ISAIAH 57-66 TREMBLE AT MY WORD2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 57-66 Tremble At My Word

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 2013. And we're going to be looking at Isaiah chapters 57 through 66 this evening, finishing up

The book of Isaiah, as we look at the chapters that we read this week, as we go through the Bible in three years. Well, we're finishing up the book of Isaiah, which is the first of the major prophets. We're going to be heading now into the book of Jeremiah, and then Lamentations, also written by Jeremiah, and then Ezekiel and Daniel. So we're going forward and continuing to look at these major prophets. And as I remind you every week, they're called major prophets, not because they're more important necessarily than the other prophets,

But that they have the largest amount of work. And so because of the size of their books, we refer to them as the major prophets. Well, the prophet Isaiah ministered from about 745 to about 695 BC. He ministered to the nation of Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and then Manasseh.

Alongside of him, guys who were prophesying as well to the nation of Judah, were Hosea and Micah. And we're going to get to their books later on this year. And so Isaiah was ministering. And here's a quick timeline that we continue to refer back to. So Israel was at one time a united kingdom under Saul, David, and then Solomon. But then it was divided in 933 B.C. or thereabouts.

And so as a divided nation, the northern kingdom kept the name Israel and it was conquered by Assyria at about 722 BC, right down here, during the time that Isaiah is prophesying. Now Isaiah is primarily focused on the nation of Judah, which is not conquered for a little bit later when it's conquered by the nation of Babylon.

But the nation as a whole is on a downward spiral in rebellion against God, as we'll see in the chapters we'll read this evening, that the nation is rebelling against God. And so God is using Assyria and Babylon to bring discipline to his children, to his people, and to call them to repentance.

And so as we look at these closing chapters of Isaiah, they're in the closing portion of Hezekiah's reign and maybe possibly at the very beginning of Manasseh's reign. So we're kind of right here at the end of Isaiah's ministry, at the end of his life, as he is writing these things that we'll be studying this evening. Here's what it looks like visually. There's Isaiah in the middle. Again, here's the northern kingdom. They're conquered by Assyria and led away captive.

Isaiah is prophesying to the nation of Judah during that time. And they go on for some time. God still has patience with them, giving them opportunity to repent. But they do not, as we'll see as we get into the book of Jeremiah starting this week.

Here's a quick look at the geography of the book of Isaiah. So on the left here you have the divided kingdom. The green portion on the top, that's the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom after it was split. And then the bottom portion here is the nation of Judah. But as Isaiah is writing these things...

Israel has already been conquered. So Assyria has already led those people away captive. So that's really non-existent at this point. And then Judah has been reduced to pretty much just the city of Jerusalem. Uh,

Remember Assyria came and took the strongholds of Judah. Jerusalem was the last holdout and so it's been reduced to basically one city. And so this is, you know, the map of how it looked probably when they first split and divided into two kingdoms. But they've been greatly reduced as a result of their rebellion against God since then.

On the top right hand side here you have a map of the nation of Assyria and their attempt to conquer. Well they conquered Israel, the northern kingdom. They attempted to conquer Jerusalem but were unsuccessful. God protected them.

But God also said that there would be a final judgment upon Jerusalem, but he used the nation of Babylon. And so Babylon is on the bottom right here. Babylon rose to power later on after Assyria, overtook Assyria, and God was using Babylon also to come against the nation of Judah to bring judgment and discipline to his people for their rebellion against him.

And so we're going to be looking at that as we go through our portion this evening. And so we start out now in chapter 57 of Isaiah, verse 18 is the key verse. It says, I have seen his ways and will heal him. I will also lead him and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. Here as we jump into chapter 57 of Isaiah, in this latter portion of Isaiah, Isaiah is

most of the time looking forward to the glorious kingdom that will come when the Messiah rules and reigns in Jerusalem.

Now looking back on this, we understand the Messiah is Jesus Christ and he will come again to rule and reign upon the earth for 1,000 years. We refer to that as the millennium. And so a lot of what Isaiah is prophesying about is fulfilled when Jesus comes again for the second coming and establishes his kingdom. In verses 1 and 2 though,

It tells us that the righteous are taken away from evil. In verse 1 it says, Isaiah, the Lord through Isaiah is pointing out here,

that the righteous people of the land are starting to disappear. God's kind of like taking them out of the picture. They're dying. They're decreasing. There's not many righteous left. And Isaiah here is saying that God is allowing this so that they would not experience the judgment that is going to come. Warren Wiersbe says it this way, when God wants to judge his people...

You might remember God gave a message to Josiah, who was a good king, and he made some mistakes. But God said, "...because you humbled yourself before me, the judgment that I'm going to bring is going to happen after you're gone."

And so that's kind of the idea that's happening here, that God is sparing the righteous from seeing and enduring the judgment that he's about to bring upon the nation.

We can get maybe a little glimpse of the rapture here. You know, as Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, that God has not appointed us to wrath, but he's going to catch up the church before the tribulation, the judgment of God is poured out upon the earth. And so you see maybe a glimmer of that here in verses 1 and 2. Well, then in verses 3 through 10, we get the contrast though. He says, are you not children of transgression?

As he's addressing the nation, he's saying, you're not paying attention. You haven't noticed. There's not many righteous left. God's taking them home to be with him. And the rest of you, you're children of transgression. You're children of sin. In verse 5, he says, you're inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks.

He talks about what they're doing and their involvement with idolatry. Now a lot of times people look at the Old Testament, specifically like the prophets, and they wonder, wow, how could there be so much judgment that is announced? That's a lot of judgment. It seems like God's just really angry all the time.

But what we forget is how much sin is going on. And this is happening over a span of, you know, several hundred years that they are rebelling against God and refusing. And they've come to the point now, it points out in verse 5, where they're practicing what the people around them practice, which was sacrificing their children to these false gods. And so they would

put their children to death in the worship of these false gods. And so when we don't understand the judgment, it's because we really don't understand the sin that is involved. There was great depravity that was happening as they worshiped the god of Molech among the other gods. So verses 11 through 13, God says, your works will not profit you.

Here's the interesting thing about the nation of Judah. And it's very appropriate for us as well. Because the people were thinking...

We could still worship God. We could still go to the temple and perform our sacrifices, and we could also worship these other gods. We can do both. They were involved. It's not like they said, we don't want anything to do with you, God. They said, we want you, and we want you, and we want you, and we want you. And they were worshiping a variety of gods, a multitude of gods, and really doing things that God had forbidden. And so,

They expected that their works would help them because of their disobedience. God, I know you didn't want us to do this, but I'm following these rituals and I'm doing these things. And so they thought that that would make up for their disobedience. But God says in verse 13, when you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away. A breath will take them away.

But he who puts his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. God says, you want to trust? You've been insisting on trusting in these other false gods. So I'm going to let you trust in them. And when you come to the day of calamity, then you can trust in them and let them save you. But they're false gods and so they will not be able to save you. But if you put your trust in me, then I will establish you and you will inherit my holy mountain.

So he's pointing out here, your works cannot save you. They can't make up for your disobedience. So what can save you then? Well, then we see in verses 14 through 21, God says, I dwell with him who has a contrite spirit. Here's what God says. Here's the person that I'm with. Not the person who does all these rituals, who follows the religion. Not the person who practices these things, you know, these specific ways.

But I'm with the person who has a contrite spirit. Here's what he says in verse 15. For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Again here we're talking about the nation of Judah. And their situation. And their rebellion against God. But there's great application in parallel to our own hearts.

Because we often fall into the same trap of thinking that we can, well, just make up for our disobedience by doing works, by following things. Well, I read my Bible. I went to church. I did, you know, I did the check boxes. And so I'm good to go even though I have these issues in my life that I'm not addressing and I'm not repenting from. And what God is saying is, no, I don't dwell with those people.

I dwell with the person who is contrite and humble. He says there in verse 15, I'm the high and lofty one. He's, you know, giving us the picture how big he is. The creator of the heavens and the earth. He inhabits eternity. And yet, he dwells with the one who is lowly. The word contrite literally means crushed. It could be translated bruised or discouraged, broken, cast down, broken.

God says, I dwell with the one who's bruised, who's broken. I dwell with the one who's crushed. I dwell with the one who is cast down. Your works cannot save you. What can save you? God says, humble yourself. Be broken. Be crushed. Be cast down. The real question for you and I this evening is, will you admit your brokenness? Will you admit it? Will you recognize I'm broken and

Because when you admit it, when you testify with God, I'm broken, I'm crushed, I'm empty. God says, that's the person that I will dwell with. The contrite, the humble. The word humble means to be low or even to be humiliated. You like that word, right? It's one of your favorites. I don't like to be humiliated. But God says, I dwell with the low, the humble, the humiliated person.

The idea of humility is really to have an accurate view of yourself. That you don't think of yourself more highly, but that also you don't think of yourself more lowly, but that you have God's perspective on who you are. But as we look at creation, as we look at eternity, our accurate perspective is going to be that of lowliness. That we will have a humility because we recognize, who am I that you are mindful of me? I like to think humility.

Yeah, God, you know who I am. You're really, really happy that you got me, aren't you? You're just so blessed because I decided to follow you. That's not the humility that the Lord's looking for. He dwells with the contrite, the broken, the crushed, and the low, the humiliated. Will you admit your brokenness and will you admit your lowliness?

God says for those who do, for those who recognize, they testify of that condition. He says, I'm with them. I revive them. I heal them. And so here's the thing. As you admit your need and look to God to satisfy that need, God says, be revived. And so yes, I'm crushed. I'm broken. I'm empty. I'm low. But then as I look to God, well, it's just like he says. He who humbles himself will be exalted, will be lifted up.

And God does that work of lifting up and reviving. If you refuse though to admit that you're broken, to admit your lowliness, if you refuse to see that, then his warning here is that you will be destroyed. Verse 20, but the wicked are like the troubled sea which when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. And notice verse 21, there is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. If you want peace...

then you want God to dwell with you, which means you need to be humble and contrite. But if you're not humble and contrite, there is no peace. There's only destruction. So it's a very strong declaration and exhortation here in chapter 57. And it continues on through the rest of the chapters. Now we move on to chapter 58, verse 6 is the key verse. It says, Is this not the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness?

To undo the heavy burdens. To let the oppressed go free. And that you break every yoke. Now God is challenging them on their fasts. They were fasting before the Lord. But even though they were fasting before the Lord, they were still practicing all of their rebellions and idolatries.

But as they're fasting before the Lord, they're wondering, why isn't God working? Because I'm fasting, so why isn't he answering my prayer and doing what I want him to do? And so God is challenging them now and saying, is it a fast that I've chosen? He's talking about their rebellion. And then in verse 2, he says, yet they seek me daily. So they're persisting in their rebellion. They're persisting in their ignoring God. But then at the same time, they're coming back and saying, God, we want to know you.

He says that they delight to know His ways. As a nation that did righteousness, they're pretending to seek God. They're pretending like they still want to glorify God and want to pursue God. They're worshiping other gods, but they're still going to church. They're still offering sacrifices. They're still practicing the feasts. And they're confused about why it's not working. God, why isn't it working? We're fasting. We're humbling ourselves before You in these fasts.

Verse 3, why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice? In fact, the day of your fast, you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers. They're saying, God, how come you're not answering when we're fasting and praying? And God says, I'll tell you why. Because in the day that you're fasting, you're just putting on a show. You're still pleasuring yourself, doing whatever you feel like doing, wanting to do, sinfulness. And you're exploiting people, taking advantage of people,

And so even in your fasting, you're rebellious. We need to watch out for this kind of thinking. This isn't, you know, just in their day that's something that they face. This is something that we face today. We get caught up in that works mentality. God, why aren't you doing this? Because I'm doing this and this and this and that. We get caught up in religion. And there's a great danger of being involved in wickedness while practicing religion and expecting for God to do some kind of work.

And God is challenging them here. In verse 5, he says, is it a fast that I want? Is that what I'm asking for? That you just make yourself miserable by not eating certain meals? Is that what you think I want? That I just want to make you suffer by being hungry all day long? Well, he goes on in verses 6 through 12 to explain, this is the fast that I have chosen. You ready for it? Loose the bonds of wickedness.

He says in verse 6, is this not the fast that I've chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. Here's what God says. You're wondering why it isn't working when you're fasting, and here's what I'm telling you. Repent. Instead of fasting from food, fast from wickedness. Turn away from sin.

Stop living in your disobedience. And he goes on to say, then I will heal you. Then I will hear you. If you want me to work in your life, repent. God is saying to the nation. Verse 8, then your light shall break forth like the morning and your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

You want to see God work and you want to see Him work quickly in your life? Repent. Fast from wickedness. Turn to Him in complete obedience and turn away from all that does not honor Him. In verse 13 and 14, He tells us to honor the Lord and the Sabbath.

He says in verse 13, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable and shall honor him not doing your own ways, not finding your own pleasures, nor speaking your own words, what's God's issue with them? He says, look, the Sabbath is my day. It's my covenant with the nation of Israel. And yet you're consumed with yourself doing your pleasure.

focused on your words, doing your own ways. It's all about you. You're not delighting in me. You're not submitted to me. You're just doing whatever you want to do. Repent. If you want me to hear you, if you want me to heal you, you need to repent. I like what Warren Wiersbe said about the nation of Judah at this time. He says, the orthodox faith was popular in Judah at that time.

And people enjoyed learning the word and even participating in fasts. But when the services were over, the worshipers went back to exploiting people and pleasing themselves. So they would go to church. They would say, oh, it's so great to go to church. Good Bible study, pastor. Wonderful job. And then they would go back to their normal lives of wickedness and ignoring the words of God.

And wondering, God, why aren't you working? Why aren't you saving? Why aren't you doing something miraculous here? God says, you can't just put on a show. I need you to fully surrender to me. Chapter 59 now. Verse 2 is the key verse. He says, but your iniquities have separated you from your God. And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. So he explains why. Here's the problem.

Verses 1 through 8, your iniquities have separated you from God. He says in verse 1, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. We always tease certain people. I won't name their names, but her initials are Patty Sedota. You know, Tyrannosaurus Rex doesn't have very long arms. Remember in Toy Story, like he couldn't play the video game. He had to like jump over this way and jump over that way because his arms were shortened. That's what I picture Tyrannosaurus.

When he says, is the Lord's arm shortened that it cannot save? Is it that God wants to save? And you're crying out and you're fasting and I really want to save but my arms just aren't long enough. Is that the problem? No, that's not the problem. God's arms are not too short. That's not the issue. It's not that God's not big enough or strong enough or powerful enough. What's the issue? Verse 2. Your iniquities have separated you from your God. It's sinfulness. Sinfulness.

And sinfulness separates us from God. And that's the problem. And that's what we need to realize. That's what the nation of Judah needed to realize. That's what you and I need to realize. Sin messes us up. And we have all kinds of ways that we, you know, justify it in our own minds and convince ourselves that it's okay. But it messes up. It destroys our lives. And it separates us from God.

Verses 9 through 15 tells us that our sins testify against us. Isaiah here is hearing these words of the Lord and he's recognizing, yes, I see what you're saying, Lord. Our iniquities have separated us. In verse 12, he says, our transgressions are multiplied before you and our sins testify against us. He goes on to say, and as for our iniquities, we know them.

We like to pretend like we don't know what the problem is. But a lot of times, we even know what the problem is. But the issue is we're not willing to let it go. Not that that's necessarily an easy thing to do. But we're not willing to deal with it. We're not willing to address it. So God says in verses 16 through 19, according to their deeds, he will repay. It's your iniquities. That's the issue. That's the problem.

And you know what's going on. You know the situation. Your sins testify against you. And I'm going to repay you according to your deeds.

He says he's going to bring fury to his adversaries in verse 18 and recompense to his enemies. Now this is partially fulfilled because God used the nation of Assyria to deal with the northern kingdom. He used the nation of Babylon to deal with the nation of Judah. But also these things we see the fulfillment of them in the tribulation period as well when God pours out wrath upon the whole earth. And he's going to repay according to

To the deeds of humanity. The deeds of mankind. And then it goes on in verse 20 and 21. You got to love Isaiah. He always gives that ray of hope. He says the Redeemer will come to Zion. The Redeemer will come. Again this is partially fulfilled. Because the Redeemer has come. His name is Jesus. And in him we have salvation. And we have the forgiveness of sins. And we have a spiritual life that is given to us in him.

There's an ultimate fulfillment though also when Jesus comes again to establish his kingdom and to rule and reign for the thousand years. And so he's looking forward to that. The Messiah is coming. He will establish his kingdom. The Redeemer has come to Zion. Well now we go into chapter 60 verse 3 is the key verse. It says, "...the Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising."

Here in verses 1 through 9, we see the Gentiles will come to the light of Zion. The Redeemer has come, established his kingdom. The light will shine and the Gentiles will come. He says in verse 1, Arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. And so God is announcing judgment upon this nation, but along with it, he's announcing future blessings.

When God brings the Redeemer, the light will shine and it will be time for them to rise up for the glory of the Lord is risen upon them. Now again, we see this as partially fulfilled because we come to Jesus. Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. And Gentiles, that's anybody who's not Jewish.

We come to the light. We come to Jesus Christ for salvation. But again, the ultimate fulfillment of this will be in the millennium when the Gentile kingdoms and nations will come to Jerusalem where Jesus rules and reigns. In verses 10 through 14, he says that foreigners shall build your walls. When the kingdom is set up and Jesus reigns there in Jerusalem...

The nations will come to the light. They will also be part of the building. They will be part of the work that goes on as the kingdom is established. He says in verses 15 through 18, I will make you an eternal excellence. So you can see the contrast here. Right now, their iniquities have separated them from God. They're receiving this great judgment. They're fasting. Nothing's happening. They're still experiencing the discipline of the Lord.

God's calling them to repentance. He's also telling them, I have great things in store for you and I'm going to make you an eternal excellence. At one time, he says in verse 15, you've been forsaken and hated, but I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations. And he gives a little bit of contrast between what it's going to be like. The things that were bronze are going to be replaced with gold.

And the things that were iron will be replaced with silver. The things that were wood will be replaced with bronze. It's going to be more valuable, more precious, a greater excellence. Then in verses 19 through 22, he says that the Lord will be your everlasting light.

He explains in verse 19, it's not the sun that's going to bring light. The sun is not going to shine in that time. Now again, we're looking to the millennial kingdom when Jesus rules and reigns as we look at these things. And the sun nor the moon will give the brightness, but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light and your God your glory. Also verse 21, your people shall all be righteous. They shall inherit the land forever.

And so there's a great work that God is going to do. All of the nation of Israel, all of his people will be righteous. They will walk with God. They will follow God. And so even though things look really bleak right now because they're in rebellion and their sin has separated them, God says, I still have great things in store for you. So repent, turn, and receive the blessings that I have for you. Well, now we go to chapter 61, verse 1 is the key verse.

It says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

That verse is probably pretty familiar to you. As we look at verses 1 through 3, we see the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Those are the words that Jesus read in Luke chapter 4. We see about that as he was there in the synagogue. He's handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He turns to Isaiah chapter 61 and he reads this portion. And it goes on in verse 2 to say, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God.

To comfort all who mourn. And so we see this as partially fulfilled because Jesus declares in Luke 4 21, today this is fulfilled. So he says, I'm the fulfillment of this. But Jesus stopped short. He read verse 1 and only the first part of verse 2, he didn't go on to read the day of vengeance of our God.

And here we see the two separate times that Jesus comes to the earth. The first time he comes and fulfills verse 1, the first sentence of verse 2, where he does amazing things, wonderful things. He heals, he sets free, he comforts. He gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning and praise for heaviness. For those who admit that they're broken, as we talked about before, the contrite, that's who he dwells with.

And those who are contrite and humble, those who admit their need and are broken, he brings healing. He's the Redeemer, the Savior, the Messiah. He sets us free. He brings us comfort. Where we've filled our lives with ashes, he brings beauty. Where we've messed it up and destroyed it, and so there's mourning, he brings joy. Where there's heaviness from the life that we've established, he brings praise. And so we see the

The choice is really clear. All throughout these chapters, we see this choice laid out before us. You can fight God and be miserable and be destroyed, or you can surrender and be healed, be delivered. Jesus does wonderful things. He says, this is fulfilled. But the next part, when he says the day of vengeance of our God there in verse 2,

That part's not yet fulfilled. And so that is looking at the return of Jesus Christ, the second time he comes, preceded by the tribulation period, the time of vengeance and judgment, the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth that leads up to his return where he sets foot upon the earth once again and establishes his kingdom. But he does so in judgment of all the world in the rebellion against him.

And so that part is partially fulfilled. The spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus and he is bringing his vengeance when he comes again. In verses 4 through 9 now, he says, you shall have double honor. Instead of shame, which you're experiencing now, and I would maybe extend that to today as well. Man, there's a lot of affliction and shame that the nation continues to experience. Instead of that, you're going to have double honor. Instead of confusion, they're going to have rejoicing.

There's going to be a great work of God. This is not yet fulfilled. This again is looking at that second part when Jesus returns again and establishes his kingdom. He says in verses 10 and 11, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. The nation as a whole will turn to the Lord at that time and it will be a glorious kingdom as Jesus rules and reigns.

Just a quick reminder of the timeline here. 710 BC was Hezekiah's illness and it was shortly after that that Isaiah is writing these things. The ministry of Jesus is around 30 AD as he stands there and he says, these things are fulfilled today in your hearing. And so we're talking about 700 years later on.

that Jesus fulfilled the first part of this. And then, of course, we're still looking for his return for the ultimate fulfillment of many of these things. Chapter 62, now verse 1 is the key verse. He says,

The Lord makes it abundantly clear in these chapters that he is not done with Israel. He's not done with Jerusalem. He's not done with Zion or Judah or whatever name we give to it.

He's not done there. He's not done with the Hebrew people. He's going to work within his people once again. He's going to establish that nation in glory once again. The nation that's there right now, the nation of Israel, it's a great miracle that God has done. But it's not yet the fulfillment. God is still going to do a glorious work with the nation of Israel.

So much so, he says in verses 1 through 5, you shall be a crown in the hand of the Lord. You're not going to be called forsaken any longer, he says in verse 4. Instead, you're going to be called Hephzibah. Now Hephzibah means my delight is in her. You're going to be known as the one in whom the Lord delights. There's going to be a glorious work that God will do with the nation of Israel that is yet to come. And there's some teaching that

Says that God's done with Israel. That the church replaces Israel and things along those lines. But that is not what God has said. He's making it very clear here. And we can see it all throughout the scriptures. He has a glorious plan for the nation of Israel that is yet to be fulfilled. Well then in verses 6 through 9, he says, give the Lord no rest until he establishes. I really like this. God says, here's what I'm going to do. You're going to be a glorious nation forever.

Then in verse 6, he says, I've set watchmen on your walls and they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord do not keep silent. And verse 7, and give him, that is the Lord, no rest until he establishes and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. This is so amazing to me. God says, check it out. Here's what I'm going to do. Now here's your job. Give me no rest, but keep calling on my name forever.

Keep calling out to me. Keep crying out to me until I fulfill all of these things that I've said. He declares what he's going to do and then he says, now you pray about it and you ask me to do what I've said I will do. And don't stop asking me to do what I said I will do. He involves us in the work that he's going to do by giving us the opportunity to cry out to him. But I really like this idea. He says, give him no rest until he establishes

Give him no rest until he fulfills what he said. I like that idea because, well, it's easy to kind of get discouraged in prayer, isn't it? I mean, you prayed for like a week and then it didn't happen. And so I guess I'll just start praying about something else or maybe not pray at all because it's not really working. God, I'm fasting and you're not doing anything. So God says, no, give me no rest. Keep on praying. Keep on calling out to me. I think this is a good exhortation for us

Don't stop praying for people. Don't get discouraged when you don't see the immediate results. Don't stop praying for people. It's something I encourage from time to time for our Sunday evening service where we have the time to share prayer requests and praise reports and things. And sometimes people get tired of bringing the same prayer requests week after week. And I can understand that. But God says, don't let me rest. Keep bringing those requests before me until I establish, until I do the work.

In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells a parable about a judge and a widow. And the widow who keeps persistently coming to the judge, please hear my case. Please deal with this issue. Please, please, please. And day after day she comes and finally the judge is like, I've had it. I'm going to deal with this. I'm going to give her what she wants. Not because I'm good or just or anything like that, but just to get her off my back. Now it tells us in Luke 18.1, Jesus told that parable to teach us what? That then...

That men always ought to pray and not lose heart. His point is, if an unjust judge will give in to persistence, how much more your heavenly Father who loves you and wants to do good in your life. How much more? So don't stop. Keep praying.

For your children. Keep praying for your family. Keep praying for your marriage. Keep praying for your friends. Keep praying for that work that God wants to do. Keep praying. And don't lose heart. Be persistent. Don't give him any rest until he establishes his word. Well then in verses 10 through 12, he says, they shall call them the holy people. When God does this work, after the people have been praying persistently and then God establishes them, then God

The rest of the world will testify that those are the holy people. Not as in like that they're perfect, they have no faults, but they're the ones who are set apart to the Lord and His delight is in them. God is going to do a radical work within the nation of Israel, the Hebrew people. Well, chapter 63, now verse 10 is the key verse. It says, But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned Himself against them as an enemy and He fought against them.

In verses 1 through 6, we see the Lord saying, I've trodden down the peoples in my anger. He says in verse 5, I looked, but there was no one to help. And I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore, my own arm brought salvation for me, and my own fury it sustained me. When the Lord returns, it will be in judgment. It will be in fury. And then he will establish his kingdom.

He returns at the battle of Armageddon and he's going to wipe out those armies with great vengeance. And so we're looking forward now to that return of Jesus Christ. And he will trodden down the peoples in his anger. Verses 7 through 14. I love the contrast that we see throughout the word of God. I will mention of the loving kindness of the Lord.

Verses 1 through 6, I've trodden down the peoples in my anger. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord. Verses 7 through 14, God is holy and loving. He is righteous and gracious and merciful. He's both. He will deal with sin. He will bring judgment. But he also shows great loving kindness. It says in verse 9, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. Don't get the picture. Don't get the idea that God like

somehow enjoys it when people suffer. When people suffer, he suffers. When his people are afflicted, he is afflicted. But he goes on to say, in his love and in his pity, he redeemed them. And he bore them and carried them all the days of old. Verse 10, but they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned himself against them as an enemy and he fought against them. The Lord is showing grace and mercy and great patience

And loving kindness and he's redeeming them. And they're resisting it and they're fighting against it. So that finally he turns himself against them as an enemy and fights against them. In verses 15 through 17, it's a cry out, return for your servant's sake. Here we see Isaiah praying. He's really responding to what God has just said. All right, God, you said what you're going to do with the nation of Israel. There's great glory ahead. So I'm going to cry out to you. So return. Return.

For your servant's sake. Return for your people. Return for the nation of Israel. And his prayer continues on now into chapter 64 verse 1. He says, As Isaiah is crying out for God to work, he says in verses 1 through 7, He's admitting the sin of the nation, the sin of the people to the Lord.

Verse 4, he says, He's recognizing, God, you're amazing. You're like no other God because you're the one true and living God. And when we wait for you, when we trust in you, you act on our behalf. There's no other God like that. And yet we're not relying upon you. We're not trusting in you.

Instead he says in verse 6, but we are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Isaiah here is testifying of the wickedness of the nation of Israel, but he's testifying of the wickedness of humanity in general as well. We're all an unclean thing. This is the problem. And when we go back to the idea of being contrite and humble, this is what we need to take into account.

Don't look at how well you perform the list of things that you think you're supposed to do and think, look how good I am. See, God recognized my good works because you're not taking into account the wickedness of your heart. He says, all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. Picture this for just a moment. You know what it's like to have the desire to tell somebody about something good you did.

Right? Maybe it's your boss, maybe it's your spouse, maybe a loved one, whatever. You want to tell them about, look what I did, and it's so wonderful. See? Look at, it's amazing. This is what we do with our own righteousnesses to God. We say, God, look at how good I am. Look at my good works. But Isaiah says, what we're presenting, all of our righteousnesses, the best that we have to offer is filthy rags.

We think we're handing him some like awesome, you know, linen towel or something and it's like a greasy rag from the garage. We have a perception issue. We think we're awesome. We're not contrite. We're not humble. All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. Then in verse 7, And there's no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you. You have hidden your face from us and consumed us because of our iniquities. We don't call out to you. We don't pursue you. We don't chase you.

Jesus testified in John chapter 6 verse 44. He said, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day. We can't even come to Jesus without the Father's help in drawing us. That's how desperate we are for a Savior. That's how much we need God. But again, we get this perception issue. We're not contrite. We're not humble. And we forget how much we need God.

Our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We don't seek after God. Our heart's not inclined to the God. If there's a desire for God in us, it's because God is working that desire in us. We can't even claim that. I like what Paul says in Ephesians 2. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not even of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.

You don't have anything to boast about. I don't have anything to boast about before the Lord. Everything is given to me. The desire for God, the faith to believe, it's all by His grace. And so Isaiah here, as he's crying out to the Lord, recognizes this is our condition, God. We're completely hopeless and helpless apart from you. So he goes on in verses 8 through 12 to say, we are the clay and you are the potter.

Verse 8 says, Verse 8, this is like, if you're going to memorize, if you're going to learn any verse in the Bible, I suggest learn this one. 64.8 of Isaiah. Why? Isaiah here is speaking of absolute surrender to God.

To finally recognize, to realize, to admit and testify, I'm the clay. How much say does the clay have in the shape that it takes? It doesn't have any say. How much say does the clay have in what it's used for? It doesn't have any say. This is talking about absolute surrender. I'm the clay, God. You are the potter, which means you do what you want to do, and I'm fully surrendered to that.

I'm not going to resist you. I'm not going to be stubborn clay that you have to work with and fight with and pound down and then start all over. But no, I want to surrender to your work. I want to be soft and moldable and pliable so that you can shape me. You can direct me. You can do whatever you want to do in my life. I am yours completely. We are the clay. You are the potter. That's Isaiah's prayer. Here we are, Lord.

We're unholy. We're wicked. The best that we have to offer you is filthy rags. So here we are, the clay. You do your work in us. Warren Wiersbe states, until we pray and get right with God, he will not reveal his power. They've been crying out to God and fasting, God, how come you're not working? God's waiting for them to say, I'm the clay. You're the potter. And it's amazing what God will do

When we surrender to him in that way. You want to see God work in power? Be the clay. Do a full surrender. Submit yourself fully to God. And he'll do a wonderful work. Well as we go on now in chapter 65. God responds to Isaiah's prayer. Verse 2 is the key verse. It says, I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people.

Who walk in a way that is not good. According to their own thoughts. Isaiah is saying, we're the clay, you're the potter. We're crying out to you. And God's saying, here's the problem. I've been reaching out. It's not that my arm's short that I cannot save. But I'm reaching out to a rebellious people. And they walk in a way that is not good. And so we see in verses 1-7, he says, I will repay your iniquities.

I will repay your iniquities. I'm going to take care of those issues and repay your iniquities. Why? Why is it not good? As he says in verse 2, it's not good. Why is it not good? He says, who walk in a way that is not good according to, notice the end of verse 2. What does it say? According to their own thoughts. The issue is that they are walking according to their own thoughts.

That's not being the clay. Walking according to your own thoughts is not being the clay. Walking according to your own thoughts is being the potter. That's, well, I'm doing what I want to do. I'm going to live the way that I want to live. I'm going to do the things that I want to do, that I think are important, that I feel like doing. And so God says, I will repay your iniquities. But then he goes on in verses 8 through 12 to say, I will not destroy them all.

So I'm going to repay because you're a rebellious people. Although I've been reaching out to you, you insist on rebelling against me. But I'm not going to destroy you all completely. I'm going to leave a remnant. He says in verse 9, I'll bring forth descendants from Jacob. They're going to inherit my holy mountain. They're going to be established once again in Jerusalem. And so he's promising, he's going to bring destruction.

But he's going to save them as well. There's going to be a few who are saved. Why will God bring this destruction though? He tells us in verse 12. Therefore I will number you for the sword and you shall all bow down to the slaughter because when I called you did not answer. When I spoke you did not hear but did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I do not delight.

Why is God promised this destruction? Because there's no repentance. Because when I called, he says, you didn't answer. God's reaching out. He's calling out. And if we don't answer, we say, here I am, Lord, I'm the clay. It's an act of rebellion. He goes on in verses 13 through 16 to say, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. It's amazing to me how much of this is our choice.

As God is outlining these things. How often do we choose our own thoughts and our own ways instead of trusting God? That was the issue, remember, back in verse 2. He says there are rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good. Why isn't it good? It's according to their own thoughts. How often do you choose your own thoughts instead of God's thoughts? How often do we choose our ways instead of God's ways?

A lot of times we think about rebellion in the terms of, well, if I know it's wrong and I do it anyways, that's rebellion. And that's accurate. That is rebellion. But what he's explaining here is not seeking God is rebellion. Relying on your own thoughts and doing what you think is best, that's rebellion too. Not consulting God, not asking God for guidance and direction is rebellion.

And so let me just call out a couple things just to help us kind of clear through the deceitfulness of our own hearts. If you are only connecting with God at church, you are in rebellion. I can say that clearly and confidently. And God says, my servants are going to eat, but you're not going to be one of them. You're going to be hungry because you're not seeking me. You're living your life by your own thoughts. If you're not connecting with God at

outside of these walls, beyond this place, you're in rebellion. If you are only in the word of God at church, I'll say it clearly, you are in rebellion. You're not seeking God. You're not calling out to him. You're not letting him guide you and direct you and speak to your heart. You will be hungry. You will not be satisfied. You will be unfulfilled because you're living according to your own thoughts.

You're not looking to God to speak to you. If your decisions are based on what you think, you are in rebellion. If it's based on your thoughts, and that's why you live where you live, that's why you work where you work, that's why you go to school where you go to school, that's why you do the things that you do, that's why you... If it's because of what you think, if it's because of your thoughts, and you don't have God's thoughts on the matter...

It's an act of rebellion to not seek God, to not hear his counsel. Again, he says, I've stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people. He's reaching out. He's calling out. But if we don't seek him, it's rebellion. We need to be seeking God.

We need to be seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then what is the promise? All those other things will be added unto you. But you got to put God first. Otherwise it's rebellion. You got to put God first. Otherwise you're not the clay. It's not about what I think, what I want, what I think is best. It's not about what my friends tell me or my parents tell me or what anybody else. It's about what God says.

You need to know God. You need to walk with God. You need to be seeking God and giving Him opportunity to lead you and direct you so that you don't live by your own thoughts and your own ways because that is not good. That's not being the clay. Well, verses 17 through 19, God says, I create a new heavens and a new earth. After Jesus rules and reigns for a thousand years, He's going to create and make all things new. You can read all this also in Revelation chapter 21.

In verses 20 through 25, he's talking about the millennium again. He says, as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people. During that millennial kingdom, the earth will be restored. He says in verse 25, the wolf and the lamb, you know, they're going to hang out together. And people are going to live long once again. Remember in the Bible, you see

Methuselah lived over 900 years. A lot of guys lived, you know, almost a thousand years. That's going to be normal once again during the millennium. And if someone dies at 100 years old, they're going to be thought of as an infant. Can you imagine that? Someone dies at 100 now, it's like, wow, I can't believe they made it that far, Harvey. I'm just teasing. Yeah.

But in those days it would be so young. You know, what a tragedy. And it indicates here in verse 20, if someone dies at 100 in the millennium, it's because they were sinful and they were rebellious against God. And that's the reason why they died at that time. And so they will die because of sinfulness. Now again, these are looking forward to the things that are to come in the millennial kingdom.

All right, let's finish it up. Chapter 66, verse 2 is the key verse. It says, You see the theme here? Who does God dwell with? Although he's the creator, he says in verses 1 through 4, where is the house that you will build me?

Is this building enough to house God? No. No temple that we could build. He says, the heavens are my throne. The earth is my footstool. You know, you got like a little couch or seat at home, right? And then you have the little whatever called ottoman or something, you know, that you put your feet on. That's the footstool, right? Like the earth. God says, that's my footstool. So if the earth is God's footstool, what kind of house are you going to build him? Where is he going to dwell? He says, I'll tell you where I'll dwell.

Not in some building, no matter how big or glorious you might make it. I dwell with him who is poor and of a contrite spirit. I dwell with the one who trembles at my word. Now that's not trembling at God's word like, oh, I can't read it. I can't read it. It's too scary. It's trembling like, oh, this is what God says. And I need to be faithful and obedient to what God says.

It's to those who highly regard the word of God, who hold to it, who keep it. God says, I dwell with that person. But in verse 3, he says of the nation of Judah, and perhaps maybe some of you, he says they chose their own ways. They chose their own ways. So he says in verse 4, I choose their delusions. Why? Because when I called, no one answered, he says in verse 4. When I spoke, they did not hear.

I'm calling out. I'm reaching out. But they're not interested in my thoughts. They're interested in their thoughts. Listen, God is calling out to you. Will you hear? Will you tremble at his word? Will you repent and be the clay and have that full surrender to him? Well, in verses 5 through 11,

He calls out for us to rejoice with Jerusalem. Again, looking forward at the glorious things that are to come, we will be rejoicing with Jerusalem. He says in verse 12 and 13, I will extend peace to her, peace like a river. That means it's like, it's no stop in it. It's just a continual flow of peace that will be poured out upon Jerusalem when Jesus rules and reigns.

In verse 14 through 21, he tells us that the Lord will judge all flesh. We will all stand before God. And all flesh, in verse 22 through 24, shall come to worship me. When Jesus establishes his kingdom there for a thousand years, all of the earth will come to Jerusalem to worship him. Again, speaking of those glorious things that are yet to come for the nation of Israel. And that's the prophet Isaiah.

The theme that we see for this evening is this choice to make. To be contrite, to be humble, or to do what we think. David Guzik puts it this way. The book of Isaiah closes with a sobering contrast. Revealing the ultimate eternal importance of this present life. Each life can choose its destiny. Worship or the worm. The worm is referring to the last couple of verses there of chapter 66.

As it talks about the eternal judgment that awaits those who will rebel against God. And we have the choice. We have the choice. It's up to us. We get to choose. Not because we have anything. God gives us everything. But as He gives us everything, He gives us the choice. Will you be the clay? Will you humble yourself? Remember in chapter 61, the passage Jesus quoted, "...the Spirit of the Lord is upon me."

Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He sent me to heal the broken hearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives. And you can read that and think. Oh that's so wonderful. Jesus is there for those broken hearted people. No, no, no. If that's your thought. You've got it wrong. You are the broken hearted people. And if you won't recognize that. You don't have Jesus. It's like. Remember when the Lord was washing the disciples feet. And Peter says. Oh no, no. You can't wash my feet Lord. No.

Jesus said, if I don't do this, you have no part of me. You have to let me wash your feet. In the same way, if you're like, well, I'm not brokenhearted. I don't really need help. I'm not going to say that I need that from the Lord. I'm not bound. I don't need to be set free. I'm fine. I'm good. You don't have Jesus. He came to set the captives free. If you're not the captives, you don't have Jesus. The choice is ours. If you're not broken, you don't have Jesus.

He dwells with the humble, with the contrite, with the broken, with the shattered. With those who testify, God, I need you and I'm lost without you. And my righteousness, the best I could offer you is filthy rags. So I'm just going to present myself as the clay and surrender to you and say, Lord, here I am. I'm broken. I'm shattered. You do the work in me that you want to do.

And I'm going to do what you say and tremble at your word. And I'm not going to live by my own thoughts and do what I think is best. But I'm going to look to you and let you tell me what to do and how to live. Let's pray. Lord, how we resist brokenness. It's offensive to our flesh. And yet how desperately we need it. God, I pray that you would help us to be the humble, the contrite. Lord, that you might dwell with us.

And do glorious things. And for that Lord you require repentance. You call us to turn from sin. To stop living according to our own ways. And to tremble at your word. I pray that you would Lord highlight in our hearts. Whatever issues there are. That require repentance in our lives. Help us God to turn from sin. Help us to hear as you call out to us. Lord that we would learn the lesson that Judah never learned.

That we wouldn't have to experience the destruction. That we could experience your glorious might and power as you heal the brokenhearted. As you set the captives free. Lord, help us to trust in you. To look to you. To rely upon you. And to surrender to you completely. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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.