That’s Not Humility – part 2
Isaiah 58:1-14 (6)
September 22, 2024
We learned last Sunday morning that God dwells with the humble.
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Sunday night we turned to Isaiah 58 and found a group of disgruntled people who were complaining that apparently that verse is not true.
Isaiah 58:3a “‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’”
We have people who are calling into question the promise of chapter 57,
For they say that they are humbling themselves
And yet God is not listening to them or dwelling with them.
In their minds, Isaiah 57:15 isn’t true.
And we noted how quickly mankind
Can recognize a perceived injustice like this
And immediately assume that the problem is somehow God.
• Apparently God’s word isn’t true.
• Apparently God doesn’t dwell with the humble.
• Apparently God isn’t faithful.
• Apparently God’s promises can’t be trusted.
But it is also just like humanity to blame God when in reality
The blame falls squarely on our own shoulders.
ISAIAH 57:15 IS TRUE.
So what is the problem?
These people did not actually humble themselves.
The problem wasn’t with God, it was with them.
And that is THE MESSAGE OF ISAIAH 58.
God does dwell with the humble, but what you are doing is not humility.
AND WHAT A VALUABLE LESSON FOR US TO LEARN.
There are few things we need to get right
As much as we need to get humility right.
Since God dwells with the humble…
Or as it says in:
Psalms 138:6 “For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.”
And in:
James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
Since God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble,
It should be of the utmost importance to us to know the difference
Between the humility God rejects and the humility He honors.
Isaiah 58 is a message to enlighten us to that very thing.
We began this last Sunday night, but allow me to recap it a little this morning.
#1 GOD CALLS THE PROPHET
Isaiah 58:1-2
One thing you can’t miss is how important this topic is to God.
Not only does God dictate the message that is to be presented,
But God also dictates the tone with which it is to be preached.
“Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet…”
• This is no secondary message to God.
• This is no optional piece of advice.
• This is coming through the loud speaker.
And what is the topic of this loud message?
“And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins.”
It is important that we understand
Where we are in this final invitation of the book of Isaiah.
1. We know that the end of the book is an offer of salvation to wayward Israel.
2. We even recognize the prophetic implications that reach even into our own day.
3. We have a Christ who in chapter 53 has atoned for sin through His death on the cross.
4. And now we have a prophet who is calling men to come and accept the salvation which He purchased.
This salvation is particularly attractive to the humble and broken.
• People like that barren woman.
• People like that rejected woman.
• People like that eunuch.
• People like that foreigner.
They seem to be flocking to the salvation which Christ purchased
For they see no other way of being saved.
But the people who are proving difficult to reach are the proud.
The religious elite aren’t so quick to run to this salvation.
And it brings to our mind that important evangelistic reality,
And one that we face daily.
“You have to get a person lost before you can get them saved.”
By that we simply mean.
Before you can offer the grace of the gospel to a sinner,
You first have to show him that he is a sinner who needs it.
This was the purpose of the Law, to condemn sinners under God’s justice.
This was the cry of the prophets, to expose the sin of the people.
And that is what Isaiah is being commissioned to do here.
You go and yell about the sin of these people.
• Don’t let them rest in their self-righteousness.
• Don’t let them find comfort in their religious works.
• You go and expose them.
• You blow up their false assurance.
You go and loudly proclaim their sin until they fall on their faces
And realize how badly they need salvation.
That is the call of God to the prophet here.
And if we want to focus in a little more
We see that God specifically wants Isaiah to attack:
THEIR HYPOCRITICAL RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT.
(2) “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.”
And you remember the point.
• These were a people who had transgressed against God.
• These were a people who had forsaken His ordinances.
But they acted like they hadn’t,
They proudly marched right into God’s temple to present their requests
As though He ought to be glad to see them.
They had offended Him in every possible way
But were totally oblivious to the fact.
It’s no wonder God wanted Isaiah to get loud.
These people are deaf!
So God calls the prophet
#2 GOD CORRECTS THE PEOPLE
Isaiah 58:3-4
We saw this one Sunday night as well.
You see their point of contention with God.
They feel as though God has not kept up His end of the bargain.
“Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”
We find out later in the chapter
• That by “fasted” they meant they stopped work for the Sabbath.
And we see here that in their mind
This was a demonstration of their great humility.
So they appear before God as if to say, “Look we humbled ourselves by not working on the Sabbath, don’t You think You owe us an audience?”
Well God corrects their misconception.
(3b-4) “Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.”
They wanted to know why God failed to honor their humble fast
God says, “Because it wasn’t a fast and it wasn’t humility.”
Sure you took the day off of work,
• But you worked your employees twice as hard to make them make up the slack.
Sure you took the day off of work,
• But you didn’t use it to focus on Me and worship Me, you used it to conspire and scheme how to get ahead of your competition.
Fasting like that is not the way to get My attention.
And to that we gave our first principle of humility:
HUMILITY IS NOT CEREMONIAL
Physically going through the outward ordinances of religion
Without a heart that matches is not humility before God
And He will not honor it.
• So what you skipped work…
• So what you skipped a meal…
• Your heart never turned from focus on those things to Me.
God is not amused.
HUMILITY IS NOT CEREMONIAL.
God calls the prophet; God corrects the people
#3 GOD CONFRONTS THE PEOPLE
Isaiah 58:5
Here God addresses the pathetic nature
Of this so-called humble fast they participated in.
God confronts it with some very penetrating questions.
“Is it a fast like this which I choose, A DAY for a man to humble himself?”
• When we are talking about humility before God do you really assume that just one day will do it?
• Do you really suppose that you can live however you want for six days but then humble yourself on the Sabbath and all will be fine?
You’ve got a lot to learn about fasting and humility.
“Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed”
• A read sways in the wind and no sooner does it bow than it also pops its head right back up again.
• And God compares that to the short-lived humility of His people.
Sure you bowed in supposed reverence,
But you didn’t stay in that posture long.
“And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?”
• Yes you put on sackcloth.
• Yes you laid in the ashes.
• But you went to sleep!
You weren’t repenting, you weren’t confessing your sin,
You weren’t pursuing sanctification, you were sleeping!
Am I really supposed to be impressed with your humble piety?
And God asks:
“Will you all this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”
Is that really what you are bringing to Me and calling humility?
And to that we introduced our second principle of humility:
HUMILITY IS NOT TEMPORARY
And this is where we had to stop Sunday night
So let’s continue on with this thought for a moment this morning.
HUMILITY IS NOT TEMPORARY
Just an example of what we mean:
Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
God is well-aware of the commitment of the heart regardless of the words of the mouth.
• He is not impressed by eloquent prayers or teary promises.
• God wants men whose humility lasts beyond the invitation.
We have seen this with Israel throughout their history.
• They are good at humbling themselves why the pressure is on,
• But once God lets up, they quickly forsake their commitments.
• The book of Judges tells that story repeatedly.
Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”
It is false humility and we know so because it did not last.
But I hope you are getting the point.
• The reason God hasn’t answered…
• The reason God hasn’t drawn near…
IS BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T HUMBLED YOURSELF.
I know you took off work for a day.
BUT THAT’S NOT HUMILITY
Humility is not ceremonial
Humility is not temporary
Humility is an inward state of the heart
And one that lasts beyond the moment.
So the first 5 verses have been rough to listen to.
• God is loudly proclaiming His displeasure for false humility.
But God doesn’t leave the people with only a rebuke.
THERE IS AN OFFER COMING.
And that is what the remainder of this chapter is about.
#4 GOD CHALLENGES THE PEOPLE
Isaiah 58:6-14
Now, we read that entire passage
And admittedly we see two sides of the coin.
We get a lot of those “If” – “then” statements.
(If you will do this, then I will that.)
(And we will get to all the promises
That God makes to those who truly humble themselves.)
BUT THE THRUST OF THE POINT
Comes in that opening statement of verse 6.
“Is this not the fast which I choose…”
God is about to define biblical fasting.
God is about to explain biblical humility.
And as we read all of those verses
I’m wondering if you spotted specifically what it is that God wants them to fast from if they are to fast correctly?
Let me read the explanatory verses again.
(6-7) (9b-10a) (13)
Those are the verses were God specifically outlines
What biblically humble fasting looks like.
The other verses are His promises.
Let’s read those again and you see if you can get a feel for what God is actually asking you to fast from.
(6-7) “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
(9b-10a) “If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,”
(13) “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word,”
When you read those do you spot anything in common?
Is there anything in particular that God wants His people to give up?
• In verse 6 He wants them to set the oppressed free.
• In verse 7 He wants them to not to hide from the poor and hungry.
• In verses 9-10 He restates that again.
• In verse 13 He wants them to make the Sabbath about Him.
So what are we talking about here as the common denominator
Of what God wants them to fast from?
SELFISHNESS
If you want to know what biblically humble fasting is,
It is to stop being selfish.
If we could state in a positive light we would say,
It is to WALK IN LOVE.
• You know that the opposite of love is not hate.
• The opposite of love is “self” because love sacrifices self for the good of
another.
These people have approached God really proud of the fact
That they humbled themselves and took a day off of work
And God says that’s not the fast I want.
I want you to walk in love!
I want you to stop being so selfish!
If you want to fast from something, fast from that.
So let me first give you a third principle of humility:
HUMILITY IS NOT SYMBOLIC
That is to say, it is not a metaphor.
Humility is measurable.
That should not surprise you, everything God asks of you is measurable.
For example:
• How do you know if a person has faith? (works)
• How do you know if a person has love? (works)
• How do you know if a person has humility? (works)
Here God outlines the types of works that demonstrate true humility.
Here God outlines the types of works that demonstrate love.
Here God outlines the types of works that demonstrate a fasting from selfishness.
And let’s look at this a little more closely.
We’re looking first at verses 6,7,9,10, and 13.
And in those 5 verses I can give you
3 examples of fasting from selfishness.
1) STOP DISCARDING SINNERS (6)
(6) “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?”
It is certainly possible to read that in a purely humanitarian light
And see this as a mission to abolish slavery or perhaps political injustice.
• That God is asking you to set slaves free
• And go to work on behalf of people who have been unjustly treated by the penal system.
AND CERTAINLY THAT WOULD BE A NOBLE TASK.
I think you can even include this verse as justification for such labors.
But it is really the New Testament
That brings us clarity on what God means here.
Listen to Jesus explain the purpose of His coming:
Luke 4:17-21 “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
There Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61 and He mentioned some of the very things stated here.
• He talked about “release to captives”
• He talked about “set free those who are oppressed”
And you and I know what He was talking about.
• He DID NOT go on a national campaign to stop slavery.
• He DID NOT go on a march for prison reform or to renovate the penal system.
What Jesus spoke of was rescuing sinners from their sin.
You see the same from Him later:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
If we want to get even more specific
• We would talk about the people who were bound in a legalistic religious system
• That had pushed them to the brink of exhaustion
• With no peace or salvation to show for it.
We know about the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”
You had the Pharisees who were busy throwing burdens on people
And you have Jesus who was working to remove them.
I’m always mindful of:
Matthew 9:35-36 “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
These people were not being cared for by the religious elite,
They were being skinned and cast aside.
And Jesus saw that.
Now certainly there was physical relief given by Jesus
In His healing and feeding the multitudes
And we’ll come to that in a moment,
But the primary aspect of His ministry
Was to set sinners free from their sin
And the cruel consequences that came with it.
When the paralytic was lowered through the roof the first thing Jesus did was forgive that man.
When the woman of ill-repute wet His feet with her tears and dried them with here hair Jesus offered her forgiveness.
After He healed the paralytic at the Bethesda pool He told Him:
John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
After rescuing the woman caught in adultery He told her:
John 8:11 “Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
And later in that chapter Jesus said:
John 8:34-36 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
This is what is meant by release to the captives
And freedom for those under a yoke.
And Isaiah even makes that clear in verse 6 when God says “to loosen the bonds of wickedness,”
The primary focus here is of helping sinners escape their sin.
But let’s be honest, that is not something we enjoy.
• It is really difficult to help a sinner from a distance.
• It is really difficult to help a sinner simply by commenting on his social media post.
Helping sinners escape sin
Requires a much more hands-on approach.
AND YOU KNOW THIS.
• God gave His entire Law from heaven regarding a clear explanation of the ‘
reality of sin and the effects it will have.
• God sent His prophets to expose and warn about the dangers of sin in your
life.
But when God determined to set sinners free from sin, what did He do?
HE TOOK ON FLESH AND CAME TO US.
He entered the world.
He walked the streets.
He touched the lepers.
He ate with sinners.
He didn’t just look down from heaven
At sinners drowning in the muck and the mire,
He jumped down into the muck and the mire in order to pull us out.
And might I remind you that this is the call to the church today?
Galatians 6:1-2 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”
The word “caught” there in Galatians
• Can mean “caught IN any trespass” as in you caught him doing something sinful.
• It can also mean “caught BY any trespass” as in the sin has caught him and he can’t get out.
And Paul says that in order to “fulfill the law of Christ”
You and I must “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness”
“restore” is a Greek word there is KATARTIZO
And it literally means “to mend nets”
Matthew 4:21 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.”
It means you take something that is broken and torn and tattered
And you get down there and do the work of patching it back together.
God does this for us:
1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
“perfect” there is that same word KATARTIZO
After you have suffered God will start to mend you.
THIS IS THE CALL,
To get down in the mud and help your brother out of his sin.
James 5:19-20 “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
BUT LET’S BE HONEST.
This is a difficult and messy and often times frustrating ministry.
• Sin traps are not the easiest to get people out of.
• Even once you get out sin traps have a way of luring people back in and you
have to help them out over and over.
Perhaps you’ve seen the video on social media where there is a trench and a sheep is stuck in that trench and the man works and works to pull that sheep out of the trench and literally within two jumps the sheep is right back in it.
That is what this ministry can be like.
• It is frustrating…
• It is exhausting…
• It is heartbreaking…
• It is confusing…
And it would be much easier to just cast people aside.
The Pharisee approach to sinners is much easier than the Jesus approach.
• It is much easier to throw rocks at sinners than it is to offer them mercy.
• It is much easier just to point the finger at sinners than it is to offer them a hand up.
That is what Isaiah says down in verse 9
“If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,”
But that is definitely easier.
• When you invite a Matthew into the camp he comes with a lot of baggage.
• When you enter the house of a Zaccheus you’re going to be confronted with some repulsive things.
• When you have a conversation with a woman at the well there is bound to be some bad decisions you’ll have to wade through.
• When you reach out to a prodigal you might have to deal with the smell of pigs.
And because of that it is easier to just throw sinners aside.
We live in a replacement culture, just replace them.
Toss them away.
Jesus approached sinners.
Jesus ate with sinners.
Jesus rescued sinners.
Perhaps the greatest illustration here is right after Matthew was saved.
Luke 5:29-32 “And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Do you understand the love of Christ there?
• We know He was not in there affirming their greed or covetousness.
• We know Jesus was not tolerating their sin.
• We know that.
But Jesus wasn’t avoiding it either.
And Jesus wasn’t avoiding them.
These were people who were caught in their sin
And Jesus came to set those types of people free.
THIS IS THE CALL.
If God had wanted you to be totally free from the nuisance of sinners
He would have raptured you the second you believed.
BUT GOD DIDN’T RAPTURE YOU WHEN YOU BELIEVED.
Instead God sanctified you and filled you with His Spirit
So that you could be the presence of Christ to other sinners.
1 Corinthians 5:9-10 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.”
This is where God starts His explanation of the type of fast He wants.
• He wants you to get over yourself.
• He wants you to put your selfishness aside.
• He wants you to be willing to get down in the mud and help sinners escape.
This week I saw on social media
A man and a woman who spent probably an hour breaking into a car
Because a dog had been locked in it during the heat of the day
AND PEOPLE JUST RAVED OVER THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
And it should not be that we work harder to get a dog out of a car
Than a sinner out of sin.
WHICH IS WORTH MORE?
Jesus pointed out the same thing.
• You’ll work to get your ox out of a ditch,
• But you won’t work to get a sinner out of his sin.
That is because it is uncomfortable and hard work to do so.
• People with addictions…
• People with offensive sins…
• People with bad reputations…
To get down in the mud with them is costly,
But God is calling His people to fast from their selfishness
And get down there and help them.
STOP DISCARDING SINNERS
(6) “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?”
That is what Jesus did.
Philippians 2:1-11 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Well that sums it up doesn’t it?
• Quit being selfish.
• See others as more important than yourself.
• Be humble.
• Look out for others.
Be like Jesus who left glory and came to this earth
And gave Himself up for sinners.
If you want to humble yourself in a way that God notices,
• Start there.
If you want to fast,
• Then fast from the selfish mentality that overlooks and discards such people.
“Is this not the fast which I choose..?”
We’ll look at the rest tonight…
