which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things
is in their vessels, which say, Stand by thyself,
come not near me, for I am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
Behold, it is written before me, I will not keep silence,
but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom.
Your iniquities and iniquities of your fathers together,
saith the Lord, which have burnt incense upon the mountains
and blasphemed me upon the hills.
Therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster
and one saith, destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.
So will I do for my servants' sakes
that I may not destroy them all.
Now I will bring forth the seed out of Jacob and out of Judah
and inheritor of my mountains, and my intellect shall inherit it,
and my servants shall dwell therein.
And Sharon shall be a ful of flocks and a valley of acor,
a place for the herds to lie down in,
for my people that have sought me.
But ye are they that forsake the Lord,
that forget my holy mountain,
that prepare a table for that troop,
and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
Therefore, will I number you to the sword,
and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter,
because when I called, he did not answer;
when I spake, he did not hear;
but did evil before mine eyes,
and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, my servant shall eat, but ye shall be hungry;
behold, my servant shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty;
behold, my servant shall rejoice,
but ye shall be ashamed; behold, my servant shall sing
for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart;
ye shall howl for vexation of spirit;
ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen.
For the Lord God shall slay thee
and call his servants by another name,
that he who blessed himself in the earth
shall bless himself in the God of truth;
and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear
by the God of truth, because the former troubles
are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create,
for behold, I create Jerusalem rejoicing,
and the people a joy; and I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and join my people.
And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
nor the voice of crying.
There shall be no more thence and infinite of days,
nor an old man that hath not filled his days,
for the child shall die in hundred years old.
The sinner being in hundred years old shall be accursed,
and they shall build houses and inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
They shall not build and another inhabit,
they shall not plant and another eat,
for as the days of a tree are the days of my people,
and my new legs shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble,
for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord,
and their offspring with them.
They shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer,
and while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock,
and the dust shall be the serpent's meat.
It shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains,
sayeth the Lord.
Let's pray.
Father God, we thank you, dear Lord,
for your wonderful promises
and the word that you have kept for us, dear Lord.
We thank you for our church and for our pastor, dear God.
Please bless him as he preaches your word.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
- Amen.
Okay, we're in Isaiah chapter 65 this evening,
and we are continuing with our series here
in the book of Isaiah.
We're almost done.
Next week will be the last chapter.
Let's go ahead and get started here.
Verse number one says,
"I am sought of them that ask not for me.
I am found of them that sought me not.
I said, behold me, behold me unto a nation
that was not called by my name.
I have spread out my hands all the day
into a rebellious people which walketh in a way
that was not good after their own thoughts."
Now, the first thing we're gonna look at here
is God essentially making a distinction
between people who actually believe on the Lord
within the nation of Judah
and those who do not believe in the Lord
within the nation of Judah.
Of course, he's distinguishing the rebellious people,
but he's also distinguishing those who believe on the Lord.
And we see a prophetic statement here in verse number one
about the Gentile nations finding God, right?
He says there, "I am sought of them that ask not for me."
Essentially referring to the fact that Gentile nations,
those who are not of the nation of Israel,
they're not of Judah,
they are actually seeking out the Lord
and God is making himself found of them.
Now, go to Romans chapter 10, if you would,
because this is quoted in the New Testament.
Hold your place here in Isaiah 65.
Go to Romans chapter 10.
So in verse one of Isaiah 65,
he exalts the Gentiles
as being those who are seeking out the Lord.
But then he also states that he has spread out his hands
towards those who are a rebellious people,
those who are walking away that's not good,
those who are going after their own devices,
their own thoughts,
essentially those who have rejected the Lord.
And again, he's making that distinction there
between the people who are seeking him out,
those who are not Gentile nations,
and of course the nation of Judah
who has rebelled against the Lord.
Now, Romans chapter 10 is a powerful chapter.
It's probably one of my favorite chapters
in the book of Romans,
because of the fact that it systematically lays out
how a person is saved, right?
We often use it in our gospel presentation
on a weekly basis.
But look at verse 17.
It says, "So then faith cometh by hearing,
"and hearing by the word of God."
Essentially referring to the fact
that if we're gonna get people saved,
we gotta preach the word of God, right?
The word of God is what invokes the faith within a person
to believe on the Lord.
And it's not enough that we share illustrations.
It's not enough that we share examples.
It's definitely not enough that we share testimonies.
The Bible says that we need the word of God
to get people saved, right?
Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.
He says in verse 18, "But I say, have they not heard?
"Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth
"and their words unto the end of the world."
Now, what this is referring to is the fact
that those who have preached the word of God,
those who have expounded and talked about this word of faith,
you know, a lot of people have heard that message.
And in fact, it specifically says that their sound,
referring to their message, referring to their gospel,
their good tidings has gone into the ends of the world.
So even in the Old Testament,
where the word of God is essentially from Judah,
that's essentially the headquarters of the truth,
that's the headquarters of God's word,
you know, you have prophets during that time
who are going into different nations.
They're preaching the word of God to different nations.
They are expounding upon the good tidings of great joy
in various nations, which would conclude that
there were Gentiles in the Old Testament
who were getting saved, amen?
And we have plenty of examples of Gentiles
getting saved in the Old Testament,
but the New Testament is very explicit to explain
that the word of God was heard amongst the Gentiles
in the ends of the world by these preachers and prophets.
It says in verse 19, "But I say," excuse me,
"But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy
by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation,
I will anchor you."
So what is he referring to here?
He's saying, you know, if the Gentiles
who are in the ends of the world
heard the message of the gospel,
how much more did Israel hear
the message of the gospel, right?
You know, he's saying, does not Israel know?
Hey, if the ends of the world have already heard
about the word of God, they've heard the truth,
you're gonna tell me that Israel did not know the truth?
Of course they know the truth.
Of course they knew the truth.
Tomb-servant much is given of him shall be much required.
They are the nation from which salvation comes from,
unto them were committed the oracles of God.
And so obviously Israel, Judah was saturated with the truth.
Israel knew.
And it's for that reason that Moses,
back in the Old Testament, specifically said
that God was gonna provoke Israel to jealousy
by them that are no people.
What is that referring to?
He's not saying that people who don't identify
with a particular tribe of the world or something like that,
he's saying that they're no people to God.
In other words, they're not part of the tribes of Israel.
They're not part of that covenant.
God is going to provoke Israel to jealousy by these people,
by these Gentiles.
And he specifically says even foolish nations,
he's going to anger them.
So the Israelites, they believe they're
God's chosen people of the Old Testament.
They believe that they are the elect of God.
Well, there's going to come a time--
and obviously, we are already in that time--
but even 2,000 years ago, there was
going to come a time where that transition from old covenant
to new covenant would take place.
And God will begin to use the Gentiles
to be a light unto the nations.
He will begin to utilize them, fill them with his power,
use them to preach the word of God, which would eventually
cause the Israelites to become jealous.
And this can be interpreted in two ways when it says jealous.
You could obviously interpret this to mean that, hey,
that's our God.
Why are you preaching about our God?
And why are you being used when we're
supposed to be used or something like that.
But jealous also is used as-- we would use it today as zealous.
So when someone is doing a great work for God,
that should provoke others to be zealous for the work of God
as well.
You think of a Christian who has been in church
for a lengthy period of time.
And maybe they fizzle out a little bit in their zeal
for God.
They're not as excited about the things of God as they used to be.
And then you get a new Christian to come into church.
They're on fire for God, right?
They're winning souls to Christ.
They're reading the Word of God.
They're doing great works.
They're doing great exploits.
They're bringing people to church.
Their converts are getting baptized.
I mean, they're being used of God.
That should provoke the old codger, spiritually speaking,
to zealousness, right?
To say, man, this person is provoking me
to do more works for God.
So essentially, the Gentiles should
be used to provoke these believing Jews to zeal, OK?
And we see that taking place even in the New Testament.
Now, I want you to notice verse 20.
"But Isaias is very bold."
Now, who's Isaias?
Isaias is the New Testament rendition of Isaiah, OK?
Isaiah is the way you would say it in Hebrew
in the Old Testament.
Isaias is the Greek rendition of that.
"But Isaias is very bold.
And sayeth, I was found of them that sought me not.
I was made manifest into them that ask not after me."
So he's referring to the fact that even though Israel
is that epicenter of the truth, you
have these other nations who have not the law, right?
But are along to themselves seeking after God.
And God is making himself found of these Gentiles.
And quite frankly, if you think about it,
there's far more Gentile believers
than there are Jews, right?
Jewish believers, or even Israelite believers of the Old Testament.
And we preached on that various times throughout the book of Isaiah.
And so, Isaiah is very bold, and Isaiah is of Israel.
He is an Israelite, but he's preaching against his own people.
Do you know why?
Because of the fact that they're not really his people
if they don't believe on the Lord.
Because Isaiah actually has an affinity with Israelites who are believers,
who do believe in the Lord, who obey God.
That's who he runs with, right?
So he has more in common with the Gentiles
who heard the word of God in the ends of the earth
than those who are in Israel and in Judah
but actually, you know, don't want nothing to do with God, okay?
So this is why he's very bold because he's provoking the Israelites,
he's provoking those of Judah to anger by saying,
"Hey, God's going to make himself found by people who are not a people.
He's going to make himself found for those who did not ask after him."
Verse 21 says, "But to Israel he saith all day long I have stretched forth my hands
unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." So right off the bat in Romans chapter 10,
we already see a distinction being made here, right? Those who sought after God,
or those who are making them, who God is making himself found of,
and then Israel who is disobedient and gainsaying people. What is a gainsayer?
Someone who refuses the truth, okay? Someone who basically is contradicting the truth.
They don't want the truth. And so we see here that God has stretched forth his hands,
as it says in Isaiah 65, all the day long. Now that's important to know. Why is that?
Because you have people today like, "Well, we should pray for Israel. We got to pray for Israel."
And here's the thing, folks. Do you not, no you not, have you not read that God has stretched
forth his hands all day long to a disobedient and gainsane people? And the fact that we're in the
New Testament is an indicator that God has moved on. He's moved on with his life, okay? Why? Because
he's, he stretched forth his hand for thousands of years, hundreds of years trying to, and it's not
like they were without law. It's not like they were without miracles. It's not like they were
without the supernatural occurrences in their nation to cause them to believe upon the Lord.
I mean, they had a saturated amount of truth, prophets, they had the temple,
they had the old covenant, they had Moses, they had Elijah, they had King David. I mean,
basically, they had essentially a perfect atmosphere, right, for them to seek out God.
And God is just like reaching out to them, and they're just like, no, disobedient,
gain-sane people. You say, why do you hate Israel so much? Well, I actually like the Israel
that Isaiah is part of, that Moses is part of, you know. I like the guys, and one thing you'll
notice with Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10 and 11, those chapters are broken up because
it helps us to kind of find it and memorize it, but this is a continuing thought in Romans 11.
So David, or excuse me, you have Isaias, you have Moses, then you have Elijah, then you have David,
all part of Israel preaching against Israel. So you know, be careful getting on me too much
for preaching against Israel. I'm just following the example of these Israelites
who clearly want nothing to do with, you know, that Israel, okay. So we see here, he's like,
"I've stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." He's obviously addressing
the nation of it. We're going to come back to Romans 11 just a bit, go back to Isaiah 65,
if you would. Isaiah 65. So, you know, in Isaiah 65, he's like, "You guys are just being rebellious.
You're disobedient. You're gainsayers. You're not willing to listen." And, you know, the way
we can apply it today would be like, you know, out of all mainstream Christians, we don't really get
along with all Christians within mainstream Christianity. Who are the ones we run with?
Those who actually believe the truth, right? You know, and by the way, we don't even run with all
fundamental Baptists either. Those who call themselves Baptists, those who call themselves
fundamentalists, those who claim that they're independent, we don't even run with all those
Israelites. You know, and in fact, we, like Moses, we, like Isaiah, preach against some of those
fundamental Baptists. Why? Because they're disobedient and gainsayers. There are certain
Christians out there who name the name of Christ, who claim to believe the Bible, but they're
rebellious, they're gainsayers, they reject the gospel, they mock the Word of God. They
parade and masquerade as Bible-believing Christians, but they don't really believe the Word of God.
They're disobedient, rebellious, and gainsayers, right? And so, you know, we are in good company
with Moses and Isaiah. We know what that's like, because within the canopy, under the canopy of
Christianity, we experience the same exact thing, do we not? You know, and that's why it's important,
folks, just because it has the label "Christian" doesn't necessarily mean that it's Christian.
Doesn't necessarily mean that it's biblical, that it's right. And so, you know, you never want to be
gullible or, you know, so tolerant that just because, and by the way, just because it says
"Baptist." Now, Baptist does narrow it down some, you know what I mean? Like, if you give me two
people, one said, and they both say that they're Christians, okay, but one keeps saying, you know,
"Jehovah," "Jehovah this, Jehovah that," and then the other one, you know, says "Jesus," and he calls
himself "Baptist." I'm probably going to go with that guy. I'm not saying that that guy is not off
on some things, but, you know, he's probably close, he's not far from the kingdom of God,
let's just say that. Whereas the Jehovah's Witness, you know, he's so far from the kingdom of God,
he should just be cast out into outer darkness. "There shall be weeping, and wailing, and ashen
of teeth." So obviously labels helps us to kind of narrow in, hone in on the truth. And then when
you get to Baptist, you're like, okay, you know, what are some things that come before the Baptist
name here? You know, are you fundamental Baptist? No, we're reformed. God, yeah, man. All right,
well, you know, what do you believe, you know, about salvation? I believe by salvation by grace
through faith. Oh, okay, cool. You know, that sounds great. You know, what kind of Bible do you use?
I used an ESV, but I switched to a King James. All right, you know, it's just like,
do you evangelize? Oh, yeah, we do street preaching all the time. You know, and so it's just like,
you know, it's a jungle out there sometimes. And so labels help. But what I'm the point that I'm
trying to get across here is that, you know, Isaiah and Moses and all these other prophets,
even though they're of Israel, not everyone who says they're of Israel is of Israel.
Just like today, not everyone that calls themselves a Christian is actually a Christian.
Sometimes they're Catholic. And no, they're not the first Christians. You know, sometimes
they're Orthodox. They're not Christians. You know, they're Pentecostals. We don't consider
them to be Christians. Mormons for sure are not Christians. The Mormons are the retards of
mainstream Christianity. Right? I mean, think about it. Look, like we don't get along with Catholics,
but we probably more readily be willing to talk to a Catholic than we would to a Mormon. Right?
Like more like, you know, Catholics and Baptists, we're constantly fighting each other. But if a
Mormon steps in, we're probably going to join each other to like destroy that guy. And then we'll
continue our fight thereafter. Because Mormonism is just just retardation. Okay. Anyways, go back
to your you're back in Isaiah, look at verse three, he says, he says, a people that provoked me to
anger continually to my face, that sacrifice it in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick,
which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of
abominable things in their vessels. So, you know, based upon this description, you kind of wonder
like, wait, are we talking about the same people here? These are God's people? How is how are these
these sound like heathen? Right? You listen to this is just like, okay, hold on a second.
They're sacrificing in gardens burning incense upon altars of brick. Oh, that means they're
worshipping false gods. This must not be the people of God. Oh, they're among the graves.
Essentially, what does that refer to? They're practicing necromancy. They're lodging in
monuments and they're eating swine's flesh. Now look, swine's flesh is a okay today,
but not back then though. And if we were in the Old Testament, we'd be preaching against people
who eat pork, right? unclean animals, because under the old covenant that was prohibited. But
apparently, there are some Israelites that were fine with that and broth of abominable things in
their vessels. So what do we see here? We see a description of a people who are breaching the
covenant, because the covenant says to abstain from these things, the covenant states that they
need to worship the God of the Bible. Yet, the prophet Isaiah is describing a people who is
disobedient to the covenant, they're contradicting the covenant, and they're doing that which God's
people are not supposed to do. So therefore, they have essentially relinquished their privilege of
being God's people once they breach that covenant. It's like this, the equivalent today would be
this, if a Christian claims to be a Christian, they claim to be a believer, but then they start
believing in preaching a repent of your sins gospel, oh, then that means you just weren't
saved to begin with because you're participating in things that go against the new covenant.
So what is Isaiah saying here? He's saying these are people from Judah, but they're not really
spiritually of Judah now, are they? Because, you know, just because they're born there,
just because they, you know, were part of the covenant at one point doesn't mean they currently
are as noted by their actions that they're clearly worshiping devils. And you know what,
if you're worshiping the devil, you're not worshiping God. It's just plain and simple.
Okay. Now, if Isaiah can see this in Isaiah 65, why can't people see it today? Okay. You know,
where you have the modern state of Israel, you're like, oh, you keep talking about that. Well, the
whole entire book of Isaiah talks about it. You know, I'm sorry to bore you with replacement
theology, but I mean, pretty much it's all over the Bible though. Okay. You know, I'm sorry,
there's no 10 step program how to get out of depression from here. This is just all about
God ripping on Jews. You know, and so, um, but you know, once we finished the book of Isaiah,
we're going into the book of John and you know, John's going to have a lot of doctrine on salvation.
Oh wait, but it also has John 8 44 though. Just let you know, you just can't really escape this
theme in the Bible. Okay. And so he, I don't remember how I got off on that, but you know,
it's true though. Whatever I just said was true. Oh, that's what I was going to say. So, you know,
but you can't, you have people today that can't seem to understand that the modern state of Israel
are not God's people as noted by the fact that they rejected Jesus Christ.
Isaiah's you have Moses. They saw it. Yeah. Christians today don't see it. It's just like,
oh, they blasphemed Jesus. No, they're still God's chosen people. The land belongs to them.
Oh, they hate Jesus. They spit on the ground when they hear about Jesus. They mock Jesus. They don't
believe in the God of the Bible. It's okay. They're still God's chosen people. How can they be God's
chosen? Are you saying they're Jesus chosen people? You know, why don't you say they're Jesus chosen
people? You know why you can't say that? Because they're not. You're like, well, they're God's
chosen people. Jesus is God. Try saying they're Jesus chosen people. It doesn't go together now,
does it? Because you know they're disobedient and gainsayers towards the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, we need to start switching it around. Stop saying God's chosen people. Just say Jesus
chosen people. How about that? Because we narrow it down when we say that now, don't we? So Isaiah
is obviously making a distinction here. Look at verse five, going on with the same rebellious
people. He says, which say, this is what the rebellious people are stating, stand by thyself,
come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose and a fire that
burneth all the day long. So keep in mind these rebellious people who are participating in that,
which is unclean, they are ritually unclean according to the old covenant. They're eating
swine's flesh. They're eating broth of abominable things. They're worshipping false gods. They're
the ones saying, oh, I'm holier than you are. Don't come nearer to me. I'm holier than thou.
Okay. Obviously, what is this stating? It's stating the fact that they're hypocrites.
They're just blinded hypocrites that can't see that though they have this outward expression,
they profess that they know God, you know, in works that they deny them,
deny him being abominable into every good work reprobate. Right. They are, you know,
they're like unto why did sepulchers that appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead
men's bones. Now what's interesting is that, you know, they say they're stating here I'm holier
than now. Okay. And I don't remember who I was talking to about this, maybe a couple months ago,
but they brought up this point and it was, it was really good. You know, the Pharisees of the new
Testament, Pharisee means separated one. Okay. That's actually what it means. And the Pharisees,
no one really knows exactly how they came about. I believe that it's possible that they
essentially, you know, came into existence after the Maccabean revolt. And they were a group of
Israelites or Jews that were essentially in opposition to the Hellenization of their culture.
So, you know, you have Alexander the Great that essentially permeated Greek culture in the known
world at that time. And, you know, you have a lot of Jews that embraced a lot of the Hellenization.
And, you know, obviously a lot of good came out of that, right? Because you have the Greek language
going into the New Testament. That's what the Bible is used, what is written in, in the New
Testament. So obviously it was used in a great way. But you have these Jews that are just like,
"Oh, we don't want to be Hellenized. And so we're separated. We're holier than, you know,
these Greeks and these Gentiles. They wanted to maintain their ethnic identity. And so you have
this group referred to as the Pharisees, the separated ones. And, you know, they wanted to
maintain their ethnic identity or whatever. But then by the time you get to the New Testament,
somewhere along the way, they ended up seizing power over the synagogue. Because obviously
synagogues weren't, you know, they weren't institutions that were sanctioned by God.
And Christians have a hard time with that. You know, I've stated that before in different
videos and people were like, Whoa, hold on a second. Synagogues were sanctioned by God.
It's like, no, they weren't. Where in the Old Testament does it say thou shall have
synagogues? The only institution that was sanctioned by God was what? The tabernacle
and or temple, right? And here's the proof that the synagogues were not sanctioned by God.
Any institution that got sanctions has what? Leaders, sanctioned leaders, right? The
tabernacle and the temple had the Levites that were sanctioned by God. They came from
the tribe of Levi, from the house of Aaron, and they were specifically selected for that
particular job. Synagogues doesn't exist. Now, synagogues, you know, they probably started with
the best of intentions because of the fact that maybe they were spread about all over the known
world at that time so that Israelites or proselyte Jews can meet in those synagogues, read the
scriptures, sing hymns, have fellowship if they couldn't make the trip to the temple, right?
But here's the problem is that when you have an institution that started by man and not by God,
you know leadership is up for grabs, you understand? So it's just like you have these house churches,
oh they're reading the Bible, they're getting together, maybe they're evangelizing together,
seems pretty harmless, seems wholesome until you get the most wicked people to take it over,
you understand? And this goes for Bible colleges as well, you understand? So any institution that's
not sanctioned by God, eventually the wrong type of leader ends up seizing power. And then people
will say, "Well, hold on a second. Jesus went to the synagogue though." Yeah, I know he went to the
synagogue. Of course he went to the synagogue because by that time, synagogues were essentially
embedded into Jewish culture. It's a thing that you did. You go there to read the scriptures,
to hear the teaching, but it doesn't mean that it's sanctioned by God. Look, folks, there might be
chapels all over California, but I want you to notice this. There's no chapel in the Bible.
You understand what I'm saying? And you know, they might be doing wholesome, godly things
within those chapels. It doesn't mean it's sanctioned by God. There might be Bible colleges
that teach the right doctrine. They actually do train their people to go into full-time Christian
service, but does that mean that God approves of it? No, absolutely not, because you don't see it
in the word of God. Okay. The point that I'm making here is by the time we get to the New Testament,
these Pharisees separated ones, those who are holier than everyone else, ended up seizing power
and then they're, you know, instituting and imposing unbiblical laws, right? And they're
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and then they have so much power within these
synagogues that they're able to just excommunicate people from the synagogues if they confess Christ.
Where's that in the Bible? That doesn't exist. To the point where these synagogues became
headquarters for Christ-rejecting Jews who hated the Lord, and they end up being the epicenters
of people that were essentially spearheading the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And think about it,
once the temple is destroyed in 70 AD, that's all the Jews had left with synagogues. Because
what do they have when they went into the Babylonian captivity? They no longer had the
temple. What do they rely upon? The synagogues. And what happened to that? The Pharisees ended
up seizing power over it. Well, it's the same thing in 70 AD when the temple's destroyed,
what do they have thereafter? Synagogues. Okay. Well, I thought synagogues meant gathering. Yeah,
it's a gathering of worshipers of Satan. Yeah, but doesn't church mean gathering? Yeah. Church
is a called out assembly of baptized believers in Jesus Christ. Synagogues are not. That's why
Jesus called it a synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2, 9 and 3, 9. Point that I'm making here is that
the holier than now statement here is kind of like a foreshadowing of those Pharisees, right?
Because they're unclean people, ritually unclean. They're godless people, rebellious, disobedient,
gainsane people. Oh yeah, but they're holier than you are, right? Now, what are some things that we
can apply personally from this particular verse? Well, you know, we often use this term to describe
the hyper-spiritual person, okay? A holier than now is something that we commonly use to describe
a person who seems to overcompensate in their language or actions in order to deter from who
they really are, okay? And you know, this is very common amongst the charismatic Pentecostal movements
where you have these preachers and Christians who try to outwardly look very spiritually,
or spiritual, you know, by speaking in tongues and having the christianese just flow out of their
mouth, but inwardly they're just really wicked people. And this is a common tactic amongst false
prophets because they want to deter your attention from the fact that they're just evil and wicked
and godless, okay? That's why it's important to just be sincere, right? You know, we want sincere
preaching, we want sincere Christians, and obviously sometimes Christians can be a little too sincere,
a little too open, but quite frankly I prefer the Christian who's too open than the one who's just
fake, okay? Because what is a holier than thou? He's a fake, he's a phony, he's a fraud, you know,
they have all this biblical lingo coming out of their mouth, "Hey brother, brother," but they're
laying a net before you, you know, below your feet to capture you with something, right? And I'm not
saying don't call each other brother, okay? I'm exaggerating here, you know, maybe you might not
know, you may have never experienced that before, I have, but if you've dealt with, you know,
non-denom type churches though, you know, you probably have come across people like that.
How many of you said I've ever come across that type of Christian before and it made me feel very
uncomfortable? And sometimes, you know, you may not even know this principle, but like when this
person talks to you, you're just kind of like, "Something's off here. I feel dirty after I talk
to this person, you know? I need to go take a shower after I talk to that person." It's because
they're holier than thou's. And again, there are often people who just overcompensate. They're
trying to overdo it because of the fact that at the end of the day, they're really evil in their
hearts and they don't want you to see who they really are. And so out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaketh. And let me say this, false prophets are not the only ones who are
guilty of this. Babes in Christ can be guilty of this too. And I would even say that all of us,
to a certain degree, when we first got saved, you know, maybe had a smidge of holier than now.
Okay. How many of you say, yes, that is the case. Okay. You know, and if you're not raising your
hand, then you probably still struggle with being a holier than now. Okay. You know, everyone has,
to a certain degree, a little holier than now when they first get saved. Especially, you know,
you're really zealous for God and you're just kind of disappointed in everyone because they're not
as good as a Christian as you are. They don't go sewing as much as you do. They don't read the
Bible as much as you do. And you know, you can't prove it. You just can't prove it. But you know,
though, that they don't love God as much as you do. You know, it's just like, I know that I love
God more than anybody here. I can't prove it, you know, but I know. Okay. I'm exaggerating,
but you know, a lot of babes in Christ have that problem. And it's, it's kind of like a normal thing
amongst babes in Christ. And quite frankly, obviously it's annoying. It's, it's not righteous
to be that way. And it's an attribute of an infant in Christ type of a thing. However, you know,
you have to grow out of that at some point or another. And let me just tell you, one of the
best ways to grow out of it is to just get rebuked harshly. Okay. You know, and, and humble yourself
and come to the realization, you know, I'm not all that I think I'm cracked up to be. And I just need
to be a real person. Okay. Because a lot of times babes in Christ is just worried about what other
people think about them. And so they have to portray themselves to be more spiritual than they
really are in order to kind of give that persona because they're worried about what people are
going to think of them. But folks, you know, if you go to a church like this, you don't have to
worry about that. Just be who you are. Just come and serve God, just serve God at your pace,
win souls to Christ, read the Bible, love the Lord, love people. And you know what? No one's
going to come down on you. No one's going to judge you for being a babe in Christ, not knowing
enough Bible, not going soul winning enough or whatever. Just do what you can do and grow out of
that stage, right? And so we've had many holier than nows come through our church, especially when
we first started the church. Everyone was basically a holier than now. Let me just make that assessment.
As the leader of the church, that's a fact, okay? Pretty much everyone was. And everyone's grown out
of that. You know what? And I believe I have the right to say that because I've been here since the
very start. And I pastored the church since the very start. You know, but people have to grow out
of it, okay? And again, I also struggled with that when I first got saved. My pastor rebuked me
sharply various times in my life because I was a little holier than now. And you know what? I
grew out of it, but I learned to appreciate those who are zealous for the Lord. They just need that
zeal to be directed, right? It needs to be a zeal according to knowledge. They need to mature in the
Lord and recognize, you know, I don't have to portray myself to be, you know, more spiritual
than I really am. I just need to grow out my pace, mature in the Lord and, you know, prove my own work
kind of thing, right? But we see here that these people are holier than nows, but in actuality,
they're full of dead men's bones. They're not even fulfilling the basic standard of God's law.
How are you holier than everyone else if you're eating swine's flesh under the old covenant,
right? It's nonsense. You know, I remember one time we had a Christian, you know, come through
our church, and he was a young guy, and he's just like, he's just condemning people for watching
TV or something. He's just like, "I can't believe," you know, this, that, and the other. But he was
guilty of some pretty bad stuff. Now look, folks, you know, we all struggle with sin. We all battle
sin, but there's a difference between battling sin and then condemning others for that sin that you
are clearly committing. Does the Bible have a word to that? What is that? Oh yeah, hypocrite,
right? You know, obviously, you know, if you're struggling with sin, you're battling sin,
you know, you need to overcome it. You need to apply principles that will help you overcome
things like that. But, you know, in the process of doing that, don't just get on other people for
that same exact sin though. You know, because the Bible teaches in Matthew chapter seven that you
got to remove the moat or the beam out of your eye before you take the moat out of someone else's
eye. But once you remove the beam, then you're good to go. Start plucking out the moats. And so,
you know, but this is actually a worse example here because the holier-than-now doesn't even
worship the God of the Bible, yet they think they're superior to everyone else. And there's
a nation out there in the world that is basically a holier-than-now nation. Oh yeah, Israel! They
think they're better than everyone else. Yet, in God's eyes, they're at the bottom of the barrel.
They are the most unclean, common nation, yet even more than India, believe it or not. And I
know that's hard to believe, but let me just give you a perspective here. And India's pretty bad,
okay? Don't come at me with, "Nah, India's not that bad." We have the internet, you know,
we could look it up. And I know some of you who like Indian food, you're getting offended right
now. But hey, as long as you keep eating Indian food here, you're good to go. Just never go over
there and eat it, right? But let me just say this, Israel, spiritually speaking, is worse than India.
That's not true because they worship the God of the Bible. No, they don't. You know what makes
Israel worse than India is the fact that they had the truth. Jesus Christ actually walked there.
And no, he never went to India. He actually walked there, he preached there, he committed
unto them the oracles of God he comes from Judah so therefore they're actually far more unclean
now the Indians are going to go to hell for sure that's just a fact okay why because they're they're
they're they're heathens pagans they worship false gods worship snakes and goro and stuff you know
like a mortar comeback you know characters and stuff you know sheba and whatnot you know they're
gonna go to hell for that it's a fact right can i get it amen they're gonna split hell wide open
because of that but let me just tell you right now though the the jews have a lower hell than
than those of india though because unto them are committed the oracles of god and you know what
indians by and large don't fight against christianity obviously they have a false
religion they're pagans and they're still gonna go to hell however you know israelites do fight
against christianity plain and simple you have to understand that some some people have the greater
sin understand you know a pilot is is in hell right now but the people who deliver jesus to pilot
has the greater condemnation the bible says so pilot is like and then the one who delivered
they're like now they're both in hell but one's a little you know a little hotter hell than the
other one okay now obviously when you're in there you're not really like comparing notes like how
did you get so far up you know they're just gonna burn i'm just saying the bible talks about a
greater damnation and jesus specifically said told the pharisees in matthew 23 that they shall
receive the greater damnation if jesus tells you that you're done you're cooked that means he's
taken names and he's just like i'm going to reserve a greater damnation for you because
they're the ones who are in opposition to christianity okay point that i'm making here
is that israel is an unclean nation spiritually speaking even though they claim to be holier than
everyone else they claim to be god's chosen people they claim to be better and superior to everyone
else you know they can say whatever they want they're and they can abstain from the swine's
flesh but in god's eyes they are swine it's a fact because they're they're unclean according
to old testament standards okay look what it goes on to say in verse six i gotta hurry up
because the last couple weeks i've just been going off and i just don't finish the chapter
look at verse six behold that is written before me i will not keep silence but will recompense
even recompense in their bosom your iniquities in the iniquities of your fathers together saith
the lord which have burned incense upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills
therefore will i measure their former work into their bosom now this reminds me of the new
testament when talking about forgiveness because let me read to you luke 6 verse 38 it says give
referring to forgiveness mercy given it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down shaken
together running over shall men give into your bosom for with what the same measure that you meet
with all it shall be measured to you again so what is he saying you know if you're a forgiving person
if you're a merciful person you know what god's going to do he's going to allow you to experience
a lot of mercy and a lot of forgiveness as well and you'll experience such forgiveness and mercy
that it's going to be pressed down good measure shaken together so you know all the the mercy and
the forgiveness just collects at the bottom so you have more mercy in that vessel more forgiveness
in that vessel and men are going to give into your bosom that's the kind of life i want to live
right i want people to forgive me and show me mercy and so if i want if i want that for my
life i need to make sure that i'm merciful and forgiving to others right well it also works on
the flip side if you're a wicked person though because he's telling them that their iniquities
and the iniquities of their fathers those who have blasphemed them and burnt incense therefore will
i measure their former work into their bosom basically they're treasuring up wrath against
the day of wrath god's also collecting all of the iniquity the abominations the works that they're
doing he's shaking it together he's making sure it's pressed down so that on the day of judgment
god's going to serve them into their bosom what they deserve the recompense and this is why the
bible says for what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again okay look at verse eight he
says thus saith the lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a
blessing is in it so will i do for my servant's sake that i may not destroy them all now we often
quote this verse to show these uh christian winos that you know juice is a biblical concept
and that wine is used interchangeably to describe both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
as we clearly see here that new wine meaning unfermented wine unfermented juice is found in
the cluster you don't find alcohol in the cluster of a grape you know you break a cluster alcohol
doesn't just come out it's obviously juice grape juice if you don't know that you know you probably
drink alcoholic wine okay if you can't understand that but you know god is using this real life
example okay to illustrate a spiritual truth because you know he just got finished ripping
all these rebellious people these unclean rebellious gainsayers but then he says hold on a second but
there is new wine in the cluster and the cluster is picturing judah okay the cluster of grapes
and he's saying there that as wicked as judah is collectively there's still new wine in there
meaning that there are good people in judah and this is a biblical concept right because what's
that word that we constantly see in the new testament and even in the old testament the what
remnant right a small select people who unfortunately during this time they still
suffer the consequences of all the Israelites like they went into captivity too but you know
god says that new wine is going to be brought back so he's still thinking about them right
he's still for them and you know this is why god just didn't wipe out judah because he's saying
there destroy it not for a blessing is in it and who's the blessing isaiah i love that israelite
moses i love that israelite there's a lot of israelites i love why do you hate the jews i
don't hate i don't hate all of them i just hate those who hate the lord i love peter's awesome
jew paul's an awesome jew though he's a benjamin he's an awesome jew and of course the reason he
calls himself jew a jew in the new testament by the way even though he's a benjamin it's because
benjamin and judah were part of that southern kingdom throughout the new testament but you know
i love paul great jews what are they they're the new wine and you know that cluster that can be
you know uh essentially described as that old covenant there's new wine in that old covenant
what is that new wine the new covenant you remember the marriage at the cane of galilee
he takes those vessels and he turns it into what new wine essentially figuring the fact that
you know foreshadowing that the new testament that new covenant is that new wine that is
essentially pulled out of that cluster so you have peter paul all of the disciples and various
jews throughout israel and juda and judaea they are that new wine that was extracted from that
old testament cluster and this is why god did not destroy juda you know i'm not all this persuasion
oh just wipe them off the face of the earth no because there's still new wine there and you know
what there might be christians believers in israel right now it's a very small percentage and they
may not even be there exactly might be elsewhere okay but you know what destroy it not why because
there might be believers there because there's believers everywhere okay there's new wine
everywhere and look it's a small percentage okay but it's there goes on the same verse 9
and i will bring forth a seed out of jacob and out of judah inheritor of my mountains
and mine elect shall inherit it and my servants shall dwell there and sharon shall be a fold of
flocks in the valley of acor a place for the herds to lie down and for my people to that have sought
me what a beautiful passage you know what he's saying here he's like man you know i love the
people that love me that's what he's telling them there he's like you guys are going to dwell there
you're my elect you haven't forsaken me and look this says a lot because in a nation that has
collectively rejected jesus christ there were a few people they're like i'm not with them i love
the lord i want to worship god and i hate what my nation is doing and i want to worship the lord it
would you know the equivalent would be like america right america collectively can be wicked if you
look at all the abominable things that take place there right but we're not wicked even though we
live even though we're americans and yes i am an american you know go ahead call ice if you want
you know you know i was born here okay i can't speak for everyone else in here no i'm just
kidding uh you know but we would say you know there's there's we don't want america necessary
to be destroyed part of me does but you know we don't want it to be destroyed immediately why
because there is there's good there's new wine there right there's good people in america the
elect is there okay now go back to romans 11 so what do we see here from verses one through ten
in isaiah 65 we see that god is making a very evident distinction between those who are
of judah who don't believe in the lord who are godless worshipers of devils and those who are
the elect because he says they're the elect right those who worship god who love the lord well it's
the same distinction that he makes in romans 11 look at verse one i say then had god cast away
his people god forbid and all the zionists stop right there they don't read further that's all
you need to know scribble everything else out he says for i am also i also am in his light of the
seat of abraham of the tribe of benjamin god hath not cast away his people which he foreknew what is
he referring to you know people often use this verse to say oh god's not done with israel because
paul said that god hasn't cast them away and he uses himself as an example well what he's stating
there is that because the apostle paul is a believer in jesus christ he's not going to get
cast away despite the fact that he's an israelite despite the fact that he's the seat of abraham and
despite the fact that he's of the tribe of benjamin why because he believes in christ
he says god has not cast away his people which he foreknew why you not with the scripture saith of
elias referring to elijah how he maketh intercessions to god against israel so he's praying against
israel even though he's of israel lord they have killed thy prophets notice he's not saying we have
killed thy prophets he's not like you know associating with them he's like they have killed
thy prophets he says and dig down thine altars and i am left alone and they seek my life elijah
what are you talking about you're of israel yeah but i'm not with that israel though folks can we
just make the distinction between the two the prophets did it old testament new testament
verse four but what say at the answer of god unto him i have reserved to myself seven thousand men
who have not bowed the knee to the image of bail we see that in the old testament what are the what
are the seven thousand men that's the new wine in the cluster that's the remnant because you know
elijah's like destroy them and the lord's like you're not the only one lead you're not the only
new wine here elijah there's seven thousand prophets who have not bowed the knee to bail
now given they're hiding in caves and stuff they're a little you know they're not as bold or
whatever you're the one who's sticking your neck out but they are still believers in the god of
the bible you know they're they're depending on the government known as obadiah right to help them
so they are allowed to meet in their church or whatever but you know they still believe in the
lord okay look at verse five even so then at this present time referring to the apostle paul's time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace so if he's saying that there's a remnant
is he saying that oh there's just a remnant of jews who are of ethnically of israel and they're
still part of that old covenant no he says that it's according to what the election of grace so
in order to be a part of that remnant in the new testament they have to join the new covenant which
means the election of grace and then we have the famous verse in verse six and if by grace then
there's no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be it works then there's
no more grace otherwise work is no more work here's the key verse verse seven what then
israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election hath obtained it and the
rest were blinded how can israel be the elect please explain to me how is israel the elect
when the apostle paul clearly states that israel didn't obtain that which he seeketh for but the
election hath obtained it paul what are you doing i think you uh you didn't write that correctly
israel is the elect paul no he's obviously making a distinction between the two clearly showing us
that israel is not the elect because they worship bail go back to isaiah you said why did you go
through that passage in romans 11 because it it echoes what isaiah 65 is saying that there's a
distinction between the two let me hasten here verse 11 says but ye are they that forsake the lord
that forget my holy mountain that prepare a table for that troop that furnish the drink offering
unto that number therefore will i renumber you to the sword you shall all bow down to the slaughter
because when i called he did not answer when i spake he did not hear but did evil before
mine eyes and did choose that wherein i delighted not oh that sounds good man that's a good verse
there he's like man i'm gonna judge you because you you just didn't seek after me i mean the lord
is hurt over this right it hurts him verse 13 says therefore thus saith the lord god behold my
servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry behold my servant shall drink but ye shall be thirsty
behold my servant shall rejoice but ye shall be ashamed what does he say there's a difference
there's my servant and then there's you israel judah who's not worshiping god okay and again
what is he talking about saved and unsaved if they're worshiping devils they're probably not
saved right not probably they're not safe i'm gonna skip some of this because he's just kind
of going off on them and but oh actually look at verse 15 he says then ye shall leave your name
for a curse unto my chosen ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen what does that mean
the name of israel will be a curse when people hear israel it's just like oh they call it jew
fatigue israel fatigue it's a curse unto my chosen and you know a lot of christians who
are the chosen people of god are fatigued with dispensationalism they're fatigued with zionism
why because they left their name to be a curse it goes on to say for the lord god shall slay thee
and call his servants by another name you know the servants who are god is blessing the servants
who god's going to use he's going to provide for them he's going to call them by another name
what's the name christian not judaeo christian just christian so he's just like you know forget the
israel name let's go with christian and there's a stupid video out there by this lady by the way
this is why women should not teach the bible especially online okay they can teach it to
their children and you know admonish the ladies in the church or whatever but they should not
be teaching the word of god this is what this lady said oh jesus converted to christianity you idiot
jesus is christianity he's like no no paul started christianity and jesus joined christian jesus came
before paul stupid what do you feel like john travolta and that means just like what christianity
christ they were called christians first in antioch because they're little christ's followers
look at verse 16 that he who blessed himself in the earth shall bless himself in the god of truth
and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the god of truth because the former troubles are
forgotten because they are hid from mine eyes now look at verse 17 because now he's going to
transition into the new heaven and the new earth he says in verse 17 for behold i create new heavens
and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered nor come into my mind but be ye glad
and rejoice forever in that which i create for behold i create jerusalem a rejoicing and her people
a joy i will rejoice in jerusalem and join my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more
heard in her nor the voice of crying now what is he talking about the new jerusalem now i want you
to notice that he says that the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind you know what that
means god doesn't care about the physical land he's going to transfigure it because it's so
defiled and look if you want to know what god thinks about jerusalem it's in the bible i'm
talking about in the new testament in the book of revelation he calls it spiritual sodom in egypt
that's that's what he calls it no it's the holy no it's super unholy right now so unholy that
god's just like let's just call that thing egypt and sodom now why would he call egypt egypt and
sodom because egypt is a picture of the world and sodom means faggotry tel aviv filled with
faggotry so that's why he has to make a new one because it's corrupted and you know what's funny
is that you know a lot of people they're just like god promised them that land the promise was made
to abraham isaac and jacob and genesis 12 shut up ted cruise you know what the heck you're talking
about but here's here's the funny thing okay is that they always try to use abraham as a justification
why the modern state of israel belongs in that land but what did abraham say that he sought for
a better country a heavenly he said in hebrew chapter 11 so he's just like he knew that the
promised land was there but he's just like there's something better than the promised land there's
something better and he didn't call it israel there's something better than canaan land it's
called the heavenly jerusalem so christians need to stop fighting and try defending these jews
oh they deserve that land or whatever folks the land that we should be looking forward to is heaven
the new jerusalem because we're citizens of that city right and so it's just like oh abraham abraham
didn't even care about that because he specifically says that he saw for a better country and yes the
new jerusalem is better than the current jerusalem that exists right now all right i need to hurry
up verse 20 there shall be no more thanse and infant of days nor an old man that hath not filled
his days for the child shall die a hundred years old but the sinner being a hundred years old shall
be accursed this is obviously referring to the fact that the biology of creation is transfigured
in the millennial reign to the point where you know if a child dies a hundred years old that would
seem very young for a child to die because the life expectancy is extended in that millennial reign
it's pretty powerful stuff here right it says and they shall build houses and inhabit them
and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them he says they shall not build and another
inhabit they shall not plant and another eat for as the days of a tree are the days of my people
might elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands what is the same it's saying that communism will not exist
in the millennial reign nor will taxes exist you can plant a vineyard and you can eat from it
you can build houses there's no property taxes you just get to enjoy what you plant enjoy what
you build it is paradise why because the bible says in ecclesiastes that this is the gift of god
he says verse 23 they shall not labor in vain why because you know there's no taxing of your gross
income it's just like you get your paycheck is like really seriously i did all that overtime for
this nor bring forth trouble for they are the seed of the blessed of the lord and their offspring
with them and it shall come to pass that before they call i will answer and while they are yet
speaking i will hear the wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like
the bullock and dust shall be the serpent's meat they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountains saith the lord now these verses here is kind of mixing both millennial reign and new heaven
and the new earth obviously the life expectancy of humanity is altered in the millennial reign
but when the bible talks about verse 25 the wolf and the lamb feeding together that's obviously
referring to the new heaven and the new earth because in that millennial reign animals are
still killing each other death still exists so the biology of the animals actually changes
completely once the new heaven the new earth is introduced and so i've preached on that many
times throughout the book of isaiah i just wanted to finish that chapter let's pray father we thank
you so much for your word thank you for the promise of the millennial reign the new heaven
the new earth help us lord to be more heavenly minded a lot of christians right now are just
kind of losing their minds over the wars and rumors of wars lord and fighting over trivial
things that quite frankly do not matter at all and lord we are strangers and pilgrims in this
world our duty is to spread the kingdom of god to get people saved to turn people to righteousness
and it's obvious we need to educate people in these matters but at the end of the day lord we
need to set our affections on things above we need to look forward to the millennial reign
we need to look forward to the day that christ returns and i pray that you'd help us to do so
we love you we thank you pray these things in jesus name amen