which eats 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 unto their bosom.
Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers
together sayeth the Lord, which have burned incense
upon the mountains, and blaspheme 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 servant's sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
And I will bring forth the seed out of Jacob and out of Judah,
and an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it,
and my servant shall dwell therein.
And Sharon shall be a foal of flocks, and a valley of a core 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 ye to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, ye did not answer.
When I spake, ye did not hear, but did evil before my eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, my servant shall eat, but he shall be hungry.
Behold, my servant shall drink, but he shall be thirsty.
Behold, my servant shall rejoice, but he shall be ashamed.
Behold, my servant shall sing for joy of heart, but he shall cry for sorrow of heart, shall
And it 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 blesseth himself and the earth shall
bless himself and 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 in you heavens and in you earth, and the former shall not be remembered
Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create for behold. I create Jerusalem rejoicing and her people a joy and
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and join my people and the voice of weeping shall be shall be no more heard in her
Nor the voice of crying there shall be no more thance and in fit of days
Nor an old man that hath not filled his days for the child shall die in hundred years old
But 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 in another inhabit,
they shall not plant in another eat,
for as the days of the tree are the days of my people,
and mine elect 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 they're offspring with them,
and shall come to bath that before they call,
I will answer.
And while there are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
and the lion shall he straw like the bullock,
and the dust shall be the serpent's meat.
It shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains.
Say it to 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.
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 asked 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've spread out my hands all the day into rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good
after their own thoughts. Now, the first thing we're going to 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 are 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 1 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 come in 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 unto the ends of the world.
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 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.
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 anger 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 than 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 to himself or 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 going to 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 the 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.
Israel to jealousy by these people by these Gentiles and he specifically says even foolish nations
He's gonna anger them. So, you know, the Israelites they believe their God's chosen people of the Old Testament
They believe that they are the elect of God. Well, there's gonna come a time and obviously we are already in that time
But even 2,000 years ago, there's gonna come a time
where that transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant will 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 is to be interpreted in two ways when it says jealous you could obviously you know interpret this to mean that hey
That's our God, you know, why are you preaching about our God and why are you being used?
You know when we're supposed to be used or something like that
But jealous also is used as we would use it today as a zealous
Okay, so when someone is doing a great work for God, you know
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, okay?
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.
Isaiah, okay? Isaiah is the way you would say it in Hebrew in the Old Testament.
Isaiah is the Greek rendition of that. But Isaiah is very bold and sayeth, I was
found of them that sought me not. I was made manifested to them that asked 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, even, or Israelite believers of the Old Testament.
And we preached on that various times throughout the book of Isaiah.
And so, Ezaius is very bold.
And Ezaius is of Israel.
He is in 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 Ezaius 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.
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 gonna make himself found by people who are not a people
He's gonna 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 gain sane 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 does it gainsay?
Someone who refuses the truth.
Okay?
Someone who basically is contradicting the truth.
They don't want the truth.
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 know 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 stretched forth his hand for thousands of years, hundreds of years.
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,
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,
You say, why do you hate Israel so much?
Well, I actually like the Israel that Isaias is part of,
that Moses is part of, you know?
The, 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 Isaiah, 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 gainsane people
He's obviously addressing the nation of it. We're gonna come back to Romans 11. Just a bit go back to Isaiah 65 if you wouldn't
Isaiah 65
So, you know in Isaiah 65, he's like you guys are just being rebellious your disobedient your 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 it and by the way, we do even run with all fundamental Baptist either
Those who call themselves Baptist those who call themselves fundamentalist 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's preach against some of those fundamental Baptist
Why because they're disobedient and gain sayers
There are certain Christians out there who named the name of Christ who claim to believe the Bible
But they're rebellious. They're gain sayers that reject the gospel. They mock the word of God
They parade and masquerade as Bible believe in Christians, but they don't really believe the word of God
They're disobedient rebellious and gain sayers, right?
And so, you know, we are in good company with Moses and his eyes.
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, 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,
you know, I'm probably gonna 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 the nation 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
All right. Well, you know, what do you believe, you know, about salvation? Oh, believe my salvation by grace to faith. Oh, okay
Cool, you know, that sounds great. You know, um, what kind of Bible do you use? I I used an ESV
But I switched to a King James. Oh
Okay, all right, you know, it's just like, um, do you evangelize? Oh, yeah, we do street preaching all the time
You know, it's so it's just like, you know, it's a 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
Isaias 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 gonna 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 3. 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 eats 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 people these sound like he then?
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 worshiping false gods. This must not be the people of God. Oh
They're among the graves
Essentially, what does that refer to their 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 understand
It's like this, you know the equivalent today would be this, you know for Christian claims to be a Christian
They claim to be a believer, but then, you know,
they start believing in preaching a repent of your sins gospel.
Oh, then that means you're just born saved to begin with.
Because you're participating in things
that go against the new covenant, right?
So what is Isaiah saying here?
He's saying, you know, these are people from Judah,
but they're not really spiritually of Judah now, are they?
because just because they're born there,
just because they 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?
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 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 but you know once we finish the book of Isaiah
We're going into the book of John and you know John's gonna have a lot of doctrine on salve. Oh wait
But it also has John 844 though. I'll 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.
Look, Isaiah's, you have Moses, they saw it.
Yet Christians today don't see it.
It's just like, oh, they blaspheme 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's chosen people?
You know, why don't you say they're Jesus's 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 there Jesus chosen people doesn't go together. Now does it because you know they had their disobedient and gain sayers 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 his eyes 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 now
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 worshiping false gods. They're the one 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 deny them deny him being abominable into every good work reprobate
right
They are, you know, they're like unto-wided sepulchres
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 remember who I was talking to about this
maybe a couple months ago, but they brought at this point
and it was really good.
You know, the Pharisees of the New Testament,
Pharisee means separated ones.
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 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.
were holier than 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 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 synagogues.
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 are like, whoa
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 in 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're 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's 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.
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 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 is 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? And that it becoming...
The Pharisees ended up seizing power over it.
Well, it's the same thing in 70 AD when the temple is destroyed.
What do they have thereafter? Synagogues.
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
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 Christian needs 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 now?
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 in net before 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 nows, okay?
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, okay?
And so out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh, and you know,
and let me say this, you know, false prophets
are not the only ones who are guilty of this.
Babes and Christ can be guilty of this too.
Okay, and I would even say that all of us to a certain degree when we first got saved
I mean, I had a smidge of holier than now
Okay, how many would say yes that that is the case
Okay, you know and if you're not raising your hand and you probably still struggle with being a whole here 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 so on 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 had 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 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?
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 and 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 gonna 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 gonna come down on you.
No one's gonna judge you for being a baby in Christ,
not knowing enough Bible,
not going soul-wining enough or whatever.
Just do what you can do and grow out of that stage, right?
You know, and so we've had many holier than now's 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 was if that's a fact
Okay, pretty much everyone was and everyone's grown out of that
You know and I believe I have the right to say that because I've been here since the very start
And I pastor the church since the very start, you know, but people had 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.
You 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 at 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 thou's, 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, I can't believe this, that, and the other.
But he was guilty of some pretty bad stuff.
Now look, folks, 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 has a word to it?
Oh yeah, a hypocrite, right?
Obviously, if you're struggling with sin,
you're battling sin, you need to overcome it.
You need to apply principles
that'll help you overcome things like that.
But in the process of doing that,
don't just get on other people for that same exact sin,
though, because the Bible teaches in Matthew chapter seven
that you gotta 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 the 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
Combination yeah, 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 is pretty bad
Okay
Don't come at me with no India is not that bad. I 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 church.
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 gonna go to hell for sure it's just a fact okay why because they're
Pagans, they worship false gods, worship snakes and goro
and stuff, you know, like a mortal comeback,
you know, characters and stuff, you know?
Sheba and whatnot.
You know, they're gonna go to hell for that.
That'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 Jews have a lower hell than those of India though.
Because unto them are committed the oracles of God.
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 going to go to hell.
However, you know, Israelites do fight against Christianity.
Plain and simple. You have to understand that some people have the greater sin.
You understand? You know, a pilot is in hell right now.
But the people who deliver Jesus to Pilate has the greater condemnation the Bible says so Pilate 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'd you get it so far up? You know, they're just gonna burn. I'm just saying the Bible talks about a greater damnation
And Jesus specifically 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 gonna reserve a greater damnation for you because they're the ones who are
in opposition to Christianity
Okay
The 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 there's and they could abstain from the swine's flesh, but in God's eyes
They are swine
That's a fact because they're they're unclean according to Old Testament standards. Okay
Look what it goes on to say in verse 6 I gotta hurry up because the last couple weeks I just been going off
And I just don't finish the chapter
Look at verse 6.
Behold, it is written before me, I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense
in their bosom.
Your iniquities and 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 it to you in Luke 6, verse 38, it says,
Give, referring to forgiveness, mercy, give, and it shall be given unto you.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give unto your bosom,
for with 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 experience such forgiveness and mercy
that it's gonna be pressed down, good measure,
shaken together so all 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 gonna give into your bosom.
That's the kind of life I wanna live, right?
I want people to forgive me and show me mercy
and so 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 him 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 gonna serve them into their bosom what they deserve the recompense
And this is why the Bible says for what measure you meet you shall be measured to you again, okay?
Look at verse 8. He says let's say at the Lord
As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one sayeth, destroy it not, if our 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 Christian winos that, you know, juice is a biblical concept.
and that wine is used interchangeably
to describe both alcoholic and non-acoholic 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 for 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.
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
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 God says that new wine is going to be brought back.
So he's still thinking about them.
He's still for them.
And this is why God just didn't wipe out Judah.
Because he's saying there destroy it not for a blessing as 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 all of them.
I just hate those who hate the Lord.
I love, Peter's an 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 a Jew
And 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 juice.
What are they?
They're the new wine.
And you know that cluster that can be, you know,
essentially described as that old covenant,
there's new wine in that old covenant.
What is that new wine?
The new covenant.
Do 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 Judah and Judea,
they are that new wine that was extracted
from that Old Testament cluster.
And this is why God did not destroy Judah.
You know, I'm not of this persuasion.
Oh, just wipe them off the face of the earth.
No, cause 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 though.
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 and Herod are 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 a core 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 where 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 have, you know,
the equivalent would be like America, right?
America collectively can be wicked.
If you look at all the abominable things
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
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 cuz there is there's good. There's new wine there, right?
There's good people in America the elect is there okay now go to go back to Romans 11
So what do we see here from verses 1 through 10 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 1.
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 Israelite
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 gonna 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 say it of Elias referring to Elijah
How he make it 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?
Old Testament, New Testament.
Verse four, but let's say the answer of God and Tim,
I have reserved to myself 7,000 men
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
We see that in the Old Testament.
What are the 7,000 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,
you're not the only new wine here, Elijah.
There's 7,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to bell.
Now, given they're hiding in caves and stuff,
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 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 5 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 say 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 6,
And if by grace, then it is no more of works,
Otherwise grace is no more grace,
But if it be of works, then it is no more grace,
Otherwise work is no more work.
Here's the key verse 7,
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 what she's seeking for
But the election has obtained it Paul. What are you doing? I think you 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 say, why did you go through that passage in Romans 11?
Because 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 number you to the sword.
And 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 my eyes and did choose that
We're in 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 has hurt over this right it hurts him
Verse 13 says therefore does say that 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 is he saying? 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 it talking about saved and unsaved?
If they're worshiping devils, they're probably not saved right not probably they're not saved
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 and you shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen
You 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 is 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 gonna use he's gonna provide for them
He's gonna call them by another name. What's the name?
Christian
Not Judeo Christian
Just Christian
So he's just like, you know forget the Israel name. Let's go with Christian
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 said no no Paul started Christianity and
Jesus joined Christian Jesus came before Paul stupid
I 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 at 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 glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.
For behold, I create Jerusalem
by 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 should 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 note. It's super unholy right now
So unholy the God's just like let's just call that thing Egypt and Sodom
Now, why would you call Egypt Egypt and Sodom because Egypt is a picture of the world and Sodom means faggotry
Tel Aviv
Fillable faggotry
So that's why he has to make a new one
Because it's corrupted and you know, it's funny is that you know a lot of people they're just like
God promised him that land the promise was made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and Genesis 12 shut up Ted Cruz
You know what the heck you're talking about.
But 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 Hebrews 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 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
And so he's just like, oh, 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.
I need to hurry up verse 20 there shall be no more fence and infinite days nor an old man that has not filled his days
For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be a curse
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 in another inhabit, they shall not plant in another eat, for as
the days of a tree are the days of my people, my elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands.
What is it saying?
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 and 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...
This you get your paycheck is like really seriously. I did all that over time 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're 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. Say the Lord now these verses here
It's kind of mixing both millennial rain and new heaven and the new earth
obviously the life expectancy of
humanity
is altered in the millennial rain,
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 rain,
animals are still killing each other,
death still exists.
So the biology of the animals actually changes completely once the new heaven and 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 that the millennia ran in the new heaven and 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.
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.
And I pray that you'd help us to do so.
We love you. We thank you.
Pray the things in Jesus' name. Amen.