Amen, okay, we're in Isaiah chapter 57 this evening and if I were to title this chapter or to title it no rest for the wicked no rest for the wicked
And, of course, the latter and the last verse of the chapter specifically says that.
And what I find interesting of this particular chapter is that it really contrasts the peace that God's people experience with the peace that the wicked do not have and they do not possess.
And so we're going to look over that this evening.
The first thing we're going to look at is Judah's adultery.
Look at verse number one here.
He says, the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart.
and merciful men are taken away,
none considering that the righteous
is taken away from the evil to come.
He, referring to the righteous, shall enter into peace.
They shall rest in their beds,
each one walking in his uprightness."
And what this is referring to here in the first verse,
is the fact that righteous men, when the Bible talks about righteous,
obviously we could think of someone who is upright, someone who's morally correct,
someone who's morally upright, but it's really just referring to saved people.
And it's saying here that saved people die, they perish.
You know, and really no man will lay it to heart, meaning that,
you know, saved people die every single day, but no one really cares about that.
They don't really esteem the death of the righteous.
are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Meaning that, you know, when righteous people die,
no one really thinks about the fact that it's God
who's allowing them to die to keep them from the evil
that they will experience in this world.
And a lot of the evil that he's referring to there,
specifically, is the wrath that God's gonna pour upon Judah.
Essentially showing us that, you know,
when a righteous person dies,
when a righteous person is taken away,
you know, the evil can mock that.
The evil can make fun of it.
The evil can scorn at it.
But they don't really realize that God is essentially removing them to flee from the wrath to come, essentially saying, right?
And the way we could compare this is in the end times, for example, when the tribulation takes place,
the Bible tells us that believers will be here throughout that tribulation, but they will not be appointed unto wrath.
They are removed before the wrath of God is poured out upon this world.
peace. That they shall rest in their beds. And let me just say this is that the righteous
experience a peace that other people in this world will not ever experience if they don't get saved.
Right? We experience a peace beyond what people can experience in this world. And in fact,
the Bible specifically says in Romans chapter 5, you don't have to turn there. And verse number one,
Through our Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says meaning that when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
We actually become reconciled unto God. We have a peace with God
Everyone in this world is an enmity with God if they're not saved
You know God is their judge God is their God
But he's not the God of salvation as of yet until they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and essentially they're at enmity with God
But it's not until they decide to place their faith in Jesus Christ
that they can be reconciled back to God.
They can have peace with God.
And so people in this world can brag about all the peace that they have
by going on this vacation,
by going to this specific geographical location,
because they have tranquility in their lives.
But quite frankly, they can have all of that.
But if they don't have peace with God, they don't really have peace.
If they're not reconciled to their maker, they don't experience true peace, okay?
And this is one of the reasons why our church is so ardent about evangelizing, right?
About soul-winning, about going out there and preaching the Gospel individually, not just
the pastor but the members of our church.
Why?
Because the Bible specifically tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that we are to be
participants of the ministry of reconciliation.
We take the word of reconciliation and we go to the loss and we tell them how they can be saved through Jesus Christ
What are we doing? We're trying to reconcile. We're trying to be peacemakers
Trying to reconcile the laws back to God back to their maker so they can be saved through Jesus Christ
It says in verse 2 in Romans chapter 5, by whom also we have access by faith and to this
grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
There's people in this world that are not saved or not Christians and they believe
they have peace.
You know, they can put on social media, they can make posts and say, oh man, I got so much
peace in my life and I'm just enjoying life and life is great, but quite frankly, if they
You know and the Bible tells us that true peace comes from first and foremost being reconciled to God getting saved believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ and I think all of us could attest to the fact that at one point in our lives
We had a void right there's some sort of void
There's a longing to know about salvation about heaven about that which is eternal
And it wasn't truly filled until someone brought us the gospel until someone clearly explained that reconciliation until we got saved
And then it's just kind of, now we're sort of satiated, right?
We don't wonder, we don't doubt about salvation,
we don't have to think, man, am I really saved?
Have I done enough?
Have I repented enough of my sin?
No, it's just by our faith in Jesus Christ.
Now we experience peace.
Now we know for a fact,
beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're saved.
But let me tell you something,
there's people out in this world that don't know that.
And I'm talking about so-called Christians.
who go about their days, they go to church, they read the Bible,
they believe they're serving God, but they still have this itching doubt in their soul
whether they're really saved or not. You know, I'm thankful that
you know, 18 plus years ago or whatever, that I placed my faith in Jesus Christ,
I got that settled, and the Bible tells us
these things have a written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know
the eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Salvation is not something that you should be battling with.
Salvation is not something that you should wonder about.
You know, the Bible clearly says that we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're
saved and we can have that peace with God.
But you know, even after salvation, though...
Christians can struggle with not having peace even though they're reconciled to God
You know they can be comfort about so many problems and worries and care
You know the Bible says that the deceitfulness of riches can choke the word and you can become unfruitful
You can be filled with anxiety and care and worry and all types of things that come for the mind and cause you to be anxious, right?
And the Bible tells us, should I say, the Bible commands us,
in Philippians chapter four, be careful for nothing.
What does that mean?
It doesn't mean be reckless, you know, like,
don't be careful, just run the red lights.
You're good.
Don't wear a seatbelt.
Just be careful.
No, when it says be careful, it means don't be full of care.
Okay?
Don't be a person that is full of care, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God, the passive
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So obviously, the Bible is not teaching us that as soon as salvation comes into our lives,
as soon as we get saved, that we're just always going to be tranquil, always going to have
peace.
We're going to have peace with God, eternally.
But, we will experience instances in our lives where we're worried, where we go through
trial and tribulation, where we doubt, where we wonder what's going to happen with my
finances, with my health, with my family, with my friends, you know, what's going to
happen in this world.
And obviously, the world in which we live at this moment doesn't help with that.
You know, you having social media doesn't help with that.
You know, that podcast you're listening to doesn't help with that.
Going on Facebook and Instagram and just you know constantly showing you how the world's gonna end and all the wars and rumors of wars
And everything that's gonna happen doesn't help
Causes us to be overly anxious. And so what does the Bible tell us? Well, what we need to do when we're feeling anxious
When we're full of care when we're worried about how we're gonna make ends meet. We're supposed to pray
Have supplication, but include Thanksgiving
Meaning that we thank God for what we have and we ask him for more
We say Lord, you know, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'm gonna rely upon you
I'm gonna pray that you provide for my needs. I'm afraid that you protect me
I'm afraid that you show yourself strong on my behalf and the Bible says that God will send forth his peace
And I want you to notice this specific part that passive understanding
Now, why does he call it the peace the passive understanding because we don't really understand where it comes from
because it's not a piece that stems from a change
in our circumstances.
You know what I mean?
It's not like, oh, man, my bills are paid for.
Oh, now I'm good to go.
It's more like, no, the bills still haven't been paid for.
I'm still going through this trial.
I'm still going through this tribulation.
I'm still experiencing affliction and hardships.
But you know what?
I feel like I'm pretty cool about it, though.
I feel like I have a peace in my heart
that all things work together for good to them
that love God to them who are called according to his purpose.
And it's a piece that passeth understanding
where God keeps your heart, meaning he guards it
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And we see this verse also in Isaiah where it says,
thou will keep him in perfect peace.
Listen to this, whose mind has stayed on thee
because he trusted in thee.
So it's essentially saying that the peace
that this supernatural superior peace of God
can only be accessed when we think upon the Lord
and when we trust in him, right?
It's not based upon the changing circumstances. It's not based upon your your situation
It's based upon you making sure that you meditate upon the Lord and his promises
You keep your mind on Christ and the Bible says he'll give you that peace to pass with understanding
And you know what? I'm looking at a congregation of people that I guarantee you
Someone in this congregation has been through something like that and they've experienced the peace of God and they can tell you
You know what? My situation has not changed
But you know what I'm still serving God
I can rest my head on my pillow tonight and sleep like a baby and I can keep serving God
I have joined my life, and I just don't know how I have this piece. Well, it's called the peace to pass the Thunderstead and
It's accessed by praying by asking God to help us through this
So we obviously see that the righteous has a superior peace to those in this world
Jesus said, peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth,
give I unto you, right?
He's saying that there's a peace that God offers,
but the world also offers a certain peace too, right?
The Bible says that the world gives a peace,
and that peace is often based upon how much money you have,
how many possessions you obtain,
the change in your circumstances, your situation,
whereas the peace of God is a far superior peace
that comes through prayer, keeping our minds on Christ.
This is the peace that we want.
I'd rather be broken, have peace, amen.
Than to have riches and just be filled with care and worry
and having all these things that can choke the word of God,
the lust of other things entering in,
be entangled with the affairs of this life
and just be miserable.
So we have peace through salvation.
We have the peace of God throughout our lives
as we pray unto the Lord.
But even then, we also have peace when we die.
You know, we don't have to worry about the tribulations and afflictions of this world
just continuing on and on and on.
And you know, a lot of people in this world are afraid of death.
They fear death.
And I'm not afraid of death, I just kind of worry about the transportation aspect of it.
Like how will it happen, you know what I mean?
Like I know I'm going to go to heaven, I know my soul is going, I'm already saved, it's
just like, how am I going to get there though, like, you know, that's what you kind of worry
And we all want to go out like King David,
just on our beds, you know,
old, surrounded by all our children and grandchildren,
making a hit list.
That's how King David went out.
He's about to go home to be with the Lord,
fought all these wars.
You know, he was a bloody man.
And yet he's like surrounded by his kids and he's just like he's like come here son kill these last three guys before
Before I go though, okay
It's like his last request and then he goes home to be with the Lord
And then he's just remembered as being a man after God's own heart
We don't want to go out that way, but you know, we don't really know how we're gonna go out
right
But at the end of the day it doesn't really matter because of the fact that
To be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord the Bible says
okay, and
So shall we ever be with the Lord?
And so this what Isaiah 57 is telling us is that we're gonna make we're gonna rest in our beds meaning that we're gonna rest in heaven
We're gonna be with the Lord and there will be a time where you know
We no longer have to labor or work and worry about the things of this world. We will experience arrest
eternally
Now let me also mention this is that when you die your soul does go straight to heaven if you're safe
There's no so sleep in the Bible. Okay, and when the Bible talks about a believer
Sleeping is just another way of saying that you're dead
Because the body the corpse looks like it's sleeping
But the Bible specifically teaches that that soul goes into the presence of God there eternally and we have examples of this in the Bible
Luke chapter 16
Lazarus when he dies is carried by the angels into the presence of God into the bosom of Abraham
We see in Job chapter 1 the sons of God coming before the presence of God
We know that Elijah was taken up by a chariot in the whirlwind
We see the Enoch is translated also. He's raptured that he should not see death
And so, obviously, we know that as soon as a person dies,
they are immediately transported into the presence of God.
And here's the last example.
How about Saul?
You know, when Saul dies, before he dies, should I say,
he meets the spirit of Samuel.
And Samuel tells him this, tomorrow, down in Nysen,
shall be with me.
Well, if Saul sleep was a thing, Saul should ask him,
hey, what do you mean?
Are we all going to be sleeping or what?
But obviously Samuel's in heaven so therefore Saul was gonna meet with him in heaven as well look at verse number three go back to Isaiah 57
So he gives this great promise about the righteous and he's saying you know no man layeth it to heart
Nobody cares when the righteous dies. Nobody cares when the righteous perish and you know what that's a fact
You know the world only carries when wicked people die
They don't really care when the righteous die
Okay
You know what let me just say this because you're in a fundamental Baptist church today
And so you came to church tonight, you know the Pope was not a righteous person. The Pope was a false prophet
who led billions of people to hell.
He was a part of the most wicked organization
and institution that this world has ever known.
And you know what?
He didn't wake up in the presence of God.
He went into the lowest hell.
He lifted up his eyes in hell being in torment.
And you know what?
That message needs to go to every single Catholic
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and not place their faith in an institution
like the Roman Catholic Church to be safe.
But you know what people are mourning over the death of the Pope, but I guarantee you
Millions of righteous people actually died no one cares about them
But you know what the Bible says precious is the death of a saint in the side of the Lord
You know when a saint when the actual saint
Someone who is actually saved dies, you know the Lord cares for that person
He rejoices over the fact that they're coming home. They're going to the presence of God now when the Pope God doesn't care about the Pope dying
Let me just remind you of that
So look at verse number three here. He goes on to so, you know, he starts off the chapter really nice and
He's like talking about, you know, how how, you know
The righteous are gonna be resting in their beds and they're gonna experience peace and then the rest of the chapter is just about the
adultery of the nation
Okay, and this is quite frankly why a lot of churches just stay away from the major and minor prophets
because there's so much crazy preaching in here
that preaches against sin.
And this is one of the look of verse number three.
But draw near hither ye sons of the sorceress,
the seed of the adulterer and the whore,
against whom do ye sport yourselves,
against whom make ye a wide mouth,
and draw out the tongue.
Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood?
So, he is addressing Judah's wicked leadership and really, quite frankly, just the wicked inhabitants of Judah.
And he's saying here that they are sons of sorcerers, they're the seed of adulterers and whores.
And then he says in verse 4, against whom do you support yourselves? What does that mean?
Well, when he says, support yourselves, he's referring to mockery.
Because these people who are the sons of the sorcerers,
the sons of the adulterers and whores,
they're mocking the righteous.
They're making sport of the righteous, right?
This is very common, where the wicked and the unrighteous
will mock the righteous, right?
They're making sport of them.
He says, against whom make ye a wide mouth
and draw out the tongue.
What does that mean?
They're just like eh, wide mouth.
They're laughing at them.
They're mocking them.
And look, if you've been a Christian for any length of time,
you've experienced mockery from the righteous.
Now, maybe not to this extent, but you know what?
You probably had family who mocked you.
You've had just complete strangers mock you.
You've had people online mock you.
You've had people open their mouth wide and stick out
their tongue and laugh at you and mock you
for believing the Bible.
This is common, right?
But he tells them, are you not children of transgression
and seed of falsehood?
And look, this should come as no surprise to us
that we will be mocked as Christians.
I mean, the Bible specifically says
that there will be mockers in the last time
who shall walk after their own lust.
People who mock, but just be reminded of this.
You know, be not deceived, God is not mocked.
For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap my friends, you know people like to blaspheme God
They like to revile God mock him on social media and say all types of blasphemous things about him
Just make fun of him. I mean there's an in there's there are entire accounts on social media dedicated atheistic accounts
dedicated to mocking God
mocking Christians
You know they upload those and they're mocking them and they're putting their comments and making their memes about God
but you know what God is not mocked and
The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 2 that they're treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath
You know the Bible tells us that everyone shall give an account for every idle word
By thy words thou shall be justified and by thy words thou shall be condemned
You know at the judgment at the white throne judgment a lot of these people are gonna have to give an account for those things and obviously
You know it's not gonna help them much
But this is showing us that we live in a world that mocks Christianity that mocks Christians they make sport of us
They make wide the mouth and draw out the tongue
Look what it goes on the same verse number five
He says, inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree slaying the children in the valleys under the cliffs of the rocks
Now this is pretty graphic here, but he's essentially saying that those of Judah are
Essentially committing spiritual adultery by practicing idolatry in the most severe and abominable way
Why because it says that they're inflaming themselves meaning they're making themselves hot
It's using this adulterous type of language here.
They're making themselves hot by committing idolatry.
And how are they doing this?
By infanticide.
They're slaying their children in the valleys
under the cliffs of the rocks.
And what this is possibly referring to
is the fact that they're worshiping Moloch.
Moloch was a false god of the Canaanites
that the Israelites were influenced to worship.
And what they would often do, historically,
they would say that they would make this great image of Moloch
and they would heat up that image that was made of brass or iron,
and often Moloch would have his hands out just like this
and they would take their children and place it on the hands of Moloch
and obviously they would kill children in that manner.
Super wicked, super abominable.
This is the religion of the Canaanites, right?
And it says here that they're inflaming themselves in this matter meaning that they are they're just kind of lusting after these types of practices, my friends, extremely wicked and vile, you know, they are rejoicing in this.
Let me reach you from Psalm 64.
This reminds me of this.
And verse number five, or let me read to you from verse four, it says,
They that may shoot in secret at the perfect, suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
They encourage themselves in an evil matter, the Bible says.
The commune of lame snares, privilege, they say, who shall see them?
And really what this is doing is giving us a glimpse of how evil and wicked this world can be.
There's people out there that, you know,
sometimes we think, oh, you know, people are just lost.
They're maybe, they believe in God.
They just don't, they're not saved.
They don't believe in the Bible.
And that's absolutely true.
But there's also people out there
that actually hate the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's reprobates out there that hate the Bible,
that hate God, that hate the sanctity of life.
They hate anything that's righteous and moral and nothing is new under the sun
We see that even in Isaiah's day
People of God who are supposed to be the people of God are so influenced by the idolatry of the Canaanites
That they're willing to participate in infanticide and kill their own children
Look at verse six. It says among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion
They they are thy law
Even to them has thou poured a drink offering thou has offered a meat offering should I receive comfort in these?
And he's basically saying you know things that you would typically attribute to God these meat offerings and drink offerings
You're kind of turning around and offering that to your false God making a mockery of God's religion verse 7
upon a lofty and high mountain hath thou set thy bed.
Even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
Behind the doors also and the post hath thou set up
thy remembrance, for thou hast discovered thyself
to another than me, and are gone up.
Thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant
with them, thou lovest their bed, where thou sawest it.
Now notice what is the common denominator
in these verses, the bed.
Okay, and obviously we don't want to get graphic here because we're in the house of God
But obviously the Lord is communicating here that those of Judah are committing spiritual Hordom
They're committing adultery
You know with essentially other idols and he's basically saying there
You know instead of putting the word of God on the post of your doors
You're putting the remembrance of these idols on your post
You know, instead of putting King James versus on the walls,
you're putting movie stars and Hollywood stars
and all types of nonsense on there.
And he's saying that they're discovering themselves
to another.
So obviously he's likening the children of Judah
as a woman who is essentially exposing her nakedness
to someone who's not her husband.
It's wicked.
Now, how do we apply this to the New Testament?
Because as New Testament Christians,
idols isn't something that we actually struggle with, right?
I mean, literal idols.
As far as I know, idolatry is still a sin
and it's still an abomination in the eyes of God.
And if you have an idol of Buddha, of some false gods,
you need to burn and trash it and destroy it,
according to the Word of God.
But quite frankly, most Christians
don't struggle with these things.
Obviously, we know that covetousness
is another form of idolatry, according to Colossians
But you know what that still doesn't mean that if you are someone as a Christian who befriends the world for example
Who loves the world the Bible in the New Testament views that as spiritual adultery as well
You know the Bible tells us love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man loved the world
The love of the father is not in him and James chapter 4 verse number 4 tells us this ye adulterers and adulteresses
Knowing that that friendship of the world is enmity with God
Who serve therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God?
So that's some pretty strong language there
Essentially showing us that if you esteem the philosophies the things of this world
What the world has to promote the Bible views that God views that as you committing adultery on him
You say well, how do you know what he says you adulterers and adulteresses and he likens that to being a friend of the world
Why because we're not of this world
And you know what? What is it? What is the most?
cringiest thing to view as a Christian is someone who claims to be a Christian
Someone who calls themselves a Christian who esteems the philosophies of this world over the word of God
You know you meet people online or whatever and we talk about certain maybe a social issue
And you give what the Bible says about it and they're like, oh, you know, that doesn't really matter
This is what I feel we should do. I feel x y and z and it's just like well, who cares what you feel
What does the Bible say?
It sounds to me like you made yourself a friend of the world
and you know what we shouldn't get our philosophies and beliefs and principles from podcast
From you know these
These internet influencers that don't know what the word of God says
From people who claim to believe the Bible, but they don't quote the Bible. I always forget the guy's name. What's the guy's name?
What's the guy's name?
What's the guy's name the guy who says a lot without saying a lot?
Jordan Peterson I see you guys know what I'm talking about. Oh, I have to say that people know Jordan Peters is one of them
Hey, Joe Rogan, you shouldn't be getting your information from Joe Rogan.
Why?
Because that's becoming a friend of the world.
Joe Rogan doesn't have biblical principles.
He doesn't believe in God.
Yeah, but he says some good stuff.
I guarantee you, whatever good stuff he says is already found in the Bible.
You know, and it's interesting when people look to these unsaved people who don't believe the Bible,
who make a mockery of the Bible,
and it's just like, well, we listen to them because they say good things.
Well, can't you get the same good things from the Bible itself, though?
Why don't you just go to the source?
Just go to the Bible itself, but I'll tell you what it is. It's it's wanting to be a friend of the world. That's what it is
Yeah, but they promote, you know some biblical things. Let me tell you another source that promotes biblical things the Bible
Bible preaching promotes biblical things
But you know what the problem is with Christians they like to be like the Israelites of the Old Testament
They want to be like all the other nations
Give us a king so we can be like all the other nations
Folks at the end of the day, we need to make sure that in the New Testament
we're not committing spiritual adultery by you know making by making sure that we keep ourselves from
deceitfulness
The philosophies of this world that seek to spoil you
They are trying to spoil you not after the rudiments of Christ the foundations of what the Word of God teaches
We need to make sure that we steer clear from fellowshipping with that which is ungodly
unrighteous with principles that are not founded in the Word of God
And look, that goes for preaching, too.
Because obviously, we know as Christians,
we should stay away from people who are not Christians
trying to teach us things about Christianity, right?
That's obvious.
Or just principles in general.
But how about just staying away from preachers
that teach things that are just not found in the Bible,
either?
There's preachers in the Bible who, God says,
don't listen to them.
We'll get to them in just a bit.
Let me read to you from,
Let me read to you from 2 Corinthians 11 verse 2.
He says, for I am jealous over you with the godly jealousy.
This is the apostle Paul speaking here.
For I have espoused you to one husband
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
And he says, but I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh, preaches another Jesus,
Whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which he have not received, or another gospel, which he have not accepted,
ye might well bear with him." What does the Bible tell us? He's
likening
being corrupted or being spoiled or being beguiled by a different message as a chaste virgin leaving her espoused husband.
So just as you know a chaste virgin is espoused to one man in like manner
Believers are espoused to Jesus Christ. So if someone comes with a different message of
Jesus comes with a different spirit of different Jesus the Bible says we should forsake that not entertain that not make
excuses for that we should separate from that
Well, yeah, but what if they have Baptist it doesn't matter if they have Baptist
I mean, if they have baptism and they're teaching contrary to the Word of God, they're even more dangerous
because they're so close to the truth. They're trying to be gallewed. They're trying to deceive you.
Yeah, but they have Christian. They say, well, they believe the Bible. But hold on a second.
Is what they're saying and what they claim they are, do they match up though?
If they're calling themselves Christians or calling themselves Baptists, they say they believe the Bible
but they're teaching contrary to the Word of God, steer clear.
Go back to Isaiah 57 you might have your price still there look at verse 9
So he says thou wentest to the king with ointment and didst increase thy perfumes and did send thy messengers far off and this
Debased thyself even unto hell. What is he saying here? He's like, you know, you guys are committing idolatry spiritual Hortum
You're committing infanticide
you are essentially waxing worse and worse.
This is what it means when it says that
they're debasing themselves even unto hell.
It's just like they're just getting worse
and worse and worse.
Verse 10 says this,
thou art weary in the greatness of thy way,
yet sayest thou not, there is no hope.
Now this is pretty interesting
because he's saying like,
as you're doing all these things,
you're actually growing tired of it.
But even though you're growing tired of it. You're still not saying there is no hope in other words
they haven't come to their senses and
What I compare this to is Christians when they backslide can often get filled with their own ways and they get so
Backslidden to get involved in sin they get involved in things that are just unrighteous and they can even get to a point
Where they're just kind of sick of it
They're just like I'm worried of just like being backslidden, but sometimes Christians are just so stubborn
They're still not willing to get right with God
They will be filled with the consequences of their sin
They will be filled with the ramifications of their actions and yet many of them are so stubborn. They're not willing to get right with God
You know, let us hope that if we ever become backslidden God forbid
that when we become weary of our actions
that we just say, I need the Lord again.
I need to get back in church.
I need to get back in the Bible.
I need to get back to soul winning.
I need to get back to church.
I need to get back to righteous living
because I'm just sick and tired of this, right?
But he's telling them like, you're not even weary.
Like you've grown weary in the greatness
of your folly, your way.
Yet you're not saying there is no hope.
Thou hast found the life of thine hand, therefore, that was not grieved."
And it reminds me of the alcoholic in Proverbs chapter 23.
In Proverbs 23 it gives a very strong admonition and warning against drinking alcohol.
And it kind of goes over the multiple things
that alcoholics experience when they become drunk
and how they're afflicted and bitten like a serpent
and just going through all these physical ailments
and it's made and it's written such a way to warn us
not to go down that route.
But then at the end, it says this in verse 35 of Proverbs 23,
they have stricken me thou shall say, and I was not sick.
They have beaten me and I felt the knot.
It's basically, you know, describing like an alcoholic
who wakes up in an alley somewhere
after he was like drunk and got beat up and robbed, right?
And he's just like, man, I don't even remember
when that happened.
But this is what it says, when shall I wake?
I will seek it yet again.
What do you mean?
It's just like, you're just gonna return back
to your own folly?
And you know what, people could be this way.
Or it's just like as a dog return it to his vomit. So a fool return it to his folly
Or it's just like you know the consequences of your actions
You know what's gonna happen if you just keep eating junk food every single day?
I'm preaching to myself a man, you know, you know, what's gonna happen if you do this
You know what's gonna happen if you keep drinking alcohol if you keep doing you know, it's gonna happen yet
You're so stubborn that when you wake up you will see it yet again
You know what's gonna happen if you smoke pot?
You know what's gonna happen if you do drugs you know, what's gonna happen if you commit fornication if you if you commit adultery if you
Waste your life doing these things you know the ramifications of your actions yet. You will wake up and seek it yet again
And it's addressing the folly of the stubborn person who's not willing to get right with God
Look at verse 11
Now this is powerful here says in verse 11 and of whom has thou been afraid or feared?
That thou hast lied and has not remembered me nor laid it to thy heart
Have not I held my peace even of old and thou fierce me not now. What is he saying here? You don't fear me?
This is what he's calling out Judah for he said you know you're doing all these things
And I'm gonna tell you why you're doing these things because you don't have any fear in your heart about me
And let me just say this one of the greatest things that we can ever have as Christians is not the most knowledge of the Bible
That's important
Is not be a eloquent soul winner. That's important
You know have all these gift these gifts and talents one of the greatest things that you could possess is the fear of God
Oh, you mean reverence no, I mean fear. Oh, you mean respect. Yeah, you should respect God, but let me tell you this
You should fear God too though
The Bible talks about the fear of God over and over and over and over again, and God is literally condemning
Those of Judah saying the reason you're committing all these abominations the reason you're involved in these sins is because you don't fear me
You know why because if they actually feared God they would say you know let's tear down Molek instead because God's gonna destroy us
Let's not kill our children because then God will kill us
Let's not do abominably and worship idols
because God will destroy us.
And let me just say this,
you know, we are motivated to serve God
or to obey God because he rewards us, for sure.
Right?
If we serve the Lord, the Bible tells us,
be not weary and well-doing, for in due season,
we shall reap if we faint not.
You know what motivates people to go work
on nine to five, the paycheck, right?
Like I don't want to work right now, but I got to work because you know, I got to earn a paycheck the reward
We are motivated by God because of his blessings
But you know, it's a really good incentive to serve God and to not get out of the ways of the Lord and to not disobey God and
Not turn not to turn his grace as laws
fearing God
Fearing God's chastisement
You find me a preacher, you find me a pastor,
you find me a Christian that speaks loosely
of the things of God, and is irreverent
and sacrilegious towards the things of God.
I'll point to you a person that does not fear God.
And look folks, on Sunday I'm gonna preach a sermon
called God Kills, because you know what he does.
Well, I just think it's wrong to motivate people with fear.
The law doesn't, the law doesn't think that.
The law says if you speed, you're going to get a speeding ticket.
You know what?
Many of you are motivated, right?
Maybe some of you are not, though, actually.
That's a bad example, actually.
How about this?
We're motivated to pay our taxes, amen?
Why, out of fear.
You're motivated to move your car on street sleeping day.
I had a fear of gaining that $75,
I don't even have $75 anymore,
maybe the plans on what city you're in.
Fear motivates you.
You're not like, you know what,
I'm gonna move my car cause I love this city.
I'm gonna move my car cause I love this street.
I want this thing to be clean.
I just love to have a clean city.
And you know, I'm not motivated by anything else.
It's just out of a love for cleanliness.
No, you're not.
Liar.
We're lying in the house of God.
All of us are motivated because we
don't want to get a ticket.
It's not out of, you know, because we just
want a clean street.
And we want clean streets.
I'm not saying that that's not the case.
But let's just be honest here.
We're motivated to obey the laws of the land
out of fear of what may happen to us if we don't.
Right?
That's why we keep the laws, but you know how much more of the laws of God
And look we don't serve God
We don't you know avoid disobeying God because we're afraid that we're gonna lose our salvation
We know we can't lose it. I
Given to them eternal life, and they shall never perish neither show any man pluck them out of my hand
We've passed from death unto life
That's already been done for right. It's already been settled. Well, hold on a second
Does that mean we can't suffer the consequences of our actions here on this earth? Of course we are
We can suffer the ramifications of our actions as saved people on this earth and you know what?
That's why Hebrews 12 exists
Because whom the Lord love it he chastened it and scourged every son whom he received it
God whoops his children yes
Here's here's the modern way of saying chastening a whooping a
Beating and we're not saying that God's gonna come down from heaven with the rod in his hand to spank us
He will just destroy the circumstances around us where we can feel it
You know what if you've been saved for any length of time all of us myself included may have gotten backslidden from time to time
And we were chasing of the Lord
We're chasing of them
God judged us
You know what it causes us to do to have fear in our hearts towards God
Stay away from the preacher
Who tells you not to fear God?
Stay away from the preacher that tells you God won't punish you. Nothing's gonna happen to you
Let me just explain something to you regarding false prophets
in the Bible
The false prophets of in Jeremiah's day. We're always saying nothing's gonna happen to you Israel
Literally, that's what they would say
You know how about this how about how about the false prophets that came to a habit?
Jehoshaphat when they're about to go to war and they're like shall we prosper and he's like go that's all prosper
And he even brought out like a little station of horns. He's like this is how you're gonna do it. I'm looking just
He's like this is how you're gonna win this war and then they brought a Makaya
You know cuz Jehoshaphat was like, I don't know these kind of these these Joel steen types
That illustration was cool and everything,
but is this, they all seem to agree with this,
and I just, is there someone else we can ask?
And then Ahab's like, well there's someone else,
but I hate him, because he'd never prophesize
good concern to me, but evil.
So he's like, oh, just get him out, let's see what he says.
So they bring Micaiah, he comes,
and he's just like, shall we prosper?
And Micaiah doesn't give a rip about Ahab.
He doesn't care for him.
So he's like, go, go prosper.
because he doesn't really care what's gonna happen to him.
He's like, have not I told you to speak to me the truth?
He's like, okay, you're gonna die.
And he's like, I knew you wouldn't say anything good about me.
So then, you know, they end up slapping him around.
They beat him and they threw him in a prison
and they're just like, we're gonna feed you
with the bread of affliction and water of affliction.
And he's like, and when I returned,
and then Makai was like, if.
You return
Because he wouldn't they have ended up dying
Right, but the point that I'm making is that the false prophets were the ones who were preaching a false message a
Positivity oh don't go to the war nothing's gonna happen to you
You'll be just fine. You know what the pastor who says that I want to see that pastor commit some of the most heinous of sins and
Show us how it's done
You're the example go ahead and show us how it is to commit all types of sins and not suffer any consequences because of it
show us
But you know what we fear God here. I fear God and obviously nobody's perfect
We don't fear God as much as we should but every single one of us has a level of fear in our hearts towards God
Because God is mighty. He's just he's powerful. Yes. He's merciful. Yes. He's gracious, but he is also our heavenly Father
And as a heavenly father, he does chase in his children, you know at the 18 years that I've been saved
I can tell you instances where I knew God was whooping me
And you know what sometimes he whoops is just to keep us in line just to prevent us from making more stupid decisions
The point that I'm making here is that you know God is rebuking them saying you know, you don't fear me you don't fear me
And the proof is in the pudding.
This is why, this is showing you,
showing me that you don't fear me
is that you're committing all these sins.
You're not afraid that God's gonna do something to you.
You know, and the person who can just get online
and just rebuke pastors and say all manner of evil
and make a mock of sin and say,
they don't have the fear of God in their hearts either.
Oh man, it's so wrong to motivate your congregation
to fear, no it's not.
You know how you know how I motivate my congregation by striking fear into their hearts that if they sin against God
They might be destroyed. I
Think that's a great motivation
And I think we should use all types of motivation
But most of us if not all of us are more motivated by the fear of God
And the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom
So the Bible says and the Bible says, you know by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil
All of us who are whooped by our parents,
we know, you know what I'm talking about, right?
As a kid, I remember not doing certain things
because I knew my mom would whoop me.
I was scared of my mom.
And it wasn't like, no, I'm gonna do this
because I'm not gonna do it because I love my mom.
I love my mom.
But you know, in my mind, I didn't see like a heart
around her face.
You know when I saw the bell
I saw how I just saw the the rapidity of the hand
That's what I saw
You say is that is that we really kept you straight? Well, I'm not a I'm not in prison
Not a drug addict. I'm not dead. I'm not in a gang
I'm a pastor
So obviously my mom did a lot of things right by whooping me
The point that I'm making here, and I don't want to steal my thunder for Sunday
But the point that I'm making here is that God values fear
the fear of his people and
When people cease fearing God they do abominably
When people cease fearing God they commit sins unfettered
When people stop fearing God that incures the wrath of God upon their lives
You you find me a preacher that teaches you not to fear God runs screaming in the opposite direction. I
Found you a false prophet
Because look folks even the most liberal preacher out there
Who's saved will tell you about the fear of God maybe not as harsh
But they know for a fact that God can chastise you and then they may say with a smile on their face or something like that
But they even believe it. I'm talking about people like these false prophets who tell you not to fear God
Because remember remember the previous chapter
He's talking about these dogs who aren't barking. You remember that from last week
He's like they're slumbering loving to slumber. These are the same ones that are basically telling those of Judah
Not to fear God, but to just do whatever they want. God's not going to see you. It's gonna be okay
That's the same message that false prophets today preach
Roman chapter 3 verse 17 says the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes
And let me just remind you that as a pastor here
at First Works Baptist Church,
I'm gonna keep preaching the fear of God
into your hearts to the day that I die.
You say why?
Because I fear God.
Obviously, because I love you,
but I'm also accountable to God myself.
And you know what?
If I didn't fear God,
it would be lightness and sweet here, all positivity.
But I do fear God,
which is why I'm gonna tell you about the fear of God.
Look at verse 13 when thou cryest let thy companies deliver thee
But the wind shall carry them all away vanity shall take them
But he that puteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain
What is he saying? He's saying look when you begin to suffer the consequences of your actions
You're gonna cry out to God and I want you to notice he says but the wind shall carry them all away
You ever you ever try to talk to someone when it's really windy
And the wind just kind of carries your voice and you can't get anything in that's what he's saying
He's like when you cry out to me to deliver you the wind is just gonna carry your voice and I'm not gonna be able to hear you
He's basically saying I'm not gonna listen
Very reminiscent of the previous chapters where he says seek you the Lord while he may be found call you upon him
While he is near because obviously there's gonna be times when he's not
He goes on to say in verse number 14 and shall say cast the yub cast the yub prepare the way
Take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people
What is he saying there? He's saying look, you know
When God's people want to get right with God
They need to start removing things out of their lives that are an obstruction to them getting right with God
Cast the yub. He's like throw this away. Don't remove the stumbling block out of the way to make the path straight
And you know what, if you're in here
and you need to get right with God,
just sort of think about things
that just need to get out of the way.
Cause you know what, getting right with God
requires for us to remove things out of our lives too.
It's not just like, I'm just gonna get right with God.
Okay, what are you gonna change though?
Cause things need to change.
There are certain things in your path
that are obstructing you to God's blessing,
you to God's communion with you.
And you gotta remove them out of your life.
Remove the stumbling block that's keeping you from coming to church.
Remove the stumbling block that's keeping you from reading your Bible.
Remove the stumbling block that's keeping you from praying, that's keeping you from soul-winning.
Remove the obstruction so you can get right with God.
Things have to change.
Hebrews 12-12 says,
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,
and make straight paths for your feet,
lest that which is lame be turned out of the way,
but let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Very powerful here, right?
God is obviously pleading with his people to get right look at verse 15 for does say the high and whole and lofty one that
Inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him
Also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones
What is he saying? You know if you want the presence of God be humble
And let me say this is that this should be a blessing to you
if you're a feeling of a contrite spirit.
What's contrite?
It means you're heartbroken.
You're feeling pain, you're in agony.
Contrite spirit means like you're humble,
you're hurting, you're brokenhearted.
Well, I got good news for you.
God is nigh unto you, if that's you.
You know, I could be nigh unto you.
The brothers and sisters in Christ and our church can be nigh unto you, but this is only so far we can go
God, however, is nigh unto those who have a contrite spirit
Why so he can revive your spirit so you can revive your heart he says
To get you back on track look at verse 16 for I will not contend forever
Neither will I always be Roth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made
That's a wonderful promise there. What is he saying? No, I'm not always gonna be mad at you
He's not always going to be wrathful why because he's merciful
God is gracious. He's merciful
You know the the Bible tells us as high as the heavens are from the earth so great is his mercy towards them that what fear him by the way
So you know these preachers who always talk about the mercy of God the grace of God if they got no fear of God
They don't have access to the mercy and the grace
Because the Bible says that great is his mercy towards them that fear him the Bible says
You want grace you want mercy you want God's long suffering you want God's blessing well you better have some fear in your heart
So he's not gonna contend forever look at verse 17 for the iniquity of his covetousness was I Roth and smote him
I hid me and was Roth and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart
I have seen his ways and will heal him.
I will lead him also and restore comforts
unto him into his mourners.
I create the fruit of the lips, peace,
peace to him that is afar off and to him that is near,
sayeth the Lord, and I will heal him.
And what is he saying here?
He's basically saying, you know, he is the source of peace.
He's the one who's gonna come heal.
He can help people and he wants to help his people
specifically to get right with him.
He's saying, I'm going to heal you.
I'm going to give you peace.
I'm going to bless the fruit of your lips.
I'm going to heal you.
I'm going to lead you.
I'm going to restore comforts unto you.
You're not going to be mourning.
You're going to have peace.
Now look at the contrast of this in verse 20, but that's
important.
He's like, I'm going to heal you.
I'm going to bless you, but though.
The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt
You know what that shows us? There's people in this world who would never have peace
God will not heal. Why cuz they're wicked and the Bible saying here. They're like a
Troubled sea why cuz they're tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine, right?
They're like a sea that is tossed about it cannot rest
And, you know, it reminds me of the tumultuous waters
when Jesus Christ was on the boat.
And it wasn't until Jesus Christ,
he woke up and he calmed the storm.
In the presence of the storm,
the Lord Jesus Christ was able to calm that storm, right?
But for the wicked, it's not so.
And they cast up mire and dirt.
And he finishes off by saying,
there is no peace, sayeth my God, to the wicked.
Now that's scary.
And you know what there's no peace to the wicked this side of eternity, but for sure there's no peace to the wicked in hell either
Where the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever there is no rest day nor night
They lift up their eyes in hell being in torment
Asking for a drop of water to cool their tongue for their tormented in that flame. That's not peace
What's the point this for this chapter the point is simply this is that first of all be thankful for the reconciliation that we have through
Salvation right through Jesus Christ
Seek the peace of God by keeping your mind on the Lord, but if you get anything from the sermon get this fear God
Be afraid
And you know what we've heard too many sermons by preachers out there they try to excuse what the fear of God means
Oh, it's only a reverence, it's only respect.
We all know we're supposed to respect the reverence, God.
Of course we are, but you know what?
The Bible also talks about the fact
that he's a terrible God.
And let me just quote this verse from the New Testament.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
Yeah, Paul, you're right.
And he's talking about God's chest, isn't he?
He's like, man, it is a fearful thing to fall into God's hands hands of what hands of judgment and this is what he says
He says vengeance belongeth to me save the Lord
I will repay and the Lord shall judge his people
So we often quote that verse referring to unsaved people, but it also applies to us and
Then he follows it up with it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God
What's the message fly straight
Get sin out of your life.
Get right with God.
Stay on the right path.
Keep serving the Lord.
Keep loving your spouse.
Keep raising your children in the
nurturing and the admonition of the Lord.
Keep winning souls to Christ.
Be a wholesome person.
Be a godly individual.
Fight the flesh.
Stay right with the Lord.
Read your Bible.
Pray.
Go to all three.
Be three to thrive.
Go to church, read your Bible, win souls to Christ,
talk about the Lord, repent of your sins.
Why, because you should fear God, that's why.
Because the alternative is the hand of the Lord
that we should fear to be in if we're not right with God.
I don't think if I don't go to church, I won't be right with God.
The Bible says not forsaken the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
but exhort one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching,
for if we sin willfully, after we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remain no more sacrifice for sins.
Four means because.
So it says you should be in church because there remain no more sacrifice for sins if we sin willfully,
meaning we choose not to congregate with the brethren.
You're sitting woefully according to the Bible
You know what's kept me in church other than being a pastor obviously
Who else is gonna preach if I don't know right but even before being a pastor
You know kept me in church is just the fear of God the fear of loss and the desire of gain
The desire to gain rewards, but also the fear of God as well
Keep fearing God and that's it. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word
Thank you for Isaiah 57
Lord may we be a God fearing people and
Lord I pray that you'd help us to do so help us to think upon not just the grace of God and the love of God and our salvation
But Lord you are a terrible God as the Bible says the Bible literally says that you are a terrible God
You are greatly to be feared
Because you can chastise us you can punish us for sins
And that helps us to stay right with you, Lord.
And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to think upon those things
and reject heretical teachings that assert that we should not fear you.
And Lord, may you bless us as we go on our way, Lord.
May you bless us so many on Saturday as we go and preach the gospel to the lost.
And help people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as they flee from the wrath to come.
And I pray, Lord, that you bless us as we go on our way.
We love you. We thank you.
Thank you for watching.