Isaiah chapter 5 and let's look at verse number 7
For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel
The title for the sermon tonight is The Vineyard of the LORD
The Vineyard of the LORD
And we saw there that very clearly what is that vineyard
You know we're going to look at this illustration of God
It says the vineyard of the LORD of the host is the house of Israel
And the book of Isaiah once again is a judgment on the southern kingdom of Israel
Which was the house of Judah which was the two kingdoms in that southern part
And we know that historically they were overrun, they were taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire
Okay, so let's start there in verse number 1, Isaiah 5-1
Now will I sing, so actually this is a song of Isaiah
I didn't know this, I mean I wasn't, I didn't pay attention
I guess Isaiah was a singer, you know he was someone that was a bit of a songwriter
He had this in his skill sets
But it says now will I sing to my well beloved, so he's singing to his God
A song of my beloved touching his vineyard
And we saw of course the vineyard is the house of Israel
He says look this nation belongs to you God
He says my well beloved have a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, in a very fruitful hill
And so the illustration is that God has said alright, I want to establish a vineyard
I want some nice grapes, I want some nice grape juice
And so I'm going to plant my vineyard in a place that's going to be very fruitful, a very fruitful hill
Now as I've been going through the book of Isaiah
You guys know that we've also been looking at other books of the Bible
So if we're up to Isaiah chapter 5, what's the fifth book of the Bible that we want to see some correlation with
What's the fifth book?
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy, thank you
Okay so if you can, keep your finger there Isaiah and come with me to Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy chapter 8, Deuteronomy chapter 8, Deuteronomy chapter 8 please
And verse number 7, Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse number 7
And of course when we have this illustration of the vineyard, of the nature being planted in a fruitful hill
It should remind us the fact that the book of Deuteronomy was a retelling of the law of God, right?
So initially God wanted the children of Israel to go into the promised land
But they rebelled against the Lord and they were then led into the wilderness
Until all of those that were over the age of 20 that would pass away
And the next generation would be the ones that would go into the promised land
Well before they went into the promised land, we have the book of Deuteronomy, a retelling of the law
Which was given to a new generation
And they're told in Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse number 7
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills
And so we know this is a very fruitful land that they've been taken into, the land of promise
Drop down to verse number 10
Now God gives them a warning
God gives them a warning, once you get into that fruitful land
They are going to be fruitful, they are going to multiply, they're going to be doing very well as a nation
But then God warns them when they are doing well, in verse number 10
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which ye have given thee
Now brethren, when you are blessed, right?
When you get your paycheck, okay, or you multiply
And you're able to do, maybe you buy something pleasant
Maybe you buy yourself a nice car
Or maybe one day you're able to buy yourself a nice house for yourself
You know what we're to do?
We're to give God all honor and glory, we're to bless the Lord
We're to remember that all good gifts come from the Lord
And that's what we're meant to do, okay?
But sometimes when our possessions increase
We also, you know, yes we should have a warning, verse number 11 says
Beware, you know when you start to get a little bit of money in the bank accounts
Okay, when your possessions develop and grow
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments
In his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt through
Nothing wrong with all those things
And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied
And all that thou hast multiplied, then thy heart be lifted up
And thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage
So God's warning us
You know, one of his blessings on our lives is to have possessions, to have blessings
To have great gifts and great things that we can have, that we can enjoy on this earth
But God tells us when this happens
It's in the nature of, I don't care who you are
It's in our nature to lift ourselves up, look what I've achieved, look at me, pat myself on the back
I'm doing better than this person, I'm doing better than that person
And before we know it, you forget the Lord
Okay, and here's the warning, drop down to verse number 19
And it shall be
If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God
And walk after other gods and serve them and worship them
I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish
As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face
So shall ye perish
Because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God
God says look, you're going to see these nations
The people of the land of Canaan
Destroyed before they walk into that promised land
They're going to be destroying and running away the Canaanites out of the land
He says in the same way that you see them run off the land
In the same way that you see them destroyed
If you turn against the Lord and you forget the Lord God
And in this case worship other gods
Then the nation of Israel is going to suffer the same fate
They're going to be driven off the land, they're going to be taken over by a foreign nation
So maybe I keep a bookmark, whatever you got in the book of Deuteronomy
We are going to come back to this, but come with me back to Isaiah chapter 5
Isaiah chapter 5
So I just want to show you again, God's put them in a good land
A very fruitful, very fertile land
And it was meant to be a blessing and not to forget the Lord God
Now as we continue through Isaiah 5
You'll find that they did forget about the Lord God
They were blessed greatly on the land
They forgot about the Lord, verse number 2
It says, and he fenced it
So again the illustration of the vineyard
God put a fence, as it were, a fence of protection around his nation, around the vineyard
And gathered out the stones thereof
So instead of it being stony ground, he made it very fertile ground
I suppose the fact that this idea of God removing the stones
Is the idea of the Canaanites being driven out of the land
And then it says, and planted with the choicest vine
Keep that in mind, he planted it with the choicest vine
God made sure that he got the best quality in this illustration
The best quality vine to make sure that his vineyard would be very fruitful
And he built a tower in the midst of it
So there was a high place there
So they could look over the vineyard, make sure there's no dangers
Make sure it's protected
And also made a wine press therein
And he looked that it should bring forth grapes
And he brought forth wild grapes
So he plants his vineyard, he fences it, protects it
Make sure that it's the best quality vine
That he's being used
And he says, now it's time to get the grapes
He's got the vineyard ready
He wants a drink of that juice
You say, hold on, is God trying to drink alcohol here?
Well, as we keep going through this chapter
It's very clear that God does not want the alcohol
You have to look at this later on
He obviously wants good quality fresh grape juice
But instead of these grapes, it says it brought forth wild grapes
So instead of grapes that should have been delicious and wonderful and sweet
He goes, these grapes are like low quality, bad quality grapes
You know, the other day I bought all these strawberries for the kids
Because they weren't special
I was like, oh wow, strawberries aren't special
And Christina got them all ready
And I picked one strawberry, put it in my mouth
I was like, that's so nice, so sweet
And I told her, I said, Christina, man, this is like the best strawberries
And she's like, what? Everyone's found them sour
So I tried another one
Yeah, it was kind of sour
I got like the good one, like the one good one
But the one that wasn't special
But they're all sour
And the kids are kind of complaining
Oh, these aren't, they look nice on the outside
But they weren't, you know, they weren't good quality strawberries
So I can understand that
Like, yeah, you want something nice
You're expecting something of high quality
And all of a sudden it's bitter, it's sour
And that's what he says about his nation of Judah
You guys should have been fruitful
You guys should be praising me and worshipping me and blessing me
And you're being fruitful in the land
Instead you're wild, you're low quality grapes
And I'm going to quickly read to you
Remember when it said there that he planted the choicest vine?
What this strongly reminds me of, don't turn there right now
But reminds me of John 15 verse 1 where Christ says
I am the true vine
Then he says, and my Father is the husbandman
So of course we want to take an illustration
We want to take applications, I should say, for us today
And we also have been planted into that choicest vine
The highest quality vine there is, which is Jesus Christ
And he says his Father is the husbandman
So in the same way in this illustration
Where God is the husbandman of this vineyard, he's the owner
We want to make sure that we produce good fruit for our God
We don't want to produce wild grapes in our Christian life
Low quality fruits or no fruit whatsoever
And so just keep that in mind as we keep going through this
Yes we're looking at the nation
But we also want to take some principles and learn of that for our own lives
Verse number 3 it says, oh now, sorry, and now
Oh inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge I pray you
Betwixt me and my vineyard
What could have been done more to my vineyard
That I have not done in it
Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes
Brought it forth wild grapes
God is telling the people of Judah, look
Judge between me and you, you're the vineyard
Is there anything more that I could have done for you?
I've taken you out of bondage
I've brought you into the promised land
I gave you the ability to overcome the Canaanites
You know I chose a land that is flowing with milk and honey
You know I've given you everything, all the blessings you could possibly have
You know you have a walk with the Lord
You've got the temple, you've got the knowledge of God
You've got the scriptures, you've got priests and prophets
You have all these wonderful things going for you
What more could I have done
So it says to the people of the land, look judge between me and you and the vineyard
Have I failed you? Of course the answer is no
It's the people that have failed
The people had everything available to them
And brethren, we have everything available to us today don't we
And you've got church, praise God for church
You've got your Bible
You've got the Holy Spirit of God, you're saved
I mean He's given us, I've mentioned Australia before
He's given us a great place to live
He's given us freedoms we can meet
Are we worried about someone breaking in right now and shooting us all down or something like that
Or being arrested and thrown into prison
We've been given so much
You know the question might be asked of us
What more could I have done, more to my vineyard
Can God do anything
He's really laid down His life for us
What more could we ask of God, He's done everything
He's given us a home in heaven
We shouldn't fear death and truly we will never die
Because we have everlasting life
But then what kind of fruits are you producing in your life for the Lord God
That's the question, that's the challenge
And if you can go back to Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy chapter 32 please
Deuteronomy chapter 32
And verse number 31
So in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse number 31
God is comparing the nation of Israel with all the other pagan nations
Especially the Canaanites
Or the ones that they're going to drive out of the land
Compares their nation to those other nations
And it says in Deuteronomy 32-31
For their rock is not as our rock
Even our enemies themselves being judges
Look our rock of course is the Lord Jesus Christ
We serve and worship the true God of the Bible
You know the gods of the other religions
What is that rock
It doesn't compare to the rock that we have
Again talking about these other nations it says in verse number 32
For their vine is the vine of Sodom
And the fields of Gomorrah
Their grapes are grapes of gold
Their clusters are bitter
And then it says
Their wine
Christ wanted his wine from his vine
Now it says
Their wine is the poison of dragons
And the cruel venom of asps
And you know in the Bible that alcohol is often referred to as the venom of snakes
Of serpents
He goes look our juice, the grape juice that we drink
Is not like their drink
Christ wants good quality grape juice
He says these other nations they want to get drunk
They want to take on the alcohol
And he says look we're not like the other nations
And brethren you know in the New Testament we're a spiritual nation of God
We're the Israel of God
We're a chosen people, a spiritual nation made unto God
And we ought not to be like this world
You know we need to make sure that our wine is not their wine
We make sure that what we drink is not alcoholic
It's not going to get you drunk
It's not going to intoxicate
It's not going to damage you
But I'm trying to show you that God used these illustrations of the wine
Of the vine I should say
That they've got a vineyard as it were as an illustration
But their vine is of Sodom
The fields of Gomorrah
About pagan nations
But if you were here with me when we covered Isaiah chapter 1
What did God say about Judah?
He essentially called him Sodom and Gomorrah
He says you guys are like you've got the same
You're just like Sodom and Gomorrah
He refers to the nations in any way you know Isaiah chapter 1
And so it just shows us that
You know they started so well
We're not like the other nations
But now God's saying you're just like the rest of them
There's no difference
Their grapes are grapes of gold
They're bitter grapes
Low quality, bad quality grapes
And now the nation of Judah are the same to God
Now brethren you know when we got saved
We start well got saved praise God
But you know what we ought to be sanctified
We ought to grow we ought to become more holy
We ought to overcome the sins in our life
We don't want to be like everybody else
And look I don't know maybe someone here enjoys his alcohol
I don't know I mean people get saved at different places
And different addictions at different times in life
And look that's definitely
I just want to make it very clear
That is something God is not pleased with you drinking
It corrupts your mind
It destroys your body
And that should be the difference between God's people
And the others the other nations
So look let that be something you try to overcome in your life
You'll thank me for it
Like if you're struggling with alcohol
You'll thank me for it if you get offered
Just even physically just even mentally
Okay you'll be doing much better getting off that junk
But back to Isaiah 5 you can say in Deuteronomy
Isaiah chapter 5 and verse number 5
Isaiah 5 and verse number 5
And now it says
And now go to I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard
So the vineyard's not working
He's done everything he's fenced it
He's got the best quality vine for it
Alright he's got a tower he's looking over it protecting the vineyard
And it's not being fruitful
What do you do?
I've never really been a gardener
But what would you do if you plant a tree
I mean I'll ask Hayden but Hayden just destroys trees
It doesn't really plant any
But you know if you're trying to fertilize a fruit tree
You're pruning it you're taking care of it
You're protecting it from insects and birds from destroying the fruit
And it's not producing anything
What are you going to do with it at the end of it?
After all that labor and all that effort
At some point you're going to go on
You know I've tried so long so hard
It's time to just chop down the tree
And that's what God says right?
He goes I will take away the hedge thereof
And it shall be eaten up
And break down the wall thereof
And it shall be trodden down
Now at this point he's talking about walls
Now talking about the city of Jerusalem
Remember when the Babylonians destroyed that
Yeah the walls were destroyed
When Babylon destroyed Jerusalem
That's why when they came back from Babylon
They had to rebuild the walls of the city
In fact they had to pretty much rebuild the entire city
And the temple of God
And then in verse number 6 it says
And I will lay it waste
It shall not be pruned nor digged
But there shall come up brides and thorns
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain upon it
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
Is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah his pleasant plants
And he looked for judgments
And behold oppression
For righteousness but behold a cry
And so God says I'm through with you guys
I'm done
It's time for you to be trodden down
And of course this is the illustration
Of the Babylonian takeover
Now keep your finger there
And come with me to John chapter 15
In the New Testament
John chapter 15 and verse number 1
John 15 verse number 1
Look when we read for the Old Testament
Especially the prophets
It's always bad news for Israel
I mean there's just this constant judgement about Israel
And it's very easy
Again it's very easy to go yeah man
These stiff necked people
But when you see these things I always want to bring it to our reality
You know I want to be able to apply it to our lives right
I mean that's the whole point of the scriptures right
It's written for our prophet
So then Jesus Christ gives us this parable in John 15 verse number 1
About us now that we are saved
It says I'm the true vine
And my father is the husband man
Okay
Every branch in me
That beareth not fruit he taketh away
And every branch that beareth fruit he purges it
That it may bring forth more fruit
Let me stop there for a moment
This parable is not about how to be saved
Okay
It's not telling us how we can differentiate between someone that is saved
And someone that is not saved
Look at verse number 2 again
Every branch in me
Stop there for a moment
If you're in Jesus are you saved?
Yes sir
Okay
This whole thing is about saved people
That's right
Okay I want to make that very clear
Because some people say well in order for you to be saved
You've got to abide and maintain
And you've got to keep laboring and staying in Christ Jesus
Or if you step out of line then you lose your salvation
Or you're never saved
Or this is how you judge
Someone that is saved or someone that is not saved
Are you being fruitful?
Are you not being fruitful?
That's ridiculous
Every branch in me immediately
Is still about someone that is saved
Okay
That beareth not fruit
So can a believer not bear fruit?
Yeah
He taketh away
And every branch that bear fruit he purges it
That he may bring forth more fruits
Look if you start bringing fruit for Jesus Christ
He's going to work in you
He's going to purge you
He's going to do more work
More fencing
More towers
Right
More protection
Because he wants more fruit to develop in your life
Look at verse number 3 confirms that look you're saved
Now ye are clean
Clean
Okay
Through the word which I have spoken unto you
Abide in me and I in you
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
Except it abide in the vine
No more can ye except ye abide in me
Okay
Now again is abiding in Christ speaking how to be saved?
No
Because they're already saved
Okay
This abiding in Christ is our walk
Our fellowship
Okay
Now that you are saved
You're to strive to walk with the Lord
You're to strive to pray and spend time with your Lord
And read the Bible and come to church
And all those wonderful things that pleases the Lord
Then he says in verse number 5
I am the vine
Ye are the branches
He that abideth in me and I in him
The same bring forth much fruit
For without me ye can do nothing
So brethren when we do well in our walk
In our servitude for the Lord
You know what again why could we do that?
Because we abode in Christ
Okay
Everything is because of Christ
I mentioned this before right
Whatever we achieve
You know man if you preach a good sermon
You'll be high on the pulpit
The only reason you could do it
Is because you're in Christ Jesus
I mean for those of you that preach
You know
You know that
The wisdom of God's word
Is superior than any wisdom you could have come up with
Like God's word makes you look good
Glory to him
You know
It's his
It's because of Christ
Verse number 6
If a man abide not in me
Say oh see that's not saved
No no no he's saved
He's in Christ
He's just not walking with Christ
He says he is cast forth as a branch
And he's withered
And men gather them
And cast them into the fire
And they are burned
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you
Ye shall ask what ye will
And it shall be done unto you
Herein is my Father glorified
That ye bear much fruit
So shall ye be my disciples
Now some people misunderstand
They say
What do you have to do to be saved
Or you have to become a disciple
No no
That doesn't save anybody
Judas Iscariot was a disciple
He wasn't saved
Okay
You've got to be in Christ
In order to be saved
Okay
But if you want to be fruitful
If you want to glorify the Father
Yes seek to be a disciple
To be disciplined
In the ways of the Lord
That's what it all means
That I'm going to discipline my life
After the commandments of God
That's what a disciple is
You say what about the ones that get burnt there
The branches
Is that all about hell fire
Of course not
It's just that you can get to a point
In life where you're just not
Bearing any fruit for God
You're not walking with him
You're not profitable to God
So God says alright
Well you're not profitable for me
There's nothing more that you can do
Like you know
We have the teaching of
Christ says that if salt loses its savour
Okay
Okay we're the salt of the earth
And if salt loses its savour
What's it good for
To be trodden on the foot of man
Okay
Yeah
It can't be re-salted essentially
Okay
Well that's the
You know what
If you get to such a bad place
Such a
Such a backslidden state
With your Lord God
You're just no longer fruitful for him
You can't lose your salvation
Christ
You know
Christ has paid for all your sins
Praise God
It's just that God can't utilise you
You're not going to be fruitful for him
And I don't know about you
But I've got to
I still have
I'm still hopeful that I'm halfway through my life
I want to keep producing fruit for God
You know whether you say that's the fruit of the spirit
Or whether it's about
You know bringing souls to
Seeing souls saved
I think you can apply all of it
If you want
Okay
But you know of course
You know we ought to be seeing souls saved
You know we ought to be allowing the Holy Spirit
To work in our hearts
And bring forth those fruits of the spirit
I think it's absolutely
What God delights in
To see your growth
To see your love
To see your desire to bring him fruits
You know what
We don't want to be these wild grapes
Rebellious
Just doing our own thing
Make sure that we're walking closely with the Lord
And so
You know it's easy to look at Old Testament Israel
Oh what a failure
They messed
And they did
They messed up severely
Okay
But what are the lessons for me?
You know
When Christ uses the same illustration
To speak of his disciples
To speak of his children
Man I better take this seriously
I don't want to be a disappointment
Like Old Testament Judah was
In this time
Do you want to be
Do you want to be a disappointment
I don't want to be a disappointment
To my Lord God
You know
I want Christ to come
And be able to say to me
Thou good and faithful servant
That's what I want Christ to say
Thou good and faithful servant
And I'm sure you want the same
Back to Isaiah chapter 5 and verse number 8
Isaiah 5 and 8
Woe unto them that join house to house
That lay field to field
Till there be no place
That they may be placed alone
In the midst of the earth
Now this is not saying
You look at
When we keep going
It's not saying that it's wrong
To have your house attached to another house
Like if you live in a duplex or something
It's not like God's angry at you
Or if you live like in an apartment or something
With another house next to you or something
That's what it's saying right
But the issue
What we soon see here
Is the issue is that they've been rebuked
For their sin of greed
Or their covetousness
Okay
And so they want the additional house
They want the bigger fields
They want to produce more
Like they're not being fruitful
Spiritually speaking for God
But they want to be more fruitful
When it comes to their resources and wealth
And verse number 9 says
In mine ears save the Lord of hosts
Of a truth many houses shall be desolate
Even great and fair
Without inhabitants
Yea, ten acres of vineyard
Shall yield one bath
And the seed of an Homer
Shall yield an epath
So what he's saying is
Like people are trying to amass
Their wealth and their houses
Because these houses are going to be left empty
Okay because when the Babylonians come
The people are taken into captivity
And you've got nobody living in these houses
And when he says this idea
Yea, ten acres of vineyard
Shall yield one bath
You know the idea of a bath
Is similar to what we think of bath
In the sense that it's something that holds water
It's a way of measuring volume
Okay
So from a vineyard you expect grape juice
Right
And I hadn't looked this up
And you know
I don't know if this is 100% correct or not
But they say that a bath in Bible times
Was approximately 35 litres
Okay, 35 litres
And you might say
Well if I had 35 litres of grape juice
That'd be nice, yea
But if you had ten acres of vineyard
And you produced 35
You're like hold on
This has not been productive for me
Like this is such a low return
For all the effort
For all the hard work of ten acres
Of vineyard
All I'm getting is 35 litres of grape juice
And then it says there
And the seed of anoma
So anoma is another unit of measurement
Shall yield an epath
That's another unit of measurement
And apparently an epath
Is 10% of anoma
Apparently
Okay
An epath is 10% of anoma
So normally, look
If you go around planting seeds
You expect the seeds to grow into whatever tree
Whatever fruitful tree you want it to be
And then you're going to have all these fruits
That result from that, right?
So the idea is that you should have
Much more fruit
At the end of a harvest
Compared to how many seeds you planted
But what he's saying here
Is the seed of anoma
Shall yield an epath
So let's say for example
The farmer plants a thousand seeds
All he's going to produce is 10%
So he's going to produce a hundred crops
He planted a thousand seeds
But all he's getting is a hundred crops
Okay, so it's the complete reversal
Of what you would expect
God is saying, look
I'm cursing your productivity
You know, I'm cursing your output
Okay, because they're not being fruitful for God
So why should God help them on the land?
God's stripping away their fruitfulness
Their resources, their wealth
And notice how it continues there in verse 11
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning
That they may follow strong drink
That continue until night
Till wine inflame them
Okay, so they're planting their vineyards
For what reason?
For the alcohol
That's what they're doing
The people on the land, okay
And the reason we know that the strong drink
You know, strong drink
You need to understand strong drink is
Usually alcoholic beverages in the Bible
But not always
Okay
For example, vinegar
Is non-alcoholic
But even vinegar is referred to in the Bible
As a strong drink
Okay
But the context will dictate
You know, whether this is an alcoholic beverage
Or not
Well the fact that it says till wine inflame them
You know, it is just well acknowledged
That alcohol brings inflammation on the body
All over your body
Right, drinking alcohol
That's a common cause
Inflammation across the entire body
And so we can see very clearly that these are
People drinking alcohol, right
God's people
Whose wine should not have been the strong drink
And the mixed wine like the pagan nations
Now they're doing the same
We saw that in the book of Deuteronomy, right
That they should not be that way
But now God is saying you have become this way
You know, now you guys are the ones drinking
All this alcohol
You're chasing the strong drink
You're being inflamed by the alcohol
Verse number 12
What else are they doing?
Not only are they getting drunk
Verse number 12
It says in the harp in the vial
And tabret and pipe and wine
Are in their feasts
But they regard not the work of the Lord
Neither consider the operation of his hands
So not only are they drinking it up
They're parting it
They're out doing feasts and parties
And celebrations
But in doing so
They're forgetting the work of the Lord
Okay, so
I feel like this is just Australia
What do the average Australian
A young person at least does in Australia
On the weekend or something
They get drunk and they go party somewhere
They go hit the club in scene
Or whatever it is
Drink it up
That's just, I mean right now
Schoolies in Queensland
Like on the Gold Coast
What are they doing right now schoolies
All these school leavers
Getting sloshed
Whatever that means
Getting drunk I think
Okay, parting it up
It's just the same
Like what we're seeing here
Is just the fact that Australia
As blessed as it is
And praise God for it
It's the still great wickedness
Like the sins again
The sins that we see here
Are the sins that we see in our own nation
These are sins that
You know
We could get caught up with
You know
Parents you know
When you have your kids
You need to be careful
Your children
The influences that they receive
You know
From their friends and what have you
We don't want them to be
Just like the rest of the world
And then verse number 13
God prophesied about their captivity in Babylon
Therefore my people are gone into captivity
Again it's past tense
But it hasn't happened yet
Because God knows it's going to happen
Right
You know
Have gone into captivity
Look at this
Because they have no knowledge
God's saying they're stupid
They don't know anything
Alright
I mean
Like alcohol does kill your brain cells
Okay
Because they're stupid
And the honorable men are famished
And the multitude drive up with thirst
Famished is like famine
So there's a lack of food
There's a lack of water
And of course this would happen
When the Babylonians would come
Jerusalem would be besieged
Okay
They wouldn't be able to bring food
Into the city
As they're trying to protect themselves
Hide themselves from the Babylonians
And people starve to death
Literally starve to death
In Jerusalem
And verse number 14's scary
God says
Therefore
Hell hath enlarged herself
And opened her mouth
Without measure
And their glory
And their multitude
And their pomp
And here that rejoiceth
Shall descend into it
Into it
This is supposed to be God's people
God's nation
God's blessed them on the land
And you know
Not only are they far from the Lord
They're not even saved
Many of them are not saved
That's why as they perish
You know at the hands of the Babylonians
You'd expect man
You've got the scriptures
You've got the prophets
You've got
Like again
What more could God do for you?
And you can't even get saved
You can't even put your faith
In the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
And they die and they're
They're not going to heaven these people
They're going to hell
Interesting that it says
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself
It makes sense that you know
If hell is in the sense of the earth
It's
It's scary and it's sad
Because you know hell was created
For the devil and his angels
So obviously God gave hell certain dimensions
That it would
Be able to take all those
You know beings in
And then it has to enlarge itself
Because men are going there
Every single day
And even God's own nation
You know the destination of Judah
People are dying and just going to hell
People just are not saved on the land
You know I mean how sad
I don't know I don't know what to say
But how sad that this is happening
To the nation of God
You know I mentioned this yesterday
I don't know if you heard my sermon at New Life Baptist Church
But when I started going to my first
IFB church
And my pastor kept saying you know
Because of Zionism and dispensationalism
The Jews are God's chosen people
The apple of God's eye
And all this kind of stuff
And I'm just a young man in my early 20s
I went to my pastor and said, pastor I'm so confused
You're saying that there's such wonderful people
In a special way more so than anybody else
But if they die
Not trusted in Jesus where do they go?
And he said to me
I haven't figured that out yet
Now look I don't believe
I honestly believe he knew the answer
That they're going to hell
It's just that he couldn't reconcile that
With such wonderful
The apple of God's eye, God's chosen people
The holy nation
Oh but they go to hell when they die
I think that was his issue
Struggling with reconciling those two thoughts
Right dispensational theology
With where would someone go if they don't trust in Jesus
It's a hard thing to wrap your mind about around
We are a people of God
We're here in this church
We love the Lord, we are his people
But I want you to think about
The next generation
Because they started well
They go into the promised land
They're following after Joshua
And of course the teachings of Moses
But at some point parents
We can fail the next generation
We need to be really
Careful about our children
If we know the scriptures
We know the value and the wisdom of God's word
We want to make sure that our children
Understand that value
They understand
Look, you're going to be tempted in the world
But you need to understand
The wisdom and the enjoyment
And the drunkenness in the parties
Does not compare
To the wisdom, the love and the joy
That you have in Jesus Christ
We know that but we forget to teach our kids
I say we in general
Because how many times do you see
People who are faithful to church
And all of a sudden their kids are in the world
Kids have gone to the devil
And I hear stories
It breaks my heart when I hear stories like that
Now someone says to me
Pastor we just did everything we thought we could
We brought them to the church
We took them to youth group
We read the Bible as a family
We sung hymns
We did this, we did that
Took them to the Christian school
Whatever it is
I tried to do everything
I mean at the end of the day
I suppose your children have their own will
Their own mind
They're going to have to make their own decisions in life
But let's not forget that our
Don't take it for granted
Don't think if we just bring our children
To church
They're just going to automatically value God's word
Okay parents we need to show them
Hey we as it were
Came out of Egypt
You know we were in the wilderness
And until we were in the promised land
With our Lord Jesus Christ walking in his ways
You know we got to tell them
Just how much better that life is
Encourage them to walk in the Lord
And not just expect because they came to church
That they're just going to flourish
And be fruitful for God
So obviously generation after generation
After generation
Further and further and further away from the Lord
You know less and less getting saved
Praise God for men like Isaiah
Who are still preaching the truth
And remember when
In the book of Jeremiah
I'll just read to Jeremiah 6 30
You can look at it later on
But when God spoke about that generation
That would be taken into captivity
He said about them in Jeremiah 6 30
Reprobate silver shall men call them
Because the Lord hath rejected them
Okay so he's saying look
This generation is reprobate
The Lord has rejected this generation
And now we understand why
Because they're not even saved
They're on their way to hell
And God had to bring judgment
The judgment of Babylon
Like 70 years captivity
Where the children and the grandchildren
Would appreciate coming back into the promised land
Rebooting the city
Rebooting the temple
And sometimes God just has to
Put us through some difficulties
To remind us just how beautiful it was
When I was walking with my Lord
Isaiah 5 verse 15
Is that what I'm up to? Sorry
Yep verse 15
And the mean man shall be brought down
Because remember they were all lifted up
The pomp and the pride
You know they thought so highly of themselves
They said the mean man shall be brought down
And the mighty man shall be humbled
And the eyes of the lofty
Shall be humbled
But the Lord of hosts
Shall be exalted in judgment
And God that is holy
Shall be sanctified in righteousness
Then shall the lambs feed
After their manner
And the waste places
Of the fat ones
Shall strangers eat
Alright
Keep your finger there
And come with me to Ephesians chapter 2
So God is saying look
I've got to bring this nation down
I need to humble
The prideful
And brethren let me just
One of my strongest recommendations to you
Is don't allow yourself
To become prideful
Just don't lift yourself up
Don't think highly of yourself
Again and again
Just give all glory to Jesus right
You don't want Him
You don't want to be forced
To give glory to God
I humbled myself Lord
And then you can exalt me
In your due time
But pride is always there
I want you to remember this
Pride is always there
The flesh is always there
And this flesh is very prideful
So prideful you know
When you knock on someone's door
You go soul winning
What do you think you have to do to go to heaven?
I'll be a good person
Me
It's there immediately
It doesn't take much
But pride is always there
And even when someone says to you
You're such a humble person
And you're like yes I am
That's pride
It's always there
But Ephesians 2.11
Ephesians 2.11
Now what I'm looking at here
Back in Isaiah 5.17
I'll just read it again
So after God brings his judgment
Then it says
And the waste places
So we know that the nation's
Going to be made desolate
The waste places of the fat ones
So of the wealthy people in Judah
All these places
It says
Shall strangers eat
Now
I do believe in some ways
This is speaking about you know
Strangers, other people
The inhabitants of Judah
Are taken away into captivity
So then other people just come and take off the land
And live in their houses
And all that kind of stuff
But just the way that it speaks about the lambs
And we know that often Christ speaks of his children
As his lambs
You know he's the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, the great shepherd
And he reminds me of this teaching here
In Ephesians 2.11
Ephesians 2.11
Now remember it's the Babylonians
That's going to take them into captivity
Gentiles if you want to put it that way
In Ephesians 2.11 it says
Wherefore remember
That ye been in time past
Gentiles in the flesh
Who were called uncircumcision
By that which is called the circumcision
In the flesh made by hands
That at that time
Ye were without Christ
So this is a time when you were not saved
You were without Christ
Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
Look at this
Strangers
Of the covenants of promise
Having no hope and without God in the world
So this is before we were saved
God says we were strangers
From the covenants of promise
From the commonwealth of Israel
But then drop down to verse number 19
It says
Now that we are saved
Now therefore ye are no more strangers
And foreigners
But fellow citizens
With the saints
And of the household of God
And are built upon the foundation
Of the apostles and prophets
Jesus Christ himself
Being the chief cornerstone
So what I see here
What we're looking at in the book of Isaiah
Is that ye we were once strangers
But we are now heirs of the promise
You see
The nation of Israel, the nation of Judah
Should have automatically
They just should have been the recipients
Of the promise that God gave to Abraham
They thought
Just because I've got a physical lineage
I'm an automatic entrance
To the promises of God
But no, in order to receive the promises
You had to be in Christ Jesus
But we were strangers
We were without God when we were not saved
But then we heard the gospel salvation
We put our faith on Jesus Christ
And now we're made fellow citizens
With the saints of God
And we're his lambs
We're part of his fold
He's our shepherd
Jesus Christ is our shepherd
And so again I see this parallel there
With Isaiah
That the Jews have favoured God
So severely
God's opened the doors for all people
Of course
To participate of the blessings
Of the promises that God has laid out in his word
Back to Isaiah 5 verse 18
Isaiah 5 verse 18
Woe unto them that draw iniquity
With cords of vanity
And sin as it were
With a cart rope
That say, let him make speed
And hasten his work
That we may see it
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel
Draw nigh and come
That we may know it
So another illustration
Think of someone pulling
Like a cart
Pulling a cart with rope
And that rope represents his iniquity
The idea there is that
The people of the land
Their sin is on show
They're just carrying their sins openly
And not only with all their sins
And iniquities upon them
They're now mocking God
He says, let him make speed
They're like, hey, when is God going to judge us
And hasten his work, that we may see it
They're like, hey, I want to see God's judgments
And let the counsel of the Holy One
Of Israel draw nigh and come
That we may know it
They're like in open sin
In open rebellion against God
And they're like, I want to see how God's going to judge us
Like mocking God
That's why God then says in verse number 20
Woe unto them that call evil good
And good evil
That put darkness for light
And light for darkness
That put bitter for sweet
Woe unto them that are wise
In their own eyes
And prudent in their own sight
Brethren, if we did not have
The word of God available to us
If we didn't have this wisdom and knowledge
We would call evil good
And good evil
We would say that which is bitter is sweet
And what is sweet is bitter
And think about our nation
Think about how
Horrific abortion is
Killing a baby
Killing the innocent
In his or her
Mother's womb
Where the baby ought to be the safest
Most protected
Think about the wickedness
Of killing a baby
And they say, well
It's a small price to pay
For the happiness of mum
Of the happiness of mum and dad
The world thinks
Abortion is a good thing
Why should we destroy someone's life with a baby?
Let's kill an innocent child
Think of homosexual marriage
Love is love
Why should we stop them from loving one another?
But they've corrupted biblical marriage
They call it good, but it's evil
It's darkness, but they call it light
What about Halloween?
Thank you for preaching on Halloween, brother
Children dressing up like devils
And all the ghosts and wizards
And witches and whatever else
Things associated with darkness
And everyone rejoices
They think it's fun
Celebration lollies
It's strange
You'd think
Surely, even an unsaved man
Surely you know
Maybe in the mother's womb he's wrong
But the world's not
Truth is relative, isn't that what
Brother Ash, Pastor Ash
Brother Ash preached not long ago
Truth is relative
Well, you know, this is where the world leads
You know, and
This is the shining light
This is the wisdom, the knowledge of God
Look, wash your brain
Wash your mind with God's word
We've been so corrupted, all of us
By the philosophies of this world
You know, the TV
And all the things, all the media
That we've obsessed about
You know, I'm sure, I guarantee
There are still things in your mind
Where you're corrupted, where you're brainwashed
And you need the washing of God's word
In your heart, in your life
To bring you out of that darkness
And then it continues in verse number 22
Isaiah 5-22
Woe unto them that are mightier to drink wine
And men of strength
To mingle strong drink
Again, does it sound like
God's in favor of alcohol?
No way
Woe unto them
Verse number 23
Which justify the wicked for reward
Notice the
At the end of verse number 22
Notice the colon
When you see a colon in your King James Bible
What it's saying is that
What you're about to read will clarify
Will give further detail of what you just read
So what's happening? These people are drinking wine
They're drinking alcohol, they're getting drunk
And then these same people
Which justify the wicked
For reward
And take away the righteous
Of the righteous from him
He says, look, alcohol's going to cloud
Your judgment
It's going to cloud your judgment
You're going to justify the wicked
When the wicked gets brought
And that wicked needs justice and judgment
You're going to receive a reward and a bribe
To let him go
Because the alcohol
Destroys your judgment
And someone that is righteous
You're going to try to take away the righteous
Like someone that is good and proper
And a good citizen
Someone that loves the Lord, doing the best
You're going to say, well that guy's rubbish
He says in verse 24
Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble
And the flame consumeth the chaff
So their roots shall be as rottenness
And their blossom
Shall go up as dust
Because they have cast away the law
Of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word
Of the Holy One of Israel
Now keep your thinking
They come back with me to Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy chapter 16
Verse 24
Deuteronomy chapter 16
Verse 18
Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 18
Let me just say alcohol is going to impair your judgment
You know you play with that
You're going to destroy your life
You're going to drink that substance
And you'll think you'll be
You'll think you're sober enough to drive
You know
Wrong judgment, wrong call
You could lose your life
You could kill someone else
You know, just stupid decisions
That alcohol makes
You could be a married man drinking alcohol
You know, after work one day
You look at some other woman
And before you know it, commit adultery
These things happen
And it even happens
With God's people
That attend church
I know stories
And how many times is alcohol involved?
Almost always
It impairs the judgment
Now in Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 18
God says judges and officers
Shall thou make thee in all thy gates
Which the Lord God giveth thee
Throughout thy tribes
And they shall judge the people with just judgment
Just
They shall not rest judgment
They shall not respect persons
Neither take a gift
For a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise
And pervert the words of the righteous
So God says look
We need people that know how to
Pass judgment justly
Rightly
Correctly
He says look, don't take a gift
Don't take a bribe
Because it's going to blind your eyes
Again, what do we see
Playing out in Isaiah 5
That these people that are to pass judgment
Not only are they drunk, impaired judgment
But they're taking bribes
And they're not judging righteously
I see this in our nation
It's strange
I look at our nation
And I feel like I know how
I can see how corrupt our judges
And lawgivers are
But then when I talk to some of my
Not so much now but
Some of my old friends that are from South East Asia
For example, like Thailand or something
They're like oh man
If you think there's corruption here
Because in Thailand for example
Anything you want to do
You've got to slip like a
$5 note or something
You want any speed
You want anything processed anywhere
You need to always slip a little bit of money
To satisfy people
Then your application will be processed
Because there's just corruption
On every level
And it's not unusual, it's just expected
It's just what it is
That's just the culture of the land
But again
I just want to show you the parallel there
With Deuteronomy and Isaiah 5
Back to Isaiah 5
Verse 25
Therefore is the anger of the Lord
Kindled against his people
And he has stretched forth his hand against them
And has smitten them
And the hills did tremble
And their carcasses
That's their dead bodies
Were torn in the midst of the streets
For all this his anger
Is not turned away
But his hand is stretched out still
It's so amazing
For all this his anger
Is not turned away
But his hand is stretched out still
You can take this in two ways
Either his hand is stretched out in the sense
That he's still bringing judgment
Or also that his hand is stretched out
For those that are willing to come to God
And get things right
And say, Lord
My nation may have favored me
But I'm not going to, Lord
I'm going to walk in your paths
Then he says in verse 26
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations
From far
The nations from far
The Babylonians
Had many nations under their power
And from far
And will hiss unto them from the end of the earth
And behold they shall come
With speed swiftly
And again
God is like prophesying
That this is going to happen
The carcasses
Torn in the midst of the streets
This is the hand and the judgment of God
And again we read these verses
And there aren't many churches
That would read verses like this
Because they don't want you
To think of God in this way
But I want to show you
God is angry with wickedness
The Bible says God is angry with the wicked
Every day
Okay
And brethren I just want you to remember
Even though we're saved
When we sin
We've done wickedly
It's wickedness
And look praise God we're saved
We can't lose her
It's been nailed to the cross
But when we sin
Remember we break our fellowship
If we don't abide with Christ
We're not going to be fruitful for him
Okay
So I like these passages
Because we need to be reminded
How much God hates
Wickedness
How much it angers him
So that when we sin
We don't just think oh who cares
And think of it as some minor thing
It's major
In the eyes of our
Righteous holy God
Now remember what he says
That a nation is going to come
And the judgment is going to be swift
Against Judah
One more turn into the book of Deuteronomy please
Deuteronomy chapter 28
Deuteronomy chapter 28 and verse number 49
Now Deuteronomy chapter 28
Starts really promising
Like really uplifting
God is telling them if you keep my commandments
You're going to be blessed and all this
Really great stuff
But then you get to verse number 49
Not before verse number 49
God starts to warn them but if you don't keep my commandments
There's all these curses
And the curses just keep going
And going and going and going
And within one of these curses
In verse number 49
God says
God the Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far
That's what we saw in Isaiah 5
From the end of the earth
As swift as the eagle flyeth
A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand
Of course they spoke a different language
A nation from afar and they're going to come swiftly
That's what Isaiah chapter 5 said
Let's keep going to verse number 50
A nation of fierce countenance
Which shall not regard the person of the old
Nor shall favor to the young
And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle
And the fruit of thy land
Until thou be destroyed
Which also shall not leave thee
Either corn, wine, or oil
Or the increase of thy kine
Or flocks of thy sheep
Until he have destroyed thee
And he shall besiege thee
In all thy gates
Which is exactly what happened
The city of Jerusalem was besieged
Until thy high and fenced walls come down
Which is what happened
Wherein thou trustest
Throughout all thy land
And he shall besiege thee
In all thy gates
Throughout all thy land
Which the law of thy God have given thee
Like the warnings
So long ago the warnings were there
In the scriptures
And now the nations just
Contrary to God
Like they've got the blessings of the scriptures once again
They've got the blessing of Isaiah
Going around preaching God's word
Preaching God's word
And yet they've become like the pagan nations
Around them
And God's already prophesied long ago
By the hand of Moses that this would happen to them
So what we just read there
Is of course descriptive of the Babylon forces
That take over the captivity
And come back with me to Isaiah 5, verse 27
Isaiah 5, 27
You know, I used to think
When I was a kid, because I didn't know my Bible well enough
And I struggled to read through the Old Testament
Because it's hard, right, it's one of those early books
But I remember thinking, man, like God
The judgments and
The death and
Wow, captivity
Man, God, it's like
Why can't you give them more of a chance?
But then when I
Got from my Bible and I'm going through Deuteronomy like this
I'm like, hold on, God warned them
A long time ago
Like, a long time ago
A long time ago he's warned them
Right, so they've got no excuse
That's why God says, well, judge me between me and my vineyard
Is there anything more that I could have done?
He's warned them, he's told them
Yeah
Like, we can't think that God's not just
He is so just
Amen
So righteous
And so loving
Because we should have been wiped out
And then he sent his son to die for us
Like, it just blows you away, right
How much he hates wickedness
How much it angers him
And even then he says, you know what
I'm going to send my son to die for them
To pay for their wickedness, to pay for their iniquities and sins
And we believe that
Yes, Lord, I want that
I want that salvation
Like, think of just how blessed we truly are
To just be in Christ Jesus
Verse number 27, Isaiah 5-27
None shall be weary, nor stumble among them
They're saying
Like, the army
The Babylonian army won't be weary
Even though they're travelling from afar
Once they get there, they're ready for war
They're ready to destroy you
Like, you would expect an army travelling far
They're going to be getting tired, weary
They're starting to wear out, their clothes are wearing out
God's sustaining them
It's God's judgement
God's making sure they get there
Verse number 28
Whose arrows are sharp and their bows bent
Their horses hoofs shall be counted like flint
And their wheels like a whirlwind
Their roaring shall be like a lion
They shall roar like young lions
Yea, they shall roar
And lay hold of the prey
And shall carry it away safe
And none shall deliver it
And in that day they shall roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea
And if one look unto the land
Behold darkness and sorrow
And the light is darkened
In the heavens thereof
Alright, so as they're taking away into captivity
They're looking back at their land
They're looking back at Judah, Jerusalem
And all they see
Is darkness and sorrow
Because it all got burnt down
Think of the flames
Think of the smoke in the air
It says the heavens are darkened
They're looking back at their land
It's just demolished
It's all destroyed
The city is all going up in the air
It's blocking the sun
And that's what it's speaking about there
But one more illustration, one more parallel here
Come with me to 1 John 1
I know we've looked at this recently
1 John 1
When we understand
That the Bible is more than just
surface level
There's a spiritual teaching once again
The fact that the land is darkened
Represents their
spiritual condition before God
They're in a dark and spiritual condition with God
And you guys know these passages
But just a reminder once again
Because
I know we can get comfortable in our sins
I know I
can get comfortable in my sin
If I can, I know you can
I always think that
If I can, my church can
Because we are the same flesh and blood
We all have the same sinful condition
We all have pride and all these kinds of things
We might struggle with certain
Different sins, but generally speaking
We're the same
And when we do sin
Don't just blow it off
Don't just think, oh well, it doesn't matter
I'm saved anyway, who cares
Something like that
1 John 1 5
This then is the message which we have heard of him
And declare unto you that
God is light
And in him is no darkness at all
So again I get this idea
When they're walking away from Judah
God is light
And in him there is no darkness at all
It tells me that God's not there anymore
God was not in Judah
He removed his presence from that place
He was building the vineyard
But now he says alright, I'm just going to destroy it
Just let it run
I don't care if the thorns and the brides and all that kind of stuff comes in
I don't care if it all gets trodden underfoot
And verse number 6
If we say that we have fellowship with him
And walk in darkness, we lie
And do not the truth
When we sin, when we walk in darkness
We can't say we've got fellowship with God
We can't say we're abiding with Christ
When we have unconfessed sins before God
We can't think that we're going to be fruitful for him
I want this sermon to be fruitful for you
So what do I do before I preach?
God please forgive me for my sins
Lord if there's any darkness between us
Please bring me into your light
Forgive me, use me
What's the point of coming all the way from Sunshine Coast
And then just preaching something in my own strength
It's just wild rapes is what it becomes
I want to be something that is fruitful for God
And then verse number 7
But if we walk in the light
As he is in the light
We have fellowship one with another
And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son
Cleanses us from all sin
You can keep reading but you know the teaching
You know what, if you're in darkness
If you've got unconfessed sin
Reverend, before you go to bed tonight
Please, just bow your head
Do it even between now and before we end the service
Do it on your drive home whenever you're comfortable
Say Lord please forgive me
I committed that sin, you saw it Lord
I'm embarrassed, I did it, yes
I failed you against Lord
But I just want to be in your fellowship, forgive me
I want to walk with you, I don't want to be in darkness
And the Lord is ready
He's always ready to forgive us
Ready to bring us into fellowship
Wants us to abide in Christ
Wants us to be fruitful
Not only does he save us but he wants to spend time
Quality time with us
Bring forth quality through in our life
Okay, let's pray