Please keep your Bible s handy at Isaiah chapter 1 we ll be looking at verses 10 to

Transcription

1 What does God Require? (Isaiah 1:10-20) 26 th October Please keep your Bible s handy at Isaiah chapter 1 we ll be looking at verses 10 to 20. There s an outline in the bulletin to take notes if that helps you. Let me pray first, for God s guidance. Let s pray. Intro/Religion When we use the word religion what do we mean? Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists perhaps? Big Cathedrals and churches? Coming to church on Sunday? Anything else? (open to congregation) (pause) It might be worth our while having a definition of what religion is: Powerpoint 1 - Definition The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods (Oxford Dictionary) We re all here today because we belief in and worship a superhuman controlling power our personal God the creator of the Heavens and the Earth and the God of the Bible. But is being here at worship on Sunday enough? Is that what God requires? (pause) That s the dilemma that faced Judah and Jerusalem. Page 1 of 12

2 2 Was the way that the people of Judah and Jerusalem worshipped God what God required? In verses 10 to 15 of chapter 1 Isaiah describes the way that Judah and Jerusalem were currently worshipping God and it s the WRONG way! The Wrong Way (1:10-15) [Powerpoint 2 Blank] Isaiah begins in verse 10 by addressing the people of Judah and Jerusalem as though they were the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why does he address them like that? Well look back one verse - to verse 9 and he told Judah and Jerusalem that if God hadn t left some survivors they would have become just like Sodom and Gomorrah Remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped out for their wickedness. Sodom and Gomorrah stood for all that was wicked! And basically Isaiah is saying: Judah and Jerusalem you are no better than Sodom and Gomorrah! And because Judah and Jerusalem are no better than Sodom and Gomorrah God says (through Isaiah) in verses 11 to 15 He s had more than enough of their burnt offerings and sacrifices for their sins and he takes no pleasure in the sacrifice of bulls and lambs and goats in verse 11 [Powerpoint 3 Wrong Way - meaningless, detestable sacrifices] He says - their offerings are meaningless in v13 Page 2 of 12

3 And their incense is detestable to him still in v13 3 So what was the purpose of these sacrifices in the first place? A quick look at Leviticus 4 will tell us: [Powerpoint 4a Leviticus 4] 13 If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realize their guilt 14 and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the tent of meeting. Notice the purpose of the sacrifices was for unintentional sin. But Judah s sin is far from unintentional. Their hands are full of blood at the end of v15? One of Isaiah s contemporaries was the prophet Hosea - and he says this about the people: [Powerpoint 4b Hosea 4:2] 2 There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. (Hosea 4:2) So basically the people were deliberately cursing, lying and murdering and stealing and committing adultery and breaking all God s rules and then they turn up at the temple to offer sacrifices to God it s hypocritical! [Powerpoint 5 Wrong way - Hypocritical worship and inconsistent worship] Their sacrifices and worship are not consistent with their lifestyle. Page 3 of 12

4 And perhaps that s the same for us? 4 We turn up on Sunday morning for the worship service and this might be the first time we ve thought about God all week? Or the first time all week we ve reflected on what Jesus did on the cross for us? Or maybe we come here on Sunday and put our heart and soul into worship but the rest of the week: we re angry, fighting with everyone, thinking hateful thoughts about others and full of resentment? Or maybe we come here on Sunday and just go through the motions? We stand up for the hymns they are nice and catchy songs but we don t focus on what the words mean We close our eyes during the prayers and drift off not listening to what s being prayed and missing their meaning and intention We try to focus on the Bible readings and Bible talk but start thinking about the family, what we need to cook for lunch or dinner and before we know it the service is over and we leave total unaffected. That s not the purpose of our worship service. We should be leaving affected by God s word and growing spiritually otherwise coming to church is no different to the people of Judah offering meaningless sacrifices? Just before I became a Christian I attended a church in someone s home on a Sunday evening they did the most excellent supper afterwards. I looked forward to going for the food! I grew but it wasn t spiritually it was in width! That s not what God wants for us! (pause) Page 4 of 12

5 Isaiah also says in verses 13 and 14 - God is over their New Moon and Sabbath 5 feasts and festivals He s tired and weary because these feast and festivals are no longer about Him the Holy God but about the people and their own selfindulgence! It s a bit like how we celebrate Easter and Christmas Easter is no longer about Jesus death and resurrection and more about chocolate eggs and bunnies and fancy bonnets! And Christmas is no longer about God s gift of sending Jesus as the Saviour of the world and more about Santa, and presents and partying! And whilst we re on the subject of Christmas and Easter coming to worship twice a year on those special occasions and then putting God back on the shelf until next year like he s a toy soldier is not want God requires that s not worship it s making a mockery of God s love in sending Jesus to die for the sin of the world! And God s over it! He s over worship which is false and pretentious and not heart-felt and he s over praise that is not consistent with our lifestyle And that is why He says in v15 when the people pray he s going to hide his eyes and not listen to their prayers! Imagine that God getting to the point where he won t listen to our prayers! It s like a parent who warns and warns their child of constant misbehavior and gives them a second chance, a third chance and so on Page 5 of 12

6 At some point the parent has had a gutful they are not being listened to and 6 the excuses from the child are not good enough anymore there needs to be a change of attitude and a change of heart. And that s where God is at with Judah and Jerusalem he s not listening to anymore of their excuses he s sick of their hypocritical sacrifices and offerings and their insincere prayers. [Powerpoint 6 Wrong way - Prayers insincere with unresolved sin in our lives] And there s a warning for us here in v15 if we offer prayers to God and we have unresolved and intentional sin in our lives (just like Judah and Jerusalem did) do you think God is going to listen to our prayers never mind answer them? How can we offer prayers to God for others when our lives are out of control and not in line with God s purposes? We need to address our lives - before God will listen to us? (pause) So what does God require of us? The Right Way (1:16-18) What s the right way? Check out v16 God says wash and make yourself clean. He s not talking about taking a bath or a shower. Washing is symbolic of making us clean of our sins. [Powerpoint 7 Right way clean stop doing wrong] For example when a drug addict quits the drug habit we say they are clean Page 6 of 12

7 We need to quit our habit of sin and get clean! 7 Still in v16 God says take your evil deeds out of my sight stop doing wrong? And he doesn t mean just hiding our sins from God because we can t hide anything from God. No God means stop whatever sin you re doing for good quit it now! It means making your life consistent with your worship here on Sunday! What might that look like? Well Isaiah gives us a bit of an insight In verse 17 he says learn to do what is right. [Powerpoint 8 Right way learn to do right] In every situation we face we have a choice we can do what is right or do what is wrong that choice is in our hands no one else s We can learn to do right by learning from God s word on Sundays, at Bible Study and in our own private times immersed in God s word We can seek justice in the Hebrew this means doing what is right, just and lawful according to the law (of the land and God s law) In every situation we face we can examine our actions against the law and ask our self are we obeying the law of the land and are we obeying God s law? If not don t do it? [Powerpoint 9 Right way Bless the downtrodden, orphans, widows] And still in verse 17 we need to be defending the people who are oppressed And defend here is better translated as bless or make happy Page 7 of 12

8 8 We need to be blessing people who are downtrodden in society the homeless and the poor and the sick We need to be taking up the cause of orphans (the fatherless) and pleading the case of the widow? So how are we going with helping the downtrodden, the homeless, the orphans and widows, here at St. David s? What s that going to look like for us? Our New Testament passage from Romans 12 this morning might help us here. So turn with me to Romans chapter 12 And if you wanted one chapter in the whole Bible that tells Christians how to live this is it! (Pause) In verse 1 Paul says we should be offering our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. In other words our lives lived for God not lives lived for ourselves! Verse 2 we shouldn t be like the world we should act different. A lot of our society ignores the oppressed and is not concerned with the homeless, the poor, the orphans and the widows. Verse 3 we shouldn t think more highly of our self than others we should be humble. Verse 9 we should show sincere love not fake insincere love! Verse 10 we should honour others before ourselves Verse 13 we should share with those in need and practice hospitality Page 8 of 12

9 9 Verse 15 we should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn Verse 16 we should live in harmony with one another and not be proud but be humble and willing to associate with people of low position. That means we hang out with the homeless, the oppressed in our society we hang out with the widows in our church To use a modern day phrase we walk the walk not just talk the talk What God requires is a whole life of Christian love! He wants us to love Him and Love others! [Powerpoint 10 Love] That s how Jesus summarized God s Law in John 13: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. How can we do this in a practical way - with people who are oppressed, poor, needy, orphaned, homeless and widowed? Well we can love them: by listening to them, by talking with them, by praying with them, by reading the Bible with them, giving them time, visiting them, phoning them, pleading their case with Government authorities like Centrelink, Solicitors, Police if need be, we can provide them with meals, clothes and living essentials and give them help around their home if they have one Page 9 of 12

10 or finding them somewhere to live if they haven t 10 Some of us in church might not be physically able to help in lots of these ways but we can all pray can t we? (pause) Here s a challenge for all of us this morning Think of one person in our church family or in our community who you can help in one of those practical ways. Pray for that person and ask God to show you a way to help them this week. (pause) So God (through Isaiah) has presented a wrong way & a right way to worship God - and live out our lives day by day. Where s it all going to end up? Turn back to Isaiah chapter 1 And I reckon v18 - is the KEY verse God is like a parent sitting his child (Judah and Israel) down at the table The child has done wrong and God (the parent) has shown the child what he/she shouldn t do and what he/she should do. Then he says in v18 let us settle the matter And we could be at that table with God too! And God is saying to Judah and Jerusalem and us okay what s it going to be the wrong way or the right way? God s saying let s work this out together - And then God offers this wonderful hope in v18 - Page 10 of 12

11 11 Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool What a promise! What hope! Judah s sins are like scarlet because they have blood on their hands they have been wicked and have been oppressing and murdering people! And we have blood on our hands not because we ve literally murdered people but because we have disobeyed God s commands we haven t helped the less fortunate in our society or even our church! We haven t walked the walk we ve just talked the talk. But God promises that these sins which are as red as crimson can be as white as snow and be like wool. [Powerpoint 11 Right way Jesus] How? Well this is a clear reference and prophecy of Jesus! Jesus washes us clean of our sin by his blood and makes us as white as snow and the wool reference is clear too At Passover the Jews sacrificed a lamb and smeared its blood over their door frames and door posts to remember the day when they were preserved from slavery and death in Egypt and in the same way Jesus is our Passover lamb sacrificed on the cross 2000 years ago at Calvary Jesus blood shed - so that we could have our sins washed away so we are preserved from the slavery of sin and saved from death to have eternal life. Page 11 of 12

12 (pause) 12 The Alternatives (1:19-20) But God didn t make us like robots he gave us a brain and a will of our own. And so God (through Isaiah) offers Judah and Jerusalem and us - 2 alternatives in verses 19 and 20. We can either be willing and obedient to God - in v19 Or we can resist and rebel in v20 If we are willing and obedient in v19 - we will eat the good things of the land in other words we will be blessed But if we resist and rebel in v20 we will be devoured by the sword in other words we will be cursed and cut off - To put it simply [Powerpoint 12 Alternatives] The Right way is being willing and obedient to God and accepting Jesus blood has washed our sin away and made us as white as snow = Heaven The Wrong way is resisting and rebelling against God and rejecting Jesus = Hell! (pause) Friends, let s choose the right way and let s make our lives and our worship consistent and live out our lives in total love for God and love for others! Let s pray. Page 12 of 12