ISAIAH 562008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 56

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. Isaiah chapter 56. Now I was praying about this evening and what the Lord would have to share this evening. And sometimes I like to cover two chapters and chapter 56 was only 12 verses long. So I was really planning to do 56 and 57 together. But as I was studying and preparing...

I couldn't really comprehend that much. And so then I just stuck with 56. And I thought, but Lord, it's pretty simple here. There's not a lot of explanation that's required. There's not a lot of depth. I shouldn't say that, but there's, you know, just not a lot to talk about here. And that's what the Lord said. He said, well, that's where your mind's at for one thing, but also it's the message that he wants to share this evening. So I pray that we're open to it.

Isaiah chapter 56, let's start with verses 1 and 2. It says,

So here in Isaiah chapter 56, we have a message from the Lord. Thus says the Lord. Here is what the Lord says. And what is it that he is saying? He says, keep justice and do righteousness. He is asking his people, those who are here, to put into practice the things that he has called them to do.

Throughout Israel's history, throughout history period, God has, well, he's had a lot of people who claim him, who apply his name to their life and to their religion.

But then there's a lot of those who do not follow up with a lifestyle that backs up that name that they have applied to themselves or their religion. There's a lot of those who say that I'm a Christian. But there are many who do not live the Christian life, the Christ-like life. And the same is true here. As God is speaking to his people, he says, here's what the Lord says, keep justice and do righteousness.

Now, we would ask the question, we could ask the question, and perhaps we should ask the question. If he's speaking to God's people, if God is speaking to those who will hear him, aren't these people already keeping justice and doing righteousness? Shouldn't they already be walking in the path of God and doing the things that God had called them to do?

Well, yes, of course, they should have and they were supposed to be doing those things. But the message here is given because there is a lack on their part, there's a gap in their part that they're not fulfilling the things that God has called them to do.

They're not going forward in righteousness, in living out the life that God had called them to live. And we need to be very careful about this because although we are under the age of grace and the covenant of grace, the new covenant,

Jesus made it very clear that if you love me, he said, keep my commands. And you can tell those who love me by those who are obedient to me. And so, yes, we are under grace and yes, we fall short and yes, we blow it. Yet, thus says the Lord. Here's what God says to Israel through Isaiah the prophet and to you and I this evening through his word. Keep justice and do righteousness. Do what's right.

Stop practicing sin. Stop living in ways that are unrighteous, in ways that do not honor and represent God. He gives them the reason why they need to do this. Why keep justice? Why do righteousness? He says, for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness is to be revealed.

The reason why he says this, here's the motivation that he gives us, the reason why we need to get our act together, he says, is because my salvation is about to come. It's about to come. It's near at hand. My righteousness is going to be revealed. So practice righteousness. Keep justice. Do what is right in God's sight.

Because His kingdom is very soon going to be established. It's interesting that as He's writing this to Israel, this was many years ago, but He gives them the anticipation, the expectation that He is coming very soon. That His righteousness is about to be revealed. His kingdom is about to be established. God desires, in fact, for every generation, including this one, to expect His kingdom to come.

He desires for all of us to live in a state of expecting and awaiting His return and His kingdom to be established. Whether or not He returns in our lifetime, we will see Him very soon. And so, whether we apply it personally or to the earth corporately, we're going to meet Him face to face very soon. And so, we are to be...

Keeping justice and doing righteousness. Since He is about to come, since you're about to meet with Him, live accordingly. And this passage really struck a chord with me and reminded me of what Jesus had to say in Matthew chapter 24. You know, there in Matthew chapter 24 and 25, Jesus was speaking about end times, end

And he had a lot to say about being ready, about preparing yourself and making sure that you're ready for the coming of the Son of Man. And in Matthew chapter 24, verse 44, he says, Then he goes on to ask the question,

Blessed is that servant to whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

There in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus says, you be ready because the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, is coming at an hour you do not expect. Very similar to what we see here. Keep justice. Do righteousness. Make yourself ready because Jesus Christ is coming. The Messiah is coming. He is about to be revealed.

And so Jesus said, blessed is the servant who's doing what the master asked him to do, who's fulfilling the role and the function that his master gave him. Blessed is that servant when the master comes and finds him fulfilling that role and being obedient and fulfilling the position that his master had given to him.

In the same way God has given us a role and a responsibility in His house, in this place, in this world. As I always encourage us, He's given us the responsibility as ministers to make disciples and to impact the world around us, to share God's love with the people around us as a witness, but also to build up the body of Christ and those brothers and sisters in the Lord that God has placed in our lives.

Blessed is the one whom, when God comes, He finds them doing that, fulfilling the role of the Great Commission, fulfilling the role that has been given to you, using the gifts that God has given to you, walking in righteousness and turning from sin. Yes, we stumble, we fall short, but practicing righteousness, not practicing sin, practicing to get better at righteousness, not practicing to get better at sin in your life.

He says,

Because Jesus Christ is coming soon. In verse 2 of chapter 56, he says, Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold of it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hands from doing evil.

Or any evil. Just like Jesus said, blessed is the servant. That when his master comes, he finds a servant doing what he's called to do. Isaiah says, blessed is the man who does these things. Who keeps his hand from doing any evil. Who keeps himself and practices righteousness. Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath. And talking about the Sabbath, Isaiah will mention this several times, or the Lord will mention it through Isaiah, several times in this chapter.

And it was an important part. It was a significant part of the covenant that God had made with Israel. The Sabbath was a covenant, part of the covenant between God and Israel, that they would keep the Sabbath holy. And it was a part of his relationship with them and part of something that was necessary for God's people to come to him and have relationship with him. In the same way as we've been looking at in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4,

We see that Jesus Christ is our Sabbath rest. He is the fulfillment of the Sabbath. He's the fulfillment of our rest, and our rest is found in Him. And so, applying this to us across, you know, from the Old Covenant now to the New Covenant, we have the Sabbath rest fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but

That's why the Sabbath was never extended. That command was never extended to the church. In the book of Acts, they had to deal with that. Chapter 15, they made it very clear that that was a specific command with Israel and not with the church. It's not a command that applies to the church in the literal sense of keeping a Sabbath day. But keeping a Sabbath rest, and that is placing our faith and trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ...

is the command for us. It's the command that we're to keep. And we're to keep from defiling the Sabbath, which means to keep our hearts from turning from that faith in Jesus Christ and turning back to a works-based relationship and going back to where we do things in order to try to please God.

And try to earn his favor. And so he says, blessed is the man who does this. Who keeps himself from defiling the Sabbath. And keeps his hand from doing any evil. This is the message for the evening. Jesus Christ is coming soon. Get ready. Prepare yourself. Keep righteousness. Or sorry, keep justice. And do righteousness. And you'll be blessed. And blessed are you. If when the Lord returns, he finds you.

Living in obedience to what he has commanded. Look at verse 3. He says, Now as he goes on here in chapter 56, he highlights, he brings up two groups of people.

And he wants to give them a specific message. And basically the message is, you are not excluded from this. You're not excluded from the Lord's plan. He says, do not let the son of the foreigner. Now, the foreigner was treated, well, not so well by the Jewish people.

Now, God's command was that a foreigner should not be treated any differently if they have joined themselves to the Lord. If they've become a follower of God, then they were part of God's people. But the son of a foreigner is not to say, the Lord has utterly separated me from his people. Some of the Jews in that day, even through Jesus' day, would definitely be telling that to the foreigners.

You have no place. God has separated you and you can follow God but it's at a distance and they would try to convince these people that they have a lesser relationship with God because they were foreigners, because they weren't Jews by natural descent. Now God did have some very specific regulations

for foreigners who had not converted to Judaism. And foreigners who had not converted, well, they had very specific things. They couldn't enter into the temple to worship the Lord in the same way that the Jewish person could. They couldn't go into the courtyard. Those who went in need to have had a conversion experience. They needed to commit themselves to the Lord. But the son of a foreigner was saying, excuse me,

And wrongly so, the Lord has utterly separated me from his people. The son of a foreigner felt this way. He was essentially discouraged, saying, I don't have a place. I'm separated. I don't fit in with the rest of the people of God. Or like we would say today, I don't fit in with the rest of the church.

Here God is directing his attention to and specifically applying this message to the son of a foreigner or to those who feel like they're outcast or excluded or looked down upon by the rest of the community. He also gives the other example of a eunuch there in verse 3. He says, "...nor let the eunuch say, Here I am, a dry tree."

So the son of a foreigner and the eunuch. He gives these two examples. Now, both of these by the religious leaders would be looked down upon and not treated very favorably here in Isaiah's time as well all the way up through Jesus' time.

The Jewish leaders would kind of exclude them and they would treat them in a way that they were lesser and really like second class citizens in God's kingdom.

But here what God is saying is, keep justice and do righteousness. My salvation is about to come. Blessed is the man who does this. And not excluding, this is not keeping out the son of a foreigner nor the eunuch. God is not showing partiality. He's saying, whoever does this, whoever keeps my word, whoever walks with me will be blessed. And there's no second class blessing.

citizens in God's kingdom or second-class Christians for those who choose to follow the Lord. Even though people around you may try to make you feel that way or you may yourself feel that way and you may condemn yourself that way or the enemy may try to deceive you that way, it is not what God is saying. And so he says, do not let these people tell themselves that.

Essentially he's saying, look, don't be discouraged. If you feel like an outcast, if you feel excluded, if you feel that you're looked down upon, and you tell yourself, I don't have gifts like this person or that person, or I'm not able to give as others do, or I'm not able to participate in the activities that other people are able to participate in, or I don't share my faith like that, or I don't experience this, or I don't experience that, and we...

We can classify ourselves as second-class Christians when God says, no, that is not who you are. That is not the place that I've given to you. And don't let anybody put you in that place. Because God says, blessed are you who do the things that he has called us to do. Blessed is the one who lays hold of God's word and is faithful to it.

He goes on now to speak to the eunuchs. He says in verse 4, For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant. Even to them I will give in my house and within my wall a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. One of the reasons why it was said

A disgraceful and humiliating thing to be a eunuch was that you had no offspring. You had no way of perpetuating your name. And for the Jewish people, that was something that was very important. You read through all of the genealogies that we have in the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament, and you get a picture of how important it was for them to be able to pass on and to carry on the family name. And so to be a eunuch...

for whatever cause, was something that was not looked upon favorably by the Jewish people and especially by the Jewish leaders. And so the eunuchs, they are discouraged. They're down and out. They're feeling blue because they're not able to carry on their name. There's no offspring that they have. And God says to them, Hey, here's what the Lord says to you. I will give you an everlasting name.

I will give within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters.

So God says to those who are not able to reproduce, not able to carry on the family name, He says, look, you're keeping my Sabbaths, you're choosing what pleases me, you're choosing what pleases God, and you're holding fast to God's covenant, and God says, look, I have something far better for you than what you could have on earth by having children. It's better than having sons and daughters, what I have in store for you in eternity.

God says, lift up your head, you discouraged. You feel like you don't have a name. You feel like nobody knows my name. I'm not important in God's kingdom. You know, nothing really matters about me. And I don't really have anyone to carry on. I've never led anyone to the faith or, you know, proclaim the gospel, really. I've never done much for God. I just, I don't have a name. I come to church and I'm surprised if anybody remembers my name.

And God says, lift up your head. You're not a second class citizen in God's kingdom. You're not the reject that you might try to think that you are. The enemy might try to convince you that you are. Don't feel like a failure because you haven't accomplished what you think is important or what society places on as important or what church culture says is important and what you need to accomplish.

God says, look, here's the important thing. It's to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths. That's again, it's an important part of the covenant that God had with them. And choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant. And so for us today, yeah, you may not be the, you know, what the person next to you considers to be the ideal Christian. But if you hold fast to Jesus Christ...

And you choose what pleases God and you're living your life to please God and you're doing what you can and you're being obedient to Him. God says, I have in store for you something far greater than sons and daughters. I'm going to give you within my walls a place and a name. He says, I'll give you an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. And so whatever God calls you to do, keep it. Hold on to that covenant. God says, lift up your head. Don't be discouraged. Just because your life isn't

like the life of the people around you. And you don't necessarily accomplish the things that the people around you accomplish. You know, it's God who works in you, both to will and to do, for His good pleasure. The important thing for us is to hold fast to Him, to stay close to Him, to walk with Him. And He does the work, allowing Him to work in our lives. That's the important thing. Comparing ourselves with ourselves or with each other

It's not wise. Holding fast to the Lord and having great joy and comfort knowing that He has us exactly where He wants us to be. Even if the rest of the world despises us and rejects us like they did the eunuchs of the day. Going on in verse 6, now He talks to the sons of the foreigner. He says, Also the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him

And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations.

Verse 8, the Lord our God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him. So here in verses 6 through 8, God now speaks to the sons of the foreigners again. And he says to them, even to you I will do a great work. He says to the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him.

So they're not by natural descent children of Israel. Yet, they join themselves to God. They choose to serve God, to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants. They keep themselves from defiling the Sabbath. So they enter into the covenant with God in the same way that all of us have the opportunity to enter into the new covenant by faith in Jesus Christ. God says, "...even them I will bring to My holy mountain."

Now, it was a very strong opinion that the Jewish leaders had, that the religious people of Israel had, that Israel was going to be saved, and that's all that God cared about. And he was going to do away with the rest of the nations, the rest of the peoples. They were unimportant to God, was the idea that was floating around amongst the Jewish leaders of the day. And again, we see that all the way up through the time of Jesus Christ.

Even as Paul the Apostle, remember, there he was testifying before the Jewish people. And he's in a sense on trial. The people had been beating him and the Romans came and saved him. But he got an opportunity to address the crowd and so he's speaking to them. But as soon as he said, God sent me to the Gentiles, everybody went in an uproar and went crazy again. Why? Why?

Because they were so set in their opinion that God was going to destroy the Gentiles and only Israel was going to be saved. That was their opinion. That's what they thought. And so the son of the foreigner of that day would have this condemnation, this people that they thought very little of the surrounding nations. And they would not share with them that God loved them and had a plan for their life. He says to the sons of the foreigner...

Hey, you join yourself to me, even you I will bring to my holy mountain. And I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Don't be discouraged. Don't be distraught. Don't be stressed out and anxious. He says, I've got a wonderful plan for you. I'm going to bring you to my holy mountain. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar. And God says, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

God's making it very clear. This is not limited to only the select few, only those who are naturally descended from Abraham. This is not only for, you know, those special few people. This is for all nations. This is for everyone who will turn to me and hold fast to my covenant. The Lord, he says, the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel. Again, those who are outcasts, those who have been rejected.

He gathers them to himself and he says, I will gather to myself others besides those who are gathered. The other nations, you and I, hear God's message is so clear. The eunuchs unable to carry on their name are given an everlasting name. The foreigners who are given no place by society are given a place on the holy mountain by God himself. God is encouraging them to walk with him, to know himself,

That He will reward them as they walk with Him, as they keep justice and do righteousness. And this is the motivation, He says, because my salvation is about to come. My coming is near, God is saying. The reason why we need to be about the work of God and walking with God is because we're going to meet with Him very soon. Whether we go to be with Him or He comes to be with us, we're going to meet with Him very soon. Excuse me.

In Matthew chapter 21, Jesus, he quoted this portion of Isaiah. He says, And as he quoted this, it was a time that Jesus was cleaning out the temple. You remember those, it was two times Jesus did it. And this time was the second time as he was about to be crucified. And he comes into the temple area. And there's people there saying,

Buying and selling. There's people there exchanging money. And you've heard the teaching, I'm sure, many times. The thing that was going on was the religious leaders were using the courtyard of the temple to rip off the people who came to worship God.

The courtyard of the temple was the place where the foreigners could come, where they could come and pray and seek God and worship God. It was the place where they could come and seek the Lord and seek to have a relationship with Him. But although this was the place where they were allowed to come,

It was not a place of prayer and that's why Jesus quotes this because there was all this merchandise going on. There was all this exchange going on. There was these people ripping off the rest of the people and there was all this commotion going on. And so Jesus drives them out so that this could be fulfilled. That my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. They were excluding the Gentiles and making it difficult for them to come by having people

the great distractions there that would not allow them to be able to really seek the Lord.

You know, we take great pains to keep four walls standing up and present to you an atmosphere that would be conducive for spending time in prayer and seeking the Lord and hearing from God. It's why we have the kids separate so that they can hear from the Lord where they're able to hear and we're able to hear from the Lord as well without being distracted and having lots of commotions going on. But in that day...

They weren't doing that. They were thinking very little of the foreigners. Yeah, they don't really need a place to come. They're not going to be saved anyways, they thought. And so they set up camp to make merchandise to rip off the people of God and put more money in their pocketbooks. So here, as Jesus quotes this,

We'll come back to that thought, but we see that he needed to clean house because there were some things going on that were not appropriate and the house was not the house of prayer that it should have been. But let's move on to verse 9. He says, "...all you beasts of the field, come to devour all you beasts in the forest."

Verse 10,

Come, one says, I will bring wine and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink. Tomorrow will be as today and much more abundant. Now God turns his attention to a third group. Remember the first part. This is where it all stems from. Keep justice, do righteousness. My kingdom is about to be established. My salvation is about to come. The soon return of Jesus Christ. The soon return of God.

So do what's right. Keep the covenant. Follow God. He says to those who are outcasts, to those who are despised by society, you're not excluded from this. I have a great and wonderful place for you. Keep my covenant. And now he turns his attention to the leaders, to the religious leaders of the day. And he speaks to them not with the same gentleness and hope and encouragement that he speaks to the others.

He speaks to those who are his watchmen, to those who are the shepherds. And he really calls down judgment upon them. There in verse 9 he says, All you beasts of the field, come to devour all you beasts in the forest. He's calling judgment upon the leaders. Now, here's the irony of the situation.

The Jewish leaders, you would think, are the ones that are going to have the great and glorious entrance into the kingdom of God and great and glorious place in God's kingdom. But those are the ones that God is pronouncing judgment upon. Those that were rejected and despised by the Jewish leaders, you would think those would barely make it into the kingdom of God if they make it at all. But it's those ones that God says, I'm going to give you an everlasting name and it's going to be something better than sons and daughters.

I have even for you a place on my holy mountain. See, God does not work in the way that religion expects. And the religious leaders, all full of themselves and thinking highly of themselves, the reality was, in verse 10 he says, his watchmen are blind. They can't see. And Jesus pronounced this as well upon the Jewish leaders whenever he was there and walked the earth. They were blind. Not only are they blind, but they're ignorant. Right?

What a tragic thing to say about those who are in authority in a nation, specifically the nation of Israel. They're ignorant. They're all dumb dogs and they cannot bark. The watchmen are not able to do their job because they're ignorant. They're blind. What good is a blind watchman? What good is a guard dog who cannot bark? He says they're sleeping, they're lying down and they're loving to slumber. Here's the dangerous position to be in.

despised by others, rejected by society, it may not feel so good right now. You may not like how it feels. You may be depressed about it. But it's not such a bad position to be in if you hold fast to the Lord. But if you are instead blind and ignorant, like a dumb dog, unable to bark, sleeping, lying down, and loving to slumber, well, that's not a good position to be in.

This is the position of the religious leaders. He says, verse 11, Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough, and they're shepherds which cannot understand. They all look to their own way. Instead of looking to please God, as he said that the eunuchs were choosing to do, they're looking to their own way. Everyone's for his own gain and from his own territory. He's all just concerned about himself and building his kingdom on this earth. So God says, All you beasts of the field, come to devour.

He is bringing judgment upon the Jewish leaders because they're blind and ignorant and dumb and they're sleeping and they love to slumber. They're not seeking the Lord but they're seeking their own gain. And he gives the example. Come, one says, I will bring wine and we'll fill ourselves with intoxicating drink and tomorrow will be as today and much more abundant. They're living in this kind of a dream, a fantasy world is a better way, I guess. A fantasy world of all we have to do is have this name.

All we have to do is be religious and we can live however we want and life's just going to keep on going like it is. We're never going to experience consequences. We won't experience judgment. We just have to have the appearance of or seem to be religious and that is enough was the mentality. But he says, they're blind. They're blind watchmen, sleeping, lying down and loving to slumber. Matthew chapter 24, I shared with you at the beginning of this.

When Jesus said, you also be ready. And he said, blessed, you know, is the servant who, when the master comes, the master finds him doing the role and fulfilling the role that God had called him to fulfill. The passage goes on in Matthew chapter 24 to give the contrast. In verse 48 of Matthew 24, Jesus says, but if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming.

See the same theme, the same thrust. Jesus says, you also be ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

So be a faithful servant and fulfill your role and you'll be blessed. When the Master comes and finds you doing what He has called you to do, you will be blessed. But if you as a servant say in your heart, "My Master's delaying is coming, I can live however I want, I begin to live by my own rules, by my own standards, looking out for my own self," then the Master will come in an hour when I'm not aware. I won't be prepared, I won't be ready.

And he says that servant will be cut in two and will be appointed him his portion with the hypocrites where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's the same thing that Isaiah is saying. Thus says the Lord, keep justice and do righteousness for my salvation is about to come. Yeah, even for the rejected and outcasts of society, even for those looked down upon by the religious leaders and the other people around them. Yes, even for the eunuchs and even for the sons of a foreigner. God says, I have wonderful things for you.

Prepare yourself. Fulfill your role. Do what I've called you to do because my coming is near. But to those who are sleeping, to those who are not paying attention, acting like it's just going to continue on just like it always has, they will be taken by surprise and they will experience the judgment of God. Here this evening, like I said, it's not a difficult or complicated message. It's a very simple message. Jesus Christ is coming soon.

He's coming soon. Are you ready? Your position is nothing. Your action is everything. Whether you're the son of a foreigner or a eunuch, hey, it doesn't matter. Blessed are you if you do these things that God has called you to do. But if you have the attitude, well, I'm a Christian or I've been a Christian for many years or I know these things. And so you live your life not seeking to please God. It's not the passion of your heart. It's not the way that you live. It's not what you are involved in doing.

Instead, you kind of just live your own life and do what you want. Hey, it's okay to fill ourselves with intoxicating drink. It's okay to get drunk, to practice sin or participate in sin. Maybe with the attitude, well, I can repent later. Jesus said, look, I'm going to come when you're not ready, when you're not prepared. And so the lesson is, what God is saying is live right, right now.

Live right now as if you were expecting Him to return. And that's really the difficult thing, isn't it? If you knew that Jesus Christ was coming at the end of service this evening, when you woke up this morning, how would your day have been different? How would you live? If you knew that He was coming on Sunday before service, how would the rest of your week be lived? Would it be different than what you have planned right now?

Are you expecting His return? Are you living in a way that proves that you're expecting His return? Jesus said, Therefore be also ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. He told several different parables and several different examples to give us the understanding that we need to be ready right now, as if He's returning right now.

And that's what Isaiah says today, or the Lord says, thus says the Lord. Here's what God says. This is not opinion. This is not, you know, well, you know, we just have an end times theme, you know, in Calvary Chapel, and so this is what we teach. Thus says the Lord. Keep justice. Do righteousness. For my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed. This is what God says. Right now, live right. Get right with God.

Because my righteousness is about to come. His kingdom is about to be established. In 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter says, Know this, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lesson, saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. There will be those in the last days that come that say, All things continue as they have. Very similar to what

The leaders were saying in verse 12 of Isaiah 56, Tomorrow will be as today and much more abundant. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. So don't live this day thinking that tomorrow you can repent. Tomorrow there'll be time for the things of God. So you can live for yourself today. That's the attitude of the scoffers who will come in the last days. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. And so it's time to live today expecting His return.

And the question for us this evening, is it time for us to clean house? Going back to Matthew chapter 21, where Jesus was there in the temple area, driving out those who were buying and selling, those who were exchanging money. He was overturning tables. He was cleaning the Lord's house, saying, my house should be a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord is asking us this evening, are you ready for my return? Do you need to clean house?

Is there things that need to be driven out of your life, of your lifestyle? Are there things that need to be cleaned up? Some habits, some practices, some choices, some decisions, some activities, some channels, some magazines, some stuff in your life that needs to be turned over, cleaned out. Is it time for you to clean house? Because it's time to live with an expectancy of God's return.

expecting that He is coming back. Keep justice and do righteousness right now because His coming is very near. In 1 John 3, I'll close with this as the worship team comes up to lead us in worship. 1 John 3 says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him.

Here in 1 John chapter 3, with this beautiful start, it says, "...that we should be called children of God."

Although, yes, maybe we're the sons of foreigners, although maybe we're the eunuchs, we're the outcasts and despised and rejected of society, yet God has given us such a great honor and such a great love and that we are able to be called children of God. And because we are children of God, He says, therefore the world doesn't know us just as it didn't know Him. The world doesn't know us, so yes, the world, well, the world despises and rejects us just as it did Jesus. But it hasn't been yet revealed.

what we will be when He is revealed. And when He's revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Just as God told these outcasts of society, I have a place for you, an everlasting name. Jesus says, look, it hasn't yet been revealed what you're going to be. There's great things I have in store for you. And when I come, then you'll see me as I am, and you'll be like me. You'll be given a new body, and there's great things that God has in store for you. And so He says in verse 3 of 1 John chapter 3,

Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as he is pure. And so this evening as they lead us in this first worship song, I want to encourage you, purify yourself. Do you have this hope of Jesus' return? Are you expecting His return? The evidence of that is the purification of yourself. It doesn't mean we flog ourselves because of sin, but it means we confess it and we turn from it.

We repent. We agree with God about our sin, about what we have done, about our lifestyle, about those things that He's been speaking to us about. Whatever it is, it's time to clean house because His coming is near. It's high time to awake, the Apostle Paul said, because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Often we grow more and more lax in our walk, in our compromises, in what we allow in our lives as we grow older in the faith.

But Paul says it needs to be the opposite because it's closer and closer. We need to be more and more ready, more and more prepared. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he, Jesus Christ, is pure. And so let's take this time to confess our hearts to the Lord, to clean house, to purify ourselves by allowing him to clean up and take care of those things that he's been speaking to us about. Let's worship the Lord together.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

Oh breath of God come breathe with me. Let us sing all that is. Spirit of God we wait for you. With us in you we pray.

Fill us with new, we pray. Consuming fire, burning flame. Passion for your name. Spirit of God, all in this place. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way. Oh, Mother of God.

She will fill us with power from now set the cactus free. Leave us abandoned to your new world. Let your glory be.

Oh, let your glory fall. The children's lives, they're named to play.

A passion for your name Spirit of God Fall in this place Lord have your way Lord have your way Come to me by a man's way A passion for your name

Spirit of God, fall in this place. Lord, have your way. There must be more than this. Spirit of God, for you. Fill us anew.

Will you fill us in new? Will you fill us in new? We pray. Come to me. Come. Bend into faith. A passion for your name. Spirit of God. Fall in this place. Lord, have your way.

Lord, have your eyes fallen. Lord, have your eyes fallen.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Then he says in verse 11 of chapter 5, Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

As they continue to lead us in worship, I want to encourage you as we have been doing on Wednesday evenings, although we've taken a break the last couple weeks, but it's the time to minister to one another. It's the time to get up and go to someone else and pray for them and encourage them. Here the Apostle Paul says, comfort each other and edify one another. If you don't know...

And if you don't have something specific on your heart to share with someone, you can comfort and encourage them in regards to the things that we've already been looking at today. Comfort someone this evening. Let them know, hey, you're not a second-class Christian. There's no second-class children in God's kingdom. But you have an important and a wonderful place. God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. He's got a wonderful place and an everlasting name for you.

comfort and encourage the people around you. Edify them and encourage them in the hope that we have in heaven. That whether we wake or sleep, whether we live or die, we shall be together with Him. We have the hope of eternity, the hope of heaven. And so take this time to comfort and edify one another. The cleansing, that work will come as we have this hope, as you encourage them and give them hope and share with them that hope.

God will do the work in them of the purifying. Because everyone who has that hope purifies himself just as he is pure. Our job this evening, during this next song or two, is to comfort and edify one another. And so I encourage you, whether they're across the sanctuary or wherever, just feel free to get up and move and go and share and minister to someone. If it's one of us on the stage or in the sound booth, just grab our attention, pull us aside. Be faithful.

with what the Lord has spoken to you. Minister to one another. Blessed is the one, the servant, whom when his master comes, he finds fulfilling the things that he's called them to do. Let's minister to one another as we worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.