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So we're there in Isaiah 57, and notice verse number 17. Well, first of all, if you paid attention, you can see that God is once again angry at the southern kingdom of Judah, okay? And the reason he's angry at Judah in this chapter is if you look at verse number 17, he says, For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth. So the title of the sermon tonight is The Iniquity of His Covetousness. So this chapter is primarily about the sin of covetousness and how it looks also in the life of spiritual adultery or lust, okay? Lust and covetousness are basically the same sin, and God is calling out the nation of Judah because of the sin. Now, when we start there in verse number one, it says, The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. And merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Now, in context of the time of Isaiah, the evil to come or the harm to come, the danger to come is the Babylonian captivity. We know that. We understand that from a historical perspective. Now, God is saying that on the land, the righteous are perishing, the righteous are dying, okay? Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the dying aren't from unnatural causes, they're just dying naturally. And so what he's saying, as the generations go by, there are less righteous on the earth as time goes on. There's less righteous in Judah as time goes on. And he goes, and no one cares. Like, Judah had gotten to such a point where they're no longer rejoicing in the righteous. Now, what I want you to do is keep your thinking there, come with me to Genesis 18. Come with me to Genesis 18. And while you're turning to Genesis 18, I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 14, 34. Proverbs 14, 34 says, Now, brethren, we are righteous in Christ Jesus. We ought not to just be righteous positionally, and praise God for that. That's the most important one, because that's how we go to heaven, in the righteousness of Christ. But we should also be righteous in our walk, in our conduct of our Christian life. We should seek to please the Lord and keep his ways. And so righteousness exalts a nation. And what was holding back God's wrath on Judah was that there were many on the earth, or many in Judah that were righteous. But he's noticing from the big picture, there were less righteous on the earth, less and less and less as time goes on. And he says those righteous have been taken away from the evil to come, referring to that. Many are passing away before the Babylonian judgment falls upon them. And so, you know, what we notice here in Genesis 18 is something I find so amazing, such an amazing concept of who God is. And this is when God meets Abraham. And God comes with his two angels. And of course, those two angels will later walk into Sodom and pull Lot and his family out of Sodom, all right. And so we know that Sodom was coming to a point of destruction. God would destroy such a wicked city. And it says in Genesis 18, verse number 23, Abraham's saying, look, God, are you really going to destroy Sodom? Are you really going to destroy this city, Sodom and Gomorrah? What if there's 50 righteous? Now, we understand Abraham's concern because his nephew Lot is in the city. You know, his nephew Lot and Lot's family are in the city. And so it's like, well, maybe if there's 50, you know, are you still going to destroy the city for the 50? And verse number 25, God says, Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? So Abraham's having a hard time. Lord, just, you know, how can you really destroy these 50 that might be in the city? And then verse number 26, So what I love about this chapter is we see the wrath of God, the judgment of God. God knows it's wicked. It's full of homosexuals. And God's going to bring the hammer down. But at the same time, he's so loving and he's so merciful. He's so long suffering. He loves the righteous and says, look, but if there's 50 righteous, all right, Abraham, I won't destroy the city for 50 righteous. Anyway, so this gives Abraham a little bit of hope, right? But then Abraham thinks and goes, oh, well, there's probably not 50 righteous. So he starts to work it down. And then he says in verse number 27, So he's very humble. Like, he's like, I shouldn't have to talk to you, God, about this. I am nothing. I am dust and ashes compared to you. But then it says, verse 28, Peradventure, there shall lack five of the 50 righteous. Will thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, if I find 40 and five, I will not destroy it. So again, we see the long suffering of God. All right, if there's 45, I won't destroy the city. Verse number 29, And there shall 30 be found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find 30 there. And he said, behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure, there shall be 20 found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for 20's sake. And he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure, 10 shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for 10's sake. It's amazing, it's amazing. Like, we all know that the city deserves to be destroyed. Like, if not for Abraham and Lord, we're probably like, yeah, yeah, Lord, just go ahead and wipe out the city. But Abraham has a love for his family, of course. He has a love for the righteous, and we see that God also has a love for the righteous. Because if there's just 10, you know, and this just tells me, you know, as much as we see the wickedness of the city of Sydney, and we wonder sometimes, when is the judgment of God going to fall? Well, maybe for 10's sake, maybe for 10 righteous, maybe for 10 that make up Blessed Hope Baptist Church in your righteousness, you know, we're keeping this city alive. And of course, I'm not just talking about our church, I'm talking about all believers that are in the city. You know, God looks down at the righteous and says, you know what, I'm going to hold back my judgments, even if there's just 10 in the city, because we can be used in the city, and you are being used in the city. When you're going, you knock doors, and you preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you bring more people into righteousness. I want you to think about that. Not only are you saving a soul, and of course that's the best part of it, but you're preserving this city. The more people that enter into the righteousness of Christ, the more you're preserving this city for future generations. And so our own presence, being believers, and seeking the righteous ways of God, is preserving this city and preserving this nation from the judgment of God. But we can see that in the time of Judah, there's less and less and less righteous that are on the earth, and the people don't care. You know, the city, the nation had gotten far from the Lord, and of course their problem was covetousness. And if you come back with me to Isaiah 57, verse number 2, it says, talking about the righteous, and talking about the righteous perishing, passing away, it says, He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. So it's talking about these righteous people, they're entering into the bed, and they're passing away. They're entering into rest. It's where we get this term rest in peace kind of thing, right? When someone passes away, we say rest in peace. But really the only ones that are resting in peace are the righteous, are the ones that are saved in Christ Jesus. You know, we often say rest in peace, but how many people in the city of Sydney are passing away and going straight to hell? People say rest in peace, but they're being tormented, day and night, forever and ever. It's such a scary thing, right? And so why it's so important for us to preach the gospel of Christ? We want more people to rest in peace. But I love how it says they enter into peace, and they shall rest in their beds, so they pass away in their sleep. And then it says, even though they're passing away, each one walking in his uprightness. Because they're still alive, right? They're still walking in uprightness, because the moment we close our eyes on this earth, we open our eyes and we can walk in heaven with our Lord God in uprightness. Okay, we no longer have to deal with the sinful flesh. You know, that flesh is in the grave, soul and spirit in heaven with God, walking in his uprightness. You know, what I love about it is, of course, when it comes to the righteous, when it comes to believers, when we die, we are more alive than ever before. Okay, we are alive in Christ Jesus. Anyway, let's continue, verse number three. But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorcerers, the seed of the adulterer, and the whore. All right, so you can see some of the sins that are affecting the nation of Judah. Sorcery, the occult, adultery, whoredoms, these are the sins of the nation at this point in time. But then God speaks, not just of these physical sins being the sins of the earth, but God begins to speak about it in a spiritual sense. Let's continue in verse number four. He says, against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood? So they're making sport against God. They're opening a wide mouth against God. They're speaking against God, right? They're playing with fire, thinking that God will not do anything. You know, God's not going to judge us. They're making sport of the situation, speaking against God. Verse number five is interesting. Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the cliffs of the rocks. So that term, inflaming, has to do with being aroused. And you can see, God's starting to picture what they're doing, they're sinful, you know, because of whoredoms and adulteries. They're being inflamed or they're being physically aroused by their sins. And part of their wickedness is that they're sacrificing children. Okay, we know this was a, unfortunately, you know. It's hard to believe that a nation that's so blessed by God, has the laws of God, who has great prophets and some great kings, had gone so far where they begin to sacrifice their own kids, killing their own children. And I keep saying this, but, you know, it's hard to believe taking a baby and just throwing it into fire, sacrificing it to an idol, burning it alive, it's unfathomable. I can't even understand how people can take their own children and do such wickedness. But again, you know, in Australia, abortions. I mean, mums taking their babies, beautiful baby in the womb. Baby's not done anything wrong. And the doctors come in and they invade the space and pull that baby apart, break its back, pull out its limbs, crush its head, destroy, you know, such a beautiful creature being created in mums. And like, I'm sure like, you know, these Jews at this time probably going, well, at least we've given our kids a chance to get out of the womb. Like, you know, in Australia, we're not even allowing these children from experiencing life outside of the womb and they're being tortured to death, they're being destroyed. And so when we think about how wicked Judah is, and it's horrible, yeah, but it's here. You know, we can apply these lessons and apply it to Australia in 2025. So they're inflaming themselves with idols. And again, I think this idea is, again, is becoming a bit more symbolic as time goes on, because it says in verse number six, among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion. They are thy lots, even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering, should I receive comfort in these? So we know that in the Old Testament times, God, you know, instructed Israel to have offerings. They'd come and bring, you know, they'd sacrifice an animal. There was also a drink offering that they would pour out before the Lord as a sacrifice. Well, they're doing these same practices, but they're doing it to these false idols. They're doing it to these false gods. And in the rivers of the streams, they're taking these drinks, I don't know what kind of drinks they are, and they're pouring out into the river. And God is asking, should I receive comfort in these? He's saying, do you think this satisfies me? You know, because God's already given them instructions of how they are to conduct themselves in their sacrificial giving in the Old Testament temple, okay? But these people are going to streams, they're going to awkward places and bringing their sacrifices to some false gods. But you start to notice here, in verse number seven, how it really becomes about spiritual adultery. Judah is being compared to as an adulterous wife. In verse number seven, it says, Upon a lofty and high mountain has thou set thy bed. Even Judah wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Okay, so as they come in to offer sacrifice on the mountain, on the false gods, God is saying it's like you've set your bed, like this bed of fornication, this bed of adultery. And in verse number eight, Behind the doors also, and the posts, has thou set up thy remembrance, for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up. Thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them. Thou lovest their bed where thou sawest it. So you can start to see how God is, you know, he's expressing his disgust of their wickedness, their idolatry, their worshiping false gods. And he uses spiritual adultery, right, as the euphemism, as it were, of what they're doing. And so they're enlarging their bed. They're like a hall with all these lovers, you know, all these false idols, they're going to worship too. And, you know, this is super important because when I think about how God uses like, you know, the concept of spiritual adultery, like, when I think about adultery, like, I don't know how you all feel, you know, different people that are married, but I can't think of a worse thing to happen than adultery. Like, honestly, there are many sins in the world. And look, maybe there are worse things, I just can't think of that right now. But, you know, as a married man who loves my wife, and you know, God loves the nation of Israel, God loves it, right? At this point, you know, to him, that ought to be his, you know, as it were, his wife and loyal to him and faithful to him and loving him and God wants the best for Israel and for Judah and he's given them a land flowing with milk and honey and he's protected them from the enemies. But they've committed adultery, as it were, against the Lord God. And like, when I start to think about this, like, you know, I had, there was a brother in the Lord that once said to me, and I agree, I agree, I like what he said, he goes, I would rather my wife kill me, like, murder me, than commit adultery on me. And I'm like, yeah, I agree with that. I think, I think I just rather, like, I mean, both are bad. But, you know, like, having your wife who you love and you care, and he's precious to you, right, and you give yourself to her and she belongs to you and, you know, you belong to her and you've got this one flesh relationship, such a special union, and for her to go and just give herself over to another man, I mean, I just, I just, I can't even. I don't even want to think about it. Like, I am so disgusted and, you know, I mean, I don't even know how I would react if something like that were to happen to me. And so, like, if I think this is, like, the worst thing that can happen in my life, then, you know, I just, I can sense where God is coming from. All right, just how bad this is in his sight. Verse number nine. He goes, man, you guys have turned so far against me. Of course, many are unsaved. Generations that have been born into this nation have not trusted the Lord God in faith and they're dying and they're going to hell. At least they're righteous. We go to bed and we walk in our uprightness. These wicked that have a false God, they're faith in the wrong God, they're making their bed in hell. They're debasing themselves in hell. They're headed straight to hell. Verse number 10. This is what's so interesting in verse number 10. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way. Your false religion calls you weariness. Yet set as thou not. So, but you don't say it. Like, you are weary, but you don't admit you're weary. Okay? Yet set as thou not. There is no hope. Thou has found the life of thine hand. Therefore, thou was not grieved. He goes, this should grieve you. That you're so far from God. That you're making, you're headed to hell. That you've committed spiritual adultery against the Lord God. He goes, thou art wearied. And you know what? The wicked are weary. And what I mean by this, brethren, is one of the great things, I think the best thing about being a believer is that I'm not weary, like in the Lord. We can get weary in well doing, but in Christ Jesus, like, there is nothing better. There is nothing more calming and restful than being saved in Christ Jesus. You know, and look, I grew up in a Christian home. I grew up going to church. And I would hear the preacher say, nothing will satisfy you as much as God. But I'm a kid. I'm like, yeah, I mean, I love the Lord. I'm saved, praise God. But there seems to be a lot in the world that, you know, kind of is cool. There seems to be a lot that I'd like to do one day and I'm sure it's going to give me some level of satisfaction and, you know, enjoyment and contentment. But then as you get older and then you start to experience some of the things the world has for you, or you start working and you start to have some money and you start buying the things that you've always wanted, you know, once you have it and once you experience certain things, like, truly, this doesn't compare to salvation. Like, really. You get to a point where you go, oh, look, there's really, there's not, is there anything that I can purchase, you know, that is better than salvation? And, you know, false religion gives false hope. I was talking to someone recently who said, you know, and he's not saved yet, he says, you know, when I stand before God one day, I just wonder what he's going to say to me. How is he going to judge me? You know, is he going to put me, you know, in heaven or in hell? I don't know, I don't know. And so he's expressing this weariness, this discontentment. But I'm like, there's rest in Christ. Jesus is like, I know exactly, I don't have to worry. I know that I'm going to rest in peace. I have peace, I don't even have to rest in, I have peace right now. It doesn't matter what happens to me, I know I'm safe in the hands of the Lord. And he looks out for my best. He's such a great God that we have. Can you come with me to James 4? Come with me to James chapter 4, James 4. While you're turning to James 4, I'll read to you from Matthew 11, 28. You know these verses. Jesus says, Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you rested in Christ Jesus? Do you know that you're saved and no matter what happens, no matter even how badly you mess up your life, not that you should mess up your life, that you're still going home to heaven with the Lord. That he's never going to condemn you for your sins because Christ became the curse for us. Christ took on the judgment for our sins, on the cross. It's been dealt with. Jesus is our best friend. He gave his life for the sheep. He took on every punishment that we deserve, and judgment was made for our sins in Christ Jesus. It makes me humbled in Christ to know that he loves me, that he did that for me, and at the same time I just feel so relieved. You know, I'm looking forward to being in heaven. Don't forget. Don't get me wrong. In heaven, eternity with God, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the millennial reign of Christ to see how he's going to rule on this earth. But I'm content even now. I'm satisfied even now. Even if my life is, and man, sometimes our life turns upside down, but having the confidence that in Christ Jesus, no matter what happens, we're in his hands, is so restful. It's so calming. John 6 35, And Jesus saith unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Never hunger and never thirst. Fully satisfied at all times. You know, that's what Jesus Christ gives us. You're in James 4. You're in James 4. So, you know, false religion makes us weary, but true faith in Christ Jesus gives us rest. All right? And we know that God is speaking to the nation of Judah about spiritual adultery. And again, you know, the reason we turn to James 4 is because I want to bring the truth to your life. Because often when we read about the sins of Judah and Israel and their idolatry, like, sometimes it's hard to relate to it because we don't really have these idols that we kind of want. Like, most of us don't have a problem with, like, oh, man, I'm so tempted to get a portrait of Jesus and stick it in my house. I'm so tempted to get a statue of the Virgin Mary or something, you know, to put in my front yard. Like, we're not like that, right? But we can still commit spiritual adultery to our Lord God according to James 4. Now, just very quickly, actually, look at James 4.4. See, we also can commit spiritual adultery. And this is when we become friends to the world. And friendship to the world is enmity, you know, to God. Now, you say, what is that about? Let's start there in verse number 1, okay? Because this ties in with what we're reading there in Isaiah 57. James 4 verse 1, it says, The reason there's wars, fightings, and conflicts, and problems, the Bible says, is because of our lusts. Verse number 2, This is saying, like, when you have these lusts and you want something, you desire things that do not belong to you, you're never satisfied. You can go to war and you can take. You can kill and have a desire to have, but you cannot obtain. Lust never satisfies. Never satisfies. And we all have, we've all suffered with the sin of lust at some point in our lives. Lusting over different things. It never satisfies. But God always satisfies, right? You get weary when you chase things in the world that actually give you no relief. No satisfaction in life. Verse number 3 says, See, the problem with lust and desiring things, you know, seeing what others have and go, I want that, is that you become discontented, discontented with what God has given you. See, God's given us a lot in life. I love Australia. I think it's such a blessed country. And God allows us to live in one of the best places in the world. Honestly. There's a reason why people migrate to Australia and places like this. It's a good country. God's given us a lot. And we come and we look at the neighbour's house. Oh, it must be nice to live in a double storey. We look at the neighbour's car. It must be nice to drive around in a Ferrari and you begin to lust and lust never brings satisfaction. Lust brings discontentment. Lust means I'm not content with what God has given me in life. And this is love in the world. This is chasing the world. This is becoming friends with the world, chasing after the desires of your hearts. See, these lusts cause enmity with God. And that's why he says in verse number 4, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Can you come with me to Exodus 20? Come with me to Exodus 20, please. So what we learn in James 4 is that spiritual adultery essentially is lusting after the things that this world provides. And as I said to you, the problem with Judah in Isaiah 57 was their covetousness. And while you're turning to Exodus 20, I want you to understand that covetousness and lust is one and the same thing. Because in Romans 7-7, Paul says these words. In Romans 7-7, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Paul says, I didn't realize lust was a sin until I read in the law, Thou shalt not covet. So what is he saying? Covetousness is the same as lust. Now, when we get to Exodus 20, Exodus 20 is famous for the Ten Commandments. Now, we know that. And there's a misconception, or at least I had this misconception years and years ago, is that when Exodus 20 is the Ten Commandments, I thought this is when Moses has the tablets with the Ten Commandments on it. But actually not. Moses gets that given later on. Exodus 20 is not the tablets given to Moses. Look at Exodus 20 verse number 1. And God spake all these words, saying. In Exodus 20, God is speaking directly to the nation of Israel, to the children of Israel. And then he gives the Ten Commandments. But the last commandments, drop down to verse number 17. He says, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. So you can see that this is one of the commandments. Thou shalt not covet. And he gives us all these things that belong to other people. Now, I want you to notice, when God is speaking to the nation of Israel, how the events of the situation are developing. Because in verse number 18 it says, And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpets, and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. As God is laying down these commandments, there's thunder, there's lightning, as God is speaking, it's like creation cannot even contain the power of God's words. And the mountain is smoking. It's like fire coming off the mountain. It's just the presence of God, speaking directly to the people. And so it says when the people saw it, they removed. They're like, oh, let's walk away from God. This is too powerful for us. Like the fear of God, you know, in their hearts. And then in verse number 19, And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. The reason God is speaking to you like this, the reason you're seeing the thunders and the lightning, God wants you to have a fear of God. God wants you to fear that you'd sin not. Boy, we need the fear of God. You know, when we teach against covetousness, when we teach against lusting, I want you to have a fear of God. Ah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I want you to really think about how God sees this spiritual adultery that you're committing. And if God could speak to you directly, like the people say, Moses, speak to us instead. I'm trying my best to be the Moses to speak to you, but I would rather God speak to you. You know, this is his word, I'd rather God speak to you as it were, thunders and lightnings and smoke, and for you to be so fearful and say, Man, I better not covet. I better not lust. I better not sin against my Lord God. I better not commit spiritual adultery. I don't want to be wicked. I don't want to be like this God. I want to be righteous. I want to walk in righteousness. Boy, if only God could speak like that, I'd do my best as a pastor to proclaim the greatness of God. But you know what it said there again, look at Exodus 2017. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. You know, be happy with the dwelling place God has given you. You know, whether you own a house or you're renting, be thankful that God's put a roof over your head. Amen. Don't look at another house and go, Boy, that would be nice. Now people say, is it wrong to desire nice things? Of course not. It's not wrong to desire things and, you know, be a little bit more comfortable and, you know, you work toward it and you save up and you're able to afford these nice things. If you can afford something nice, get yourself something nice. But the point is this, is whatever you can get, whatever God gives you in life, just be thankful to God, be content. All right, so going, Oh, I got this, but now I'm looking at my neighbors and boy, their house is a little bit better than mine. Now I want the triple story. I got the double story, but now I want the triple story because everyone in my area has that and I want to be, this is lust. Nor thy neighbors, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. Be thankful. If you're married, man, one of the best things that can happen in you is to find someone that will love you and care for you. Brother Tim preached about that on Sunday, didn't he? You know, being thankful for a wife or being thankful for a husband, for the spouse, instead of looking at, Oh boy, you know, that man's wife is better looking or, you know, I wish I was my wife. I think I could do more for God if I was married to that woman. Well, that's covetousness. It's lust. If you're married, God's given you a partner. Be thankful that that person puts up with you. I mean, you're no, you know, what? You're no Casanova. Thank you, brother. Be thankful, man. God's given you a spouse and I'm not going to, you know, what did Job say? I'm at a covenant with my eyes that I will not think upon a maid. Job goes, You know what? My eyes are for my wife only. I'm only going to look at my wife. What else? Don't covet your neighbour's manservant or his maidservant. So if your neighbour is, runs his own business and you work for, you know, you're just a lowly employee and your neighbour's operating his own business and he's got workers and servants under him. Don't covet, Oh, a man would be nice to be him. Be thankful for the job you do have. Right? I don't have maidservants. I don't have, okay, maybe you're the servants. Be thankful that you can serve. Be thankful that you can get some type of paycheck to make ends meet instead of going, boy, it must be so nice to be like someone else who's running their own business and making the big bucks. Running your own business is not that great anyway. It comes with a lot of stress. But look, this is what covetousness does. It makes you discontent with what you've got. Nor his ox, nor his ass. So the man's possessions, you know, back then, the ox and his ass were his tools. They were, it was his vehicle. You know, he's, Oh man, nice to have that car or, you know, those possessions. Nor anything that is my neighbors. So the reason I want to emphasize this and I know I've moved away from Isaiah 57 is just, I want to bring home this chapter into your life. Because again, you'd be like, Oh yeah, I don't have problems with idols. I'm not worshiping false gods. I'm not doing this and that. You know, and then you kind of feel disconnected from the chapter. No, no, no, no. Covetousness is the problem. And I guarantee you, we've all coveted. And that causes spiritual adultery. It's enmity with God. It's friendship with the world. When our hearts are set on things that do not belong to us. Anyway, come back with me to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. So, yes, it's about Judah in the time of Isaiah. But this is also for you to learn, all right? Also for you to apply in your life. Verse number 11. Look, God says, Have I not held my peace even of old? He goes, look, I've put up with your sin for a long time. All right? And thou fearst me not. Now, you need to learn this, brethren. I want you to understand this. That every sin you commit in this life, God will judge you for it. All right? I'm not talking about your salvation. That's been dealt with in Christ. I'm talking about your walk. God chastises us. And what can happen sometimes, because as much as God needs to bring down judgment, we also see his long suffering, his merciful, all right? We understand that. But what happens is we're in sin against God. And then we go weak. Oh, God's not judged me. My life is going well, actually. I'm living some of the best days that I've ever lived. I guess God doesn't care about my sin. I guess I'm getting away with it. And we start to feel that way you've forgotten to fear the Lord. We want God's mercy. We want his long suffering. We want his grace in our lives, right? We don't want, as soon as we make a mistake for God to just bring the hammer down and destroy us or something like that, right? We want the grace of God. But too much grace and too much mercy removes the fear of God out of your life. And you think, I'm getting away with it. No, God's giving you time to have a broken and contrite heart. God's giving you time to repent. God's giving you time for you to turn around and say, God, forgive me. Be merciful to me, a sinner. God's giving you time to do that. So that way the judgment is less severe. All right? And maybe the grace completely overshadows God and says, all right, this man is broken. This man has learnt enough. I don't need to bring the hammer down in his life now. But this is the problem with that. They've gone years and years and years with false gods. Oh, God's, where's Babylon? Where's the threat of Babylon? Nothing's happening to us. And they've lost the fear of God. Verse number 12, I will declare thy righteousness. All right, so we know they're wicked, but then he goes, I'm going to declare, I'm going to tell you about all your righteous works. God, is there righteousness? He goes, it's all right. And thy works. I'm going to declare your righteousness and your works now. For they shall not profit thee. Because your so-called righteousness and your so-called works are unprofitable to you. You've got no righteousness. You've got no righteous works in your nation. And so he's saying, look, they're not profitable. Now, we're in Isaiah 57. We've also been looking at the books of the Bible by the same corresponding numbers. So what is the 57th book of the Bible? Does anyone know? It is Philemon. So come with me to Philemon. Philemon only has one chapter, so verse number 11. Let me just quickly tell you in a very short summary what the book of Philemon is all about. All right? So Paul, the apostle, is writing this epistle to a man called Philemon. Philemon is a man who seems to be to do quite well in life, seems to run his own business, has servants under him. And one of his servants is a man named Onesimus. Okay? Now, this servant was a problem servant, and he ran away. He ran away from his employment. He ran away from his master. Anyway, Paul comes across Onesimus. He, you know, comes across him in his travels, and he gets Onesimus saved. All right? And then as they're talking, I guess Onesimus explains, oh, yeah, my master Philemon. And Paul is like, oh, I know Philemon. So he begins to write the epistle to Philemon. And he says to Philemon, look, Onesimus is now saved. Can you please accept him to come back into your service? I'm going to send him back. Right? Like, he's been saved, and he's helping me in the ministry, but I'm sending him back because you're his master. So that's what Philemon is about, okay, in a nutshell. Anyway, look at Philemon, verse number 11. Paul says to Philemon about Onesimus, which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Paul is saying, look, I know he was a slack worker. I know he didn't help your business, and you're probably happy that he ran away. But he's now profitable. He's saying, look, he's a saved man now. He profits me. He's helping me to get the gospel out and seeing other people saved. And now I'm sure he's going to be profitable for you. So what we see here, brethren, is that the nation of Judah in Isaiah 57 is unprofitable, okay? How can they maybe be made profitable once again? They need to return to Christ. They need to return to the Lord. And brethren, this is for you, as workers, as employees. You ought to be profitable. You ought to be value-added workers in your job, right? Whoever you work for, whatever business you work for, there's you, you've got other coworkers. And look, you should be someone that is clearly an outstanding employee, just purely as a saved person. Onesimus was not profitable. He gets saved. Now he's profitable. And this just once again reinforces that as believers, look, we need to serve Jesus Christ, not just in the church, not just in our families, but also in our workplaces. You know, serve the Lord Jesus in your workplace. Pretend, and not just pretend, he is. Jesus is your boss. And if your boss, Jesus, says, get to work 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, you say, yes, Jesus, I'm going to give my best to you because you gave your life for me. So when we do these parallels with the other books of the Bible by the same corresponding numbers, we're trying to pick up similar themes, you know, in the books. Keep your finger there in Philemon and come back with me to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. When thou criest, when the wicked endure a cry out, let thy companies deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all away. Vanity shall take them. But here that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. All right. So God is saying, all right, when you start to cry out, and that's going to be because Babylonians are coming, and they're like, help us, God, help us. He says, let your companies, like, let your false gods deliver you. He goes, but the wind shall carry them all away. He goes, just a strong wind will knock down your idol. Oh, help me, idol. Help me, false god. Help me, molech. Whatever it is that they've got. And it's like, even a wind just knocks them out. All right. But those that put their trust in him will possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. This is a good example of Jeremiah, for example. Even when the Babylonians came, they did arrest him or chain him up. And then, of course, by the Lord's hand, he was let go free. He was given money by Babylon as well. And, you know, he, I guess, possessed the land. Some of the righteous were to remain in the land. So, again, we can apply this in two ways. Or maybe even three ways. We could say some of the righteous, like Jeremiah, they remained on the land. They weren't taken away into captivity. We can also say that at the end of the 70-year captivity, that when the new generation came in the righteousness of Christ and now they believed in the Lord, they were set free to return back into the land. And so there were much more righteous people when they returned back out of captivity. So we can talk about that. Or we can apply this in a spiritual sense and shall inherit my holy mountain. I'm going to quickly read to you from Hebrews 12-22, which says, But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. So, New Jerusalem, or heavenly Jerusalem, is also Mount Zion. And then it says in verse number 23, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. So there is a mount in heaven. There is a Mount Zion in heaven. The book of Revelation also mentions this mount, Mount Zion, where Jesus is standing with 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. But there is a spiritual mount. And so we can apply that as well. Those that put their trust in him, those that put their faith in the Lord, will possess the holy mountain, will inherit the holy mountain, New Jerusalem, Mount Zion in heaven with our Lord God. Verse number 14. And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. So God wants, like God realizes there are stumbling blocks from people putting their trust in him. And so he says, Cast away the stumbling block out of the way of my people. And you know when you go soul winning, when you go and preach the gospel, many times you are trying to remove the stumbling blocks out of people's lives. One stumbling block is, I think my good works saves me. And you show people, look, your works can never save you. So you try to remove that stumbling block. I think I'm a good person. No, no. Your stumbling block is not recognizing that you're a sinner deserving punishment, deserving hellfire. Okay, so you're removing these stumbling blocks out of their lives. You know, whatever false beliefs they have about how to get to heaven, how to be made right with God, you're removing those stumbling blocks and making a way for the people. And that's what God's desire is. Again, for Judah, right? Like, again, even as an adulterous wife, he's still giving them a chance, right, to return in his ways. Verse number 15. So God says he's holy. He dwells in eternity. I dwell in the high and holy place, so he says I dwell in heaven. But with him also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit. Because that's what salvation requires. It requires a humble spirit. It has to be. You've got to be brought to your knees, not literally, but spiritually, and say, look, I need you, Jesus. I can't save myself. I'm on my way to hell. I'm not good enough. I deserve hell. And the moment you understand that, you've been made humbled. You've been humbled. And in your heart, in your contrite heart, you say, Lord, just my faith and trust is in you. My trust is in Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his payment for my sins. It's a free gift. Lord, I receive that free gift. Thank you so much. Again, it's like a sinner's prayer, whatever we call it. Whatever it is, right? Whatever it is that you're expressing to the Lord Jesus Christ, you're opening your mouth in faith to him and you're telling him that you've been made humble by the words of God and you need him in your life. And the moment you do that, God promises you that you're going to be holy like him in that place of eternity and you're going to dwell with him. So we can take that approach. Also, if you come to Philemon in verse number seven, so God says he will revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones. Revival, probably heard of that term revival. And not only can we apply this to salvation, but we can apply this to the fact that serving the Lord can take a bit of a toll on us. Again, I hate using my stories, illustrations, but traveling every week on a flight, you do it. It's tiresome. It's tiring. It may not look like much. You just sit on a plane. You sit in the airport. You sit on a plane. Yeah, okay, but just the whole process and 24 hours before I get back to see my family again, every week it's tiresome. And so what I love about church is that even though I'm tired and I am kind of tired, but just being amongst my brethren, like just seeing you guys, seeing Brother David, I've not seen him for a while, it brings a reviving in me. It brings me joy. I love preaching to you. I love being in the house of God. You encourage me and I hope I encourage you. That's the reviving that we need to continue serving the Lord God. And when we get to Philemon and look at verse number seven, Paul says this about Philemon. He says, For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, for the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Paul says, Philemon, Philemon, you are such an encouragement. Any saint, any brother that comes in your path, you're always there bringing great joy and great love into their life. Our bowels are refreshed by you. That's Philemon. And the reason Paul starts this way, like he's telling Philemon, You're a great guy. We love you and you're a blessing and now I'm going to drop the bomb on you, except Onesimus. Try to open your bowels of mercy and love to Onesimus now. But anyway, what we learn about Philemon is that he's that kind of guy, he's that character that you get around and you're blessed. Let me encourage you, brethren, be a blessing to each other. When you come to church and you say, I want to be blessed at church. Praise God. I believe you would be blessed at church. If you take in the words of God that have been taught and you apply it to your life. But I want you to come to church and say, How can I be a blessing? How can I bring reviving in my brother's or sister's heart in church today? How can I refresh their bowels? For me, mid-week service is super important. We've got crammed up this church right now. They only meet on Sundays and that's fine because that's what we can do right now. Mid-week service has always been so important to me because we go to church on Sunday and then you've got six days in the world. You go to work and you just go to the routine of life. You go to the shops and you're being bombarded with the world's music. You drive and you're bombarded with billboards and wickedness. You go to work and you work hard and you're bombarded with, Hey, let's go to the pub after work. You're bombarded with the world. What I love about mid-week service is it just gives you that break in the middle. I want to go into the Lord's house where I can be refreshed. I can be reminded, I don't have to wait until Sunday to be refreshed in my bowels. I don't have to wait until Sunday to be revived. I need my mid-week in the house of the Lord with my brethren so I can bless them and they can bless me in return. Mid-week service has always been important to me once I got into it. It took me a while to get into it. But honestly, in my previous churches, mid-week service was even more important to me than Sundays because I needed that break in the week, right? Just to be brought back into the sanctuary of the Lord and be reminded, boy, there are great treasures in the Lord. There's great reviving in the Lord. There's great love amongst brothers and sisters in the Lord. So please be that person. Your encouragement, your love, your faithfulness, your friendship is what's going to encourage others to be in our church, all right? And we've got going on to another rabbit trail here, but people like our church generally, New Life, Blessed Hope. I've said this before, but they like our church for our doctrines because we spend a lot of time in God's Word. We try to expound God's Word, right? God's wisdom rather than man's wisdom. That's the goal of this church. But the only thing that's going to cause people to stick around is when they're refreshed, when they're revived, when there's friendships, when they feel unloved, I belong, I'm important in the House of the Lord. Please remember that. As good as doctrine can be, and it is, and it should be, you know, the goal that we have amongst us is to revive, to encourage, and to bless. Come back with me to Isaiah 57. God says in verse 16, So God says, look, I'm not going to be like angry like this forever. Your judgment is coming, we know, in the hands of Babylon. Verse 17, There it is, right? God's been clear. It's your covetousness. It's your spiritual adultery. This is why I'm so angry. And smote him. We know that smiting will be Babylon, okay? God sometimes speaks about future events as though they're present or even past tense sometimes. And he goes, So God says, This is, again, kind of cryptic because they're being carried away into another nation. And so it's like they've been removed. God's always with them, God's watching them, right? But it's like they've been removed from the presence of God. They're in a foreign land, they're in a foreign kingdom, and that's what the Babylonian captivity was all about. And then it says in verse number 18, So God says, Look, I'm going to heal all these people, because at the end of 70 years, they come back, alright? Verse number 19, Alright. The reason he's saying peace, peace is because, again, they're going to come out of captivity one day, they're going to experience peace once again, but he says, And to him that is near. Like I said, most of them were taken, carried away into Babylon, are far off. But then there were some Jews that remained on the land, Jeremiah, for example. And so he says, Look, there's going to be peace for them that are far off, and there's going to be peace that are nearby, alright? Now, that plays into Philemon as well. So come with me to Philemon, verse number 15. Verse number 15. I gave you the summary of Philemon. Paul is telling Philemon, Look, I'm sending Onesimus back to you. He's your servant. He's going to profit you now, alright? I know you guys didn't get along before, but hey, look, accept him. And in Philemon, verse number 15, he says, Paul is saying, Look, maybe the reason he ran away, like for a season, for a short period of time, is that way he can serve you forever. He can not only get saved, but he can learn how to be a profitable servant. He comes back to you a hundred times better than he was before, alright? And then he says in verse number 16, So he goes, Look, not only is he going to profit you as a laborer, as a servant, but now as a brother, as a brother in the Lord, alright? So double, you're getting a better Onesimus when he comes back. And so the reason I see the connection with Isaiah 57, Peace to him that is far off, Onesimus, and to him that is near, Philemon. You know, God is bringing peace between these two parties, and one day God will, you know, at the end of the 70 year captivity, the Jews that were taken into captivity, will come back into the land, be reunited with the Jews that remained in the land, and there will be peace for them when they came out of that captivity. So there's kind of like a double play there, and I can sort of see that in Philemon as well. I've almost finished Brethren, Isaiah 57, Isaiah 57 verse number 20, But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, there is again, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, there is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. So Brethren, let that be encouragement to you. Don't be wicked. There is no peace. There is no satisfaction. Covetousness gives you no satisfaction. I promise you, you know, you look at the Ferrari, or the Lamborghini, or the Tesla, whatever, the Cybertruck, whatever, and you go, man it's so good to have that in my life, and you get it. Once you drive it around, probably within a month, you're like, it's just another car. It's just another car. And then you're like, oh, maybe there's something better. It never satisfies. Like I said, the only thing that ever, I'm talking honestly, like Jesus is the only thing that's ever satisfied me. I'm not like, oh, hmm, I wonder if there's a better religion out there. I wonder if there's another way of salvation that requires more of my efforts. This one was too easy. This was Christ alone, and I want something that requires me to work and labor hard. No, I'm like, yeah, I'm resting in Christ. This is the best religion there is in the world. It's not religion, it's Christ in fact. It's all about Him. And I'm satisfied. I'm not looking for something better. But the world will never satisfy you. There is no peace, save my God to the wicked. And there was no peace to Onesimus when he ran away. But now that he got saved and he's being encouraged to go back and work for Philemon, look, he says, boy, you know, accept him. Not only is he a servant, but he's your brother. And, you know, be thankful for your salvation, be thankful for your Lord, be thankful for your church. I know we're not a very big church, but I love you, and I know you love me, and I'm encouraged. I'm physically tired when I travel here, but spiritually I'm just rejoicing in you, you know, and you're such a blessing to me, brethren. Honestly, you are. You know, and I want you to soldier on and serve the Lord. I don't want your eyes to be on the lust of this world, friendship with this world. I want you to always be thankful for the satisfaction that God gives you. Okay, let's pray.