1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,340 Well, please open your Bible at Isaiah as it is being read to us. 2 00:00:04,340 –> 00:00:08,660 This is the last of three messages from Isaiah in Chapter 1. 3 00:00:08,660 –> 00:00:16,000 The book of Isaiah can be described as the message of the Bible in miniature, and more 4 00:00:16,000 –> 00:00:23,180 than that, Isaiah in Chapter 1 is really a summary of the entire message of this book. 5 00:00:23,180 –> 00:00:28,600 And that is why we have been looking at this chapter over these weeks and why we have felt 6 00:00:28,600 –> 00:00:34,259 God’s power speaking to us with great clarity as we have been looking in the scriptures 7 00:00:34,259 –> 00:00:35,259 together. 8 00:00:35,259 –> 00:00:40,980 Now, we began by looking at how the people who had been most blessed by God had rebelled 9 00:00:40,980 –> 00:00:42,660 against Him. 10 00:00:42,660 –> 00:00:49,160 I raised children and they rebelled against me, God said. 11 00:00:49,160 –> 00:00:53,520 The people who God had most blessed didn’t want to know Him, they didn’t want to listen 12 00:00:53,520 –> 00:00:56,480 to Him, they didn’t want Him in their lives. 13 00:00:56,480 –> 00:01:00,200 We saw that they were laden with iniquity, that they were bruised and bleeding and that 14 00:01:00,200 –> 00:01:05,400 they were alone and that they were surrounded and we saw that that is a perfect picture 15 00:01:05,400 –> 00:01:10,559 of the position of the sinner before a holy God. 16 00:01:10,559 –> 00:01:13,839 And so last week we came to the question, now what can be done about it? 17 00:01:13,839 –> 00:01:16,419 What can we do? 18 00:01:16,419 –> 00:01:21,459 And we saw that the default instinct of the human heart is to believe that we can make 19 00:01:21,459 –> 00:01:26,500 things right, if we worship and serve and pray. 20 00:01:26,500 –> 00:01:31,699 And we saw that the problem is that worshipping and serving and praying cannot atone for our 21 00:01:31,699 –> 00:01:33,820 sins. 22 00:01:33,820 –> 00:01:39,879 Therefore we need a saviour and we saw from the book of Hebrews that takes up the seeds 23 00:01:39,879 –> 00:01:45,639 that are planted in Isaiah and chapter one that Jesus is the one who has come to do the 24 00:01:45,720 –> 00:01:51,660 the will of God that we his people have failed to do, and then to lay down the perfect life 25 00:01:51,660 –> 00:01:57,800 that he lived as the sacrifice for our sins, and it is therefore because of him that God 26 00:01:57,800 –> 00:02:02,120 can say in the wonderful words of Isaiah 1 in verse 18, 27 00:02:02,120 –> 00:02:08,139 Come, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 28 00:02:08,139 –> 00:02:10,279 as snow. 29 00:02:10,279 –> 00:02:14,699 So we’ve looked at the themes of rebellion, and then last week of repentance and today 30 00:02:14,740 –> 00:02:19,479 we look at this wonderful theme of restoration. 31 00:02:19,479 –> 00:02:26,000 Now we begin at verse 21 which was read to us where God speaks about the faithful city, 32 00:02:26,000 –> 00:02:29,820 or at least the city that was once faithful. 33 00:02:29,820 –> 00:02:35,320 The city of course is a reference here to the community of God’s people, and when God 34 00:02:35,320 –> 00:02:39,320 speaks about the city, it’s very clear that he’s speaking about something that’s more 35 00:02:39,320 –> 00:02:42,860 than individual, more than personal. 36 00:02:43,119 –> 00:02:48,419 We live in an individualistic culture, and so it is very natural for us instinctively 37 00:02:48,419 –> 00:02:54,279 to understand the Bible in terms of God speaking to us in a personal or individual way. 38 00:02:54,279 –> 00:02:57,520 We think of the Bible as God speaking to me. 39 00:02:57,520 –> 00:03:02,119 But you don’t need to read the Bible very long before you come to see that God is often 40 00:03:02,119 –> 00:03:07,119 speaking to us, he’s speaking to his people as a community, he’s speaking to the body 41 00:03:07,119 –> 00:03:10,559 of his own people. 42 00:03:10,639 –> 00:03:15,520 The great mission of God in the Bible, of course, is to gather a people for himself, 43 00:03:15,520 –> 00:03:19,559 that company is going to be gathered from every tribe and from every language, and from 44 00:03:19,559 –> 00:03:21,399 every nation. 45 00:03:21,399 –> 00:03:24,479 God had this in view from the beginning. 46 00:03:24,479 –> 00:03:29,220 He began, you remember, with one man, the man’s name was Abraham, and God said to him, 47 00:03:29,220 –> 00:03:37,580 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and in your offspring, singular, 48 00:03:37,619 –> 00:03:42,660 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. 49 00:03:42,660 –> 00:03:47,479 In the offspring of Abraham, this is how God is going to gather a people to himself, and 50 00:03:47,479 –> 00:03:53,240 that is why, because it’s through the offspring of Abraham, the entire Old Testament story 51 00:03:53,240 –> 00:03:59,800 focuses around God’s dealings with the people of Israel. 52 00:03:59,800 –> 00:04:02,460 God made a covenant with them. 53 00:04:02,460 –> 00:04:07,320 God said now I will be your God, and you will be my people. 54 00:04:07,320 –> 00:04:12,600 These were the people through whom God would bring blessing into the world, and the entire 55 00:04:12,600 –> 00:04:14,600 Old Testament follows that story. 56 00:04:14,600 –> 00:04:19,200 You need to know that as you begin, perhaps for the first time, to be reading the Bible. 57 00:04:19,200 –> 00:04:23,940 That’s why Isaiah later describes Israel as God’s servant. 58 00:04:23,940 –> 00:04:25,040 Why? 59 00:04:25,040 –> 00:04:29,579 Because it would be through them that the purpose of God was that his work would get 60 00:04:29,579 –> 00:04:31,359 done. 61 00:04:31,359 –> 00:04:35,799 But as you read through the Bible’s story, it very quickly becomes obvious that God’s 62 00:04:35,880 –> 00:04:42,239 people cannot fulfill their calling, that however much they are blessed, as we’re seeing 63 00:04:42,239 –> 00:04:49,279 in Isaiah chapter 1, the impulse of sin remains within them, and therefore they cannot be 64 00:04:49,279 –> 00:04:53,579 the means of bringing God’s blessing into the world. 65 00:04:53,579 –> 00:05:00,279 Therefore the entire Old Testament story demonstrates for us beyond question that none of us has 66 00:05:00,279 –> 00:05:04,380 the capacity to do what God requires. 67 00:05:04,380 –> 00:05:08,660 And therefore, we are brought to the position of understanding that we need God to do for 68 00:05:08,660 –> 00:05:17,220 us what we cannot do for ourselves, we need God to put in us what we do not have in ourselves. 69 00:05:17,220 –> 00:05:21,779 In other words, the whole point of the Old Testament story is that it demonstrates how 70 00:05:21,779 –> 00:05:28,940 much we need a Redeemer, and therefore, throughout the Old Testament, what you find is that faithful 71 00:05:29,299 –> 00:05:34,420 and believing people are looking forward to this promised Redeemer, and putting their 72 00:05:34,420 –> 00:05:35,660 hope in Him. 73 00:05:35,660 –> 00:05:39,679 We need someone who can come and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, someone to 74 00:05:39,679 –> 00:05:42,579 put into us what we do not have in ourselves. 75 00:05:42,579 –> 00:05:46,619 He’ll come, we’re looking for Him, He’s our hope! 76 00:05:46,619 –> 00:05:50,839 That’s why ever since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who marvelously fulfills all 77 00:05:50,839 –> 00:05:56,519 the promise of the Old Testament, that believing and faithful people look back to the Lord 78 00:05:56,519 –> 00:06:01,760 Jesus Christ, and all that He has accomplished, and see that all our hope is in Him. 79 00:06:01,760 –> 00:06:08,839 So Jesus Christ, the centrepiece of all history is the hope of Israel, and He is the hope 80 00:06:08,839 –> 00:06:12,859 and the joy of the Church. 81 00:06:12,859 –> 00:06:21,260 And so these verses at the end of Isaiah 1 are addressed to the community of God’s people. 82 00:06:21,299 –> 00:06:26,859 And so I want to apply what we learn from these verses today to the Church, and that 83 00:06:26,859 –> 00:06:37,619 is why our series is called, 180 How God Changes His People and His Church. 84 00:06:37,619 –> 00:06:43,140 Now we begin at verse 21 with a shocking statement. 85 00:06:43,279 –> 00:06:52,380 The faithful city, that is the community of God’s people, the faithful city has become 86 00:06:52,380 –> 00:06:55,540 a whore. 87 00:06:55,540 –> 00:06:59,779 That is, has traded what is sacred. 88 00:06:59,779 –> 00:07:11,019 I want to give you from these verses, very simply, a profile of an unfaithful Church. 89 00:07:11,019 –> 00:07:12,899 What is an unfaithful Church like? 90 00:07:12,980 –> 00:07:19,260 Three descriptions directly from these verses. 91 00:07:19,260 –> 00:07:25,839 Number one, an unfaithful church may have an attractive appearance that masks a disappointing 92 00:07:25,839 –> 00:07:28,399 reality. 93 00:07:28,399 –> 00:07:34,880 An attractive appearance that masks a disappointing reality. 94 00:07:35,179 –> 00:07:37,160 Notice verse 22. 95 00:07:37,160 –> 00:07:43,019 Your silver has become dross. 96 00:07:43,019 –> 00:07:48,420 Your best wine mixed with water. 97 00:07:48,420 –> 00:07:49,600 Now what is dross? 98 00:07:49,600 –> 00:07:57,480 Dross is the scum that rises to the surface when silver is refined. 99 00:07:57,579 –> 00:08:06,040 And when the dross dries it forms a kind of rough metal that is silverish in color, but 100 00:08:06,040 –> 00:08:08,339 of course is completely worthless. 101 00:08:08,339 –> 00:08:11,760 It is a base metal. 102 00:08:11,760 –> 00:08:16,820 And what God says here is that your silver has become dross. 103 00:08:16,899 –> 00:08:26,820 That means what is of great value has been changed in its very nature into something 104 00:08:26,820 –> 00:08:30,820 completely worthless. 105 00:08:30,820 –> 00:08:33,500 Then God uses a second picture. 106 00:08:33,500 –> 00:08:37,739 Your best wine is mixed with water. 107 00:08:37,739 –> 00:08:39,580 Think about that picture. 108 00:08:39,580 –> 00:08:44,700 The wine that is mixed with water still has the color of wine. 109 00:08:44,700 –> 00:08:46,260 But what does it lose? 110 00:08:46,260 –> 00:08:51,219 It loses its taste and it loses its potency. 111 00:08:51,219 –> 00:08:58,460 So in both of these pictures, what you have is something that looks like the real thing, 112 00:08:58,460 –> 00:09:04,460 but on closer inspection, proves to be very disappointing. 113 00:09:04,460 –> 00:09:07,559 Now think about what we’ve learned already from Isaiah Chapter 1. 114 00:09:07,559 –> 00:09:13,140 We saw last week that if you visited the temple in the time of Isaiah, you would have seen 115 00:09:13,520 –> 00:09:18,780 huge crowds trampling the court. 116 00:09:18,780 –> 00:09:23,780 You would have seen multiple sacrifices, more even than were required in the Old Testament 117 00:09:23,780 –> 00:09:25,099 law being made. 118 00:09:25,099 –> 00:09:29,080 You would have experienced, if you could have been transported back in time to the temple 119 00:09:29,080 –> 00:09:35,000 in the day of Isaiah, you would have experienced a relentless schedule of feasts and festivals 120 00:09:35,000 –> 00:09:39,780 and convocations, and we would today conferences and all the rest of it. 121 00:09:40,719 –> 00:09:44,859 And at first sight, when you landed there in the temple courts, it would all look very 122 00:09:44,859 –> 00:09:46,479 impressive to you. 123 00:09:46,479 –> 00:09:53,340 But what looked like silver was actually dross, and what looked like fine wine was mixed with 124 00:09:53,340 –> 00:09:57,559 water. 125 00:09:57,559 –> 00:10:04,840 The silver that is trusted to the people of God, the precious silver that is ours, what 126 00:10:04,840 –> 00:10:05,840 is it? 127 00:10:05,919 –> 00:10:18,960 Psalm 12 and verse 6, the words of the Lord are like silver refined in a furnace and purified 128 00:10:18,960 –> 00:10:23,700 seven times, that’s Psalm 12 and verse 6. 129 00:10:23,700 –> 00:10:32,460 The words of the Lord are the pure silver refined seven times, trusted to the church, 130 00:10:32,739 –> 00:10:36,080 the people of God. 131 00:10:36,080 –> 00:10:36,979 What is the new wine? 132 00:10:36,979 –> 00:10:42,539 Remember what Jesus says when he comes into the world, he speaks about new wine, new wineskins, 133 00:10:42,539 –> 00:10:48,780 Matthew chapter 9, verse 17, the great trust that is given to the church, the silver of 134 00:10:48,780 –> 00:10:55,500 God’s word, the new wine of the gospel, this is the sacred deposit that is given to the 135 00:10:55,719 –> 00:10:59,500 people of God. 136 00:10:59,500 –> 00:11:06,099 But you see what happens in an unfaithful church, the silver gets turned to dross and 137 00:11:06,099 –> 00:11:13,099 the wine gets mixed with water so that when you experience the unfaithful church your 138 00:11:15,020 –> 00:11:20,419 first impressions may be very positive but then over time you begin to see the centre 139 00:11:20,440 –> 00:11:25,960 of gravity is really not about knowing God or reconciled to God through the blood of 140 00:11:25,960 –> 00:11:31,559 Christ or learning to live for his glory irrespective of the cost, it’s been replaced with something 141 00:11:31,559 –> 00:11:38,559 else, it’s about how to do life, it’s about becoming all that you can be, and somehow 142 00:11:40,679 –> 00:11:46,059 in the middle of all of that though there are traces of silver in the dross though there 143 00:11:46,159 –> 00:11:51,820 is still some wine mixed in with the water, somehow the thing of supreme value has been 144 00:11:51,820 –> 00:11:58,260 lost and that’s what is described in the new testament in this way that you end up 145 00:11:58,260 –> 00:12:05,260 with something that has a form of godliness but there’s no life changing power at the 146 00:12:08,359 –> 00:12:11,619 centre of it. 147 00:12:11,700 –> 00:12:18,700 In an unfaithful Church, friend, the pure silver of God’s Word that ought always to 148 00:12:19,400 –> 00:12:26,400 be at the very centre of the life of God’s people is traded for pragmatism and the fine 149 00:12:26,479 –> 00:12:33,479 wine of the gospel on which we live get diluted with the water of affirmation and of self-help 150 00:12:33,960 –> 00:12:40,960 and leaders who may once have had a passion for knowing God end up being driven by the 151 00:12:41,780 –> 00:12:48,780 latest books on sociology and business management rather than the Bible. And it’s all here, 152 00:12:52,179 –> 00:12:58,780 the way in which the people of God, the once faithful city, lose their calling. And it 153 00:12:58,780 –> 00:13:05,780 can look very impressive. But when you taste the reality and discover its true value, it 154 00:13:07,780 –> 00:13:14,780 proves to be disappointing. Secondly, second mark of an unfaithful church, 155 00:13:16,299 –> 00:13:23,299 a what’s-in-it-for-me culture. Does that sound familiar by the way? A what’s-in-it-for-me 156 00:13:23,299 –> 00:13:30,299 culture? Look at verse 23. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone 157 00:13:32,039 –> 00:13:39,039 loves a bribe and runs after gifts. Now, a bribe of course is a payoff that a person 158 00:13:40,780 –> 00:13:46,460 asks for before doing something that is their duty anyway. And that’s why I call it a 159 00:13:46,460 –> 00:13:52,140 what’s-in-it for me culture. That’s what this is. The princes here are of course government 160 00:13:52,140 –> 00:13:59,080 officials, people who should have the public trust and, you know, what this is like. Thankfully 161 00:13:59,080 –> 00:14:03,919 we are protected from it in very large measure in our country, though we’re not without it. 162 00:14:03,919 –> 00:14:07,960 But here it had taken over evidently as a culture. You go to an official and you need 163 00:14:07,960 –> 00:14:12,119 a permit for something and oh yes, of course we can fix that but, what are you going to 164 00:14:12,119 –> 00:14:19,080 do for me first and so forth. Now the astonishing thing is that this description 165 00:14:19,099 –> 00:14:26,099 is made of the people of God. And notice the word everyone in verse 23. Everyone was doing 166 00:14:26,359 –> 00:14:30,880 this. This had just become the prevailing question. The primary question among God’s 167 00:14:30,880 –> 00:14:37,880 people was not how can we honor God the primary question had become what’s in it for me. 168 00:14:38,880 –> 00:14:45,880 And that spirit of course is all around us but, if it settles in the minds and in the 169 00:14:45,979 –> 00:14:51,940 hearts of God’s own people the church will soon become faithless. Everybody looking for 170 00:14:51,940 –> 00:14:58,520 what can I get what I want around here. What’s in it for me? 171 00:14:58,520 –> 00:15:05,520 Third mark of an unfaithful church, insulation from immediate needs. Notice this verse 23. 172 00:15:05,599 –> 00:15:13,640 They do not bring justice to the fatherless and the widow’s cause does not come to them. 173 00:15:16,099 –> 00:15:19,380 Well of course, why would the widow ever bring her cause to people who are only interested 174 00:15:19,380 –> 00:15:26,380 in themselves? She’s not going to get anything from them, so she doesn’t even come. 175 00:15:27,419 –> 00:15:34,419 And so here is this shocking picture of the once faithful people of God and what they’ve 176 00:15:36,599 –> 00:15:42,820 become, and what they’ve lost and how silver has been turned to dross. And how easily this 177 00:15:42,960 –> 00:15:48,119 can happen that what is attractive in appearance ends up being profoundly disappointing in 178 00:15:48,119 –> 00:15:53,940 reality. As a what’s-in-it-for-me culture takes over, and increasingly the people of 179 00:15:53,940 –> 00:16:00,940 God become insulated from the immediate needs that are around them. 180 00:16:01,739 –> 00:16:07,340 Now again the astonishing thing here is that Isaiah is not speaking about the world, he’s 181 00:16:07,500 –> 00:16:13,539 not speaking about the unbelieving nations, he’s speaking about the community of God’s 182 00:16:13,539 –> 00:16:20,539 people. Jerusalem had been the faithful city, it was the city where God had put his name. 183 00:16:24,440 –> 00:16:31,440 Jerusalem was the city of God that once, verse 21, had been full of justice. It was the city 184 00:16:32,400 –> 00:16:39,400 remember when the smoke of God’s temple came down indicating the presence of God among 185 00:16:40,780 –> 00:16:47,780 his people, in that city and all the promise of fellowship with God and communion between 186 00:16:48,260 –> 00:16:55,260 God and his people that was represented in that. That happened in the once faithful city. 187 00:16:55,320 –> 00:17:02,179 And now Isaiah is coming and saying look what has happened the faithful city has become 188 00:17:02,179 –> 00:17:09,180 a whore, murderers have taken the place of the righteous, and you read this and you say 189 00:17:12,699 –> 00:17:18,180 I can see how this might happen in the unbelieving world. How can this happen amongst these people? 190 00:17:18,180 –> 00:17:22,239 Among the people of God? 191 00:17:22,739 –> 00:17:29,739 Here is something friends really important that I want us all to grasp today. You’re 192 00:17:30,319 –> 00:17:37,319 going to need it to live in this world. Those who have been mostly blessed by God often 193 00:17:41,079 –> 00:17:48,079 become the worst if they rebel against it. You have to understand that principle. Those 194 00:17:48,760 –> 00:17:55,760 who are most blessed by God often become the worst if they should choose to rebel against 195 00:18:02,119 –> 00:18:09,119 Him. Too often we have had to endure the pain of hearing about leaders of the church who 196 00:18:09,420 –> 00:18:16,420 have fallen into gross sin. You may wonder how in the world it is possible for someone 197 00:18:29,099 –> 00:18:36,099 in ministry to get to a place of doing things that are worse than you would commonly find 198 00:18:37,060 –> 00:18:44,060 even among people who do not believe. Your mind reels and you say, how can this possibly 199 00:18:48,699 –> 00:18:54,140 be? I am saying to you today this is what you need to grasp. This is what I need to 200 00:18:54,140 –> 00:19:01,119 settle in my mind, that those who have been most blessed by God often become the worst 201 00:19:01,660 –> 00:19:07,660 of all, worse than unbelievers, if they rebel against Him. Now there are multiple examples 202 00:19:12,640 –> 00:19:18,640 of this in the Bible. Think of the sons of Eli. Remember Eli was a priest in the Old 203 00:19:22,500 –> 00:19:27,420 Testament. He gave himself to the service of God. You can read his story in the early 204 00:19:27,619 –> 00:19:34,619 chapters of 1 Samuel, and Eli had two sons and their names were Hofni and Phineas and 205 00:19:35,079 –> 00:19:39,839 they also were raised and they also became priests. And so here are two boys who are 206 00:19:39,839 –> 00:19:45,839 raised with the knowledge of God. But if you read this story and make your hair stand on 207 00:19:49,300 –> 00:19:56,300 end what they did. Hofni and Phineas were as bad as they came. They were corrupt. They 208 00:19:57,540 –> 00:20:04,540 were corrupt. And they lived in a pattern of sexual immorality that was far worse than 209 00:20:06,380 –> 00:20:13,000 you would expect even among people who had no knowledge of God. So that Eli had to say 210 00:20:13,000 –> 00:20:18,920 to them, why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people 211 00:20:18,920 –> 00:20:25,920 of Israel. And you will have seen this. Some extraordinary evil is committed, and when 212 00:20:26,800 –> 00:20:31,420 the life story of the person who did it is traced, you hear, and the news will make a 213 00:20:31,420 –> 00:20:35,079 great deal of it, that this person went to Sunday School when they were a little boy 214 00:20:35,079 –> 00:20:39,459 or this person was actually raised by Christian parents or whatever. And you say how in the 215 00:20:39,459 –> 00:20:45,140 world, when the person has done some heinous thing, you say how in the world is that possible? 216 00:20:45,140 –> 00:20:52,140 Here’s how it’s possible. That he rebelled against the light that he had received and 217 00:20:52,979 –> 00:20:59,979 the force of that rebellion took him to the darkest place. The darkest place. 218 00:21:01,119 –> 00:21:08,119 This of course is exactly what you see in Judas, is it not? Think about this. The one 219 00:21:09,300 –> 00:21:16,300 who committed the darkest deed of all was the person who had spent three years in vocational 220 00:21:17,300 –> 00:21:24,300 ministry full time. The darkest deed of all. Coming near to God will either make you better 221 00:21:26,479 –> 00:21:33,479 or it will make you worse. And friend, if you sin against the light you have received 222 00:21:37,140 –> 00:21:44,140 and go on doing that, you dull your own conscience and over time, darkness begins to fall upon 223 00:21:46,319 –> 00:21:53,319 you. Darkness may overtake you and lead you to unimaginable things. And you may find yourself 224 00:21:57,560 –> 00:22:03,680 in greater darkness than many who never walked with Christ. Jesus speaks about this and John 225 00:22:03,680 –> 00:22:10,680 chapter 12 and verse 35 he says this, walk while you have the light, he says, lest darkness 226 00:22:10,920 –> 00:22:17,920 overtake you. You God have the light, but if you do not walk in the light, in obedience 227 00:22:22,680 –> 00:22:27,459 to the light, what’s going to happen? He says, lest darkness overtake you and you be 228 00:22:27,459 –> 00:22:34,459 consumed by it. Where there may be rebellion in your heart I urge you to let darkness overtake 229 00:22:40,819 –> 00:22:47,819 you to come to the cross of Jesus Christ and deal with it today. Because if you don’t, 230 00:22:50,459 –> 00:22:57,459 its power will grow and there is no saying where it will lead you. No saying where it 231 00:22:57,520 –> 00:23:02,979 will lead you. Now, the Scriptures give us serious warnings 232 00:23:02,979 –> 00:23:09,979 and by any account these verses in Isaiah come into that category. They give us serious 233 00:23:11,520 –> 00:23:17,880 warnings, because we need them, the church needs them. They speak to the realities of 234 00:23:17,880 –> 00:23:21,800 life, the Bible always does. There is nothing that is hidden from God, nothing that takes 235 00:23:21,800 –> 00:23:28,800 Him by surprise. But the Scriptures also give us wonderful hope. And the very verses here 236 00:23:29,380 –> 00:23:35,800 that are addressing these solemn matters of the way in which the once faithful city can 237 00:23:35,800 –> 00:23:42,800 trade away that which is of such value, and sink to such horrible deaths. The same passage 238 00:23:45,800 –> 00:23:52,800 that describes that are the very verses in which God speaks to us, about the hope of 239 00:23:52,800 –> 00:23:59,800 restoration. You look at the world in which we live – there may be times when you’re 240 00:23:59,900 –> 00:24:06,760 looking at your own life and saying, where is there hope here? How can faithless people 241 00:24:06,760 –> 00:24:12,959 be made faithful? How can self-absorbed people learn to love? What is there for God’s people 242 00:24:12,959 –> 00:24:18,619 when the silver has been traded for dross and the wine has been watered down? What hope 243 00:24:18,640 –> 00:24:25,359 is there for the wrecked life of the person who has given him or herself to sin and now 244 00:24:25,359 –> 00:24:32,359 finds themselves in great, great, great darkness. 245 00:24:32,479 –> 00:24:37,000 I want you to notice how God restores His people which is the second of two things that 246 00:24:37,000 –> 00:24:44,000 we have here today. The profile of the unfaithful church was the first and how God restores 247 00:24:44,739 –> 00:24:51,420 His people here in these verses is the second and He restores them in these ways. 248 00:24:51,420 –> 00:24:58,420 First by a gracious intervention. Do you notice verse twenty five, I will turn my hand against 249 00:24:58,459 –> 00:25:05,459 you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. Hope begins 250 00:25:06,400 –> 00:25:13,400 with an intervention from God. And this is how God restores. Isn’t it interesting that 251 00:25:21,099 –> 00:25:27,859 God says here, I will turn my hand against you. He’s acting in judgement in relation 252 00:25:27,859 –> 00:25:33,260 to His people and yet His great purpose is their restoration. Always remember that if 253 00:25:33,400 –> 00:25:38,699 you come to a place where it seems that God Himself is against you, in Jesus Christ He 254 00:25:38,699 –> 00:25:44,260 is always, however difficult what He’s bringing you through, acting for your ultimate good, 255 00:25:44,260 –> 00:25:51,260 in all things working for the good of those who love Him. And hope of real and lasting 256 00:25:52,420 –> 00:25:59,420 change can only begin with an intervention of God. Only God Himself can restore His people 257 00:25:59,640 –> 00:26:06,640 but He can do it. And here in these very verses He says that He will. Notice verse 25, He 258 00:26:08,140 –> 00:26:14,619 takes up the theme of dross again that we noticed in verse 22. God says, I will purge 259 00:26:14,619 –> 00:26:21,619 your dross. Smelt it away. Well, we already saw that God says that your silver has become 260 00:26:22,540 –> 00:26:29,540 dross. So the promise here involves a miraculous change of nature. I mean, only God can turn 261 00:26:35,079 –> 00:26:42,079 dross into silver. You could do that, you’d be very rich. Can’t do it, but God can. 262 00:26:43,839 –> 00:26:50,839 God turning dross into silver that is what He says He will do here. God can take a person 263 00:26:51,739 –> 00:26:58,739 who has traded away the most precious gift and He can make that person a new. It’s a 264 00:26:59,599 –> 00:27:02,739 most beautiful promise. 265 00:27:02,739 –> 00:27:08,380 When David came to seek restoration, you remember in Psalm 51, which is a wonderful psalm to 266 00:27:08,380 –> 00:27:15,380 read on this great subject? You remember he asked God first to cleanse him. Felt so unclean. 267 00:27:16,180 –> 00:27:23,180 Oh God, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than 268 00:27:23,699 –> 00:27:30,699 snow. That’s Isaiah 118 isn’t it. Whiter than snow. But he didn’t stop there, because 269 00:27:33,040 –> 00:27:37,359 he knew that the reason he got into the wretched sin that he had committed was that he had 270 00:27:37,359 –> 00:27:42,959 a heart that had drawn him there. And he said, in effect, oh God if you only cleanse me but 271 00:27:42,959 –> 00:27:48,160 don’t change me, I’m going to end up going back there again. So I’m not only asking that 272 00:27:48,160 –> 00:27:53,319 you cleanse me and make me whiter than snow, I’m asking something else. I’m asking that 273 00:27:53,319 –> 00:28:00,319 you create in me a clean heart! That you do a renewal of my very nature by the power of 274 00:28:01,640 –> 00:28:06,520 your Holy Spirit. That’s what’s being spoken of here. I will purge your dross, I’m going 275 00:28:06,520 –> 00:28:12,760 to turn the dross into silver, I’m going to take that which is worthless, and I’m going 276 00:28:12,760 –> 00:28:19,760 to create something beautiful and of supreme value at the very core of your being. 277 00:28:20,839 –> 00:28:27,839 God can change your heart, and that is what he promises here, I will smelt away your dross, 278 00:28:29,439 –> 00:28:36,439 an intervention of God. Second, God restores His people through the gift of Godly leadership. 279 00:28:37,160 –> 00:28:44,160 Notice verse 26, I will restore your judges as at first. Now remember the judges had all 280 00:28:44,640 –> 00:28:49,020 got taken up with the bribe, what’s in it for me? And God says, now I am going to change 281 00:28:49,020 –> 00:28:56,020 that, I am going to restore to you judges of integrity as at first. I’m going to restore 282 00:28:56,439 –> 00:29:00,660 to you councilors, verse 26, as at the beginning. 283 00:29:01,119 –> 00:29:07,520 Now remember that these verses speak first about how God restores the community of his people. 284 00:29:07,520 –> 00:29:14,540 How he’s going to restore the great and once-faithful city that had became so tragically faithless 285 00:29:14,540 –> 00:29:21,239 and how’s he going to do it? He says this, there will be wise and godly leaders. Now 286 00:29:21,239 –> 00:29:25,280 just make this immediate application so that we don’t miss it. 287 00:29:25,280 –> 00:29:46,060 Wise and godly leaders who are willing to serve are a gift of Jesus Christ to his church. 288 00:29:46,060 –> 00:29:51,319 That’s an amen moment, by the way in a solemn sermon, isn’t it? A gift of Jesus Christ 289 00:29:51,699 –> 00:30:00,520 And when you see a board member of this church today, or a Life Group leader, or a Sunday 290 00:30:00,520 –> 00:30:08,579 school class teacher, I want you to thank them for serving. And remember to pray for 291 00:30:08,579 –> 00:30:19,819 them with thanksgiving. Because as it is with the leaders, so it is with the church. 292 00:30:20,699 –> 00:30:24,719 And if you want to follow this through, you can read a little more in Isaiah and Chapter 293 00:30:24,719 –> 00:30:29,079 3, and you’ll find there that the evidence of God’s Judgment is that good people are 294 00:30:29,079 –> 00:30:35,739 no longer willing to lead. In fact there aren’t any good people left to lead. It says boys 295 00:30:35,739 –> 00:30:40,719 become the rulers. In other words, people who don’t have the maturity or the ability 296 00:30:40,719 –> 00:30:48,000 to lead, end up being in charge of the whole thing. And people are being pressed to take 297 00:30:48,140 –> 00:30:53,000 responsibility, but everyone says, Not me. Not me. This thing’s a shambles. 298 00:30:53,000 –> 00:30:59,160 So a decline of leadership is an evidence of the judgment of God, and healthy, Godly, 299 00:30:59,160 –> 00:31:03,959 wise leadership is a sign of the blessing of God, and I will tell you there is never 300 00:31:03,959 –> 00:31:10,959 a week that I do not thank God from the depth of my heart for the leaders that have emerged 301 00:31:11,239 –> 00:31:18,239 from the congregation of this Church, who willingly and with ability and with humility 302 00:31:20,060 –> 00:31:27,060 serve, and for such we should be daily and profoundly thankful to God. 303 00:31:29,959 –> 00:31:36,839 But the promise here reaches further. Isaiah, actually, saw a restoration of leadership 304 00:31:37,680 –> 00:31:43,000 in his lifetime. If you look back at chapter 1 and verse 1, you’ll see Isaiah prophesied 305 00:31:43,000 –> 00:31:47,880 through some very different periods in the life of God’s people, through the days of 306 00:31:47,880 –> 00:31:54,880 Uzziah, through the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Now look at these two, Ahaz 307 00:31:54,939 –> 00:32:00,560 and Hezekiah. Ahaz was about as bad as they came. Ahaz, perhaps, and Menasseh the two 308 00:32:01,260 –> 00:32:07,900 first. Hezekiah certainly counts as one of the better kings of Israel, and so there was 309 00:32:07,900 –> 00:32:14,900 a restoration in some degree that Isaiah actually saw at a leadership level within his own lifetime. 310 00:32:17,300 –> 00:32:22,839 But what he prophesied here reaches further than anything that Isaiah saw in the reign 311 00:32:22,839 –> 00:32:28,420 of Hezekiah, or anything that he saw in his own lifetime because God says, verse 26, he 312 00:32:28,439 –> 00:32:35,219 will restore judges as at first and counselors as at the beginning. The beginning of what? 313 00:32:35,500 –> 00:32:38,780 The beginning of the faithful city. The beginning of Jerusalem. When was that? That was the 314 00:32:38,780 –> 00:32:44,599 time of David. That was when Jerusalem became the capital and the place where God put his 315 00:32:44,599 –> 00:32:50,859 name. It was under David that Jerusalem became the great city of God, and Israel was never 316 00:32:50,859 –> 00:32:56,680 so blessed as they had been under the rule of their greatest king, and God says there’s 317 00:32:56,680 –> 00:33:02,540 going to be a new David. That’s what’s being said here and the blessing that came to God’s 318 00:33:02,540 –> 00:33:05,920 people under the, the, the rule of David. 319 00:33:05,920 –> 00:33:09,560 That’s going to be multiplied, how is it going to be multiplied? David’s going to have a 320 00:33:09,560 –> 00:33:19,239 greater son. Alankmateer says God sovereignly plans to bring David back to reign over a 321 00:33:19,239 –> 00:33:25,239 perfected city. Do you see how that shines a light on the coming of Jesus Christ born 322 00:33:25,239 –> 00:33:35,160 of the line of David? And so God will restore his people how? Through a great intervention, 323 00:33:35,160 –> 00:33:40,300 how will he restore his people? Through a new David who will be set on the throne to 324 00:33:40,300 –> 00:33:45,359 lead the people of God. That takes you right through to the vision at the end of the New 325 00:33:45,359 –> 00:33:51,339 Testament where, indeed, the great city, the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, the 326 00:33:51,520 –> 00:33:57,880 place where God has put his name, and now there are the people gathered fully redeemed 327 00:33:57,880 –> 00:34:04,239 under his lordship and under his kingly rule, and the great city, indeed, becomes the home 328 00:34:04,239 –> 00:34:08,939 of righteousness, where the people of God are blessed and his name is honored forever 329 00:34:08,939 –> 00:34:15,459 and forever. That’s where God’s restoration of his people is going. And how does that 330 00:34:15,580 –> 00:34:27,580 happen? Now, there’s the third piece. The work of the Redeemer. Verse 27, Zion shall 331 00:34:28,020 –> 00:34:36,239 be redeemed. Now, what’s a Redeemer? A Redeemer is very simply a person who purchases something 332 00:34:36,320 –> 00:34:43,320 by paying a price for it. And when David’s greater Son comes into the world, he comes 333 00:34:44,860 –> 00:34:51,860 as the Redeemer. And God pays the great price to purchase his own people, his own faithless 334 00:34:55,239 –> 00:35:02,239 people, how he does it in Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus Christ is the hope of the old testament 335 00:35:02,399 –> 00:35:09,399 as much as he is the hope in the new. Zion will be redeemed how? With justice, with justice. 336 00:35:13,260 –> 00:35:17,060 How are God’s people to be restored? It’s going to come through the work of the Redeemer 337 00:35:17,060 –> 00:35:23,179 and that’s going to involve justice, that is the purchase of the people of God will 338 00:35:23,179 –> 00:35:30,179 be paid at the price of his own blood and the stroke of divine justice for the sins 339 00:35:31,080 –> 00:35:36,199 of all of God’s people will fall upon his one and only Son. He will die the just for 340 00:35:36,199 –> 00:35:43,199 the unjust and he will do it in order to bring us to God, how will God’s people be restored? 341 00:35:44,360 –> 00:35:51,360 Gracious intervention, the gift of Godly leadership, the work of the Redeemer and lastly this, 342 00:35:51,520 –> 00:35:58,520 people who repent, verse 27. Zion shall be redeemed by justice and those in her who repent 343 00:36:07,780 –> 00:36:14,780 by righteousness. Please notice that not all in Zion repent. There are folks within the 344 00:36:15,379 –> 00:36:22,379 company of God’s people in its widest sense who know nothing of real repentance. 345 00:36:29,379 –> 00:36:36,379 Hophni and Phinehas never repented. They were priests. Even when they were confronted with 346 00:36:37,100 –> 00:36:44,100 their own sin, they didn’t repent. Why? Because, it goes to the heart, Judas chose to take 347 00:36:46,340 –> 00:36:53,340 his own life, rather than repent. Not all repent, notice what it says, those in her, 348 00:36:56,820 –> 00:37:03,820 that is those in Zion who repent, there are some in Zion who are repentant people. Repentance 349 00:37:03,820 –> 00:37:10,820 is a miracle of grace! Restoration is a miracle of grace. For a heart that has taken a person 350 00:37:17,360 –> 00:37:22,979 to the darkest place, to be so turned that there should be real repentance is not a matter 351 00:37:22,979 –> 00:37:29,979 of course. It’s amazing if it happens. Amazing. And here is the only way in which it ever 352 00:37:30,639 –> 00:37:37,639 will happen. The intervention of God in your life. Bringing you to repentance at the feet 353 00:37:39,399 –> 00:37:46,399 of Jesus. Humbling yourself before him as your judge, submitting yourself to him as 354 00:37:46,639 –> 00:37:52,899 your counsellor, crowning him as your sovereign king, and casting yourself upon the mercy 355 00:37:52,899 –> 00:37:58,800 of this gracious redeemer who loved you and gave himself for you, who is able to cleanse 356 00:37:58,860 –> 00:38:05,860 you and to make you anew. I have taken just three words from these verses 357 00:38:10,379 –> 00:38:15,379 into my own life by way of application and I will just give them to you very simply, 358 00:38:15,379 –> 00:38:2,379 and we’re through. The first is this, be thankful. Be thankful. In a world where in 359 00:38:22,840 –> 00:38:29,840 many places the church has become unfaithful, we should be thankful every day to belong 360 00:38:30,560 –> 00:38:36,360 to a congregation where the word of God and the hope of the gospel is prized like pure 361 00:38:36,360 –> 00:38:43,159 silver. Never take that for granted, and if you have one complaint only make it after 362 00:38:43,159 –> 00:38:49,179 you have thanked God ten times for the blessing that is all around you. 363 00:38:49,260 –> 00:38:51,260 2. Be Watchful 364 00:38:52,260 –> 00:38:58,860 If Satan could turn the faithful city of God in the Old Testament into the den of corruption 365 00:38:58,879 –> 00:39:03,659 and self-interest that it became, we should not be surprised if we see the same thing 366 00:39:03,659 –> 00:39:13,159 happening in churches today. Peter, Jesus, said, Satan has desire to sift you like wheat. 367 00:39:13,239 –> 00:39:25,000 So watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation. Be thankful, be watchful, be faithful. 368 00:39:25,000 –> 00:39:31,560 Because, verse 26, afterward you shall, the people of God shall be called the city of 369 00:39:31,580 –> 00:39:38,520 righteousness and the faithful city, that is the glorious future for all of the people 370 00:39:38,620 –> 00:39:45,639 of God. You shall be called righteous, you shall be called faithful. That is what is 371 00:39:46,760 –> 00:39:53,120 said of the redeemed in Christ, therefore if we wish to be called such, let us seek 372 00:39:53,120 –> 00:40:02,120 to be such in all the days of our life as we seek to honor and serve him. 373 00:40:02,580 –> 00:40:08,560 These are sober words that carry weight in our hearts because they came from your 374 00:40:08,560 –> 00:40:15,560 own mouth. Grant that they may bring to us the 375 00:40:15,560 –> 00:40:22,000 fruit of thankfulness, the fruit of watchfulness and the fruit of 376 00:40:22,000 –> 00:40:29,600 faithfulness, and that we may be repentant people that we may deal early 377 00:40:29,600 –> 00:40:34,419 with the encroachments of sin and temptation in our lives, that we may walk 378 00:40:34,419 –> 00:40:38,800 in the light as Christ is in the light and so a fellowship with one another. 379 00:40:38,800 –> 00:40:43,320 Guard us and protect us we pray in all of our ways until the day when we shall 380 00:40:43,320 –> 00:40:48,360 see your face. For these things we ask in Jesus name. And everyone said together 381 00:40:48,360 –> 00:40:50,340 Amen.