1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,720 We’re beginning a short series today–just three weeks–in Isaiah and Chapter 1. 2 00:00:05,720 –> 00:00:11,240 The title is, 180, How God Changes His People and His Church. 3 00:00:11,240 –> 00:00:17,520 I do invite you to turn to Isaiah and Chapter 1 at this time. 4 00:00:17,520 –> 00:00:23,680 My job really in preaching the Word of God is to point out to you what is there in the 5 00:00:23,680 –> 00:00:28,120 Bible so that all of us may apply it, absorb it, into our lives. 6 00:00:28,200 –> 00:00:32,180 It’s easier for you and it’s easier for me if you have it in front of you. 7 00:00:32,180 –> 00:00:35,959 So, please, bring a Bible to church—if you don’t have one you can use one that’s in the 8 00:00:35,959 –> 00:00:38,400 back of the pew in front of you. 9 00:00:38,400 –> 00:00:43,959 And, our purpose is to immerse ourselves in what God says to us today. 10 00:00:43,959 –> 00:00:49,299 Now, if you have your Bible open at Isaiah chapter 1, I want to draw your attention to 11 00:00:49,299 –> 00:00:56,459 what I think is one of the most striking statements from the mouth of God in all of the Old Testament. 12 00:00:56,459 –> 00:00:58,639 It’s in verse 2. 13 00:00:58,639 –> 00:01:00,340 God says, 14 00:01:00,340 –> 00:01:09,739 Children have I reared, and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 15 00:01:09,739 –> 00:01:11,019 But think about this. 16 00:01:11,019 –> 00:01:12,019 God says, 17 00:01:12,019 –> 00:01:18,459 I raised up children, but they have rebelled against me. 18 00:01:18,459 –> 00:01:20,239 God said that. 19 00:01:20,239 –> 00:01:22,199 Now immediately some observations from that. 20 00:01:22,199 –> 00:01:25,440 The first, of course, is that God has children. 21 00:01:25,440 –> 00:01:29,820 And the reference here to the children God had raised is, of course, to the Nation of 22 00:01:29,820 –> 00:01:30,820 Israel. 23 00:01:30,820 –> 00:01:36,099 Remember, God had brought the twelve tribes descended from the sons of Jacob out of slavery. 24 00:01:36,099 –> 00:01:38,580 He had adopted them as his own children. 25 00:01:38,580 –> 00:01:42,260 He had made a national covenant with Israel in which he said, 26 00:01:42,260 –> 00:01:46,459 I will be your God, and you will be my people. 27 00:01:46,459 –> 00:01:49,019 And God raised these children. 28 00:01:49,019 –> 00:01:51,459 Children have I reared and brought up. 29 00:01:51,540 –> 00:01:56,980 In other words, these children with whom God had made this covenant were the focus of his 30 00:01:56,980 –> 00:02:00,879 constant attention and of his fatherly care. 31 00:02:00,879 –> 00:02:05,540 As any parent, God bonded with them, he invested himself in them. 32 00:02:05,540 –> 00:02:10,699 He gave himself to them, to these children, and he did it like any parent, with great 33 00:02:10,699 –> 00:02:15,300 gladness, because they were indeed his children. 34 00:02:15,300 –> 00:02:18,240 By the way, how much does it cost to raise a child? 35 00:02:18,699 –> 00:02:22,559 I googled that this week, and here’s the answer. 36 00:02:22,559 –> 00:02:29,300 The average cost of raising a child – this is a child born in 2013, so it’s projecting 37 00:02:29,300 –> 00:02:34,580 forward – a child born in 2013, for you to raise that child to the age of 18 in a 38 00:02:34,580 –> 00:02:39,679 middle-income family in the US, according to the Department of Agriculture last year, 39 00:02:40,360 –> 00:02:50,360 that that will cost you $245,000.00 or if you adjust it for inflation, $304,000.00. 40 00:02:52,039 –> 00:02:56,119 Now, it is the Department of Agriculture, so presumably they thought that the parents 41 00:02:56,119 –> 00:03:00,580 would be feeding the children steak every night. 42 00:03:00,580 –> 00:03:06,059 And presumably there is some kind of economy of scale for larger families on this, in that 43 00:03:06,059 –> 00:03:12,679 it does include housing, it includes transport, but is still a staggering figure according 44 00:03:12,679 –> 00:03:16,479 to the U.S. government in August of last year. 45 00:03:16,479 –> 00:03:19,880 It’s no small thing to raise a child. 46 00:03:19,880 –> 00:03:25,539 In every way it is a costly business and so, to all of the children, to all of the young 47 00:03:25,539 –> 00:03:30,419 people and even as we become older in regards to our parents, let me say this word today. 48 00:03:30,699 –> 00:03:37,559 Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the earth. 49 00:03:37,559 –> 00:03:44,020 Younger folks, you have no idea what it costs your mother to bring you into the world. 50 00:03:44,020 –> 00:03:51,839 Hold her in the highest honour, show her the deepest respect and affection, and surround 51 00:03:51,839 –> 00:03:54,199 her with your love. 52 00:03:54,199 –> 00:03:57,839 What you do for your mother, do for your father as well. 53 00:03:58,600 –> 00:04:05,139 Now this relationship is what God is speaking about here, in regards to his own children. 54 00:04:05,160 –> 00:04:10,199 Think about how God’s children were the object of his constant care, his loving affection. 55 00:04:10,199 –> 00:04:14,539 He gave them a home – that is, he brought them into the land of Canaan. 56 00:04:14,539 –> 00:04:18,019 He provided for them when they had nothing in the desert and then he brought them into 57 00:04:18,019 –> 00:04:21,799 a land that was flowing with milk and honey and gave to them in abundance. 58 00:04:21,799 –> 00:04:25,839 He guided them in all of their ways, the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud. 59 00:04:25,839 –> 00:04:29,500 He guarded them and protected them from all of their enemies. 60 00:04:29,500 –> 00:04:36,519 God did all of these things as a loving father for all of the children he had raised. 61 00:04:36,519 –> 00:04:40,299 But notice what he says here in verse 2– God’s children rebelled against him. 62 00:04:40,299 –> 00:04:46,179 I raised children, but they have rebelled against me. 63 00:04:46,179 –> 00:04:49,600 And the emphasis in this verse is on the they. 64 00:04:49,600 –> 00:04:52,720 I raised children and they rebelled against me. 65 00:04:52,720 –> 00:04:58,380 Many of all the people in the world, the ones for who I have provided so much, the ones 66 00:04:58,380 –> 00:05:04,500 I have blessed in so many obvious ways, the ones on whom I have lavished such love and 67 00:05:04,500 –> 00:05:12,380 care, and personal attention, they have rebelled against me. 68 00:05:12,380 –> 00:05:20,739 Now this is a very helpful and wonderful verse for parents who are in pain. 69 00:05:20,739 –> 00:05:24,739 And there will be those within the congregation who will immediately say, that’s the verse 70 00:05:24,739 –> 00:05:27,140 that I need to take hold of right now. 71 00:05:27,140 –> 00:05:28,140 Here’s your situation. 72 00:05:28,140 –> 00:05:30,339 God gave you a son, a daughter. 73 00:05:30,339 –> 00:05:31,339 You have loved them. 74 00:05:31,339 –> 00:05:32,320 You have raised them. 75 00:05:32,320 –> 00:05:37,760 But now your son, your daughter has rebelled against you. 76 00:05:37,760 –> 00:05:42,799 And what we are learning here is that God himself knows what that is like, he knows 77 00:05:42,799 –> 00:05:46,980 the experience that you are facing right now. 78 00:05:47,059 –> 00:05:51,500 God’s rebel children do not want to listen to him. 79 00:05:51,500 –> 00:05:57,700 Why does it say in Verse 2, hear O heavens and give ear O earth for the Lord has spoken? 80 00:05:57,700 –> 00:06:02,200 Why is God speaking to the heaven and the earth when he is actually addressing his children? 81 00:06:02,200 –> 00:06:05,540 The answer is that the children are not listening. 82 00:06:05,540 –> 00:06:10,660 Matthew Henry says despairing of gaining an audience with his own children God addresses 83 00:06:10,660 –> 00:06:15,320 himself instead to the heavens and to the earth. 84 00:06:15,799 –> 00:06:21,679 And God’s rebel children, not only are they not listening to him, they really do not want 85 00:06:21,679 –> 00:06:23,119 to know him. 86 00:06:23,119 –> 00:06:30,200 That’s Verse 3, the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does 87 00:06:30,200 –> 00:06:35,760 not know, my people do not understand. 88 00:06:35,760 –> 00:06:39,040 So there is something even against the course of nature here. 89 00:06:39,040 –> 00:06:41,799 That’s what God is saying, even in the animal kingdom. 90 00:06:41,799 –> 00:06:45,160 The ox and the donkey, they know where their food comes from. 91 00:06:45,440 –> 00:06:49,480 They have an awareness of that, they know who their owner and their master is. 92 00:06:49,480 –> 00:06:53,959 But God’s children to whom he has provided so much and on whom he has lavished this constant 93 00:06:53,959 –> 00:06:57,059 care, they don’t even know him. 94 00:06:57,059 –> 00:07:01,799 They have the most strangely distorted ideas about him. 95 00:07:02,880 –> 00:07:07,959 If you are a parent in pain you may find that this is part of your experience, that here 96 00:07:07,959 –> 00:07:14,239 this son or this daughter has a view of you that is altogether different from reality. 97 00:07:14,279 –> 00:07:17,279 And you say now, where in the world did that come from? 98 00:07:18,779 –> 00:07:23,160 They don’t know him and they don’t want to know him. 99 00:07:23,160 –> 00:07:25,679 They are estranged from him, look at verse 4. 100 00:07:25,679 –> 00:07:28,320 They have forsaken him. 101 00:07:28,320 –> 00:07:36,200 Worse than that they despise him and so they are, verse 4, estranged from him. 102 00:07:36,200 –> 00:07:41,200 In other words there is no interest in the lives of these children in a real relationship. 103 00:07:41,200 –> 00:07:45,119 All they want from the father is what they can get from him. 104 00:07:45,119 –> 00:07:50,399 No affection, no real interest in any relationship. 105 00:07:51,500 –> 00:07:57,339 And you really can’t read these verses without feeling the great pathos in the heart of God. 106 00:07:57,339 –> 00:08:07,200 I raise children and they have rebelled against me. 107 00:08:07,200 –> 00:08:12,880 And if this is your experience, then you will probably know what it is, a mother and a father, 108 00:08:12,880 –> 00:08:18,000 to look at each other and say, what in the world did we do wrong? 109 00:08:18,000 –> 00:08:21,500 What did we do that was so wrong? 110 00:08:21,500 –> 00:08:26,440 And of course there are no perfect parents, and all of us who are given the trust and 111 00:08:26,440 –> 00:08:30,239 the privilege of raising children look back and see things that we might have done differently 112 00:08:30,239 –> 00:08:32,460 and better and so forth and so on. 113 00:08:32,460 –> 00:08:37,159 But I wanted to give you this from the Bible for your help and for your encouragement today. 114 00:08:37,340 –> 00:08:44,679 Listen, you can’t be a better father than God. 115 00:08:44,679 –> 00:08:48,039 You can’t be a better father than God. 116 00:08:48,039 –> 00:08:53,159 You can’t do a better job of raising a child than God does. 117 00:08:53,159 –> 00:08:57,919 God raised children, and they rebelled against him. 118 00:08:57,919 –> 00:09:03,679 Now this is very important for the help and for the comfort of parents who find themselves 119 00:09:03,679 –> 00:09:06,799 in times of pain and of distress. 120 00:09:06,799 –> 00:09:12,000 God knows your pain, he is a father and he knows this pain in his own heart. 121 00:09:12,000 –> 00:09:17,460 And knowing that children raised even by the most perfect father choose to rebel against 122 00:09:17,460 –> 00:09:23,280 him will be of some help if you should go through these deep waters of your children 123 00:09:23,280 –> 00:09:25,979 rebelling against you. 124 00:09:25,979 –> 00:09:30,280 So I find this one of the most remarkable statements in the Old Testament, coming directly 125 00:09:30,280 –> 00:09:35,119 from the mouth of God. 126 00:09:35,119 –> 00:09:41,520 Now why are we looking at these words and at this chapter in these weeks that we share 127 00:09:41,520 –> 00:09:42,520 together? 128 00:09:42,520 –> 00:09:43,539 Three reasons. 129 00:09:43,539 –> 00:09:51,900 First we’re looking at these words because they speak to our nation. 130 00:09:51,900 –> 00:09:54,719 Israel had been blessed as a nation. 131 00:09:54,719 –> 00:10:00,640 Of all the nations in the earth they carried the name of God, the experience the blessing 132 00:10:00,640 –> 00:10:07,659 of God, and now we’re being told in Isaiah chapter one that they turned away from God. 133 00:10:07,659 –> 00:10:13,039 Now I think that that speaks very obviously to our nation today. 134 00:10:13,039 –> 00:10:18,400 I am not of course drawing a direct parallel between Israel and America. 135 00:10:18,400 –> 00:10:23,679 God made a covenant with Israel that he has never made with any other nation. 136 00:10:23,679 –> 00:10:30,479 But surely there is some sense as we apply the scriptures to ourselves that in some sense 137 00:10:30,479 –> 00:10:34,119 this country has throughout its history carried the name of the Lord. 138 00:10:34,119 –> 00:10:39,539 Every time you take out a dollar bill it says on the back in God we trust and the reference 139 00:10:39,539 –> 00:10:42,859 there has been to the God of the Bible. 140 00:10:42,859 –> 00:10:44,619 Carried his name. 141 00:10:44,619 –> 00:10:51,440 And as a nation it is beyond dispute that God has blessed us in extraordinary in very 142 00:10:51,440 –> 00:10:53,219 very wonderful ways. 143 00:10:53,219 –> 00:10:58,599 And also it is beyond dispute surely that as a nation we are increasingly turning away 144 00:10:58,599 –> 00:11:01,260 from God. 145 00:11:01,260 –> 00:11:06,700 An increasing number of Americans do not want to listen to God. 146 00:11:06,700 –> 00:11:10,380 They don’t want him to be in their lives. 147 00:11:10,380 –> 00:11:12,659 Just to give you a little snapshot of that. 148 00:11:12,659 –> 00:11:16,820 Just in the time folks that I’ve been in this country since our family came here which 149 00:11:16,820 –> 00:11:22,219 is nearly twenty years ago not a terribly long time but in the time we’ve been in this 150 00:11:22,260 –> 00:11:23,619 country. 151 00:11:23,619 –> 00:11:29,979 The attendance of church on an average weekend has dropped by half, it’s been cut in half. 152 00:11:29,979 –> 00:11:36,979 It was thirty five percent of the population in 1999, it’s 17 percent estimated today. 153 00:11:37,320 –> 00:11:39,299 Half just in that period of time. 154 00:11:39,299 –> 00:11:44,700 That’s one reason why there’s such a critical need for Christian mission in America today. 155 00:11:44,700 –> 00:11:49,140 We thank God with a full congregation that the Orchard has doubled in size during that 156 00:11:49,140 –> 00:11:52,679 period of time, but when you look at the bigger picture, those who are attending churches 157 00:11:52,679 –> 00:11:56,099 across the nation cut in half. 158 00:11:56,099 –> 00:12:01,320 That’s why the mission of those who really believe is so critical to the life of our 159 00:12:01,320 –> 00:12:03,400 country that we love so much. 160 00:12:03,400 –> 00:12:07,880 As a nation, it could be said of us, in large measure that having carried the name of the 161 00:12:07,880 –> 00:12:13,559 Lord and having experienced the blessing of the Lord, we are in increasing measure forsaking 162 00:12:14,280 –> 00:12:18,559 the holy one and becoming utterly estranged. 163 00:12:18,559 –> 00:12:24,359 Secondly, we’re looking at these verses of the Bible because they speak not only to the 164 00:12:24,359 –> 00:12:26,940 nation but also to the church. 165 00:12:26,940 –> 00:12:33,880 These are words, of course, that were spoken in the first instance to God’s people. 166 00:12:33,880 –> 00:12:38,940 Is there a sense in which these words speak to the church today? 167 00:12:38,940 –> 00:12:45,780 Is there a sense in which the church in America today is moving away from being centered in 168 00:12:45,780 –> 00:12:46,780 God? 169 00:12:46,780 –> 00:12:49,799 Yes, I think there is. 170 00:12:49,799 –> 00:12:57,460 In large measure, Christianity in America is becoming more and more about us. 171 00:12:57,460 –> 00:13:03,119 Bottom line for thinking about strategy for churches, more and more becomes what do people 172 00:13:03,119 –> 00:13:04,119 want? 173 00:13:04,119 –> 00:13:05,119 Why? 174 00:13:06,000 –> 00:13:11,320 more in fulfilling people’s desires than in obeying God’s commands? 175 00:13:11,320 –> 00:13:15,539 Center of gravity is more what are we looking for, what do we want than seriously asking 176 00:13:15,539 –> 00:13:19,820 the question what does the Lord require of us? 177 00:13:19,820 –> 00:13:24,640 And then thirdly, we’re looking at these verses in these weeks because they speak also 178 00:13:24,640 –> 00:13:26,799 to us in the most personal way. 179 00:13:26,799 –> 00:13:29,119 And of course, this is always true. 180 00:13:29,159 –> 00:13:35,520 Every time we open the Bible, God is calling us to examine our own hearts and it starts 181 00:13:35,520 –> 00:13:38,280 with the one who speaks and all of us who hear. 182 00:13:38,280 –> 00:13:41,000 We see what’s wrong in the world. 183 00:13:41,000 –> 00:13:44,799 We see trends and drifts within the church and then what we have to do is we have to 184 00:13:44,799 –> 00:13:52,239 examine our own hearts and when we do we will often find that the roots of the same sins 185 00:13:52,239 –> 00:13:59,239 that we see in others are actually hiding in our own hearts as well. 186 00:13:59,239 –> 00:14:03,000 So Isaiah chapter one, which really is a kind of summary in many ways of the message of 187 00:14:03,000 –> 00:14:08,799 the entire book, is a huge importance as a message to the nation a message to the church 188 00:14:08,799 –> 00:14:12,960 and a message to every one of us individually today. 189 00:14:12,960 –> 00:14:20,760 I want you to look with me if you would at the portrait that we’re given here of God’s 190 00:14:20,760 –> 00:14:22,780 children. 191 00:14:22,780 –> 00:14:30,419 Verse four first description, that they are laden with iniquity. 192 00:14:30,419 –> 00:14:38,599 Sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity. 193 00:14:38,599 –> 00:14:43,679 They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel and they are utterly 194 00:14:43,679 –> 00:14:47,159 estranged. 195 00:14:47,320 –> 00:14:49,440 Quite a striking phrase, isn’t it? 196 00:14:49,440 –> 00:14:50,940 Laden with iniquity. 197 00:14:50,940 –> 00:14:57,539 It speaks of wait, speaks of a burden that is being carried. 198 00:14:57,539 –> 00:15:06,299 Imagine every sin to be a stone and every sin that a person has committed then is put 199 00:15:06,299 –> 00:15:12,119 into a bag and the bag is carried on the person’s shoulders. 200 00:15:12,159 –> 00:15:17,599 And over time, the weight of what is carried, the weight of guilt that remains upon this 201 00:15:17,599 –> 00:15:20,200 person becomes heavier and heavier. 202 00:15:20,200 –> 00:15:29,039 It weighs the person down, laden with iniquity. 203 00:15:29,039 –> 00:15:36,599 And these children are described here as children who deal corruptly. 204 00:15:36,599 –> 00:15:38,039 Children who deal corruptly. 205 00:15:38,039 –> 00:15:39,640 What does that mean? 206 00:15:39,719 –> 00:15:43,119 To deal corruptly means you can’t be trusted. 207 00:15:43,119 –> 00:15:46,599 It means that you say things, but you don’t actually do them. 208 00:15:46,599 –> 00:15:51,859 And you lose the respect of people and the trust of people, because they don’t know 209 00:15:51,859 –> 00:15:55,500 if you’re going to actually follow through. 210 00:15:55,500 –> 00:15:58,200 So here you are, carrying this increasing burden. 211 00:15:58,200 –> 00:16:03,460 And here you are, and you’re losing trust. 212 00:16:03,460 –> 00:16:04,619 And why is this happening? 213 00:16:04,619 –> 00:16:08,039 They have forsaken the Lord, they’ve moved away from the Lord. 214 00:16:08,719 –> 00:16:11,719 They have despised the Holy One of Israel. 215 00:16:11,719 –> 00:16:13,960 Fascinating phrase. 216 00:16:13,960 –> 00:16:17,919 That is, here, God’s rebel children, why do they resist holiness? 217 00:16:17,919 –> 00:16:20,760 Why do people not want to move in the direction of holiness. 218 00:16:20,760 –> 00:16:23,840 Because they resist the Holy One. 219 00:16:23,840 –> 00:16:27,000 If they loved God, they’d pursue holiness. 220 00:16:27,000 –> 00:16:33,640 But there’s a deep resistance to the Holy One, and that manifests itself in a dislike 221 00:16:33,640 –> 00:16:37,159 of holiness, they despise it. 222 00:16:37,280 –> 00:16:39,359 And then they become utterly estranged. 223 00:16:39,359 –> 00:16:42,440 That, of course, means not speaking. 224 00:16:42,440 –> 00:16:46,880 To be estranged from a person means you don’t see them, it means you don’t want to see them, 225 00:16:46,880 –> 00:16:49,880 it means you have no communication with them. 226 00:16:49,880 –> 00:16:57,960 And that’s how it is for these rebel children towards God, they are laden with iniquity. 227 00:16:57,960 –> 00:16:59,760 Second description. 228 00:16:59,760 –> 00:17:01,780 You seen the first picture. 229 00:17:01,780 –> 00:17:03,599 The burden that’s weighing them down. 230 00:17:03,599 –> 00:17:05,859 Second picture even more vivid. 231 00:17:05,859 –> 00:17:11,739 They are bruised and they are bleeding, verses 5 and 6. 232 00:17:11,739 –> 00:17:15,099 Why will you still be struck down? 233 00:17:15,099 –> 00:17:18,839 Why will you continue to rebel? 234 00:17:18,839 –> 00:17:21,880 The whole head is sick. 235 00:17:23,880 –> 00:17:30,000 So here’s the head, it can’t think straight, doesn’t reason well, there’s been a losing 236 00:17:30,000 –> 00:17:33,239 of the connection between actions and consequences. 237 00:17:34,239 –> 00:17:36,800 And the heart, the whole heart is faint. 238 00:17:36,800 –> 00:17:42,680 Here’s a person who’s worn out increasingly, running out of energy, flagging. 239 00:17:42,680 –> 00:17:49,619 And then try and picture this in your mind, from the sole of the foot even to the head, 240 00:17:49,619 –> 00:18:00,439 there is no soundness in it but bruises and sores and raw wounds that are not pressed 241 00:18:00,459 –> 00:18:05,339 out or bound up or softened with oil. 242 00:18:05,339 –> 00:18:15,280 So, picture this body of this burdened person and all over from head to toe there are these 243 00:18:15,280 –> 00:18:19,020 open wounds, bruises. 244 00:18:19,020 –> 00:18:20,540 And they’re not pressed out. 245 00:18:20,540 –> 00:18:21,540 What does that mean? 246 00:18:21,540 –> 00:18:28,359 It means that the infection has not been cleaned from them, the pus remains. 247 00:18:28,359 –> 00:18:32,800 And so these old wounds from the past keep re- infecting. 248 00:18:32,800 –> 00:18:35,439 It’s a very powerful description, isn’t it? 249 00:18:35,439 –> 00:18:38,040 Can’t ever get over the old wounds of the past. 250 00:18:38,040 –> 00:18:45,119 They keep re-infecting because they’ve never actually been healed, and they’re not bound 251 00:18:45,119 –> 00:18:47,439 up and softened with oil. 252 00:18:47,439 –> 00:18:53,160 In other words, on the surface the skin has dried out and it has hardened. 253 00:18:53,160 –> 00:18:55,060 There’s no ointment that’s been placed on it. 254 00:18:55,060 –> 00:18:56,420 There’s no bandaging. 255 00:18:56,540 –> 00:19:02,400 There’s nothing that has caused the flesh to heal over the wound, and so the flesh remains 256 00:19:02,400 –> 00:19:08,280 opened, hard, brittle, and the wound continues to suppurate, and it’s like that from head 257 00:19:08,280 –> 00:19:09,280 to toe. 258 00:19:09,280 –> 00:19:11,420 It’s a horrible picture. 259 00:19:11,420 –> 00:19:16,859 Third, alone and vulnerable, verse 8, the daughter of Zion, and here are three pictures, 260 00:19:16,859 –> 00:19:21,560 is left like a bouf in a vineyard. 261 00:19:21,560 –> 00:19:26,979 It’s a little sort of shack that’s quickly constricted in the middle of a vineyard, like 262 00:19:26,979 –> 00:19:32,099 a lodge in a cucumber field, or like a besieged city. 263 00:19:32,099 –> 00:19:42,560 Three pictures, and all of them with the same impact, it’s a picture of being alone, surrounded. 264 00:19:42,560 –> 00:19:46,560 Here’s a guy and he’s in the middle of this vast vineyard, and he’s just there on his 265 00:19:46,560 –> 00:19:49,239 own and surrounded. 266 00:19:50,199 –> 00:19:53,780 There’s another person who is in a little hut, and he’s surrounded by a field of melons 267 00:19:53,780 –> 00:19:55,459 or cucumbers. 268 00:19:55,459 –> 00:20:03,260 Someone else, he’s alone in a big city and is surrounded by an army. 269 00:20:03,260 –> 00:20:04,260 Very interesting. 270 00:20:04,260 –> 00:20:11,839 It would be nicer to be surrounded by grapes than a hostile army, I would have thought. 271 00:20:11,839 –> 00:20:15,479 But at the end of the day, if you were on your own, it doesn’t really matter too much 272 00:20:15,959 –> 00:20:21,380 surrounded by all the money in the world, or all the enemies in the world. 273 00:20:21,380 –> 00:20:31,560 The picture here is of being alone, of being vulnerable, of being isolated, of being surrounded. 274 00:20:31,560 –> 00:20:33,760 Now that’s the picture. 275 00:20:33,760 –> 00:20:49,140 God’s rebel children, laden with iniquity, bleeding and bruised, alone and surrounded, 276 00:20:49,140 –> 00:20:52,160 vulnerable. 277 00:20:52,160 –> 00:20:59,500 Now as God paints this tragic picture of children he has loved and yet they’ve rebelled against 278 00:20:59,520 –> 00:21:03,660 him and they’ve ended up like this. 279 00:21:03,660 –> 00:21:07,939 The question is what hope then is there going to be. 280 00:21:07,939 –> 00:21:11,640 And there is wonderful hope that we are going to follow through in this series and that’s 281 00:21:11,640 –> 00:21:13,800 why we are coming to it over these weeks. 282 00:21:13,800 –> 00:21:16,540 And it begins right here. 283 00:21:16,540 –> 00:21:23,699 The hope that God commends here rests in the remnant, the remnant. 284 00:21:23,699 –> 00:21:24,939 Now if you don’t know that word. 285 00:21:25,260 –> 00:21:26,260 So remember this word. 286 00:21:26,260 –> 00:21:27,260 It’s a good word to learn. 287 00:21:27,260 –> 00:21:29,939 It’s a Bible word and it’s important truth to understand. 288 00:21:29,939 –> 00:21:41,739 And it’s in verse nine, if the Lord of hosts had not left us, here it is, a few survivors, 289 00:21:41,739 –> 00:21:44,300 we should have become like Sodom and like Gomorrah. 290 00:21:44,300 –> 00:21:48,880 In other words, if there hadn’t been some left, if there hadn’t been this remnant that 291 00:21:48,880 –> 00:21:54,739 I’m going to try and explain to you, if there hadn’t been these few survivors, then under 292 00:21:54,939 –> 00:21:58,540 God’s judgment, His whole people would have been wiped out completely, would have become 293 00:21:58,540 –> 00:22:00,979 like Sodom and Gomorrah. 294 00:22:00,979 –> 00:22:06,859 Now, this reference to the few survivors—and it’s a theme that comes often in the prophecy 295 00:22:06,859 –> 00:22:13,380 of Isaiah—is very important in the Old Testament, this doctrine of the remnant. 296 00:22:13,380 –> 00:22:20,380 Here’s what it means very simply, that even when large numbers of people fall away, God 297 00:22:20,719 –> 00:22:27,000 always has some that continue to be faithful and His work gets done through them. 298 00:22:27,000 –> 00:22:30,380 That’s the great Bible doctrine of the remnant. 299 00:22:30,380 –> 00:22:37,380 That even at times when great numbers fall away—so in 20 years of attendance at church, 300 00:22:39,280 –> 00:22:46,280 halved—that’s a pretty significant thing—even in times when great numbers fall away, God 301 00:22:47,160 –> 00:22:54,160 has people who remain faithful and His work continues through them. 302 00:22:56,339 –> 00:23:02,359 Now this is communicated in multiple ways in the Bible. One way in Isaiah is through 303 00:23:02,359 –> 00:23:07,119 a very powerful picture that you’ll find in Isaiah, chapter 11 and verse 1. Isaiah 304 00:23:07,119 –> 00:23:13,520 pictures God’s people as being like a tree. And he says, now here’s what’s happening. 305 00:23:13,520 –> 00:23:19,900 The tree has been cut down and only a stump remains. But do you remember what he says 306 00:23:19,900 –> 00:23:25,119 about that stump? That there is a shoot. There is new growth that comes out of the stump. 307 00:23:25,119 –> 00:23:31,199 That’s the doctrine of the remnant right there that he’s explaining. And Paul takes things 308 00:23:31,199 –> 00:23:38,900 up in the New Testament in Romans and chapter 11, and explains to us that in every generation 309 00:23:38,900 –> 00:23:45,500 God always has his own people even when there is a widespread turning away from him. And 310 00:23:45,500 –> 00:23:50,619 he quotes, to make that point, of course, the Old Testament example of Elijah. And remember 311 00:23:50,619 –> 00:23:55,660 Elijah lived in a time where people had turned to the idols and at one point he got so discouraged 312 00:23:55,660 –> 00:24:04,780 he said, I, even I only am left. And you remember what God said to Elijah. Oh, Elijah, I have 313 00:24:04,880 –> 00:24:12,400 seven thousand who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal. Now Paul quotes this example 314 00:24:12,400 –> 00:24:23,400 in Romans, chapter 11. And he says this, so too, at the present time there is a remnant 315 00:24:23,400 –> 00:24:31,339 chosen by grace. There is a remnant at the present time. See when Paul was writing, and 316 00:24:31,339 –> 00:24:37,040 this is still true today, the largest number of Jewish people did not believe in the Lord 317 00:24:37,040 –> 00:24:43,099 Jesus Christ. But Paul says there are some who do. And that is still true today, and 318 00:24:43,099 –> 00:24:49,300 thank God for it. And more than that, I believe that there is good reason for us to expect 319 00:24:49,300 –> 00:24:54,520 that in the last days the few will become many because Paul speaks in Romans 11 and 320 00:24:54,560 –> 00:25:00,319 verse 26 about all Israel being saved. It’s a wonderful statement. 321 00:25:00,319 –> 00:25:07,319 Now here is the point and here is the principle. God never breaks his promises. And God never 322 00:25:07,959 –> 00:25:14,959 lets his people go. When even there is a large turning away, He still has his own people, 323 00:25:15,260 –> 00:25:19,119 this is true throughout history. The time of Elijah, true in America today, He has his 324 00:25:19,400 –> 00:25:26,380 people who remain faithful, and his work gets carried on through them. Now if you think 325 00:25:26,459 –> 00:25:33,459 about it this truth in regards to what Isaiah is saying at his time is of huge importance. 326 00:25:35,520 –> 00:25:40,819 Because if God’s people had become like Sodom and Gomorrah in the time of Isaiah, if they 327 00:25:40,819 –> 00:25:47,819 had been obliterated, if the line had come to an end, Jesus Christ could never have come 328 00:25:48,380 –> 00:25:55,040 into the world. He was the promised seed of Abraham. He comes into the line of David, 329 00:25:55,040 –> 00:26:00,780 he’s born to the house of Israel, he’s the lion of the tribe of Judah. And it is 330 00:26:00,780 –> 00:26:05,560 critical in this time of Isaiah when so many have turned away and become rebel children 331 00:26:05,560 –> 00:26:11,079 that God continues his work and he does that through the remnant, through the redeemed 332 00:26:11,420 –> 00:26:18,420 children who truly are his. Now that principle remains important for us 333 00:26:18,599 –> 00:26:24,500 today, and it leads us to ask the question, how then can there be a remnant? How then 334 00:26:24,500 –> 00:26:29,020 in a world of rebel children, when many are turning away from the Lord, can there be a 335 00:26:29,020 –> 00:26:34,420 community of redeemed children, through whom God will continue his work in the world? That’s 336 00:26:34,420 –> 00:26:38,459 a huge question. And I want to give you in these last moments 337 00:26:38,780 –> 00:26:45,599 just these three wonderfully encouraging answers. How can there be a community of redeemed children 338 00:26:45,599 –> 00:26:52,599 first because of the lord of hosts? Do you see that in verse 9? If the lord of hosts 339 00:26:56,160 –> 00:27:01,699 had not left us a few survivors we would’ve become like Sodom and like Gomorrah. Why is 340 00:27:01,699 –> 00:27:08,380 there a community of redeemed children brought out of, a shoot coming out of the stump of 341 00:27:08,380 –> 00:27:13,560 the rebel children cut down? It’s because of the lord of hosts. If it hadn’t been for 342 00:27:13,560 –> 00:27:17,760 him we would’ve been like Sodom and Gomorrah. That’s what it says. Have you ever thought 343 00:27:17,760 –> 00:27:24,760 about this phrase lord of hosts? Very striking. Isaiah uses that phrase as a description of 344 00:27:26,180 –> 00:27:33,180 God 62 times. It means that he’s the lord of many. It means that he’s the captain of 345 00:27:33,760 –> 00:27:40,760 a vast army. It could be translated that the lord is the all-powerful king. That’s what 346 00:27:41,400 –> 00:27:46,920 it means. And here’s how you should take this home into your own heart. And now I need to 347 00:27:46,920 –> 00:27:53,920 take it home into mine. If you should come to a place where you are so discouraged that 348 00:27:55,020 –> 00:28:02,020 you might say as other people have said, I don’t know, I sometimes wonder if even God 349 00:28:03,020 –> 00:28:10,020 can help me. You said that? Have you thought that? Well, if you come to that place, I don’t 350 00:28:10,939 –> 00:28:17,939 know if even God can help me. You take a look at who this God of the Bible is. He is the 351 00:28:20,140 –> 00:28:27,140 lord of hosts. He is the God of infinite power. He is the God who’s resources are unlimited 352 00:28:28,140 –> 00:28:35,140 and he is the God who always brings his purposes to pass. The Lord of hosts. That’s how even 353 00:28:37,839 –> 00:28:42,800 in difficult times there is a community of redeemed children because of his great power 354 00:28:42,800 –> 00:28:46,020 and he advances his work in the world through them. 355 00:28:46,020 –> 00:28:53,020 Second, how can there be a community of redeemed children because of the suffering saviour? 356 00:28:54,020 –> 00:29:01,020 This is the opening chapter of Isaiah and what’s the best known chapter of the prophecy 357 00:29:01,339 –> 00:29:07,319 of Isaiah? One of the most familiar in all of the Old Testament is chapter 53. Chapter 358 00:29:07,319 –> 00:29:12,760 53, in which he speaks about the suffering saviour that was to come. It’s the very centre 359 00:29:12,760 –> 00:29:18,859 of what he wants to speak to us about. And what God says to us though him and who is 360 00:29:18,959 –> 00:29:24,680 this suffering saviour? He’s the one who is wounded for our transgressions and bruised 361 00:29:24,680 –> 00:29:31,680 for our inequities. So part of preaching is to worship. And I found in my own heart just 362 00:29:33,119 –> 00:29:39,520 a lifting to worship as I first saw the parallel here between chapter one and chapter 53 and 363 00:29:39,520 –> 00:29:44,479 then thought of the wonder and of the glory and of the love of the Son of God in relation 364 00:29:44,599 –> 00:29:48,380 to it. Have you picked up on the connections between 365 00:29:48,380 –> 00:29:55,380 Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 53? In both chapters we have a body that is bruised and is wounded. 366 00:29:59,640 –> 00:30:06,640 In chapter one it is the wounded body of God’s rebel children with all these festering sores. 367 00:30:07,540 –> 00:30:14,540 In chapter 53 it is the bruised body of God’s one and only Son. 368 00:30:16,020 –> 00:30:23,020 In chapter one and verse four God’s children are struck down or smitten. In Isaiah and 369 00:30:23,260 –> 00:30:30,260 chapter 53 the smitting is on God’s only Son. We esteemed him stricken and smitten 370 00:30:30,800 –> 00:30:37,800 by God and inflicted. In Isaiah chapter one it is God’s rebel children who are bruised. 371 00:30:38,500 –> 00:30:45,500 In Isaiah 53 the bruising is on God’s one and only Son. He was pierced for our transgressions 372 00:30:45,819 –> 00:30:52,819 and he was bruised for our iniquities. In Isaiah chapter one it is God’s rebel children 373 00:30:53,680 –> 00:31:00,680 who have these raw and open wounds. But in Isaiah 53 the open wounds are on the back 374 00:31:03,020 –> 00:31:10,020 of the Son of God and it is by his wounds that we are healed. Most of all think about 375 00:31:11,040 –> 00:31:18,040 this in Isaiah 1 God’s rebel children are laden with iniquity. Think about that word 376 00:31:18,160 –> 00:31:25,160 laden and in Isaiah and chapter 53 we are told astonishingly that our iniquities are 377 00:31:27,300 –> 00:31:34,300 laid on him, the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all. The Son of God, he 378 00:31:34,300 –> 00:31:41,300 was laden with iniquity for us. The Son of God, he in his own body was beaten and bruised 379 00:31:50,160 –> 00:31:57,160 for us. The Son of God, he was alone surrounded. He was surrounded by his enemies. Even the 380 00:31:58,280 –> 00:32:04,160 love of the father was away from him. My God, my God so why have you forsaken me? Everything 381 00:32:04,439 –> 00:32:09,160 that was the life of the rebel children became his in order that there might be redeemed 382 00:32:09,160 –> 00:32:16,160 children through whom God who advances great purpose in the world. It’s amazing. And 383 00:32:16,500 –> 00:32:20,699 there’s a community of redeemed children because of the Lord of host this year, the 384 00:32:20,699 –> 00:32:26,439 power of God by which he works and accomplishes his purposes. He does it through the suffering 385 00:32:26,439 –> 00:32:33,439 son. He does it by the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. What’s the great work of the 386 00:32:33,959 –> 00:32:40,959 Holy Spirit that’s unfolded in the New Testament? The work of the Holy Spirit is to gather the 387 00:32:41,540 –> 00:32:48,540 redeemed children. It’s to awaken from among the rebels those who will become redeemed. 388 00:32:49,540 –> 00:32:56,540 It’s to show the need of a Savior and to bring people to the Savior in repentance and 389 00:32:56,819 –> 00:33:02,500 in faith and then to gather these people so they’ll not be alone and isolated but brought 390 00:33:02,780 –> 00:33:08,119 into the Body of Christ. That’s why Jesus says, I will not leave you. I will come to 391 00:33:08,119 –> 00:33:14,119 you. He says to his disciples you will not find yourself ever in a position where you’re 392 00:33:14,119 –> 00:33:20,500 in a booth in a vineyard, or like a hut in a cucumber field or alone besieged by others. 393 00:33:20,500 –> 00:33:27,500 I will be with you in every circumstance of life. I will never leave you and I will never 394 00:33:27,680 –> 00:33:34,680 forsake you. So this is marvelously clear from the Old Testament at the end of the day. 395 00:33:37,280 –> 00:33:44,280 There are really two kinds of people. There are rebel children and there are redeemed 396 00:33:44900 –> 00:33:51,900 children. There are people who do not know God, who have forsaken him, who despise holiness, 397 00:33:52,420 –> 00:33:59,420 are laden with iniquity, whose wounds are like open sores, and who ultimately will be 398 00:34:01,459 –> 00:34:08,459 divided, isolated, vulnerable, and alone. But out of this ruin, God, by his almighty 399 00:34:12,739 –> 00:34:17,320 power and through the suffering of the Savior, and by the work of the Holy Spirit is gathering 400 00:34:17,719 –> 00:34:24,719 a community of redeemed people for himself, a group of people who will know him, people 401 00:34:30,580 –> 00:34:37,580 who have returned to him, people who pursue holiness because they really do love the Holy 402 00:34:38,820 –> 00:34:45,820 One, people whose iniquity is pardoned, people whose wounds are being cleansed and are being 403 00:34:46,820 –> 00:34:53,679 healed and people who are no longer alone and vulnerable and isolated because God gathers 404 00:34:53,679 –> 00:35:00,679 them into the body of the redeemed. The body of the church of which Jesus Christ is the 405 00:35:01,399 –> 00:35:08,399 head and he accomplishes his work in the world at all seasons through them. Thank God for 406 00:35:15,840 –> 00:35:22,840 the remnant, right? Because if the Lord of Hosts had not left us a few survivors, we 407 00:35:24,560 –> 00:35:30,360 would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. 408 00:35:30,360 –> 00:35:35,320 Let’s pray together, shall we? 409 00:35:35,320 –> 00:35:42,320 Father, we want to respond by what we’ve seen in the Bible today. By asking that you 410 00:35:42,620 –> 00:35:49,620 will build your church in this nation and in the nations of the world. We pray that 411 00:35:53,300 –> 00:36:00,300 you will gather by your almighty power and because of your son, Jesus, and through the 412 00:36:00,379 –> 00:36:07,379 Holy Spirit, that you will gather great and strong communities of people who know you 413 00:36:07,540 –> 00:36:12,959 and have returned to you and pursue holiness and are pardoned and are being healed and 414 00:36:12,959 –> 00:36:19,959 are no longer isolated, but are standing shoulder to shoulder in serving you and advancing your 415 00:36:20,459 –> 00:36:22,219 purpose in the world. 416 00:36:22,219 –> 00:36:29,219 We are wanting to ask individually and together that we will be such people. Make me and keep 417 00:36:29,959 –> 00:36:36,959 me as one of your redeemed children, dear God. And let us together, we pray, be useful 418 00:36:39,800 –> 00:36:46,780 to you in these days of our lives as you seek to advance your great purpose through your 419 00:36:46,780 –> 00:36:50,639 people in the world. 420 00:36:50,639 –> 00:36:55,020 Grandfather, that in these days there may be many rebel children who are willing to 421 00:36:55,600 –> 00:37:00,639 Grandfather, that in these days there may be many rebel children who become redeemed 422 00:37:00,639 –> 00:37:07,179 children for the sake of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 423 00:37:07,179 –> 00:37:13,840 In these things we ask in Jesus’ name and everyone together said amen.