Restore People!

Isaiah 65:1-9
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“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’” Isaiah 65:1

These are people with full and busy lives. They are not looking for God or searching after him. They don’t expect God to do anything in their lives. They haven’t been praying. They did not ask for God or seek God or call out to Him.

Secular people who don’t know God

You know folks like that. They might say “I respect your faith, but I’m really not interested. My life is full. I don’t have the time or the desire to seek after God.”

Maybe that describes you. People come to church for different reasons.  You may be here because of your friends or your parents, but if someone asked you “What do you expect God to do in your life today?” You wouldn’t really know what to say, because you are not really expecting God to do anything in your life.

In Isaiah’s time, these people were known as “the Gentiles.” In the Old Testament, God made Himself known to Moses and to one nation of people, the people of Israel. But the other nations didn’t know Him—they didn’t have the commandments or the covenants. And because they didn’t know Him, they didn’t seek Him or call on Him either.

The first group Isaiah identifies are secular people. These are people who don’t know God. Across our country and across the world there are millions of people who would gladly identify themselves this way.

What do you think God would say to these folks? You might expect God to say “There are many people in this world who completely ignore Me. They don’t ask for Me, or seek Me. They don’t call on My Name. These people don’t have faith. They don’t pray. They don’t expect me to do anything in their lives. These people really aren’t interested in Me, and so I am not interested in them.”

God Seeks Out People Who Don’t Know Him

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’” (Isaiah 65:1).

That is not the God of the Bible. He “reveals Himself.” He puts Himself on the radar screen of folks who aren’t looking for Him. He says “Here I am,” to folks who don’t even know who He is. He turns up in the lives of people who didn’t even ask for Him.

Here’s what that means for us: You may not have been interested in God, but that doesn’t mean God is not interested in you. You may not be reaching out to God, but God is reaching out to you. People who are not looking for God, come to know Him, not because they find God, but because God finds them!

That opens the door of hope. Maybe you would say today “I don’t have much faith. I don’t know how to pray. I don’t know God, and I haven’t been looking for Him to do anything in my life. I don’t feel very spiritual at all.” You are exactly the kind of person God is looking to restore today.

Religious people who claim to know God

“All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good” (Isaiah 65:2).

These folks are different from the Gentiles in verse 1. We know that because in the New Testament the Apostle Paul quotes these verses from Isaiah. He tells us that they refer to a different group of people: “Isaiah boldly says ‘I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.’ But concerning Israel he says ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people’” (Romans 10:20-21).

So, verse 1 is about the Gentile nations—secular people who did not know God. But verse 2 is about Israel, the people to whom God had made Himself known—religious people who claimed to know God.

Even if you’ve recently come back to church, this may describe you. Many of us were brought up with religion. For some this was positive. You look back on what you learned, and you’re thankful for it. For others, the religion you experienced was a burden. It felt empty, and it did not bring you near to God. At some point in your life, you were glad to be free from it.

Religion is a mixed bag

Notice what God says to these religious people who claim to know Him: “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways that are not good, pursuing their own imaginations, a people who continually provoke me to my very face” (Isaiah 65:2,3).

He is not talking about secular people who don’t know Him. He is talking about the religious people who claim to know Him. He is telling us something very important that will be liberating for some of us today. Religion is a mixed bag. It’s a hodgepodge of good and of evil, of light and of darkness.

All religion that is sincere is not necessarily good, not if you read the God of the Old Testament. Some religion honors, God but some of it “provokes” Him (v2). God goes even further. He says that some religious people are “smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning” (v5). Clearly there is a kind of religion that God does not like! It does not come close to pleasing Him. In fact, it actually provokes Him!

What Kind of Religion Offends God?

How do you know what is good and honoring to God in religion, and how do you distinguish it from what’s bad in religion and provokes Him? The only way we’re going to be able to sort that out is in the Bible. Isaiah identifies six forms of religion that are offensive to God:

Hypocritical religion

“Obstinate people who walk in ways not good” (v2).

Here are religious folks who “talk the talk,” but they do not “walk the walk.” They claim to know God, but they do not do what is good. God says, “That provokes me. That offends Me!”

If you have been provoked and offended by people who claim to know God but they do not do what is good, then you agree with the God of the Bible here. God is provoked and offended by the double standard of claiming to know Him and walking (that means following a pattern of life) that is not good.

Personalized religion

“Pursuing their own imaginations” (v2).

Following your own imagination, means you just assume that God is for whatever you are for, and that He is in whatever you are in. It is remaking God in your image, so that your god becomes a projection of your own preferences, prejudices and desires. This is the worst kind of idolatry, and God says, “That offends Me! It continually provokes Me to My Face!”

Ritualistic religion

“Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick” (v3).

This is all about ritual. You might expect that God would be very impressed with people who are constantly offering sacrifices and burning incense. But rituals don’t change lives. A religion that’s all about rituals is ultimately empty. God says “That’s the kind of thing  that provokes Me. The idea that religion is all about doing the same thing over and over again, that provokes Me!”

Dark religion

“Who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil” (v4).

There is a brand of religion that takes a great interest in the dead. There’s a dramatic increase in interest in this form of religion in our time. The TV schedules seem increasingly filled with it, especially at this time of the year. But in the Bible, God prohibits this sort of thing. He says that it offends Him, so don’t go near it.

Rebellious religion

“Who eat the flesh of pigs and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat” (v4).

Remember, according to the Apostle Paul, these words are directed to Israel. In the Old Testament God’s people were given specific laws that marked their special relationship with Him. Food laws were included that were appropriate to God’s people before the time that our Lord Jesus Christ came. So, for a person in Old Testament Israel to “eat the flesh of pigs” and “the broth of unclean meat” was just open rebellion against the Old Testament commandments of God for that time.

This person is saying “Whatever God has commanded, I will do the opposite. I am going to be my own god.” And God says “That provokes Me. That offends Me.”

Arrogant religion

“Keep away; don’t come near me for I am too sacred for you” (v5).

This is a marvelous description of a religious people who is unbearably proud. But God says “If your religion makes you proud, if it makes you feel morally superior to other people that you work and live beside, then your religion provokes me. It offends me when religious people think that they are better than anybody else. ‘Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day’” (v5).

The gospel has the opposite effect. When I understand it, it brings me to the place of saying “I am a sinner who’s in need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And it cost Him His blood that I might be forgiven.”

I meet a lot of people who’ve been burned by religion. They’re drawn to seek God but they’ve been discouraged by things they’ve seen in church. They’ve found that among people who claim to know God there are many who are far from Him. Religion is a mixed bag, and much of it offends God! But God is looking for something that is authentic and true and He wants to draw you into that.

Religion can be a way of hiding from God

I want to challenge us today. Some of us are glad to be a part of the church, and we like to be connected to some other people. But religion, even in an evangelical church, can be a safe place, it seems, to hide from God. God knows those who are hiding from Him in church. It’s possible, you know, to get involved in church world and completely miss Jesus Christ.

When I was a student at seminary a group of us went on a summer mission to a small town in Scotland. There were two churches in the town: St. Marks had invited our team, and the other church was known simply as “the parish.” The plan was that we would visit every home in the town, and that we would offer to speak about Jesus Christ and leave some literature.

On the first morning, we went off in our pairs, to knock on the door of the first house. An obviously well-dressed and well-educated lady came to the door. I said, “We’re with a student team, invited by St. Mark’s to talk with people about Jesus Christ.” “Oh!” she said “I’m not interested in that. I belong to the parish!”

There are many people who find that religion is a convenient way of hiding from God. Jesus said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Don’t hide from God in religion.

God Sorts Out People Who Claim to Know Him

“This is what the Lord says: ‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say, ‘Don’t destroy it, there is yet some good in it,’ so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all’’” (v8).

You pick up a cluster of grapes. Some of the grapes have gone bad, but you don’t throw them all away because some grapes in the bunch are good. You sort out the good from the bad. God says, “That is what I will do with religious people who claim to know me.”

Our Lord Jesus tells us that one day God will bring all people to account—secular people and religious people. On that day, some religious people will want to show God a long list of what they have been doing for Him. And Jesus said He will say to them, “Depart from me; I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21).

All of us need God to save us

Here’s what God is saying through Isaiah: He seeks out people who don’t know Him and He sorts out people who claim to know Him. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter if we start out as secular people who don’t know God, or religious people whom claim to know God. All of us need God’s saving intervention in our lives.

Paul talks about this in Romans: “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, ‘There is no-one righteousness, not even one’” (Romans 3:9-10). You may want to come to God today and say “Save me from a secular life that ignores You. Save me from a religious life that provokes You.” Either way, all of us need to come to Him.

What does God say to people who provoke Him? You might expect God to say “There are some religious people who claim to know Me, but what they do offends me. These people give Me a bad name and so I repudiate them, I disassociate Myself from them. I want nothing to do with them.”

That’s not the God of the Bible! God is speaking to people who are walking in ways that are not good, following gods of their own imagination, pursuing darkness, throwing themselves into open rebellion, looking down on others with intolerable pride, and “this is like smoke in my nostrils,” but God says to them “I hold out my hands to you–all day long!” (v2)

Jesus came into the world seeking and saving

That’s Grace! This is the amazing God of the Bible; the God who seeks those who ignore Him and who saves those who provoke Him! How does God do this? How does God seek people who ignored Him? That is why Jesus Christ came into the world.

God became man “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14) in Jesus Christ. The invisible God revealed himself, made Himself known to us in Jesus Christ. “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side has made Him known” (John 1:18). When you come to know Jesus, you have come to know God.

Jesus said that He came “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). This Lord Jesus Christ looks for people who aren’t looking for Him. People whose lives were changed by Christ in the Gospels often weren’t seeking Him at all. He sees Peter, James and John and steps into their lives and saying “Follow me!” He restores people who aren’t expecting him to do anything in their lives!

How does God save people who have provoked Him? That’s why Jesus died on the cross. Think about this: Face-to-face with the Son of God, and brutal men scourged Him, mocked him, struck him on the head, spat on Him, pressed a crown of thorns on Him, and then excruciatingly nailed him to the cross.

Picture Christ on the cross, and hear these words from Isaiah again “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, a people who continually provoke me to my very face” (Isaiah 65:2). That is what God was doing at the cross.

It’s very significant that those who did this were secular men who did not know God, and religious men who claimed to know God. As they are nailing Him to the cross, Christ reaches out His hands and in His agony says “Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24).

That’s the God of the Bible. He seeks people who have ignored Him. He saves people who have provoked Him. And when you see who He is, you will want to turn to Him, trust Him, know Him and follow Him.

 

© Colin S. Smith

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WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:09.600 Now please open your Bible at Isaiah and chapter 65. This is a marvelous passage to give us 00:00:09.600 –> 00:00:16.799 a window into the heart of God. We’re returning to a series, for those who may have come new over 00:00:16.799 –> 00:00:23.440 these last weeks, entitled Restore My Soul in which we’re looking at the wonderful ways in which God 00:00:23.920 –> 00:00:32.240 into people’s lives to restore broken lives and to change broken hearts. And we’ve seen that in 00:00:32.240 –> 00:00:38.400 the later chapters of Isaiah the prophet describes how it is that God actually does this. 00:00:39.360 –> 00:00:46.160 When God sets to work in a person’s life, He begins by restoring faith, He restores joy, 00:00:47.119 –> 00:00:53.599 He restores repentance which means turning away from things that offend God and turning to embrace 00:00:53.599 –> 00:01:02.880 things that honor God, He restores compassion, He restores hope, and He begins to teach us how 00:01:03.439 –> 00:01:10.959 to pray. Now the title that we have this weekend is restore a people and I want us to see as you 00:01:10.959 –> 00:01:18.160 open the Bible at Isaiah 65 that there are really two groups of people and God is equally concerned 00:01:18.720 –> 00:01:24.720 about both. If you have your Bible open at Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 1 you’ll see there what I’m 00:01:24.720 –> 00:01:33.120 going to call the first group who are really secular people who do not know God. Notice what 00:01:33.120 –> 00:01:41.360 Isaiah says in verse 1. God says, I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me, so here’s people 00:01:41.360 –> 00:01:47.360 who are not asking for good. I was found by those who did not seek me, here’s people who are not 00:01:47.360 –> 00:01:53.760 looking for God, to a nation that did not call on my name, so that is people who are not given 00:01:53.760 –> 00:02:04.160 to prayer. I said, God said, here am I, here am I. So, God is describing here secular people, folks 00:02:04.160 –> 00:02:10.080 who have full and busy lives but they’re not particularly looking for God. They don’t really 00:02:10.080 –> 00:02:14.960 have a place for God, they’re not searching after him, they’re not even thinking about him doing 00:02:14.960 –> 00:02:21.199 anything in their lives. They haven’t been praying. To use Isaiah’s words, they did not seek him, they 00:02:21.279 –> 00:02:28.000 did not ask for him, and they did not call out to him. Now, you know folks like that, I know 00:02:28.000 –> 00:02:34.639 folks like that, folks who may respect your faith but they’re really not interested, 00:02:35.679 –> 00:02:40.559 their lives are full, they would say, I don’t have the time to seek after God 00:02:40.559 –> 00:02:45.839 or they may say, I have no inclination, I have no interest in seeking after God. 00:02:46.279 –> 00:02:51.679 There may be among us this weekend too that that actually describes some of us. 00:02:52.880 –> 00:02:56.240 The truth is that folks come to church for different reasons, you may be here because 00:02:56.240 –> 00:03:01.279 of your parents, you may be here because of your friends, you may be here for one of a 00:03:01.279 –> 00:03:07.520 dozen different reasons. But there are many folks who gather even in church 00:03:08.960 –> 00:03:14.720 who have no real expectation that God will do anything in 00:03:14.720 –> 00:03:19.360 their lives. That may be the truth about you. You are glad to be here, 00:03:20.800 –> 00:03:27.039 but you are not really anticipating God doing anything in your life, not particularly been 00:03:27.039 –> 00:03:35.039 asking or seeking or even looking for God to touch you today. 00:03:36.960 –> 00:03:43.360 Now, in Isaiah’s time back in the Old Testament, this first group could be broadly described as 00:03:44.160 –> 00:03:50.000 the gentiles, the folks who do not know God, the secular folks. Remember, in the Old Testament, 00:03:50.000 –> 00:03:54.960 God had made himself known to Moses. And God, particularly, was working with one nation of 00:03:54.960 –> 00:04:01.440 people, that is, the nation of Israel. The other nations, largely, outside of what could be 00:04:01.440 –> 00:04:05.600 discerned from creation, did not know Him. They did not have the commandments, they did 00:04:05.600 –> 00:04:10.960 not have the covenant that God made with Israel. Because the other nations, the gentiles, did not 00:04:11.279 –> 00:04:15.039 Him, they did not seek Him, they did not call on Him either. 00:04:15.759 –> 00:04:22.160 So this is the first group of people, and we may easily be able to identify them today. We 00:04:22.160 –> 00:04:28.239 may identify with them, as I say, ourselves. Largely secular people who do not know God, 00:04:28.239 –> 00:04:33.519 and across our country, and across the world there are millions of people 00:04:33.519 –> 00:04:39.839 who would gladly identify with that description, they would use that description of themselves, 00:04:39.839 –> 00:04:49.040 secular people who don’t know or are not interested in God. Now what do you think God 00:04:49.040 –> 00:04:58.480 might have to say to these folks? See think about it. What would God have to say to secular folks 00:04:58.480 –> 00:05:04.959 who have no time for Him, no interest in Him, no faith towards Him, never pray. See you might 00:05:04.959 –> 00:05:11.679 expect that God would say to this group of people, well there are many people in the world who 00:05:11.679 –> 00:05:17.760 completely ignore me. They don’t ask for me, they don’t seek me, they don’t call on my 00:05:17.760 –> 00:05:22.959 name, they don’t have faith, they don’t pray, they don’t expect me to do anything in their lives. 00:05:22.959 –> 00:05:27.679 These people are not interested in me. You might expect God to say and therefore I am 00:05:27.679 –> 00:05:33.279 not interested in them. That’s what you think you don’t know the God of the Bible yet. 00:05:35.040 –> 00:05:41.679 Look at what the amazing God of the Bible says to secular people who don’t know him and aren’t 00:05:41.679 –> 00:05:51.359 interested in him. Look at what he says, verse one, I revealed myself to those who didn’t ask 00:05:51.359 –> 00:06:02.559 for me. I was found by those who didn’t seek me. To the nation that did not call on my name I said 00:06:03.359 –> 00:06:12.079 here am I. Here am I. Now I want us to take in how wonderful this is and for it to lift us to 00:06:12.079 –> 00:06:17.359 worship because the first thing that we’re learning about this amazing God of the Bible 00:06:17.920 –> 00:06:27.119 is that he is the God who seeks out people who don’t know him. He reveals himself. He puts himself 00:06:27.200 –> 00:06:33.760 on the radar screen of folks who aren’t even looking for him. He turns up in the lives of 00:06:33.760 –> 00:06:40.640 people who never even asked for him and he says, Here am I, to people who don’t even know who he 00:06:40.640 –> 00:06:47.040 is. Now here’s what that means for us and it’s a very wonderful thing. You may not have been 00:06:47.040 –> 00:06:53.679 interested in God. That doesn’t mean that God is not interested in you. You may not have reached 00:06:53.839 –> 00:07:01.920 out to God. That does not mean that God is not reaching out to you. For people who did not pray, 00:07:01.920 –> 00:07:07.600 God shows up. That’s what Isaiah is saying. For folks who are not looking, they come to know him. 00:07:07.600 –> 00:07:13.600 So, you may have come here today and honestly you were not looking for God to do anything in your 00:07:13.600 –> 00:07:19.760 life at all but God says, You’re exactly the kind of person I’m seeking. You are exactly the kind 00:07:19.760 –> 00:07:25.600 of person that I am reaching out to. You’re exactly the kind of person I want to show up with 00:07:25.600 –> 00:07:34.720 and say, Here I am so that you will know me and so that you will find me. That’s what God is 00:07:34.720 –> 00:07:40.640 saying here. I revealed myself. Try and take it in to those who didn’t ask. I was found by those 00:07:40.640 –> 00:07:46.720 who didn’t seek. To a nation that did not call on my name, it was to them that I said, Here am 00:07:46.720 –> 00:07:52.160 I, here am. Now, that’s the first group of people and it gives us the first window into the heart 00:07:52.160 –> 00:07:58.959 of God. To secular people who don’t know him, this is the marvelous God of the Bible who does 00:07:58.959 –> 00:08:06.559 not turn away from them but rather turns towards and seeks so that we who did not know him might 00:08:06.559 –> 00:08:17.920 come to know him. Not because we find him but because he finds us. That’s amazing. 00:08:19.760 –> 00:08:24.000 Now there’s a second group of people and please look with me at verse two. 00:08:25.600 –> 00:08:28.720 God is speaking here through the prophet Isaiah and he says, 00:08:29.279 –> 00:08:38.559 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people who walk in ways not good. 00:08:40.080 –> 00:08:46.400 It’s important for understanding this part of the Bible to know that the people Isaiah is referring 00:08:46.400 –> 00:08:53.679 to in verse two are a different group from those who are being addressed by God in verse one. 00:08:54.479 –> 00:09:00.640 And the reason that we know that very clearly is because in the New Testament, the apostle Paul 00:09:00.640 –> 00:09:08.000 quotes these two verses from the beginning of Isaiah chapter 50 and 65, and the apostle Paul 00:09:08.000 –> 00:09:14.080 tells us that these two verses refer to two different groups of people. You can check this 00:09:14.080 –> 00:09:20.719 out for yourself if you want in Romans chapter 10 and verses 20 and 21, where you see this direct 00:09:20.719 –> 00:09:27.440 quote of verse one and verse two from Isaiah 65. Paul says, Isaiah boldly says I was found by 00:09:27.440 –> 00:09:32.960 those who did not seek me, I revealed myself to those who did not ask of me. And he relates that 00:09:32.960 –> 00:09:39.599 specifically to the gentiles in the context there in Romans and chapter 10, but then he says 00:09:39.599 –> 00:09:48.239 specifically this, he says concerning Israel, Isaiah says all day long, verse two, I have held 00:09:48.239 –> 00:09:55.119 out my hands to a disobedient and to an obstinate people. So on the basis of the apostle Paul’s 00:09:55.119 –> 00:10:00.000 statement in the new testament we know quite clearly that verse one is directed to the gentiles, 00:10:00.000 –> 00:10:06.479 the secular people who do not know God, but verse two, concerning Israel, Paul says verse two is all 00:10:06.479 –> 00:10:13.840 about Israel, the religious people who claim to know God. And of course remembering that God had 00:10:13.840 –> 00:10:18.559 made this covenant with his people Israel in the old testament I think that’s a good way 00:10:18.559 –> 00:10:25.919 to describe the second group of people, they are religious people who claim to know God. 00:10:25.919 –> 00:10:32.400 Now many of us belong to the second group, I was brought up in a Christian family, 00:10:33.359 –> 00:10:40.479 many of us were brought up with one brand of religion or another. For some of us this was 00:10:40.479 –> 00:10:44.719 a positive experience, you look back on what you learned and you thank God for it. 00:10:46.000 –> 00:10:51.440 For others of us honestly it was a very negative experience, you were perhaps brought up with a 00:10:51.440 –> 00:10:56.400 form of religion in which honestly you did not find any real connection with God, 00:10:57.119 –> 00:11:04.080 it seemed to be essentially a burden and it seemed to be empty and at some point in your 00:11:04.080 –> 00:11:11.599 life frankly you were glad to get free from it. Now I want you to notice what God says 00:11:11.599 –> 00:11:19.200 to religious people who claim to know Him. Verse two. All day long I have held out my hands to 00:11:20.000 –> 00:11:24.960 an obstinate people. This is interesting, God’s not particularly impressed with 00:11:24.960 –> 00:11:29.760 his own people here, he calls them obstinate—who walk in ways that are not good, 00:11:30.640 –> 00:11:35.919 pursuing their own imaginations, a people who continually provoke me 00:11:36.960 –> 00:11:42.000 to my very face. Now you see, you read that and you think, he must be talking about the 00:11:42.000 –> 00:11:45.599 secular people who don’t know him, you know, the ones who provoke him to his face, 00:11:45.599 –> 00:11:50.159 but he is not speaking about the secular people who don’t know him. According to the Apostle 00:11:50.159 –> 00:11:55.440 Paul verse two, God is speaking here about the religious people who claim to know Him. 00:11:56.320 –> 00:12:01.679 Now, that is telling us something incredibly important that will be liberating for some of us 00:12:01.679 –> 00:12:17.599 today. God is telling us that religion is a mixed bag. It’s a hodgepodge of good and of evil, 00:12:18.479 –> 00:12:28.400 of light and of darkness and if you’ve found some of it to be bad, rest assured, God has it too. 00:12:29.119 –> 00:12:33.359 I think that’s liberating. We live in a world in which there’s a kind of secular 00:12:33.359 –> 00:12:37.039 assumption that goes on, that all religion because it must be sincere is therefore a 00:12:37.039 –> 00:12:40.239 marvelous thing and therefore must be pleasing and honoring to God. 00:12:40.239 –> 00:12:42.559 Not if you read the God of the Bible in the Old Testament. 00:12:43.559 –> 00:12:49.520 Now, according to him, what is going on among some of the religious people who claim to know him, 00:12:49.520 –> 00:12:58.159 look at the words of verse two with me, please, actually provokes him to his very face. 00:12:59.520 –> 00:13:03.440 So let’s get this clear in our minds when we’re thinking about religion. 00:13:03.440 –> 00:13:06.239 According to God himself, it is a mixed bag. 00:13:07.039 –> 00:13:15.599 Some of it honors him but Isaiah 65 and verse two, God himself says some of it provokes him. 00:13:16.719 –> 00:13:18.000 And in fact, he goes even further. 00:13:18.000 –> 00:13:25.840 If you look down to verse five here, as God speaks to religion that is provocative to him, 00:13:25.840 –> 00:13:34.640 the end of verse five, the Lord speaks of some religious people being smoke in my nostrils 00:13:35.599 –> 00:13:38.400 a fire that keeps burning. 00:13:38.400 –> 00:13:41.039 That’s what God thinks of some religion. 00:13:41.039 –> 00:13:47.280 Now, it clearly smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning and it couldn’t be much 00:13:47.299 –> 00:13:49.679 stronger than that, could it? 00:13:49.679 –> 00:13:55.260 There is some religion that God does not like, and that’s putting it very, very mildly. 00:13:55.260 –> 00:13:59.239 There is some religion that honors God and there is some religion that actually provokes 00:13:59.239 –> 00:14:00.239 God. 00:14:00.960 –> 00:14:04.799 Now, that raises a very important question then. 00:14:04.799 –> 00:14:08.520 What kind of religion offends God? 00:14:08.520 –> 00:14:13.859 And, I want you to see that that is precisely what God is speaking about through the prophet 00:14:13.859 –> 00:14:16.640 Isaiah, right here, in this chapter. 00:14:16.640 –> 00:14:22.260 See, how do you know what is good and honoring to God in religion and how do you distinguish 00:14:22.260 –> 00:14:25.320 it from what provokes Him and what is bad? 00:14:25.380 –> 00:14:29.580 Well, the only way you’re going to be able to do that is through the Bible and Isaiah 00:14:29.580 –> 00:14:38.320 chapter 65 is one of the best, clearest passages, I think, to describe religion that provokes 00:14:38.320 –> 00:14:39.320 God. 00:14:39.320 –> 00:14:48.140 So, if you have your Bible open still, I want to show you from this passage six forms of 00:14:48.940 –> 00:14:57.099 that are offensive to God, that provoke him, that are like smoke in his nostrils. 00:14:57.099 –> 00:14:58.619 Ready? 00:14:58.619 –> 00:14:59.619 Here we go. 00:14:59.619 –> 00:15:03.940 Six forms of religion that are offensive to God, Isaiah chapter 65. 00:15:03.940 –> 00:15:10.219 Number one, I’m going to call it hypocritical religion, and I’m looking at verse two where 00:15:10.780 –> 00:15:17.780 about obstinate people who walk in ways not good. 00:15:18.580 –> 00:15:24.700 So here are religious folks, you may have met some of them, they talk the talk, but 00:15:24.700 –> 00:15:28.340 they don’t walk the walk. 00:15:28.340 –> 00:15:34.299 They claim to know God, but verse two, they do not do what is good. 00:15:34.419 –> 00:15:37.359 God says just so you know, that provokes me. 00:15:38.739 –> 00:15:39.820 That offends me. 00:15:41.780 –> 00:15:47.080 Now, I have spoken to folks many times who have been offended 00:15:47.080 –> 00:15:51.340 by folks who claim to know God, who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. 00:15:51.340 –> 00:15:52.799 And sometimes, 00:15:52.799 –> 00:15:56.419 they speak as if they were the only ones who had ever been offended by such a thing. 00:15:56.419 –> 00:16:00.820 Listen, if you’ve been offended by a person who claims to know God and 00:16:00.820 –> 00:16:05.539 talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk, you agree with God on this issue and 00:16:05.539 –> 00:16:07.299 God agrees with you. 00:16:07.299 –> 00:16:08.260 He says it offends me. 00:16:09.539 –> 00:16:10.940 It provokes me. 00:16:10.940 –> 00:16:13.539 It’s like smoke in my nostrils. 00:16:15.260 –> 00:16:22.700 God is provoced by the double standard of claiming to know Him and walking. 00:16:22.700 –> 00:16:26.659 Now, notice that word, by the way, walking implies a continuity, doesn’t it? 00:16:27.659 –> 00:16:28.340 Walking. 00:16:29.419 –> 00:16:33.799 Following a pattern of life that is not good. 00:16:34.940 –> 00:16:36.500 It provokes me, God says. 00:16:36.500 –> 00:16:38.580 That’s number one, hypocritical religion. 00:16:38.580 –> 00:16:41.460 Here’s a second form of religion that is offensive to God. 00:16:41.460 –> 00:16:44.320 I’ve called it personalized religion. 00:16:44.320 –> 00:16:49.280 I’m still looking at verse two where God describes people who, in their religion, 00:16:49.280 –> 00:16:53.460 He says, are following their own imaginations. 00:16:53.460 –> 00:16:55.020 Notice that phrase in verse two. 00:16:55.280 –> 00:17:01.039 Now following your own imaginations means you just assume that God is for 00:17:01.039 –> 00:17:05.280 whatever you’re for, and that He’s in whatever you’re in. 00:17:05.280 –> 00:17:09.459 In other words, following your own imaginations is really remaking God 00:17:09.459 –> 00:17:10.920 in your own image. 00:17:10.920 –> 00:17:15.540 It is just assuming that God is a kind of projection of your own preferences, 00:17:15.540 –> 00:17:18.319 your own prejudices, and your own desires. 00:17:18.319 –> 00:17:22.739 And God says, when people basically imagine me to be a projection 00:17:23.719 –> 00:17:27.959 which of course is the worst idolatry, God says that offends me. 00:17:27.959 –> 00:17:34.119 It continually provokes me, notice that word in verse two, to my face. 00:17:35.880 –> 00:17:40.020 Here’s number three, I’m gonna call it ritualistic religion. 00:17:40.020 –> 00:17:44.380 Look at verse three, where God speaks about a religion that is about 00:17:44.380 –> 00:17:50.500 offering sacrifices in gardens, and burning incense on altars of brick. 00:17:50.500 –> 00:17:51.579 Now this is all about ritual. 00:17:52.859 –> 00:17:57.420 You might expect that God would be very impressed with people who are always 00:17:57.420 –> 00:18:03.619 offering sacrifices and always burning incense, but rituals don’t change lives. 00:18:05.640 –> 00:18:11.859 And a religion that is simply about rituals is ultimately empty. 00:18:13.199 –> 00:18:17.699 And God says, That’s the kind of thing that provokes me. 00:18:17.699 –> 00:18:22.380 It provokes me to my face, the idea that what I’m about is 00:18:22.380 –> 00:18:27.079 simply a bunch of people going through a bunch of rituals over, and over, and 00:18:27.079 –> 00:18:28.900 over, and over, and over again. 00:18:28.900 –> 00:18:31.959 That offends me, God says. 00:18:33.540 –> 00:18:39.040 Number four, I’m gonna call dark religion, and it expresses itself in many forms, 00:18:39.040 –> 00:18:43.599 but I want you to notice verse four that pinpoints it very clearly. 00:18:43.599 –> 00:18:49.859 God speaks about those who sit among the graves and 00:18:49.859 –> 00:18:53.119 spend their nights keeping secret vigil. 00:18:54.319 –> 00:18:58.079 Now, there is a brand of religion that is very dark and 00:18:58.079 –> 00:19:01.780 is intensely interested in the dead and 00:19:01.780 –> 00:19:06.619 in contacting the spirits of dead people who are no longer with us. 00:19:06.619 –> 00:19:10.979 Have you noticed by the way, just looking at the TV schedules, 00:19:11.219 –> 00:19:16.359 dramatic upsurge of interest in darkened forms of religion that 00:19:16.359 –> 00:19:21.760 engage in various ventures that are related to trying to contact, 00:19:21.760 –> 00:19:25.219 communicate with the spirits of the dead. 00:19:25.219 –> 00:19:29.260 And in the scripture, the god of the Bible prohibits that, absolutely, and 00:19:29.260 –> 00:19:34.900 it’s right here in Isaiah 65, and verse 4, 00:19:34.900 –> 00:19:40.479 and God says, that whole world offends me, so don’t go near it. 00:19:41.979 –> 00:19:44.719 And don’t watch television about it either. 00:19:46.119 –> 00:19:48.800 Fifth, rebellious religion. 00:19:48.800 –> 00:19:53.439 Notice verse 4, here he speaks about religious people who eat the flesh of 00:19:53.439 –> 00:19:58.579 pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat. 00:19:58.579 –> 00:20:01.780 Now remember that, according to the apostle Paul, 00:20:01.780 –> 00:20:04.359 these words are directed to Israel. 00:20:05.579 –> 00:20:09.500 And in the Old Testament, God’s people Israel were given specific laws that 00:20:09.500 –> 00:20:12.619 mark their special relationship with him. 00:20:12.619 –> 00:20:17.540 Food laws were included that were appropriate to the Old Testament time 00:20:17.540 –> 00:20:19.640 before our Lord Jesus Christ came. 00:20:20.760 –> 00:20:26.280 So, for a person in Old Testament Israel to eat the flesh of 00:20:26.280 –> 00:20:31.040 pigs which as is well known were prohibited to Old Testament Israel. 00:20:31.040 –> 00:20:32.900 And the broth of unclean meat. 00:20:32.900 –> 00:20:36.540 For a Jewish person to do that is simply open rebellion 00:20:36.540 –> 00:20:39.380 against the Old Testament commandment of God. 00:20:39.459 –> 00:20:41.560 That had been given at that time. 00:20:41.560 –> 00:20:45.400 So here is a person who is saying you know, whatever God’s commanded. 00:20:46.739 –> 00:20:48.380 I am gonna do the opposite. 00:20:48.380 –> 00:20:49.359 And there are folks like that. 00:20:50.439 –> 00:20:54.800 And it’s a kind of form of religion and it is, I will be my own God, 00:20:54.800 –> 00:20:59.599 I will determine my own way and if God says no, 00:20:59.599 –> 00:21:03.880 that is the very thing to which I will say yes and God says that offends me. 00:21:03.880 –> 00:21:10.160 And God speaks in a way that is like smoke in my nostrils. 00:21:10.160 –> 00:21:14.540 Here’s number six, the last in the list and perhaps the most subtle and 00:21:14.540 –> 00:21:19.060 perhaps one of which many of us may feel we’re in the most immediate danger. 00:21:19.060 –> 00:21:26.040 I’m calling it arrogant religion and you see it right there in verse five. 00:21:26.040 –> 00:21:31.400 God speaks, last in the list about those who say, 00:21:31.699 –> 00:21:38.359 keep away, don’t come near me because I am too sacred for you. 00:21:38.359 –> 00:21:42.900 What a marvelous description of a religious person 00:21:44.119 –> 00:21:50.680 who is unbearably proud, looks down on other person, I’m holier than you. 00:21:50.680 –> 00:21:55.979 And God is saying this, he says if your religion makes you proud, 00:21:57.339 –> 00:22:01.119 if your religion makes you feel more morally superior to 00:22:01.119 –> 00:22:05.199 other people that you work beside or live beside or whatever else, 00:22:05.199 –> 00:22:09.680 you need to know that that religion provokes me, defends me. 00:22:10.680 –> 00:22:14.800 It’s like smoke in my nostrils when I see religious people 00:22:14.800 –> 00:22:17.540 who think that they are better than anybody else. 00:22:18.800 –> 00:22:20.859 Because of course, the gospel is the opposite effect. 00:22:20.859 –> 00:22:25.520 It brings me to the place of saying I am a sinner who needs 00:22:25.520 –> 00:22:28.660 a savior, Jesus Christ, and it cost his blood. 00:22:28.900 –> 00:22:33.780 I ask God that I might be forgiven. 00:22:33.780 –> 00:22:37.800 Isn’t it interesting, look at verse five as a whole right there. 00:22:38.880 –> 00:22:43.560 It’s almost as if the arrogant religion is the most offensive 00:22:43.560 –> 00:22:47.079 of them all as God goes through this list. 00:22:47.079 –> 00:22:48.160 The folks who say, 00:22:48.160 –> 00:22:51.280 keep away, don’t come near me because I’m too sacred for you. 00:22:51.280 –> 00:22:56.939 Such people are smoke in my nostrils. 00:22:58.939 –> 00:23:00.420 Now, this is profoundly helpful. 00:23:00.420 –> 00:23:02.560 It’s very very important for us to understand this, 00:23:02.560 –> 00:23:03.979 especially in a culture that thinks 00:23:03.979 –> 00:23:04.900 that all religion is good, 00:23:04.900 –> 00:23:06.400 you know, and as long as a person’s sincere 00:23:06.400 –> 00:23:07.599 and so forth and so on. 00:23:10.020 –> 00:23:11.459 Bible is making it clear to us, 00:23:11.459 –> 00:23:14.239 God directly speaking through the prophet Isaiah 00:23:15.520 –> 00:23:17.859 tells us that religion is a mixed bag 00:23:19.040 –> 00:23:20.680 and much of it offends God. 00:23:21.699 –> 00:23:24.020 And God is especially offended by religion 00:23:24.020 –> 00:23:25.079 that is hypocritical, 00:23:25.079 –> 00:23:27.739 that is talking the talk but not watching the walk, 00:23:27.780 –> 00:23:29.959 personalized, that is a projection 00:23:29.959 –> 00:23:33.180 of our own preferences, prejudices and desires, 00:23:33.180 –> 00:23:35.500 ritualistic, that is primarily about rights 00:23:35.500 –> 00:23:37.800 and disciplines that don’t change lives, 00:23:37.800 –> 00:23:39.680 dark, that is seeking communication 00:23:39.680 –> 00:23:41.439 with the spirits of the dead, 00:23:41.439 –> 00:23:44.099 rebellious, that is pursuing what God has told us 00:23:44.099 –> 00:23:45.040 to forsake 00:23:45.040 –> 00:23:47.000 and arrogant, which is religion 00:23:47.000 –> 00:23:49.439 that makes us feel superior to other people. 00:23:49.439 –> 00:23:53.040 God says, that stuff provokes me 00:23:53.040 –> 00:23:54.760 continually 00:23:55.119 –> 00:23:58.119 to my face. 00:24:00.599 –> 00:24:04.400 Now I hope that if you’ve been burned by religion 00:24:04.400 –> 00:24:06.560 and you’re still feeling the bruise of that, 00:24:09.479 –> 00:24:11.040 you can take this in 00:24:12.479 –> 00:24:15.099 and that perhaps even today you will say, 00:24:15.099 –> 00:24:16.640 this is God reaching out to me. 00:24:17.479 –> 00:24:20.579 I’m finding actually that God is looking 00:24:21.680 –> 00:24:23.959 for something that is true and authentic 00:24:23.959 –> 00:24:28.660 and it’s that that He wants to draw you into. 00:24:31.560 –> 00:24:34.300 Do you know, religion can be 00:24:36.520 –> 00:24:39.380 a strange place for hiding from God. 00:24:41.680 –> 00:24:44.640 I want to challenge us about that this weekend. 00:24:44.640 –> 00:24:46.280 Is it possible even for some of us, 00:24:46.280 –> 00:24:47.400 we come to this service, 00:24:47.400 –> 00:24:48.939 we’re glad to be part of the church 00:24:48.939 –> 00:24:50.920 and we’re connected to some other people. 00:24:52.680 –> 00:24:53.520 Religion 00:24:54.420 –> 00:24:56.459 even an evangelical church 00:24:57.579 –> 00:25:00.640 can be a safe place it seems 00:25:00.640 –> 00:25:04.079 for hiding from God. 00:25:07.780 –> 00:25:10.400 And God knows those who are hiding from Him in church 00:25:13.199 –> 00:25:14.920 I was thinking about this, just remembering, 00:25:14.920 –> 00:25:15.819 it was years ago now, 00:25:15.819 –> 00:25:18.239 but when I was in seminary, 00:25:18.239 –> 00:25:21.660 one summer we went out for a mission 00:25:21.760 –> 00:25:23.140 a whole group of us students, 00:25:23.140 –> 00:25:25.959 we’d been invited by a small church 00:25:25.959 –> 00:25:29.939 in the, a small Borders town in Scotland 00:25:29.939 –> 00:25:31.979 and there were just two churches there. 00:25:31.979 –> 00:25:33.459 One was St. Mark’s, 00:25:33.459 –> 00:25:35.760 which was the church that had invited us 00:25:35.760 –> 00:25:38.380 and the other was simply known as The Parish 00:25:38.380 –> 00:25:40.459 and because the town was fairly small, 00:25:40.459 –> 00:25:44.479 it was possible for us to set and fulfill the objective 00:25:44.479 –> 00:25:48.020 of visiting knocking on the door of every home in the town. 00:25:48.020 –> 00:25:49.079 So first morning, 00:25:49.079 –> 00:25:50.359 off we go in our twos, 00:25:50.439 –> 00:25:54.040 I remember it so vividly climbing up a fairly steep hill. 00:25:54.040 –> 00:25:56.140 It’s the Borders of Scotland after all 00:25:56.140 –> 00:25:59.500 and I decided we’ll start at the top end of the hill 00:25:59.500 –> 00:26:02.079 and work down rather than the bottom end of the hill 00:26:02.079 –> 00:26:03.439 and work up. 00:26:03.439 –> 00:26:05.739 And we got to the first house, 00:26:05.739 –> 00:26:06.699 knocked on the door 00:26:06.699 –> 00:26:09.119 and read our line in our pitch kind of ready 00:26:09.979 –> 00:26:13.020 and I said we’re students 00:26:13.020 –> 00:26:15.599 and we’re here for a week of mission 00:26:15.599 –> 00:26:18.560 at the invitation of St. Mark’s church 00:26:18.640 –> 00:26:22.520 and we’re here just to talk to people in this town 00:26:22.520 –> 00:26:24.780 about Jesus Christ. 00:26:24.780 –> 00:26:25.859 And you know what she said to me? 00:26:25.859 –> 00:26:27.719 She was a very well-educated 00:26:27.719 –> 00:26:31.060 and obviously a dignified lady and well-to-do 00:26:31.060 –> 00:26:34.319 and she said, oh, I’m not interested in that. 00:26:34.319 –> 00:26:38.060 She said, I belong to the parish church. 00:26:39.540 –> 00:26:41.140 And do you know if I’d heard it once 00:26:41.140 –> 00:26:42.520 I perhaps would have forgotten it. 00:26:42.520 –> 00:26:46.880 I heard that a hundred times that week at least. 00:26:47.400 –> 00:26:52.260 It’s possible to get yourself into church world 00:26:53.180 –> 00:26:58.180 and completely miss Jesus Christ. 00:27:00.439 –> 00:27:04.400 And the God of the Bible who seeks people 00:27:04.400 –> 00:27:08.680 who don’t know him is also very concerned 00:27:08.680 –> 00:27:12.859 to find people who claim to know him. 00:27:14.199 –> 00:27:16.160 Now, I want us to see this very clearly here. 00:27:16.540 –> 00:27:19.199 It’s a wonderful thing how God deals 00:27:19.199 –> 00:27:23.979 with this mixed bag of religion, 00:27:23.979 –> 00:27:25.839 because here we’re in this situation 00:27:25.839 –> 00:27:28.619 where truth and falsehood, light and darkness 00:27:28.619 –> 00:27:32.020 in this world is all mixed up together in religion. 00:27:32.020 –> 00:27:33.839 What is God going to do about it? 00:27:33.839 –> 00:27:36.719 Well, I want you to see that the same God 00:27:36.719 –> 00:27:39.420 who seeks those who don’t know him 00:27:39.420 –> 00:27:43.280 also sorts out those who claim to know him. 00:27:43.280 –> 00:27:45.939 And you’ll see that in verse eight particularly. 00:27:45.939 –> 00:27:47.979 This is what the Lord says. 00:27:47.979 –> 00:27:50.900 And God uses a very vivid picture 00:27:50.900 –> 00:27:52.920 to help us understand what he’s gonna do 00:27:52.920 –> 00:27:54.939 about the mixed bag of religion. 00:27:54.939 –> 00:27:58.040 He says, as when juice 00:27:58.040 –> 00:28:00.420 is found in a cluster of grapes 00:28:01.339 –> 00:28:04.219 and men say, don’t destroy it 00:28:04.219 –> 00:28:06.000 for yet there is good in it. 00:28:06.859 –> 00:28:09.719 So God says, will I do on behalf of my servants, 00:28:09.719 –> 00:28:11.239 I will not destroy them all. 00:28:12.500 –> 00:28:14.420 So God is saying, 00:28:14.420 –> 00:28:17.160 think of religion as a bunch of grapes 00:28:18.020 –> 00:28:19.400 and some of them are bad, 00:28:20.459 –> 00:28:21.760 but some of them are good. 00:28:22.780 –> 00:28:26.400 And what God is saying is that he will sort out, 00:28:26.400 –> 00:28:29.420 he will distinguish, he will separate 00:28:29.420 –> 00:28:31.780 and he won’t throw them all away. 00:28:31.780 –> 00:28:34.660 He will sort out the good from the bad. 00:28:34.660 –> 00:28:35.599 God says, quite clearly, 00:28:35.599 –> 00:28:38.140 this is what I’m gonna do about the whole religious world. 00:28:38.140 –> 00:28:40.060 I’m gonna sort it out. 00:28:40.060 –> 00:28:41.839 And of course, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us 00:28:41.839 –> 00:28:43.239 in the New Testament, 00:28:43.260 –> 00:28:46.680 that God will bring all people one day to account. 00:28:46.680 –> 00:28:49.020 That includes secular people who don’t know him 00:28:49.020 –> 00:28:51.180 and religious people who claim to know him. 00:28:51.180 –> 00:28:54.060 And on that day, Jesus says, among the religious people, 00:28:54.060 –> 00:28:56.400 there will be some people who say, 00:28:56.400 –> 00:28:58.140 Lord, this is what we’ve done for you, 00:28:58.140 –> 00:29:00.160 and they want to come up with a long list of everything 00:29:00.160 –> 00:29:02.239 that they think that they have done for God. 00:29:02.239 –> 00:29:06.760 And to some, our Lord says, He will say, 00:29:06.760 –> 00:29:09.719 depart from me, I never knew you. 00:29:10.579 –> 00:29:13.920 So, this is another window into the heart of God. 00:29:15.020 –> 00:29:17.959 The God of the Bible seeks out those who don’t know him. 00:29:17.959 –> 00:29:21.239 He sorts out those who claim to know Him. 00:29:22.180 –> 00:29:24.920 The good grapes from the bad. 00:29:26.439 –> 00:29:28.099 Now, here’s the conclusion I’ve drawn 00:29:28.099 –> 00:29:30.939 from pondering this over these last days. 00:29:31.880 –> 00:29:34.300 You know, at the end of the day, 00:29:34.300 –> 00:29:37.239 it doesn’t really matter too much 00:29:38.140 –> 00:29:43.140 whether we start off as secular people who don’t know God 00:29:43.359 –> 00:29:45.959 or religious people who claim to know God. 00:29:46.839 –> 00:29:51.719 Either way, all of us need God’s saving intervention 00:29:51.719 –> 00:29:52.900 in our lives. 00:29:54.079 –> 00:29:57.160 And Paul takes up that theme again in the New Testament 00:29:57.160 –> 00:29:59.719 in Romans and chapter three and verse nine. 00:29:59.719 –> 00:30:00.959 He puts it like this. 00:30:00.959 –> 00:30:05.959 He says, Jews and Gentiles are all alike under sin. 00:30:07.920 –> 00:30:09.380 And think about that. 00:30:09.380 –> 00:30:13.040 Jews, that is the religious people who claim to know God, 00:30:13.040 –> 00:30:15.180 and Gentiles, that is the secular people 00:30:15.180 –> 00:30:18.239 who do not know God, and Paul says, 00:30:18.239 –> 00:30:20.680 you know, God blasts across that distinction 00:30:20.680 –> 00:30:25.239 between these two groups because all alike are under sin 00:30:26.180 –> 00:30:31.180 and all alike stand in need of one Savior, Jesus Christ, 00:30:32.319 –> 00:30:33.760 who has come to do what? 00:30:33.800 –> 00:30:37.660 To seek and to save that which was lost. 00:30:41.160 –> 00:30:43.719 Now we took a moment just to look at what God says 00:30:43.719 –> 00:30:47.479 to those who ignore him and those who don’t seek him. 00:30:47.479 –> 00:30:49.479 I want you to see just in these last moments 00:30:49.479 –> 00:30:52.479 what God says to those who provoke him. 00:30:53.599 –> 00:30:57.140 What does God have to say to false religion, 00:30:57.140 –> 00:30:59.119 arrogance, darkness? 00:30:59.920 –> 00:31:03.380 You see, again you might expect that God would say, 00:31:03.380 –> 00:31:05.180 you know, there are some religious people 00:31:05.180 –> 00:31:06.859 and they claim to know me, 00:31:06.859 –> 00:31:09.900 but actually they give me a bad name in the world. 00:31:09.900 –> 00:31:11.599 And so I repudiate them. 00:31:11.599 –> 00:31:14.599 There are some folks who have found darkened 00:31:14.599 –> 00:31:16.619 kinds of religion, and what does light have to do 00:31:16.619 –> 00:31:17.459 with darkness? 00:31:17.459 –> 00:31:19.239 I have no interest in them. 00:31:19.239 –> 00:31:20.859 I just associate myself with them. 00:31:20.859 –> 00:31:23.459 I want nothing to do with them. 00:31:24.599 –> 00:31:27.680 But that’s not the God of the Bible. 00:31:30.000 –> 00:31:33.180 Look at what he does say in verse two. 00:31:42.280 –> 00:31:43.119 Think about this. 00:31:43.119 –> 00:31:45.219 God is speaking about those who walk 00:31:45.219 –> 00:31:46.760 in ways that are not good, 00:31:46.760 –> 00:31:48.359 who follow gods of their own imagination, 00:31:48.359 –> 00:31:50.839 pursue darkness, go into open rebellion, 00:31:50.839 –> 00:31:52.979 look down on others with intolerable pride. 00:31:52.979 –> 00:31:54.160 What does God say? 00:31:54.160 –> 00:31:56.219 He says well this is like smoke in my nostrils, 00:31:56.219 –> 00:31:58.540 but all day long I hold out. 00:31:59.160 –> 00:32:01.900 I put my hands to these obstinate 00:32:04.280 –> 00:32:05.099 people. 00:32:06.359 –> 00:32:09.560 Wouldn’t have expected that would you? 00:32:09.560 –> 00:32:11.180 And listen until you get to know 00:32:11.180 –> 00:32:12.880 the amazing God of the Bible. 00:32:12.880 –> 00:32:15.000 See this is grace. 00:32:15.000 –> 00:32:17.500 God seeks those who ignore him 00:32:18.880 –> 00:32:21.800 and he saves those who provoke him. 00:32:24.939 –> 00:32:27.400 And you say how does God do that. 00:32:27.739 –> 00:32:30.979 How would he seek people who no knowledge of him, 00:32:30.979 –> 00:32:33.060 how would he bring them into a knowledge of himself. 00:32:33.060 –> 00:32:35.400 How would he save people who, 00:32:36.459 –> 00:32:38.260 who have provoked him and offended him 00:32:38.260 –> 00:32:41.619 and are like smoke in his nostrils. 00:32:41.619 –> 00:32:44.300 See that is why Jesus Christ came into the world, 00:32:44.300 –> 00:32:45.819 isn’t it? 00:32:45.819 –> 00:32:49.060 To seek and to save that which is lost. 00:32:52.500 –> 00:32:54.060 John describes it this way, 00:32:54.060 –> 00:32:56.520 the word became flesh, 00:32:56.979 –> 00:32:58.439 the God became man, 00:32:58.439 –> 00:33:00.040 the God you can’t see 00:33:00.040 –> 00:33:03.319 became the person that men and women did see. 00:33:03.319 –> 00:33:06.459 In Jesus Christ, so that God makes himself known 00:33:06.459 –> 00:33:08.520 to those who otherwise would not have a hope 00:33:08.520 –> 00:33:11.000 in the world of ever finding him. 00:33:11.000 –> 00:33:13.280 No one has ever seen God, 00:33:13.280 –> 00:33:17.800 but God, the one and only has made Him known. 00:33:17.800 –> 00:33:21.119 So that Jesus says, when you’ve seen me, 00:33:21.119 –> 00:33:23.280 you’ve seen the Father. 00:33:23.380 –> 00:33:26.520 Who speaks in the coming of our Lord 00:33:26.520 –> 00:33:28.699 and Savior, Jesus Christ, 00:33:28.699 –> 00:33:30.319 and how does he save people 00:33:30.319 –> 00:33:31.359 who provoked him? 00:33:32.540 –> 00:33:34.719 You see, this is why Jesus not only came, 00:33:34.719 –> 00:33:36.380 this is why Jesus died. 00:33:37.640 –> 00:33:39.199 Think about this. 00:33:39.199 –> 00:33:40.959 Brutal men. 00:33:42.780 –> 00:33:44.160 Face to face 00:33:45.180 –> 00:33:47.520 with God in the flesh. 00:33:48.760 –> 00:33:50.280 And they struck him on the head 00:33:51.280 –> 00:33:55.540 and they spat in his face. 00:33:58.920 –> 00:34:01.180 And then they nail him to a cross 00:34:03.339 –> 00:34:05.560 and he says, 00:34:05.560 –> 00:34:08.100 father forgive them. 00:34:09.560 –> 00:34:11.000 They do not know 00:34:12.379 –> 00:34:13.419 what they are doing. 00:34:15.520 –> 00:34:16.919 See, that’s grace. 00:34:16.979 –> 00:34:17.879 That’s grace. 00:34:19.739 –> 00:34:21.399 That’s how the amazing God of the bible 00:34:21.399 –> 00:34:24.600 seeks and saves folks who don’t know Him. 00:34:26.600 –> 00:34:28.780 Aren’t looking for Him to do anything in their lives. 00:34:30.520 –> 00:34:33.199 I’ve got into a kind of hiding from Him, 00:34:33.199 –> 00:34:34.080 even in religion. 00:34:35.679 –> 00:34:37.120 He reaches out to you and says, 00:34:38.760 –> 00:34:40.239 picture Jesus on the cross. 00:34:42.479 –> 00:34:46.300 Now, hear these words of God through Isaiah again, 00:34:46.659 –> 00:34:49.639 all day long I hold out my hands 00:34:51.580 –> 00:34:53.919 to this obstinate people. 00:34:55.820 –> 00:35:00.620 That’s the God of the bible and when you discover 00:35:00.620 –> 00:35:05.620 who He really is, you will want to know Him, 00:35:06.139 –> 00:35:10.739 turn to him, trust Him and follow Him. 00:35:12.300 –> 00:35:15.739 Let’s bow in God’s presence in prayer together. 00:35:16.459 –> 00:35:21.459 Heavenly Father, thank you that though you are invisible, 00:35:21.780 –> 00:35:24.899 you have revealed yourself in Jesus Christ 00:35:24.899 –> 00:35:26.060 so that I may know you. 00:35:28.860 –> 00:35:33.860 You came looking for me so that I would be able to find you. 00:35:36.899 –> 00:35:39.020 Thank you for Jesus who came not only to seek 00:35:39.020 –> 00:35:40.560 but also to save. 00:35:41.479 –> 00:35:46.419 Save me from ignoring you in a secular life, 00:35:48.879 –> 00:35:52.659 save me from hiding from you in a religious life. 00:35:55.800 –> 00:35:57.840 I confess how much I have ignored you, 00:36:00.280 –> 00:36:05.280 I confess how much I have provoked you to your face. 00:36:05.340 –> 00:36:10.340 So thank you for holding out nail pierced hands to me today. 00:36:17.959 –> 00:36:22.340 Lord Jesus Christ who came to seek and to save the lost 00:36:22.340 –> 00:36:27.340 restore me, save me, rescue me today, gracious Father. 00:36:27.659 –> 00:36:32.659 Gracious Father, restore today many who were not even 00:36:41.719 –> 00:36:45.520 looking for you to do anything in their lives 00:36:46.580 –> 00:36:51.260 by your grace and for your glory 00:36:52.679 –> 00:36:56.479 through Jesus Christ our Lord and everyone said amen.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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Sermons on Isaiah What if your heart cried out to God? What if all our hearts cried out for revival? The church and the world would never be the same. In these sermons on Isaiah, you’ll discover nine heart-cries for revival. Each one is an expression of God’s heart for His people. As they become

Colin Smith

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