sin, he's going to destroy it.

He hates sin, he's going to destroy it. I'm going to put a, you get a limit on how many times you can talk so other people talk.

Too.

You're too good. You're too good, brother.

You get in a room and you know that this guy's got all the answers so you're afraid to talk. So I'm going to put, I'm going to put a gag order on him.

If you've got a light, Lord set them high under a bushel.

Oh man, did he just, did he just, oh man.

Well you're right, just.

Everybody's got a light.

Everybody has a gift and I want to hear what they have to say.

Thank you.

Why else is God described as a mighty man of war? This is an important understanding, oh by the way.

Well there's a spiritual battle on earth.

Absolutely. Absolutely. We are, we are in the middle of spiritual warfare. Pastor Jeff and I were talking this morning about things that are going on. There was a specific individual, but you know what?

We got the Holy Spirit, all that other kind of stuff. God's got it. God's got it. He is mighty in battle and how is he recorded here responding when the conflict comes? Read verse 13 again and I will rudely stop you.

Okay.

The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal.

Did you hear that? God gets emotionally stirred up in the battle. Now we know this all started out when Lucifer was in heaven. I will make myself like the most high. We know that and he's taken down to earth and then it continues as Lucifer deceives Eve and Adam just willingly goes along with the whole thing and through Adam all men sin.

We know this to be true and that don't worry about he who can harm your body, but he who can harm your soul. And so when God in his love and his mercy sees what's going on and there is spiritual warfare, I read this to say he emotionally with zeal gets involved.

That doesn't mean we're going to follow him who is we're going to see as we go on down here, but we got a God who is definitely on our side. Psalm 27 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Put that one on your refrigerator this week. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

I just emailed that to Loretta this morning.

Wow, that's powerful. Yeah, that's powerful. It is easy to get discouraged if we're thinking about what's going on in the world. I gotta believe, what was the name of the one pastor that got arrested up in Canada?

You had it this morning, forget it.

Art Palowski.

And he got arrested because he kept the light shining in his church. And then more recently, there's another pastor who has received specific words that he is supposed to read from the pulpit that comport with the message that the government wants put out.

And he said no, he said no, putting himself again in danger. Whom shall I fear?

Nobody.

Now, can I get arrested? Sure, you know, then I'll have prison ministry, right?

There you go.

I think you said that. It was MacArthur. But you've also said it. I don't think Jen really wants you going.

No, probably not.

Probably not. Deuteronomy 20, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 24, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory.

That's it. This is the same God that we just read about who would zeal with emotion, recognizes the spiritual battle that we're on. And he is the mighty one who has the victory. He is the one that is going with you, specifically with you.

And I will tell you with, I believe, authority in the Scripture that if you're feeling attacked, you can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go away. Satan cannot stand when Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

All right.

You're going to give me 14 through 16. And we're going to read all three of these. 2 Peter, Karen. I think that's Karen, right?

Okay.

Good job. Karen, you got 2 Peter. Ecclesiastes, Carol. And Lynn, you've got Joel. We're actually going to have a reading out of Joel. You get a lot of time to find it.

All right.

Except that's Lynn.

Huh?

Except that's Lynn.

What did I call her? Carol.

She's Carol.

Did I say Lynn? Did I not say Lynn?

All right.

I know.

That's Lynn.

I knew you meant.

You're doing great.

So I'm reading 14 to 16.

Yes. All right. Yes.

Thank you, Jerry.

Yeah.

Oh, you're Jeff. Anybody who read his pastor band, you know what that's all about. Are you Jeff?

Okay.

For a long time, I have held my peace. I have kept still and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in labor. I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation.

I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know. In paths that they have not known. I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light.

The rough places into level ground. These are the things I do. And I do not forsake them.

Two words I put in this section. One is forbearance and long suffering. Actually, there's going to be three words. Forbearance, long suffering, and then mercy. We're going to see his response to the disobedient.

But then his response to those who willingly follow what he has to say. Now it starts out by saying, I've kept my peace for a long time. Then I have to ask the question, why? Why did he keep his peace for a long time?

Long suffering.

Long suffering. There is a reality that God is going to have his way. We know this. That's our blessed hope. I mean, we can look to the end of times. But then there is also, I think, a time when God interjects in history and makes his point known.

But yet he is long suffering. 2 Peter 3.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Who is going to receive God's wrath? Who receives God's wrath?

The unrepentant.

The unrepentant. Now, we're going to just take a quick reality check because just because God disciplines us doesn't mean his wrath is on us. He preached on that four weeks ago. His believers who are being disobedient will be chastised and disciplined for restoration, not for condemnation.

For the world who has chosen to not accept. And Hebrews is such an interesting book because of the warnings. And the warnings, you have an individual who has all of the opportunities to hear and respond and maybe gets right up to it, but then just pulls away.

And for the person, you should have known it was there, you've tasted it, but you never took part of it and they fall away. Those warnings, the wrath of God is on those kind of people. For those who make it through the entrance, there's going to be discipline and correction.

But God remains silent for a time to give time for people to hear. Ecclesiastes 11. Carol, you have that?

Barbara.

Barbara, I'm sorry. Barbara, do you have that? Okay, I'm bad. Do you want to pull out Ecclesiastes 11?

Okay, you called me by a different name.

I did.

Ecclesiastes 8?

That's okay. I answered all the names.

That's okay. What would Gibbs have done to DiNozzo right about now? I'm going to slap him upside the head.

I'm so lost. Who's Gibbs?

It's a TV show. I confess I've watched it. Go ahead.

Ecclesiastes 8.

11 to 13.

11 to 13. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Okay, now before you go on, here's a reality. For the world who has perhaps heard this message of condemnation judgment to come and not feeling it, and they feel emboldened to say, it ain't ever going to come.

I'm fine.

Right.

I'm just going to go on with life because I'm me. All right, go ahead.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked. Neither will he prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear before God.

In this economy of God, you're either a believer or you're not. There's no in between. Then for the believer, we have things like, I'm going to cry out like a woman in labor. I am definitely going to proclaim gasping.

I will lay waste the mountains and the hills. I'll dry up the vegetation, turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools. There is a coming time where God is going to execute the judgment that has to be executed.

And although I may seem quiet right now, don't take my silence to be interpreted as I'm not going to do it at all because I am. Now, the first half of this little passage here is a warning and a proclamation against those who choose to not believe and to believe that his silence is an indication of that's fine.

But then the second half of this is so good. Give me 16 again.

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know in paths that they have not known. I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

Okay, them in there is still the unbeliever, but the unbeliever who's ready to surrender and obey. It says in the way they don't know in the past they have not known. I will guide them. And it says I'm going to turn the darkness into light.

The imagery there is for that individual who has not yet found out, he is going to call them. He is going to show them. He is going to guide them. In fact, he's going to turn darkness into light. This is a grace.

This is an imagery of what happens when grace comes into the soul. And you see, because he's going to turn darkness into light, all the rough places are going to be turned into level ground. Joel 2 .13, Lynn.

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

It's not enough to externally say, I am a bum, I've sinned. It's not enough to say, these are bad things. That's the external, rending the garments. God wants it to get into your heart, into the very essence of who you are, and to say, yeah, I'm a sinner.

And we go back into the passages of Romans and Ephesians and Titus. That's the beginning point saying, yes, I am. And he says, I'm going to take them places they've never known. They've never recognized what they've done wrong.

I'm going to guide them, and I'm going to turn that darkness.

Yes.

It just is interesting to me in thinking of the character of God and what we should emulate in thinking about those that are latent in their sin, to see them as those walking in darkness. And that gives you a compassionate response that as the Lord is slow to anger, so should we be compassionate toward them, though maybe disgusted in their approach and standing in righteousness, but still with a heart of compassion for them, because they just don't understand.

You are so right. In 1 Corinthians 5, there's a teaching about sexual immorality that has infiltrated the church. And there's teaching that don't let this be. That individual who is doing this, and we're talking a believer right now, this believer who has compromised their standing with God, deal with them to the point of taking them out of the church so that their soul may be restored, okay?

And then at the end of it says, oh, by the way, for the unbeliever, none of this applies. We don't treat unbelievers because they don't know. You're absolutely right. Now, that being said, you've heard the saying, love the sinner, but not the sin.

And so the person who's caught up in this thing, who is an unbeliever, we're not, we don't get to get out of jail free card that says we can just push them aside. I don't associate with that type. Well, Jesus did, right?

But that doesn't say that we compromise and say, you know what, you're doing that. That's fine. We don't do that. We stand up for what's true. And I love this at the end of verse 16. These things I do and I do not forsake them.

We have a God who is faithful. He's long suffering. He's merciful and he's going to call those whom he's going to call and he's going to do it with love. Give me verse 17, please.

They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, you are our gods.

What happens to those who trust in idols? It says it right here.

Turn back.

They're put to shame. This is an amazing thing because idols in one context can be totem poles or, you know, little monkeys, whatever it could be that they carved out. But in our culture, idols look different.

Idols can look like the job. It can look like my stature. It can look like my, you know, whatever. And it doesn't feel like right now those who are trusting in their idol are feeling any shame, but they will.

That's the promise out of this thing. He says, I don't forsake them. You know what? Those people who are following after the stuff, who do put their trust in idols, it isn't going to go good for them.

It's true. They are there, but it's true that they are there. But I am God. Psalm 97 talks how idol worshipers actually boast about what they have made and what they have. But then in Leviticus 2630, little Ricky, if you would get Leviticus 2630, the depths of the impact of having an idol in your life are more than just making you compromise, making you step away from your faithfulness to God.

And I don't believe that there are sins that we're freed of, even though we're believers. There are sins that are going to ache after the heart of God and that we're going to be disciplined for. Go ahead and give me Leviticus 2630.

I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

The reality for the non-believer, this is devastating, and this is ultimately going to be condemnation. But for the believer to think that something I'm doing would distress the heart of God should just be enough motivation to not do it, to have something that we do to be so abhorrent to the Father.

I don't even want to go there. But now we go into Israel, the deaf and the blind. 2 Corinthians 4, Bob, I'm going to ask you to get that one ready, please. Give me verses 18 to 20.

Hear you deaf, and look you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I sent? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as a servant of the Lord? He sees many things, but does not observe them.

His ears are open, and he does not speak. But he does not hear.

Although you have eyes, what are you?

Blind.

And although you have ears, what can't you do?

Hear.

This is a sad thing because the message of God is there. The general revelation of God is there. The law has been given. The messages have been given. The teachings. Not this entire book of Isaiah, the messages have been very, very clear.

Problems, condemnation, promise of the Messiah. Problems, condemnation, promise. Which one would you rather want? But he's saying that I've given you all. I've given you all. And you have eyes, but you can't see it.

You can't perceive it. And I've given you the words. What are the obstacles that get in the way of our ability to see or our ability to hear? What are the obstacles that get in our way? Our self-centeredness.

That is probably the one that I wrote first. Yeah, our self-centeredness.

Or distraction.

Distraction.

What are... Give me a distraction. What is a distraction? What I'm doing right now is a distraction. You're watching me do this and stuff.

Anything.

Yeah, it gets your focus off.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tell it. Okay, there's a distraction. Oh, boy. There's a distraction and a deception. How about messages that sound good, but they're not? And you could think about social justice. There is so much that you could teach about social justice that you would nod your head and say, yeah, we really ought to be concerned about those who are disenfranchised or those who are, you know...

But if you listen to the entire message and Marxist socialism in there, it's just gradually distracting you. So you don't hear truth. You can't see truth. It says in John 3 .19 that evil hates the light.

And so things that are against God, things that are things we should... They're generally going to... They're going to be in the darkness. They're not going to be in the light where everything that they have can be exposed.

Second Corinthians 4. Did I give you that?

Yes.

Second Corinthians 4 .3 through 4. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.