All Glory to God the Father
Let us turn to Isaiah 58 and go through it.
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
God is using Isaiah as a trumpet to sound out a warning. Our preachers of this day need to sound the trumpet like this prophet of old. The people were lost to their transgressions and needed a stern call to wake them up. Those that would listen were vastly outnumbered by those whose hearts were hardened by sin.
We find the whole world today is in even worse condition than the house of Jacob in their day. Sin is running rampant. God will not sit idly by and let this happen. The preachers who are not sounding a warning to their people will be responsible for the sins of the people God has given them to minister to. This is why it is so important to find a good church. Do not sit idly by while the church you’ve gone to most of your life has changed, welcoming in the world of compromise and universalism. What’s the harm, you think. I am going to church and that makes me a good person and right with God. As to the first assertion:
Mark 10:17-18
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Romans 7:18
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
Mark 7:21-23
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.
And many more scripture verses attest to man’s heart not being good.
Therefore, how is it you can think of yourself as a good person, in any sense, and think that you are pleasing God by going to a church that does not preach from the scripture, that says only Love comes from our God and He accepts all people, just as they are, yellow, black and white along with lesbian, gay and queer?
You can be any combination of these things and come to church and be accepted, but don’t expect to remain in that condition. Now you can’t do anything about your color, but every other thing about you will change when you accept the Lord as your King and Savior. But there are churches out there that are fine with you being what you are. And what you are is an unsaved sinner in the thrall of satan. These churches want bodies in the door, money in the collection plate and the acceptance of the world for being a welcoming place for everybody.
How do you think our Lord feels about His church, His bride, bowing to the world, letting satan set the tone of how worship will be done? Didn’t He die on the cross, to remove the sin from men’s hearts, to save us from the justice of burning in the lake of fire, which is each one of our just rewards, if Christ had not sacrificed Himself for our benefit and salvation? And this is how we show our appreciation? The clay is getting pretty brazen.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
Israel was merely “going through the motions.” Their appearance of righteousness was mere pretense. I do believe that this is what I was just talking about. Are you just going through the motions? With your church life, possibly with life in general? Is it too much work to change? If so, you lack the energizing power of God’s presence in your life. Any time you find a task or a period of time in your life that is too much, too hard to handle, go to the Lord. Ask His forgiveness for your lack of Faith and while you are still on your knees and praying, ask Him for more Faith and the strength to get through that which seems too much. We who have so much and have it so good, in comparison to the rest of the world and the past, we who have the convenience of living good, find it rather hard to humble ourselves and go to the Lord for His Mercy and Grace.
These Jews of old were just going through the motions, like many of us are. They were going through the formality of serving God, but their hearts were not in it. They were honoring God by keeping the ordinances, but they really did not honor Him in their hearts.
Jesus called this type of person “whited walls” and that is interesting because I just ran across this in Acts 23. Paul was held before the Sanhedrin and said something that the High Priest took umbrage with. Paul called the High Priest a “white-washed wall” in response to being struck due to the High Priest’s command.
It is an idiom that means a dirty wall which has been made to look clean. We find that some churches today are so formal in their worship, that there is no Spirit. Ritualistic service is not what God wants. He wants our hearts.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
The type of fasting they were doing here was a waste of their time. This fasting was just a show for the world. It was as if they were saying, I have fasted now, what are you going to do for me in return, God? It was as if it was a tradeoff. Speaking of the Jews here, they felt that God had not kept His bargain with them if He did not immediately reward them for fasting.
I write this Bible Lesson on Monday. Our church has a fast day on the last day of the month. Now I don’t know how many people fast in our church, my thinking is not that many, but not my concern. I have fasted on the last day of the month, I figure that I have been truly blessed and it is such a small thing to do for the Lord. Last month I was sick during that week and did not fast, this month the fast was for Saturday, but life intruded. We attended a birthday party for my wife’s cousin. He is 64, but it was his 16th birthday, because of it being on a leap year. His father also was born on a leap year and family gatherings are a true treasure of fellowship and love and food to boot, so I did not fast that day. The next day was Sunday and I could have fasted that day, but it was the Lord’s day and I wanted to focus on that. So, Monday was my fast day and lo and behold, Isaiah is talking about fasts. Pagans would call that a coincidence, but I smile and know that is how God works in my life. Little things that keep pointing you in the right direction. Our God is an awesome God and rules from Heaven above. You know the song.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
This is what Jesus had to say about fasting.
Matthew 6:16-18
“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face
18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
The answer to this is no. This is not what God wishes. God does not just want a man to go through the formality of bowing his head to Him. He does not even want you to tear your clothes, and throw sand on your head. God wants you to have a humble heart. He wants your heart and mind upon Him.
The acceptable fast to God is total dedication to Him from your heart. God is not interested in an outward show. He wants you to truly love Him in your heart.
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Fasting is the discipline of abstaining from food for biblical reasons. It is called “afflicting one’s soul” (verse 3), and is often practiced to demonstrate the sincerity of our prayers.
There are several biblical reasons for fasting. Christians should fast when facing a national crisis (2 Chron. 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16),
for individual needs (Matt. 17:21),
during periods of distress (2 Sam. 3:35; Psalm 35:13),
when facing spiritual decisions (Matt. 4:2; Acts 13:2),
and in anticipation of Christ’s return (Luke 5:35).
Many people have found that heavy burdens are relieved through fasting (Isaiah chapter 58), wisdom is obtained through fasting (Dan. 10), revival comes from fasting (verse 6), God’s protection from danger is secured by fasting (1 Kings 21:27-29), recovery of a sick loved one may come after fasting (Psalm 35:13), and the inauguration of a great ministry may follow fasting (Matt. 4:2).
When a Christian fasts, he should begin with a short fast, one day from sundown to sundown, and attempt to spend time alone with God during the fast. (Isa. 58:6; James 5:14).
God is saying in this, if your heart is right with Me, set the captives free. Stop laying burdens on others too heavy to bear. Break every yoke you have placed on others. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. Above all, Love God with your whole heart. This is the acceptable fast to God.
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Jesus said it this way. “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these thy brethren, you have done it unto me”. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked. Help those who cannot help themselves. Help those of your own family who are the family of God.
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
When Israel learned the proper way to fast, she would enjoy the blessings of salvation and the Messiah’s kingdom.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
When you are full of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are full of His Light, for He is the Light of the world. This is that new life in Christ that we speak of.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
It is not necessary to tell people you belong to God, when you have Christ living in you. They will know it by the life you live.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
If we go before God renouncing all our sins, and desirous of doing our duty, then we have a right to expect that he will hear us. But if we go indulging still in sin; if we are false and hollow and hypocritical in our worship; or if, while we keep up the regular forms of devotion, we are nevertheless guilty of oppression, cruelty, and dishonesty, we have no right to expect that he will hear us.
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
When you have love and compassion for others and help them in their need, the Light of God within you becomes brighter and brighter. This Light does away with all darkness. To be possessed of the Light of Jesus Christ does away with all darkness.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
God will not withhold any good thing from you, when you have a generous heart to others. He repays you in every way. You will prosper, and be in good health. You will not go hungry, or thirsty, because you have given to others.
Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
In view here is the final restoration of the millennial Jerusalem, of which Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls (Nehemiah 2:17), was only a foretaste.
Israel was in a terrible state at the time Isaiah wrote this. God will bring them back into the land and it will flourish, if they keep His commandments. This is, also, speaking of the time when the veil in the temple will be torn from the top to the bottom opening the way to God for all who will believe.
13 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
Now, we see that the blessings of God will be upon Israel, if they obey God. If they follow in His ways, He will bless them. The promises made to Abraham which come down to them will be a blessing to them, if they will honor and respect God in all they do, all they say, and all they are in their hearts. One day in seven belonged to God.
In days past, Sunday would be just a day to work or do things you wanted to. It was about doing what we wanted to do. Now, having studied the scriptures, I see things in a vastly different light. The light of our Lord. There are those that say it to be used as a day of rest, rest from your work. I who do not work, need no rest from my labors. And even if I did, the Lord’s Day would now be different. How can it not be after reading the Bible? Honor the Lord, spend time with family and friends in fellowship and hospitality. Keep the Lord in your thoughts, as it shows trust in God that He will keep His promises.
14 Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
God had promised Abraham the land. He had also promised to bless all the nations of the world through him, if he remained faithful to God. His descendants had wandered away and gone after false gods, but God is renewing His pledge here.
He has forgiven them of the past errors, but they must be obedient to His Word and His ways. Whenever God promises anything, He will do it. He is not like a man, that He should lie.
God is Truth. All He asks is that they love Him and delight in Him. Again He says, if they keep His commandments, He will bless them. The other side of this is, if they do not obey Him, curses will follow.
That follows for us as well. Keep His commandments, Love Him, Honor Him, Give all Glory to Him and we will be blessed. Turn away, and we are in this country turning away constantly, and we will be cursed.
We talked just a bit about Calvinism last week and amongst 5 points of what people accept Calvinism to be is one called Unconditional Election and this seems to give many people a real problem. Unconditional Election is where God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will.
This is supported by Ephesians 1:4-8:
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight.
Romans 9:11
For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.
This is done without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not.
Romans 9:15
For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Romans 9:21
Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
So, as you can imagine, the “others are not” gives those who have little regard or understanding of God’s sovereignty, a real fit. One of the men that brought Calvinism to my attention is Dr. Curt Daniel. He has a wonderful and very thorough lecture series on Calvinism at this URL: https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/histtheocalvin.html
He also has a story about a woman accosting him after one of his lectures, telling him that her god would never be that awful as to deliberately consign a person to hell. Dr. Daniel told her this story: He said that she is imagining that St. Peter’s gate to Heaven is being almost broken down by people thronging to get into Heaven. He said what is happening is God looks over St. Peter’s gate, which is almost empty, and sees the stampede to hell on a wide path. He picks people out of that crowd to be saved, according to His will.
That is found in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
We will end with this from Number 6:24-26
24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’