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Isaiah Msg 24 40 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In our survey study of the Bible, we have come
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Speaker 1: to the first, among the seventeen prophetic books in the
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Speaker 1: Old Testament, we have come to Isaiah. What a great
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Speaker 1: man he was? What Michelangelo is among the artists. What
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Speaker 1: Beethoven is among the musical composers. What Lincoln is among
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Speaker 1: the presidents. What Spurgeon is among the preachers. What Lombardy
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Speaker 1: and Wooden are among coaches? Isaiah is among the prophets,
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Speaker 1: He is in many ways the best of the bunch.
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Speaker 1: And perhaps that needs to be explained lest you think
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Speaker 1: we're playing unfair favorites. He is the best educated, He
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Speaker 1: is the most intelligent and articulate, and except perhaps for Daniel,
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Speaker 1: he is the most influential of all the prophets. Some men,
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Speaker 1: some women are called to minister in obscure, low profile
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Speaker 1: positions in life, and may God honor their efforts. They work,
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Speaker 1: They labor in places of obscurity, in forgotten spots across
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Speaker 1: the world, and perhaps they are far in number above
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Speaker 1: those who minister in high profile places. Isaiah was among
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Speaker 1: the latter. His calling was to minister in a place
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Speaker 1: of high visibility and influential dignity. He is a blue
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Speaker 1: blood among the prophets. He is in every sense of
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Speaker 1: the word, an aristocrat. His Hebrew is the finest of
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Speaker 1: classic ancient Hebrew, and anyone who studies this book in
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Speaker 1: depth realizes quickly that the man has a style that
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Speaker 1: is altogether unique eloquent, it is safe to say, but,
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Speaker 1: as is true of most the prophets, he lived a
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Speaker 1: misunderstood life. Greatness often accompanies a misunderstood person, and Isaiah
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Speaker 1: is no exception. We need something of an introduction to
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Speaker 1: his times to appreciate what he wrote. To do that,
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Speaker 1: I'd like you to turn to the book with me
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Speaker 1: and look into the first verses of several chapters. Early
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Speaker 1: in the book, Chapter one, verse one, the vision of Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: the son of Amos, concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he
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Speaker 1: saw during the reigns of Usiah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah,
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Speaker 1: kings of Judah. Here is a prophet who ministered in
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Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem, which was the capital city of
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Speaker 1: the nation Judah. Quite a place to minister. Reminds me
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Speaker 1: of the days of Peter Marshall in Washington, d c.
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Speaker 1: When he impacted the senators and the congressmen of our land.
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Speaker 1: As he served as the chaplain in that high office
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Speaker 1: years ago. Isaiah is in that position, except even higher
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Speaker 1: than that. He has direct access to the king or
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Speaker 1: kings of the land. Chapter two, verse one. Again, look
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Speaker 1: at that first verse. The word which Isaiah, the son
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Speaker 1: of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem is repeated for
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Speaker 1: us first one of chapter three. Behold, the Lord God,
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Speaker 1: the God of Hosts, is going to remove from Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: and Judah both supply and support the whole supply of
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Speaker 1: bread and the whole supply of water. It's a prophecy
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Speaker 1: of judgment again upon a nation. Geographically, Isaiah ministered in Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: which is the capital city of the nation of Judah.
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Speaker 1: Take a moment and look on the back of the
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Speaker 1: chart that we gave you this evening, and study the
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Speaker 1: horizontal history of a segment of Hebrew history. Beginning on
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Speaker 1: the far left, we see Abraham and the patriarchs, the
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Speaker 1: seed of the Hebrew race. Beginning with Abraham. Travel to
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Speaker 1: the right, you come to Moses and Joshua in the
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Speaker 1: days of the Exodus, and then you come to the
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Speaker 1: judges and Samuel sort of a transitional person between the
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Speaker 1: judges and the kings. And then you get to the kings,
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Speaker 1: the first of whom were Saul for forty years, and
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Speaker 1: then David for forty years, and ironic though it may seem,
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Speaker 1: Solomon for another forty years. And after one hundred and
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Speaker 1: twenty years of a united kingdom, about nine hundred and
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Speaker 1: thirty BC, the nation split and experienced an awesome civil war,
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Speaker 1: not for three or four years, but for hundreds of years.
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Speaker 1: In fact, it never again came back together. Intact, some
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Speaker 1: of the people went to the north, and they became
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Speaker 1: known as the people of Israel. The capital was Samaria,
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Speaker 1: and during those two hundred and nine years there were
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Speaker 1: nineteen kings, not one of whom walked with God. Imagine
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Speaker 1: that there were prophets. There were faithful men who stood
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Speaker 1: for the truth, but the kings walked against God. Among
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Speaker 1: those prophets would be Elijah and Elisha and Amos and
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Speaker 1: men of like character. Finally, that northern kingdom fell under
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Speaker 1: Assyria in seven twenty two BC, and that great nation
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Speaker 1: of Assyria virtually obliterated those tribes. At the same time, concurrently,
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Speaker 1: in the south, for three hundred and almost fifty years,
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Speaker 1: there was another kingdom that was intact, and it was
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Speaker 1: called the Kingdom of Judah, and that's where Isaiah ministered.
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Speaker 1: That kingdom was in the southern part of that finger
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Speaker 1: of land we know today as Israel, and the capital
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Speaker 1: city was Jerusalem. Isaiah ministered to Judah in the city
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Speaker 1: of Jerusalem. That was God's calling for that good, bright,
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Speaker 1: young aristocrat during his years with four kings who reigned
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Speaker 1: during his ministry as a prophet. By the way, there
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Speaker 1: were twenty monarchs in the days of those people of Judah.
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Speaker 1: There were actually nineteen kings and one queen. There were
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Speaker 1: eight good monarchs, and there were also twelve wicked ones.
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Speaker 1: Isaiah lived and ministered among both types, the good as
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Speaker 1: well as the evil. That was his calling. Now, geographically
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Speaker 1: that was where he was located, but socially times were unusual.
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Speaker 1: And it may surprise you to know this, because we
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Speaker 1: often think of the prophets as being a threadbear and
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Speaker 1: down to their last pair of sandals, and they've got
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Speaker 1: holes in them, and you have the idea that these
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Speaker 1: men were sort of run over on the heels type fellas.
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Speaker 1: Not Isaiah. He was very well healed. He was quite
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Speaker 1: a man in affluence in education as well as an
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Speaker 1: influence his times were affluent times, not poverty times. Look
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Speaker 1: at chapter one again, verse twenty three. Well, let's take
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Speaker 1: verse twenty one down through twenty three. How the faithful
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Speaker 1: city has become a harlot. She who was full of justice.
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Speaker 1: You see things have changed. Righteousness once lodged in her,
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Speaker 1: and now murderers. Your silver has become dross, Your drink
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Speaker 1: diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves.
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Speaker 1: Everyone loves a bribe and chases after rewards. They do
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Speaker 1: not defend the orphan, nor does the widow's plea come
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Speaker 1: before them. An interesting characteristic of an affluent, indulgent people
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Speaker 1: is a lack of compassion. People who have a lot
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Speaker 1: tend to forget those who have little. The cry of
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Speaker 1: the orphan is not heard in the courts, the plea
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Speaker 1: of the widow is not acknowledged by those of affluence,
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Speaker 1: and Isaiah strikes at the heart of their indulgence. Chapter
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Speaker 1: three is another indictment, verse thirteen, talking about the social
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Speaker 1: times in which he lived. The Lord arises to contend
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Speaker 1: and stands to judge the people. The Lord enters into
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Speaker 1: judgment with the elders and princes of his people, it
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Speaker 1: is you who have devoured the vineyard. The plunder of
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Speaker 1: the poor is in your houses. Verse fifteen. What do
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Speaker 1: you mean by crushing my people and grinding the face
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Speaker 1: of the poor, declares the Lord, God of Hosts. As
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Speaker 1: is often found among places like mexic and in Central
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Speaker 1: and South America. In this kind of environment, there are
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Speaker 1: two distinct classes of people, the very very rich and
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Speaker 1: the very very poor. I was in Caracas, Venezuela, several
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Speaker 1: summers ago, and I noticed quickly, after getting through customs
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Speaker 1: and riding along in the car with missionary friends, immediately
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Speaker 1: that marked distinction between the extremely rich and the extremely poor.
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Speaker 1: You see it in Guatemala, you see it in Buenos Aires,
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Speaker 1: you see it in sections of Mexico. The extremely wealthy
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Speaker 1: extremely poor. And he indicts them for not so much
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Speaker 1: for having much, but for caring little. Verse sixteen. The
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Speaker 1: Lord said, because the daughters of Zion are proud, with
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Speaker 1: heads held high and seductive eyes, and go along with
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Speaker 1: mincing steps and tinkle the bangles on their feet. Very descriptive,
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Speaker 1: isn't it. He's been right there in the city. He's
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Speaker 1: talking about where they were. Therefore, the Lord will afflict
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Speaker 1: the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scads, and
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Speaker 1: the Lord will make their foreheads bear in that day,
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Speaker 1: speaking of judgment, the Lord will take away the beauty
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Speaker 1: of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils,
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Speaker 1: head dresses, ankle chains, sashes and perfume, boxes and amulets,
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Speaker 1: and finger rings and nose rings. All these are characteristics
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Speaker 1: of an affluent people. The Lord will look upon all
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Speaker 1: of those external things Verse twenty four, and it will
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Speaker 1: become instead of sweet perfume, it will be putrification instead
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Speaker 1: of a belt, a rope instead of well set hair,
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Speaker 1: a plucked out scalp, now that is vivid instead of
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Speaker 1: fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth, braiding instead of branding,
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Speaker 1: instead of beauty. Your men will fall by the sword,
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Speaker 1: your mighty ones in battle. I tell you, Isaiah delivered
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Speaker 1: a hard message. But that's the prophet's job. That's a
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Speaker 1: tough calling. We all sit in comfortable places and we
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Speaker 1: applaud men like Isaiah. We say right on profit do that,
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Speaker 1: say the hard thing. But how seldom we do that.
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Speaker 1: How hard it is to find someone who is willing
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Speaker 1: and in fact does stand alone. I know opinions concerning
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Speaker 1: Senator Mark hatfter Field, very and often unfortunately. He is
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Speaker 1: a marked man just by having his name mentioned. But
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Speaker 1: there is something that I cannot get away from in
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Speaker 1: this personal friend of mine, and that is this tremendous,
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Speaker 1: tremendous ability to stand alone, to stand all alone in
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Speaker 1: unpopular issues. For example, nineteen sixty six, the place was
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Speaker 1: Los Angeles. It was the annual governor's meeting for Lyndon Johnson,
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Speaker 1: the president at that time was hoping to enlist support,
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Speaker 1: and the governors of this of the land were here
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Speaker 1: in our own city to vote on a particular issue
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Speaker 1: that would that would give that political support. He writes
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Speaker 1: of this experience in his book Lonely Walk Hatfield US.
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Speaker 1: I quote Texas Governor owner John Connolly, a long time
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Speaker 1: presidential crony, told his fellow governors that their only patriotic
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Speaker 1: choice was to vote for the resolution. Several governors urged
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Speaker 1: Hatfield to get lost for a few minutes for his
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Speaker 1: own political good while the vote was taken. Rejecting the advice,
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Speaker 1: the Oregon governor remained to cast his vote. These are
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Speaker 1: his words, now, one after the other. The I vote
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Speaker 1: sounded in the hushed room. As the roll call came nearer,
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Speaker 1: the room began to seem to me like one vast
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Speaker 1: sound chamber, with the eyes pounding monotonously against the wall.
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Speaker 1: My wife, Antoinette, was in the room, sharing the moment
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Speaker 1: of trial as in a dream. I could see the
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Speaker 1: photographers methodically manipulating their cameras, making ready to close in
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Speaker 1: on me. The room was enormously quiet. When Oregon was called.
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Speaker 1: I did not know how I would sound when the
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Speaker 1: moment came to answer, I found my voice and said no.
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Speaker 1: My no was neither mean, nor bitter, nor antagonistic. It
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Speaker 1: was simply no. It was all over. Then when the
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Speaker 1: vote was tallied, as the whole room well knew, the
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Speaker 1: result was forty nine in favor, one against. When Oregonians
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Speaker 1: arose the next morning, they were greeted with newspaper headlines
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Speaker 1: like mark one others forty nine on the Vietnam War policy.
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Speaker 1: I don't care what your position wasn't a policy, but
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Speaker 1: I care a lot about whether you would have been
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Speaker 1: willing to say no if you had been there and
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Speaker 1: believed no. What an interesting nation we are raising up
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Speaker 1: among the young. It continues to baffle me how we
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Speaker 1: can fight the good fight once we know how others
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Speaker 1: are fighting, but we care very much about the group,
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Speaker 1: and then we make our position known. Rare are the
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Speaker 1: individuals who will say yes when they believe yes, regardless
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Speaker 1: of the roomful saying no, or no when they believe no,
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Speaker 1: regardless of a room full of yeses. But you see,
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Speaker 1: that's prophetic conviction. Isaiah continued to do it socially. He
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Speaker 1: was living in affluent times where people were indulged and
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Speaker 1: loved being indulged, and wanted nobody pulling a guilt trip
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Speaker 1: on them. And yet God was telling Isaiah, tell them
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Speaker 1: the truth, man, tell them the truth. So we did.
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Speaker 1: He was, if I may compare him, so the hat
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Speaker 1: feel of his day in an altogether different issue, Just
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Speaker 1: like you are that one vote in your sphere of influence.
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Speaker 1: You may never win the majority hearing, You may never
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Speaker 1: even become popular, but I assure you you will impact
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Speaker 1: lives more by standing for your convictions than you will
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Speaker 1: ever impact by going along with the crowd. Stand firm.
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Speaker 1: If you miss that in our study of the prophets,
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Speaker 1: you will miss the major lesson of these strong, gristly
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Speaker 1: kind of men who continued to make people uncomfortable well religiously.
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Speaker 1: It was a nation of idolatry. They had adopted the
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Speaker 1: Eastern cults. They had slipped away from the monotheism of
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Speaker 1: the God of the Hebrews, and they had begun to
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Speaker 1: dance with the polytheistic concept of the heathen God. The
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Speaker 1: last half of chapter five is a chapter of woes.
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Speaker 1: Woe unto this, woe unto that. Pick up in verse eleven,
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Speaker 1: you'll get the picture. Woe to those who rise early
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Speaker 1: in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who
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Speaker 1: stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them.
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Speaker 1: And their banquets are accompanied by liar and harp, and
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Speaker 1: tambourine and flute, and by wine, but they do not
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Speaker 1: pay attention to the deeds of the Lord. Says this
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Speaker 1: incisive thinker Isaiah. I notice that the banquets are filled
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Speaker 1: with all of the fine things of the court, but
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Speaker 1: when the things of God are mentioned, they don't paying
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Speaker 1: attention to that. They take care of the last minute details,
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Speaker 1: right down to the finest taste and class kind of stuff,
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Speaker 1: but when it comes to the things of God, they
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Speaker 1: turn a deaf ear verse thirteen. Therefore, my people go
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Speaker 1: into exile for their lack of knowledge, and their honorable
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Speaker 1: men are famished and their multitude is parched with thirst.
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Speaker 1: This is an eloquent pen from a well trained man
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Speaker 1: who stood alone hard times in which to minister. In
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Speaker 1: many ways, it's easier to minister in a depression than
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Speaker 1: an affluence. Interestingly, if you check the cornerstones of some
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Speaker 1: of the great churches of our land, you will find
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Speaker 1: that many of them were placed there in the days
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Speaker 1: of the depression. Many of the churches flourished in depression times.
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Speaker 1: But affluence comes and with it all of the byproducts.
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Speaker 1: In the backwash of affluence, self indulgence. Who needs them,
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Speaker 1: don't call me, I'll call you kind of an attitude
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Speaker 1: toward God. You see, we forget God not when we
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Speaker 1: are in need. We forget God when we think we
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Speaker 1: have no needs. So Isaiah was called upon to remind
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Speaker 1: the people that their need was great, even though their
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Speaker 1: blindness was great. His call is in chapter six, and
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Speaker 1: you must look at that to appreciate everything Isaiah says
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Speaker 1: and does. His friend Eusiah has died, and he's mourning
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Speaker 1: the death of Usiah. He has no doubt come to
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Speaker 1: the place where he meets with God in a quiet spot.
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Speaker 1: He calls it the Temple, and while there God gives
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Speaker 1: him a vision. He says, it was in the year
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Speaker 1: of King Eusiah's death. I saw the Lord sitting on
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Speaker 1: a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his
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Speaker 1: robe filling the temple. You've all seen brides as they
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Speaker 1: come to the altar for marriage, and they have a
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Speaker 1: long train on their gown. In this case, he saw
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Speaker 1: the Lord in this long robe and the train fill
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Speaker 1: the floor of the temple. It's a picture of omnipresence.
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Speaker 1: He was all over that place, and he also saw
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Speaker 1: those that ministered to the Living God. They are called seraphim.
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Speaker 1: Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, with two
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Speaker 1: each covered his face, with two each covered his feet,
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Speaker 1: and with two they flew. Oh, that must have been
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Speaker 1: a sight. Fluttering all around this throne room. Are these
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Speaker 1: angelic creatures, you know, covering their face, covering their feet,
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Speaker 1: flying around this room. There is a whole world of
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Speaker 1: angelic beings that would blow our minds if we could
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Speaker 1: see them. They are spirit beings, and our physical eyes
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Speaker 1: can't conceive, or can't perceive, of the of the invisible
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Speaker 1: sp world. They're all about us. Isaiah's veil was lifted
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Speaker 1: from his eyes that he could see the angelic creatures.
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Speaker 1: And they and tifanal voice said to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,
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Speaker 1: Holy Holy. Bouncing back and forth across the temple floor,
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Speaker 1: they sounded forth these words of infinitely holy. Is the Lord,
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Speaker 1: God of Hosts, says the whole earth is full of
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Speaker 1: his glory. They sang, and they said, and they said,
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Speaker 1: and returned back and forth. And here sat the Lord
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Speaker 1: high and lifted up. And Isaiah the prophet watched this happen.
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Speaker 1: He suddenly realized he had no business saying woe unto
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Speaker 1: the people. He needed to say whoe unto me? Verse five,
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Speaker 1: whoa is me? For I am ruined. I am a
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Speaker 1: man of unclean lips, and I among a people of
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Speaker 1: unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, the Lord
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Speaker 1: of Hosts. I am convinced, as we glibly talk about
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Speaker 1: seeing the Lord, that our first reaction, were we to
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Speaker 1: see him while still earthbound, would be an instant realization
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Speaker 1: of our lack of holiness. We would see him in
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Speaker 1: his impeccable purity, and we would immediately be made aware
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Speaker 1: of those splotches of our lives needing cleansing. In Isaiah's
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Speaker 1: first response, my lips, my lips are unclean. And the
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Speaker 1: seraphim heard him, and one came. One seraph came with
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Speaker 1: a coal, a hot coal from off the altar, and
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Speaker 1: touched his lips with that hot coal. He said, I
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Speaker 1: was forgiven. I was cleansed. He took away the uncleanness
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Speaker 1: of my lips. And then the Lord asks that searching question,
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Speaker 1: whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Verse eight?
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Speaker 1: And I said, here am I send me right now?
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Speaker 1: Perhaps you've heard the old amitter story of the preacher
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Speaker 1: the preaching on going to heaven, and said, how many
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Speaker 1: of you would like to go to heaven to night?
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Speaker 1: And everybody in the place raised their hand. The little
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Speaker 1: boy up in the balcony, how many of you would
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Speaker 1: like to go to heaven? Tried it again, everybody but
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Speaker 1: that one little fellow in the balcony. He's always said
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Speaker 1: to him, son, do you want to go to heaven?
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Speaker 1: Little boy said yes, someday. But I thought you was
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Speaker 1: getting up a load right now. That's what Isaiah's response is.
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Speaker 1: I'm ready now, I'll go right now. And notice there's
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Speaker 1: no geography in this statement, I'll go anywhere anytime. Easy,
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Speaker 1: isn't it to say, Lord, I'm available, and I'm yours,
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Speaker 1: and I'll be your messenger from Santa Barbara to San
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Speaker 1: Diego anywhere. This place is the great place of need.
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Speaker 1: I'm available. Like a friend of mine. In Seminary, praed Lord,
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Speaker 1: send me to the Jews, and he headed Miami Beach.
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Speaker 1: I'll go if you'll keep me in an area. I've
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Speaker 1: got news for you. When you mark off a spot
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Speaker 1: and say I'll go everywhere, but there, hang on, there
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Speaker 1: is where you are going. I've sat all my life
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Speaker 1: three places I will never be serving the Lord as
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Speaker 1: I see it now, Texas, New England and California. I
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Speaker 1: have served the Lord in Texas, New England, and California.
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Speaker 1: My wife and I continually laugh as we say, Lord,
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Speaker 1: we will go to Alaska. But we say that because
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Speaker 1: as soon as we say we are not available for Alaska,
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Speaker 1: that's where we're going next. We're going. We're available anytime, Soudan, Sahara, Alaska, Antarctice,
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Speaker 1: any of those places. Isaiah says, in effect, anywhere I'll go,
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Speaker 1: you send me. I'm available. You know why he said that,
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Speaker 1: because he had a cleansed life, completely clean, completely available.
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Speaker 1: His calling was clear by the way the Lord told
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Speaker 1: him to stay right where he was. That's often the
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Speaker 1: hardest place to be. It's a lot more exciting to
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Speaker 1: pack up and go to some other spot where they
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Speaker 1: don't know you, but to stay right where you are
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Speaker 1: and to count for Christ that is. That is the
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Speaker 1: highest of callings and the hardest place where they know
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Speaker 1: you the best. Go and tell this people verse eleven,
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Speaker 1: like all of us, he said, Lord, how long? It
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Speaker 1: reminds me of Tobaccock. If you ever take the time
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Speaker 1: to read the prophecy of Habaccock, you remember that things
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Speaker 1: were bad. And he began to say, Lord, what are
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Speaker 1: you doing? How long is this going to happen? The
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Speaker 1: Lord says, you would not believe it if I told you, No,
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Speaker 1: I believe it. Tell me I believe it. The Lord said, okay,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to do this and this and this, and
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Speaker 1: Tobacco said, I can't believe it. I am grateful that
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Speaker 1: God does not answer our questions like how long you're
27:32
Speaker 1: the minister for me? As long as I have the
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Speaker 1: doors open? In fact, verse eleven, you're the minister until
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Speaker 1: judgment falls, until the cities are desolate and devastated without
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Speaker 1: an inhabitant, until the houses are without people. Picture that,
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Speaker 1: and the land is utterly desolate. You hang in there, Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: as you watch the nation fall, you keep standing for me.
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Speaker 1: I'll tell you you'll get a big dose of determination
28:05
Speaker 1: the longer you're with us. Through the study of the prophets.
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Speaker 1: They served in strange and tumultus times, but they stood
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Speaker 1: alone against incredible odds. His ministry, by the way, was
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Speaker 1: before Judah, and it was a ministry of unique style, eloquence,
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Speaker 1: and significance. Let's consider the whole book before we go
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Speaker 1: any further. We just kind of need to get an overview,
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Speaker 1: and I want to give you a little tip on
28:28
Speaker 1: understanding the whole Book of Isaiah, at least an overview.
28:32
Speaker 1: I stop and think about something. The whole Bible is
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Speaker 1: made up of. How many books? That's sixty six books.
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Speaker 1: How many books in the Old Testament at twenty forty five? Wonderful,
28:49
Speaker 1: It's great to have those answers coming back. Thirty nine
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Speaker 1: in the Old Testament, how many in the New Testament?
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Speaker 1: All right, twenty seven, you've got it. Thirty nine in
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Speaker 1: the Old Testament twenty seven of the New Testament. Minute
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Speaker 1: Isaiah has how many chapters sixty six. The first part
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Speaker 1: of the Book of Isaiah is thirty nine chapters. The
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Speaker 1: last part of the Book of Isaiah is twenty seven chapters.
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Speaker 1: Back to the Bible. In the books of the Old Testament,
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Speaker 1: the emphasis is on the law and judgment upon those
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Speaker 1: who disobey the law. So in Isaiah, in the first
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Speaker 1: thirty nine chapters, the emphasis is on the judgment of
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Speaker 1: God because of disobedience. In the last part of Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: the last twenty seven chapters, the emphasis is, as in
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Speaker 1: the Bible, on the grace of God in providing deliverance
29:42
Speaker 1: and mercy. It's a very helpful way to view the
29:47
Speaker 1: Book of Isaiah, just to think about its being sort
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Speaker 1: of a type of the Bible. Within the Bible, sixty
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Speaker 1: six books, two parts, two different styles are emphasies. Just
30:01
Speaker 1: for a moment. By the way, it would be good
30:03
Speaker 1: to understand that some of the most glorious and vivid
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Speaker 1: pictures of Messiah are found in Isaiah, in some ways
30:13
Speaker 1: more picturesque than even the Gospels themselves. Isaiah writes of
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Speaker 1: Messiah as though he literally saw him upon a cross
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Speaker 1: or suffering as the servant. You cannot make a thorough
30:29
Speaker 1: study of your Christology in your study of scripture if
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Speaker 1: you miss Isaiah, because here are some hints and facts
30:37
Speaker 1: found nowhere else quite like this. For a few moments,
30:42
Speaker 1: think about the judgment of God and watch the nation's
30:46
Speaker 1: pass in review. Chapter thirteen, verse one, Judgment upon Babylon
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Speaker 1: thirteen one the oracle or it might be better rendered the
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Speaker 1: burden concerning Babylon, which Isaiah saw. So for chapter thirteen
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Speaker 1: and the better part of chapter fourteen. He talks about
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Speaker 1: judgment on Babylon. Look at fourteen twenty eight, in the
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Speaker 1: year the king AHAs died. This burden came. Do not
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Speaker 1: rejoice o Pelistia. So from here till the end of
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Speaker 1: the chapter Judgment on Felistia. Chapter fifteen, verse one, the
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Speaker 1: burden concerning Moab, and he describes judgment falling on that
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Speaker 1: land seventeen one. The burden concerning Damascus. He talks about
31:38
Speaker 1: that strategic area being under the judgment of God nineteen one,
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Speaker 1: very vivid words. By the way, The burden concerning Egypt.
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Speaker 1: The Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is
31:50
Speaker 1: about to come to Egypt. I've often thought wonder what
31:53
Speaker 1: it would have been like to have been living in
31:55
Speaker 1: Egypt and seen that written against my nation. The Lord
31:59
Speaker 1: is coming in the clouds, and he's coming on a
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Speaker 1: swift chariot. I think I might have looked at times
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Speaker 1: to see if I could hear him coming. Judgment was
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Speaker 1: sure as sure as the very word of God twenty
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Speaker 1: one one Judgment upon the wilderness of the Sea, which
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Speaker 1: perhaps has reference to that sea country, the south country
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Speaker 1: the Negev chapter twenty one, verse thirteen, The Burden about Arabia,
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Speaker 1: and he talks about judgment there. What he's doing is
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Speaker 1: surrounding the land of Palestine with words of judgment from God.
32:39
Speaker 1: He's telling him, you won't escape either. You've walked away
32:44
Speaker 1: from God. You will suffer the consequences. Speaking of Arabia
32:48
Speaker 1: reminds me just as an aside of my brother's comment
32:52
Speaker 1: to me recently. My brother Orville, who ministers as a
32:55
Speaker 1: missionary in Buenos Aires, is home for a few weeks
33:00
Speaker 1: and we're enjoying his family, and he told me that
33:02
Speaker 1: one of his daughters, my niece, is with her physician
33:07
Speaker 1: husband in Saudi Arabia. He's doing a residency there. And
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Speaker 1: a unique kind of maybe it'd be Betters call it
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Speaker 1: internship where he ministers physically to those that are building
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Speaker 1: the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, and he says, their children
33:25
Speaker 1: have an interesting experience. They live in the open desert,
33:29
Speaker 1: if you can imagine, and it is one hundred and
33:32
Speaker 1: forty degrees in the shade, and there is not much
33:36
Speaker 1: shade in Saudi Arabia if you take the time to look.
33:40
Speaker 1: So they sleep in the daytime under tremendous tons of
33:46
Speaker 1: air conditioning, and then there are lights that burn all night,
33:50
Speaker 1: and the children play at night so they can bear
33:56
Speaker 1: the bear up in that land where they're It's a
34:00
Speaker 1: phenomenal existence. You would think that alone would be judgment
34:05
Speaker 1: enough on Arabia, wouldn't you? I would twenty three, verse one,
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Speaker 1: the Oracle concerning Tire wail Oh Ships of Tarshish, as
34:17
Speaker 1: he describes this judgment. If you want to know what
34:20
Speaker 1: is it like to be under the judgment of God,
34:23
Speaker 1: look at chapter twenty four, verse one. And it is severe. Behold,
34:29
Speaker 1: the Lord lays the earth waist, devastates it distorts its
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Speaker 1: surface and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be
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Speaker 1: like the priest, and the servant like his master, the
34:45
Speaker 1: maid like her mistress, the buyer like the cellar, the
34:50
Speaker 1: lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. When
34:54
Speaker 1: God comes in and God deals with people, they do
34:57
Speaker 1: a flip flop, and one who unce rose high in
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Speaker 1: the pinnacle of influence suddenly is level to a place
35:05
Speaker 1: of nothingness. Even the creditor will be like the debtor.
35:11
Speaker 1: Wouldn't that be a pleasure to see that happen? Sometimes
35:14
Speaker 1: the earth will be completely laid waste, completely despoiled. For
35:19
Speaker 1: the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers,
35:26
Speaker 1: the world fades and withers, The exalted of the people
35:30
Speaker 1: of the earth fade away. You and I have experienced,
35:39
Speaker 1: in small measure something of the discipline of God, and
35:44
Speaker 1: those are our most awful memories. But we cannot fathom
35:51
Speaker 1: the full bore judgment of God on the earth. You
35:58
Speaker 1: can't fathom it. Babilon, in all of its splendor, was
36:02
Speaker 1: one day leveled. And if you check the encyclopedia, like
36:07
Speaker 1: I did recently, you will find that it's described by
36:11
Speaker 1: one scholar, is nothing more than a whistle stop on
36:14
Speaker 1: the Bagdad railway leveled to nothing. And yet it was
36:22
Speaker 1: in Babylon where one of the wonders of the world
36:25
Speaker 1: was built nothing. Isaiah stood in this unenviable spot and said,
36:34
Speaker 1: it's coming. It's coming. Believe me, it's coming. You kings,
36:41
Speaker 1: don't believe me. God will not forever wink at wrong.
36:50
Speaker 1: Chapter thirty nine there is an interesting dialogue between the
36:53
Speaker 1: king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah. This dialogue is a
37:02
Speaker 1: sort of an ache in the prophet's heart because the
37:06
Speaker 1: king had let the enemy in the land to survey
37:10
Speaker 1: the strategic treasury. Hezekiah has been allowed to live, and
37:17
Speaker 1: he's recovered from what was to be a mortal illness.
37:22
Speaker 1: God graciously gave him fifteen years, and in a rather
37:25
Speaker 1: interesting twist of events, the king of Babylon came to
37:29
Speaker 1: visit him with his entourage. Of course, we know now
37:33
Speaker 1: that Babylon was checking out the land in light of
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Speaker 1: conquering it, but Hezekiah was vulnerable verse two of chapter
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Speaker 1: thirty nine. He was even pleased, and he showed them
37:43
Speaker 1: all his treasure house, the silver and the gold, and
37:47
Speaker 1: the spices, and the precious oil in his whole armory,
37:51
Speaker 1: and all that was found in the treasuries. There was
37:54
Speaker 1: nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that
37:57
Speaker 1: Hezekiah didn't show him. It's like inviting the Russians or
38:02
Speaker 1: the Chinese over to see all of the strategic air
38:04
Speaker 1: command posts, to see all the security spots in the
38:07
Speaker 1: land of America, to visit all the places of security
38:11
Speaker 1: in Washington, d c. Look it all over, and make
38:13
Speaker 1: special notes of it, and then say bon voyage as
38:15
Speaker 1: they go home. Hezekiah did that very unwisely. Isaiah came
38:22
Speaker 1: to him and said, verse three, what did these men say,
38:27
Speaker 1: and from where have they come to you? Hezekiah says,
38:32
Speaker 1: they have come to be from a far country, from Babylon.
38:35
Speaker 1: And a chill went up Isaiah's spine. He already knew
38:40
Speaker 1: that prophecy concerning Babylon. He knew that this land of
38:44
Speaker 1: Judah would fall into the hands of Babylon. Isaiah said,
38:47
Speaker 1: as it were in verse five, write your will, Hezekiah,
38:52
Speaker 1: hear the word of the Lord of Hosts. Behold, the
38:56
Speaker 1: days are coming when all that is in your house
38:58
Speaker 1: and all that your fathers have laid up in or
39:00
Speaker 1: to this day, shall be carried away to Babylon. Nothing
39:03
Speaker 1: shall be left says the Lord. Isaiah says, Hezekiah, you
39:06
Speaker 1: made a damnable error. You have let them in, and
39:11
Speaker 1: it's the first stage in the process of time when
39:13
Speaker 1: they will ultimately conquer our land. Hezekiah must have sighed
39:19
Speaker 1: a heavy, grievous sigh as he said goodbye to Isaiah
39:24
Speaker 1: that day. Suddenly there is a strange turn of events,
39:29
Speaker 1: almost as though that's the death knell sounded against Judah.
39:35
Speaker 1: Some scholars would tell us that another man wrote the
39:38
Speaker 1: last twenty seven chapters forty through sixty six. There is
39:42
Speaker 1: the whole critical analysis of the Deutero Isaiah, as though
39:47
Speaker 1: another man came and penned these last twenty seven chapters. No,
39:53
Speaker 1: the conservative pinion is the correct one. There is one.
39:56
Speaker 1: Isaiah writes with a different style. Nevertheless, writes with a
40:03
Speaker 1: whole different emphasis in mind. Now it's comfort, not judgment.
40:09
Speaker 1: Now it is the promise of God to his people,
40:12
Speaker 1: not judgment against the nations. If you love music, then
40:17
Speaker 1: you know that George Frederick Handle dipped deeply into these
40:23
Speaker 1: chapters to find the text for Messiah a peace that
40:27
Speaker 1: we enjoy at the Christmas season every year. For example,
40:30
Speaker 1: the tenor aria begins, shall I sing it no comfort,
40:34
Speaker 1: Oh comfort my people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem,
40:41
Speaker 1: call to her that her warfare has ended. The war
40:44
Speaker 1: is over, Peace has come, Messiah has come. The land
40:48
Speaker 1: will flourish and bud and bloom. The King is on
40:52
Speaker 1: the throne, Israel is brought into the land. Promises are
40:56
Speaker 1: to be fulfilled. Now there's rejoicing as he prophetically sees
41:02
Speaker 1: in the mountain peak of the Millennium, the coming of
41:05
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God, where Christ himself will rule in Rain.
41:10
Speaker 1: And for another twenty seven chapters there is a supreme
41:14
Speaker 1: illustration of Christ on the throne, of his land and
41:19
Speaker 1: of his people. There's a slippage from judgment and a
41:25
Speaker 1: turning to blessing, and the whole latter half of Isaiah,
41:29
Speaker 1: or the last twenty seven chapters flooded with this. The
41:33
Speaker 1: servant poems are found in this section of vivid expressions
41:37
Speaker 1: of the Messiah are here as found nowhere else. Until
41:41
Speaker 1: finally the final scene of the Millennium. I'd like you
41:45
Speaker 1: to churn to turn to chapter fifty five, because it
41:48
Speaker 1: is here I want to close. However, before I do,
41:52
Speaker 1: I want to give you some chapters to study on
41:55
Speaker 1: your own. People who survey a book often say, I'd
41:57
Speaker 1: like to have three or four or five chapters that
42:00
Speaker 1: would be good for my own personal study. Here's some
42:02
Speaker 1: I'd suggest. Chapter six would be worth your time, Chapter
42:08
Speaker 1: nine would be worth your time, Chapter twenty six, as
42:15
Speaker 1: well chapters fifty two and fifty three, chapter fifty five,
42:27
Speaker 1: especially six through eleven. Look at these verses. Seek the Lord,
42:32
Speaker 1: while he may be found, Call upon him while he
42:34
Speaker 1: is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
42:38
Speaker 1: unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord,
42:42
Speaker 1: and he will have compassion on him and to our God,
42:47
Speaker 1: for he will abundantly pardon. Now, God speaks. My thoughts
42:52
Speaker 1: are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
42:56
Speaker 1: declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
42:59
Speaker 1: the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
43:03
Speaker 1: and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as rain and
43:07
Speaker 1: snow come down from heaven, and do not return there
43:10
Speaker 1: without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout,
43:14
Speaker 1: and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
43:18
Speaker 1: so shall my word be, which goes forth from my mouth.
43:24
Speaker 1: Now Christian claim this, It shall not return to me
43:28
Speaker 1: empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in
43:35
Speaker 1: the matter for which I send it. When everything else
43:43
Speaker 1: fades and fails, God's word stands. Some of you need
43:50
Speaker 1: to hear that right now, in a vacillating world of
43:55
Speaker 1: continued relativism philosophical thought, it's a marvelous comfort to know
44:01
Speaker 1: that there is bed rock security in the word of God.
44:10
Speaker 1: Several lessons linger. You don't need to write anything down,
44:14
Speaker 1: just listen to them. One is this greatness is often
44:20
Speaker 1: found in a misunderstood person. Another one is this loneliness
44:28
Speaker 1: is the price you pay for convictions. A third is
44:37
Speaker 1: this our conception of sin is molded by our idea
44:40
Speaker 1: of God. Light frivolous view of God, light frivolous view
44:46
Speaker 1: of sin, deep and abiding sense of the holiness of
44:51
Speaker 1: God is a deep, fearful sense of sin. Our idea
44:59
Speaker 1: of God to turn men are concept of sin. There's
45:02
Speaker 1: one more. When everything else fades and fails, God's word
45:11
Speaker 1: still stands. I think, in a very real sense, I
45:20
Speaker 1: am speaking to a pocket of people who are the
45:25
Speaker 1: Isaiahs of our day. Your neighborhood, your employment, your school,
45:35
Speaker 1: that social strata that you cut across in your own
45:38
Speaker 1: sphere of influence that no one else traffics in, but you. You're
45:42
Speaker 1: the only you around that particular, unique place of service,
45:51
Speaker 1: that hard spot, that place where your no is the
45:55
Speaker 1: only no in the room. Are your yes is the
45:58
Speaker 1: only yes to be heard. You are in today's terms,
46:04
Speaker 1: today's Isaiah. Stand firm and when necessary, stand alone, not
46:12
Speaker 1: aloof stand alone. Try not to be afraid of that.
46:20
Speaker 1: Ask God to give you the zeal of a prophet,
46:23
Speaker 1: not to be intimidated by numbers. Just remember, when the
46:29
Speaker 1: lights are out and everybody's gone, you can bet your
46:32
Speaker 1: life somebody's going to come to you and say, hey,
46:35
Speaker 1: I'd like to talk to you about how you're able
46:38
Speaker 1: to stand alone, because that's what impacts people. Be the
46:47
Speaker 1: voice in the wilderness. Consider that an honor, not a
46:52
Speaker 1: cross to bear. It is a privilege to stand for
46:58
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, the highest privilege on earth. Let's pray together.
47:15
Speaker 1: The Christian walk is a lonely walk, our father. It
47:19
Speaker 1: is no exaggeration for us to face the fact that
47:22
Speaker 1: when we stand for Christ, we stand against many, many
47:25
Speaker 1: more than we'll ever stand with. Quiet in the panic
47:31
Speaker 1: of our souls, often given to insecurity because we want
47:37
Speaker 1: to be accepted and we want to be liked. Show
47:42
Speaker 1: us that your acceptance is the most important acceptance we
47:48
Speaker 1: could ever experience, and that your favor is the only
47:52
Speaker 1: one that will ultimately last. And yet, Father, I pray
47:58
Speaker 1: that you would make us not negative and nitpicking in
48:01
Speaker 1: our life style, but a positive influence for good winsome
48:09
Speaker 1: witnesses for the cause of Jesus Christ. Enable us to
48:16
Speaker 1: stand and stand without shaking in a day in which
48:21
Speaker 1: there are so few who know the truth. In the
48:29
Speaker 1: strong name of Christ, our Lord, we ask these things amen.
48:38
Speaker 1: The preceding message Isaiah prints among the Prophets was copyrighted
48:43
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine, and the sound recording was copyrighted
48:46
Speaker 1: in twenty eleven by Charles Rswindall, Inc. All rights are
48:50
Speaker 1: reserved worldwide.