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Cody Hurdt

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Intercessory Jealousy
Numbers 25:1-13
June 2, 2024

Tonight we’re going to hold off on our study of Isaiah.
We are about to hit a wonderful segment of Scripture that deals with “the arm of the LORD”.
• The next segment is Isaiah 51:9 – 52:12 and really goes even into chapter 53.
• And I am hesitant to start such a segment knowing that we would not finish it and then I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks to Africa.

So instead I’m going to give you tonight a text that I recently preached at the Men’s Retreat several of the guys from our church went to.

So I apologize (a little) to Tommy, and Max, and Chris, and Willie because they’ve already heard this and I know they committed it to memory.

But it never hurts to look at it again.

Obviously though since we’re not a men’s retreat here tonight
We’re going to look at it a little differently.

Tonight I’m calling this sermon “Intercessory Jealousy”
After reading the text you at least understand the “jealousy” part.

But why the intercession?
What does that mean?

Often times when we think of intercession,
• We think of exclusively in the arena of prayer.
• We have all heard of “intercessory prayer”.
• We think of Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father and “intercedes for us”.

And so we almost exclusively think of intercession as prayer.

But tonight we’re going to stretch our understanding
Of what it means to intercede
And perhaps what it even means to be a priest at all.

It is Carrie’s favorite Bible character.
This is her Old Testament hero.
It is Phinehas and he demonstrates “Intercessory Jealousy”

Now we are going to look at Numbers 25, but before we go there:
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 22:17-31
• Obviously in verses 17-22 we begin with God’s disdain for the nation.
• They are seen as an impure people and those whom God is about to pass through the fire.

If you want to see their problems more specifically

• (25) – Conspiring Prophets
• (26) – Complacent Priests
• (27) – Corrupt Princes
• (28) – Compromising Preachers
• (29) – Cruel People

Sounds like a familiar society.

And then we get to THE POINT to be made.
(30) “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

What does God mean there by “stand in the gap”?

Obviously, in the context, He was looking for someone who would
Stand against those prophets, priests, princes, preachers, and people.

• He was looking for someone who was willing to call sin, sin.
• He was looking for someone who would stand against the culture.
• He was looking for someone who would fight the noble battle.

BUT AS IT WERE, NO ONE WAS WILLING.

And the result?
(31) “Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.”

We can agree that it was a problem that
No one would fight the battles that needed to be fought.

NOW, LET’S GO TO OUR TONIGHT
(Numbers 25:1-13)

I’ll give you an outline, but most of our focus will be on the third point.

#1 THE SCENE
Numbers 25:1-5

We simply read here that “the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.”

This story actually began back in chapter 22
• When the Moabite king, Balak tried to hire the prophet Balaam to curse the children of Israel. (You remember the talking donkey story).
• God would not permit Balaam to curse Israel and so Balak was looking for ways to break the union between God and His people.

We don’t see it here, but later in Numbers we find out that
The plan hatched here was actually the plan of Balaam.

Numbers 31:13-16 “Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.”

• The sons of Israel were supposed to take full vengeance on Midian and kill everyone.
• They did kill the men and they even killed Balaam, but they spared some of the women, and Moses was upset.

And there we find that the incident we are studying here in chapter 25
Was the plan of Balaam.

God was determined to bless His people
So Balaam’s counsel was to lead the children of Israel
Into behavior that would cause God to punish them.

The plan was to use the Moabite women to tempt the men of Israel.
• So paint up your eyelids…
• Put on a red dress…
• Make your hair real big and poofy…
• And go waive at those Israelite boys and invite them to your pagan worship.

It involved sexual immorality, it involved gluttonous feasting.
And the men of Israel fell right into the trap.

“the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.”
“Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor”

It was a carnal and idolatrous scene.

Moses writes that, “the LORD was angry against Israel.”

And thus God commanded for judgment to fall
Upon those who sinned in such a way.

(4-5) “The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”

Obviously the point was to make a point.

The King James translates it, “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun.”

So it may have been even more than just a public execution in broad daylight,
It may have even been that their bodies were hung on display for all the congregation to see.

Now, when you look at a scene like that, what do you learn about God?
He hates idolatry.

There is no way that anyone in the camp of Israel
Could have been confused at that moment
As to where God stood on the issue.

Down in verse 9 we find
• That in addition to the executions that were taking place
• God had also unleashed a plague on the nation.
• By the time the plague is checked 24,000 will have died from it.

So are we clear as to God’s thoughts on the matter?
Are we clear how serious this is to God?
There is no confusion as to right and wrong here.

That’s the scene
#2 THE STAND
Numbers 25:6-9

Here the scene develops a little further.
We have a congregation that is weeping.
• Weeping partly for their dead.
• Weeping probably for fear that they would be next.
• God’s judgment had been poured out on this congregation and it was bad.

People have just been taught by God that sexual immorality mixed with idolatry is an unacceptable behavior for His people.

And it is then that we see perhaps the most
Defiant, bold, and arrogant sin depicted in the Old Testament.

(6) “Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”

• Not only that, but verse 8 indicates that he took this woman into his tent.

Not only is this a terrible lack of compassion
But it is perhaps the most bold-faced sin we can imagine.
This man is sticking his finger right in God’s eye.

He is following his flesh and he’s proud of it.
• He does it in front of his relatives.
• He does it in front of Moses.
• This is a “Midianite Pride Parade”.

With no concern whatsoever for the desires of God
Or the pain of the people
This man is going to continue on in his sin.

And then we see: THE STAND
(as in one willing to stand in the gap)
• Remember, right and wrong is not in question.
• God’s will for the perpetrators has also already been revealed.
• Now we are just talking about the courage to do what God says is right.

(7-9) “When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. Those who died by the plague were 24,000.”

This man “Phinehas”, the grandson of Aaron
Was so enraged at what he saw that
He took a spear, entered the tent and killed them both.

• He would not have it.
• He was angry.
• And in a moment of zealous rage, he put an end to their sin.

And we see something remarkable.
“So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.”

I don’t know your initial thoughts on the behavior of Phinehas,
(I SUPPOSE MANY THINK IT TO BE EXTREME)

But one remarkable thing we immediately see is that
God’s plague stopped when Phinehas did that.

#3 THE SERMON
Numbers 25:10-13

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying…”
• Now we are going to get God’s thoughts on the matter.
• Now we are going to get God’s explanation as to why the plague stopped.

God gives Phinehas a glowing review!

(11-13) “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

WOW!
God was really pleased with what Phinehas did.

“Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood”

Think on that for a moment:
That God gave Phinehas “a covenant of a perpetual priesthood”

We learn a great deal about what God looks for in a priest.

When God saw what Phinehas did, it is as though God said, “That’s what I’m talking about!”

When I talk about someone who stands before God
On behalf of man, that’s it!

GOD SAID, “This is the bloodline! This is the guy who gets priesthood! This is the guy who understands true intercession! I’m going to make priests out of him!”

That should take our understanding of intercession to a whole new level.
It should also redefine our understanding of Christ as our High Priest.

This is not some passive, lazy, meek, ministry.
• When God thinks of someone who will stand between God and men…
• When God thinks of someone who will go before Him to propitiate His wrath
on sinners…
• When God thinks of someone who will stand in the gap (which is what an
intercessor does),
He thinks of a man like Phinehas.

Do you want to function as an intercessor for your family?
Do you want to function as an intercessor for the body of Christ?
Take a page from the book of Phinehas.

It’s not just praying and asking God to forgive someone.
It is also confronting and warring against the sin.

He is a picture of Christ our high priest in this role.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
Do you want to see another place where God honored Phinehas?

Psalms 106:28-31 “They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever.”

Did you catch that one?
“it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to all generations forever.”

Where have you seen that type of language before?

When Abraham “believed God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness”.

Here we have the jealousy of Phinehas
Accomplishing the same thing as the faith of Abraham.

WHAT THAT MEANS IS that the actions of Phinehas here
Reveal the heart of a man who has genuine faith.

Abraham’s faith was proved when he offered up his only son to God.
• And we saw a picture of the kind of faith that brings justification.

Phinehas’ faith was proved when he stabbed these two through to the ground.
• And we again saw a picture of the kind of faith that brings justification.

Can we say a faith without zeal is saving faith?
After reading about Phinehas we’d be hard pressed to say “yes”.

Perhaps we should examine this a little more closely.
That’s what we’re going to do here.

1) WHAT WAS HIS RESPONSE?

(13) “he was jealous”
• Jealous for what?
• Jealous for who?

Today, people would say, “Well he obviously loved that girl and was jealous because she was with another man and he went and killed them.”

Well, no, that wasn’t it.

There is only one Person he could have been jealous for: GOD

The objective of Phinehas becomes obvious, it is the glory of God.
• That’s NOT TO SAY he had no concern about the plague.
• That’s NOT TO SAY he was unaffected by the weeping mourners.
• But what he was after on that day was that God would be glorified.

Not only did we have the leaders of Israel engaged in sexual immorality.
But we had them actually bowing down and worshiping foreign gods.

When God revealed His displeasure that His glory be given to another,
This man and woman sought to make a mockery of that.

God was being openly and blatantly blasphemed.

PHINEHAS WOULD NOT TOLERATE IT.
His goal and objective was the glory of God.

And God’s people ought to be jealous for God’s glory.

Listen to Paul when Peter distorted the gospel:
Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Listen to Paul when the Corinthians flirted with idolatry:
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

Listen to Paul when the Galatians pondered abandoning Christ:
Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”

Galatians 5:7-12 “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”

Such passion!
• Where is the one who cares that God is glorified?
• Where is the one who cares if the gospel is distorted?
• Where is the one who cares if Christ is misrepresented?
• Where is the one who is jealous for the glory of God?

PHINEHAS WAS JEALOUS.

2) WHAT WAS HIS MOTIVE?

Now, ordinarily we are forbidden from judging the motives
Because have no idea what a person’s motives might be.

However, in this case,
God, who sees the heart, reveals to us the motives of Phinehas.

“he was jealous with My jealousy among them”

Certainly we know this about God.
Exodus 34:14 “for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”

• We often times, and for the most part rightly so, view jealousy as a sin.
• After all, Scripture repeatedly forbids us from being jealous and calls it a sin
when we do it.

And yet, we also find that God is a jealous God.
In fact, He says that His name is “Jealous”.

What in the world do we do with that?
Well God’s jealousy is right and true because
God is jealous for that which is rightly His, namely glory.

AND HERE we find that Phinehas “was jealous with My jealousy”

And now we also know
What caused Phinehas to take such drastic measures.

It was the Holy Spirit of jealousy.
That was God’s Spirit that caused that jealousy in Phinehas.

And there is a gospel distinctive here.

What is it that takes a timid man and makes him zealous for God’s glory?

It is nothing short of the Spirit of God.

In Adam, we have only failure.
In Adam, we have transgression.
In our own flesh we have weakness.

But it is the Spirit of God that grants boldness and zeal and courage
To defend the glory of God.

What were the disciples before the Spirit of God indwelled them?
What did they become after Pentecost?

We remember Paul writing to Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

• It was based upon this reality that Paul could call Timothy to stand in the gap.

Giving him commands like:
1 Timothy 1:18 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,”

Timothy was called to stand against the false teachers who abused the Law.
• He was called to stand against Hymenaeus and Alexander who were
blasphemers.
• He was called to stand against Hymenaeus and Philetus who said the
resurrection already occurred and upset people’s faith.
• He was called to stand against the worldly men of chapter 3 who captivate
weak willed women weighed down with sins.

Where was Timothy to get the strength to lead the church?
Where was He to get the strength to be the pillar and support of the truth?
Only from the Spirit of God who would give Him the necessary boldness.

THIS IS WHAT WE SEE IN PHINEHAS.

And it reminds us that apart from the Spirit of God we are nothing.
Your flesh cannot and will not rightly confront error.

We are not looking for
• Some vigilante “Batman” like figure who goes around getting even.
• Some “Redneck Patriot” type person who can fight, bully and force his way.
• Some “Outspoken Loud-Mouthed Diva” who can argue her point.

We are looking for people who are filled with the Spirit of God
And a holy jealousy and zeal for the glory of God.

PHINEHAS HAD THAT.

3) WHAT EFFECT DID HIS ACTIONS HAVE?

We saw in verse 11, Phinehas “has turned away My wrath…so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.”

That’s huge!

But look at that last line of verse 13, “he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”

Wait a second! WHAT?
Phinehas “made atonement”?

You only see this type of response to a man standing in the gap
One other place in the Old Testament.

It is when the children of Israel began to question Moses
And a plague broke out among the people.

Numbers 16:46-48 “Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!” Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.”

That is a little easier to understand since Aaron was actually high priest.

• Aaron there took some of the fire from the altar.
• This was used for burning incense
• It was to make a veil of smoke to hide Aaron on the Day of Atonement when he
went inside the Holy of Holies.

So Aaron at least took an element used in sacrifice
To stand before God for atonement.
We kind of understand that one.

BUT HERE,
We have a man who was not a priest, even if he was of the priestly line.
He did not offer a sacrificial animal or a sacrificial element.
He killed two sinners and God said he “made atonement”

Well certainly killing those two sinners
Wasn’t a holy sacrifice that God accepted as atonement,
(He had already killed 24,000 sinners and that hadn’t done it.)

What do we make of this?

EVERY ACT OF ATONEMENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
IS A PICTURE THAT POINTS TO CHRIST’S ATONEMENT.

IT HAS TO BE.
• There is no other atonement.
• There is salvation in no one else.

Phinehas is a PROPHETIC TYPE of Christ.

You say, “That can’t be!”
• Christ sacrificed Himself, Phinehas actually killed sinners.
• That can’t be a picture of Christ’s work.

Perhaps we think incomplete about the atonement of Christ.
• Certainly we see love in Christ’s atonement.
• Certainly we see mercy in Christ’s atonement.
• Certainly we see substitution in Christ’s atonement.

But do you see jealousy in His atonement?
Do you see zeal in His atonement?

YOU SHOULD.

Did Christ not teach us about His zeal as He cleared out the temple?
Did Christ not teach us about His zeal as He confronted the heresy of the Pharisees and Chief priests?

And on the cross what zeal is Christ demonstrating?
A ZEAL TO CRUSH SIN.

Romans 8:1-3 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,”

To see only mercy on the cross and not a zeal to crush sin
Is an incomplete view of the atonement of Jesus.

Isaiah 59:15b-18 “Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.”

That was prophetic of Christ.
• That was Christ’s mission to come and declare war on sin.
• That was Christ coming to stand in the gap.
• That was Christ coming to defend the glory of God.

And therefore the true gospel man, who is filled with God’s Spirit,
Must understand the same calling.

Phinehas certainly demonstrates that same kind of zeal.

One commentator wrote:
“The excellence of Phinehas was, that he was filled with a zeal which was itself Divine against sin, and that he acted fearlessly and promptly (while others apparently hesitated even when commanded) under the impulse of zeal; in other words, what pleased God so greatly was to see his own hatred of sin, and his own desire to make it to cease, reflected in the mind and expressed in the deed of one who acted upon righteous impulse, not under any command or constraint.”
[The Pulpit Commentary: Leviticus and Numbers; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1950; pg. 346]

NOW HERE IS THE CALL TO US.

No, we don’t go out and kill people with a spear,
Phinehas was under a different covenant and a different system.

But we do war.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

SO LET ME ASK YOU.
• In your house who will have zeal for the glory of God and the destruction of sin?
• In your church who will have zeal for the glory of God and the destruction of sin?

I see it far too often in this world.
• Men who run from the battle.
• Men who ignore the sin around them.
• Men who “are becoming like women” (Jer. 51:30)
• Men who stive to be “non-confrontational”
• Men who want to be seen as tolerant.
• Men who seek the approval of the world.
• Men who will not “stand in the gap”.

THAT IS NOT THE GOSPEL MAN.

The very gospel of Jesus Christ comes to us
From a Savior, who in mighty zeal, crushed sin on the cross.

Jesus didn’t just reject sin in His own life…
Jesus didn’t just preach against sin publicly…
Jesus went to war against it and crushed it forever.

Phinehas is picture of Christ’s zeal.
And God honored him forever for it.

Men, act like men.
• Be filled with God’s Spirit.
• Be jealous for God’s glory.
• Be eager to fight the good fight.

Now tonight, I could add some STORIES OF WOMEN
Who stood in the gap and demonstrated zeal.

Remember Zipporah?
Exodus 4:24-26 “Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—because of the circumcision.”

Let’s call that Intercessory Circumcision.

Remember Abigail when David was going to kill her husband because of his lack of hospitality?
1 Samuel 25:18-19 “Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. She said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.”

David responded:
1 Samuel 25:32-35 “Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. “Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.” So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.”

We’ll call that Intercessory Hospitality

Remember Rahab hiding the spies? (Intercessory Espionage)
Remember Esther approaching the king? (Intercessory Banquet)

How about this gem of a woman who sought to spare her people from God’s wrath:
• Israel had sinned and God raised up Jabin the King of Canaan to afflict them.
• Jabin’s general was a man named Sisera.
• But when Israel cried out to God promised to give Sisera into their hands.
• God allowed Israel to route Sisera’s army.
• Sisera fled and tried to take shelter among the daughter of the King of the Negev
• If Jael harbored him then her people would be under God’s wrath too.

Do you remember what she did to stand in the gap for her people?
Judges 4:17-22 “Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. He said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’ ” But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.”

Intercessory Temple Piercing

YOU GET THE IDEA OF WHAT WE MEAN BY INTERCEDING

And again, I’m NOT even talking about
The areas that are difficult to discern.
I’m just talking about the obvious stuff.

• Like if you’re going to stand by while your kids pursue homosexuality?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your kids skip church to play basketball?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your daughter dresses inappropriately?
• Like if you’re going to stand by while your son embraces laziness or folly?

I’m just talking about the little every day battles
Where someone in your home is required to stand in the gap.

Now certainly MEN are the head and we rightly call upon them to take the lead here and to stand in the gap.

But in this world, we are looking for those who will be jealous for the glory of God and will stand in the gap for Him.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO INTERCEDE.

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Catching Righteousness
Isaiah 51:1-8
June 2, 2024

This morning, as we examine the first 8 verses of Isaiah 51
We are going to talk a little about the pursuit of righteousness,
And more than just pursuing it, we are going to talk about catching it.

It certainly makes sense that a man should pursue righteousness.
If he has any understanding at all in regard to who God is,
Then pursuing righteousness makes perfect sense.

Leviticus 11:44-45 “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

Even Jesus:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And certainly the apostles followed suit:
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”

None of that is new to you,
Indeed we have quoted those verses many times over.

You understand that it is sin that has separated man from God,
And man has a tremendous need to have his sin forgiven
And to be returned to a righteous state before God.

And THE QUESTION before us THIS MORNING is this:
Supposing a man realizes that he is lacking righteousness, how would he go about obtaining it?

As you know we are in a segment of Scripture
That deals primarily with Israel.

• We have said repeatedly that this prophetic segment addresses even our day as though Christ is now preaching directly to Israel through the prophet Isaiah.

So the best understanding of the text here is when you see initially
Christ preaching to Israel.

When we talk about pursuing righteousness,
We have no doubt that Israel did this.

• They fasted and prayed and gave.
• They set aside the Sabbath.
• They gave endless and countless sacrifices.
• They observed says and weeks and months and years.
• They participated in feasts and festivals and fasts.
• They had the Law
• They had religious traditions

They were pursuing the righteousness which God required.

You even see that about them here in verse 1, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness…”

And it is important for us to ask:
HOW DID THEY PURSUE IT?

ANSWER: through the Law.

You even see a reference to that here in verse 7, “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law;”

BUT IT DIDN’T WORK.

We saw the same thing in Paul in Romans 7.
• He agreed that the Law was good.
• He said he had joyfully concurred with the Law of God in the inner man.
• And yet he was still lost and could not obtain the holiness he sought.

The Jews took the Law and sought to conform their lives to it
And will their way into the righteousness which God demanded.

They pursued righteousness, but they never obtained it.

Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

And there is a definite reason for this.
Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Paul gave testimony of his own futile quest in Romans 7:
Romans 7:7-11 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

And when Paul saw his fellow Jews potentially falling into the same trap he confronted them to their face:
Galatians 2:15-16 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

The reality is that no man is saved by works of the Law.
No man can keep God’s Law flawlessly enough to warrant salvation
Or to obtain the holiness which God demands.

So Israel rejected Christ and His gospel in order that
They might work for and earn what He came to freely give.

And “they stumbled over the stumbling stone.”

As a result, THEIR CURRENT CONDITION is a difficult one.
• We find them broken off, divorced, and sold into bondage.
• Strangers inhabit their land.
• Their salvation appears impossible.
• Sadly even many evangelicals take this approach and replace Israel.

BUT CHRIST IS CALLING.
(Isaiah 50-66 is all about Christ calling her)
And we see one of those calls here in the first 8 verses of Isaiah 51.

Salvation is just as possible for Israel as it ever was,
But it is only available in the same way that it ever has been.

So you who pursue righteousness, do you want to know how to catch it?

3 points this morning:
#1 THE PICTURE
Isaiah 51:1-2

The target of the conversation becomes apparent.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the LORD:”

There could be a temptation to see these as the redeemed,
• But Isaiah has had no problem referring to the righteous as righteous, not just those who pursue righteousness.

I prefer to see them as those in Romans 9 who pursued righteousness, but who pursued it through the Law and as though it were by works.

AND THE REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE
The offer on the table in these first 8 verses is
That this group might actually obtain the righteousness they seek.

In verses 4-8 it is this very righteousness that is talked about and offered.
• (5) “My righteousness is near…”
• (6) “My righteousness will not wane.”
• (8) “My righteousness will be forever,”

There is a call here for these people who pursue righteousness
To pursue it in a better way than they previously have.

Verse 1 here bears that out.
For the counsel which comes from the Lord here is clear.

“Look to the rock from which you were hewn And to the quarry from which you were dug.”

Today we might say,
• “Remember where you came from”
• “Remember your roots”

They are seeking righteousness that they have yet to obtain
The Lord reveals to them that the answer to their dilemma
Has already been solved and can actually be found in their history.

(2) “Look to Abraham your father And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

And now we understand the advice.
• You want righteousness, and specifically the blessing that comes with it.
• And you want to know how to obtain it.
• Well look to your elder.
• Look to your father Abraham.

AND THIS IS OBVIOUS TO US.

In Genesis 14, Abram’s nephew Lot had been attacked and kidnapped.
• Abram took his men and went and rescued Lot.
• When he returned with all the spoil the king of Sodom offered for Abram to keep the money if he would give up the people.
• But at that moment Abram instead chose not to keep anything, but to put all his trust in the promises which God had made to him.

It was a pivotal moment in Abram’s life.
• It was the first time we find Abram forsake instant gratification for the sake of the blessing which God was promising.

In response to that decision, the LORD spoke to Abram.

Genesis 15:1-6 “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Abraham was declared righteous before God.

There is a distinction here that is very important for us to grasp.
We talked about this back in our 500 years of Reformation study.

This was one of the fundamental differences and issues
That the Reformers had with the Roman Catholic Church.

BOTH the Catholic Church and the Reformers believed that a man must righteous to be saved.
• Neither would deny that.
• Both understood the necessity of justification.

But their views of justification were drastically different.

Rome taught what is called a: ANALYTICAL JUSTIFICATION
That is to say it is a justification that is proved under analysis.

• So if a man must be righteous to enter the kingdom of heaven,
• Rome taught that God would examine that man; analyze him,
• And if that man was righteous then he would be granted access in to heaven.

If he was not righteous then he would be sent to purgatory,
Which was a place of purging until he was righteous.

The Reformers taught a: SYNTHETIC JUSTIFICATION
You understand “synthetic” as something being added to the original.
Many of you use synthetic oil in your car.

• The Reformers believed that the righteousness which justifies man before God
• Is not a righteousness that can be found in the man,
• But rather righteousness that must be added to that man from God.

Luther called it “an alien righteousness”
Which is not his own, but that which is given to him.

WHICH DID ABRAHAM RECEIVE?
Not analytical, but synthetic
• He did not immediately become righteous.
• He had righteousness imputed to him.
• He was credited with righteousness before God.

Studying Abram’s life bears this out,
• For in the very next chapter (Genesis 16) you have Abram committing the most notable sin of his life when he goes in to Hagar to conceive Ishmael.

Abraham’s righteousness was not analytical, it was synthetic.
It was not his own, God gave it to him.

AND THIS IS THE EXAMPLE
• That is lifted up to the audience here of chapter 51
• Who has been seeking to obtain righteousness on their own.
• You need the righteousness God will give you, not the one you must earn.

BUT THERE IS MORE
Than just the justifying faith of Abraham that is mentioned here.

It is also of great importance to the Lord to make known to this audience
That through the justification of Abraham
God delivered him from what was an impossible predicament.

The Lord here makes sure to point out that this Abraham was “but one”.
The Lord makes sure to point out that Sarah “gave birth to you in pain;”

What is the point here?
Namely that this was the most unlikely couple to receive the blessing of God on the face of the planet.

I like how the writer of Hebrews put it about him.
Hebrews 11:12 “Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.”

Romans 4:19 “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;”

And yet, God took this old barren couple who had no natural hope or ability to conceive a child and God made them the parents of a multitude.

He took a hopeless situation and blessed it to an unmeasurable extent.
NOT BECAUSE Abram did some work.
NOT BECAUSE Sarah was actually righteous.
God credited righteousness to them and then blessed them as a result.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT?
• That no matter how far gone you are…
• No matter how bleak or hopeless the moment…
• God can save and God can bless.

This is just another thing that sets God’s salvation apart
From every other would-be salvation in the world.
GOD’S SALVATION ACTUALLY SAVES.

When you try to save yourself through your own good works
It always ends up in failure, disillusionment, and judgment.

But when God saves, He actually saves.
• He takes an old man with a barren wife and makes a nation out of them.
• He takes slaves in Egypt and gives them a nation of their own.
• He takes exiles in Babylon and sends them home free of charge.
• He saves cripples and demoniacs and lepers and harlots and tax collectors.

SO WHAT ARE WE SAYING?

That even the present condition of Israel
Is not so desperate that God cannot and will not save them.

Is their current condition bad?
Absolutely
• Their land overrun by false religion and Gentile invaders,
• Even Israel herself is given over to sin and unbelief.

The Israeli people are not bastions of morality or godliness,
They are just as sinful as anyone else
On top of that, they continue to reject Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:14-15 “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;”

IT IS BAD.

But:
2 Corinthians 3:15-16 “But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

In Romans we read:
Romans 11:8-10 “just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”

IT’S A BAD CONDITION.

But:
Romans 11:23-27 “And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

And that is the message of Christ here.
If you think you are beyond salvation, you aren’t.

God can save anyone!
• But He does NOT save them according to their works,
• He saves them when they follow the lead of Abraham and place their faith in Christ.

That is the Picture here.

#2 THE PROMISE
Isaiah 51:3

Taking the logical next step, Christ now reveals what is in store for Israel
If they will trust in Him like their father Abraham did.

(3) “Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.”

Let’s be honest.
We know about the land of Israel today.
That seems utterly impossible.

That God will “comfort all her waste places”

All the pain and all the suffering and all the hardship
That ravages that entire land day after day after day.

“her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD;”

Israel is 60% desert.
Not garden.

“Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.”

That nation is at the center of all sorts of conflict.
• Those people have been under conflict throughout their history.
• No people have suffered more atrocity through their history than the Jewish people.

Promises like these sound wonderful,
But at the same time they sound impossible.

As impossible as an old man with a barren wife
Becoming the father of a nation.

But these promises are true and they are promised to righteous people.

Take a moment and consider the promises God made to this nation
upon the condition that they obey Him and walk in righteousness.

TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14

Is that any different then what is being promised here?

These have always been the blessings of righteousness.

The problem is that through her works Israel failed to achieve that righteousness Her life has been characterized by the curses listed in the rest of the chapter.

But if she will learn from the example of Abraham.
• God will grant her the righteousness she lacks.
• And God will restore to her the promised blessings of righteousness.

The Picture, The Promise
#3 THE PETITION
Isaiah 51:4-8

Here is where the gospel call comes into play.

You see the imperative calls.
• (4) “Pay attention to Me”
• (4) “give ear to Me”
• (7) “Listen to Me”

We have here the Lord now calling to these afflicted people
• People who live under the curse,
• People who have unsuccessfully sought the righteousness which is required to secure their blessing.

And His call is for them to now take a page from Abraham’s book
And trust Him as Abraham did.

Let’s break this down a little further.

1) EXAMINE THE GOSPEL (4-5)

(4-5) “Pay attention to Me, O My people, And give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly.”

You see two realities at play here.

You see a promised future reality which relates to the promise we saw in verse 3.

(4b) “a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.”

That is a millennial blessing.

(5b) “My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly.”

Those all speak of a glorious and blessed future
When the arm of the LORD reigns over all the earth.

• That is when the paradise mentioned in verse 3 becomes a reality.
• The world needs Messiah to reign.
• The world needs the arm of the LORD to rule in justice.

But there is also A PAST TENSE ELEMENT found here.
(5) “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,”

This is the message that the Lord is asking Israel to pay attention to.
• You are waiting for the day of My righteousness.
• You are waiting for the King who will rule in justice.
• You are waiting for the Messiah to bring His righteousness to the world.
• You are waiting for the Savior to come and deliver.

CAN YOU NOT SEE IT IS HERE?
CAN YOU NOT SEE IT IS AVAILABLE NOW?

“My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth”

The reason for your plight
Is not because God has yet to make His salvation known,
But rather because you have refused to see it.

You keep seeking a righteousness you can’t reach.
But My righteousness is right there for the taking.

Romans 10:5-13 “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

It was not that long ago that we examined that very passage
We remember that the righteousness of God and salvation of Christ is not far away.
• It’s not like we have to go up to heaven and convince Christ to come down and pay for our sins.
• It’s not like we have to go into the grave and bring Christ back up from the dead.

No, Christ already descended to the earth
And Christ already resurrected from the grave.
WE DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, HE DID IT ALL.

Our only requirement is to believe.
“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

That is the message here.
Christ is calling Israel to examine the very present gospel they have for so long ignored and rejected.

Examine the gospel.

2) EVALUATE THE GOSPEL (6)

(6) “Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane.”

Now that the gospel has again been articulated:

Do you know of any better offer than this?
Do you know of anything else that is so gracious and so permanent?

• Look around you.
• Look at the sky.
• Look at the land.

You think those things are permanent and will last forever.
None of those things are permanent.

“the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner;”

Nothing you see here is permanent.
ESPECIALLY NOT YOUR WORKS.

“But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane.”

What you do will not last.
What I have done will never end.

Isaiah 40:7-8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Does any other salvation promise to be eternal?
Does any other salvation promise to be secure?

We see this even in our own day.
It is no coincidence that people who believe works are required to earn salvation are the same people who believe that salvation can be lost.

Their theology is bad, but their logic is accurate.
• For if salvation does depend on any human work,
• Then they are correct in assessing that it cannot be secure.

But the righteousness which Christ provides
Is not based on your works but His,
And while everything in this earth will pass away,
His righteousness will never fail for all eternity.

That is why salvation is secure and life is eternal.
That is why the promise is guaranteed.

Examine the gospel, Evaluate the gospel

3) EMBRACE THE GOSPEL (7-8)

(7-8) “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Nor be dismayed at their revilings. “For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the grub will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation to all generations.”

And all of a sudden we see the sticking point.
WE SEE THE PROBLEM.

If these people forsake their works and embrace the gospel
They will certainly and immediately become the objects of scorn.

From who?
Everyone who is trying to earn salvation by their works.

Legalists are always enemies of grace.

John 9:22 “His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.”

John 12:42 “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;”

Galatians 4:28-29 “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.”

That is the threat we see here.
If any of these Jews would forsake their works and place their faith in Christ they would face the reproach of man.
• The Rivals of 50:7-9 would attack them.
• The Reprobates of 50:11 would persecute them.

The writer of Hebrews faced this dilemma.
• If his audience believed in Christ and embraced a righteousness which is imputed by faith
• They would be cut off from the temple and the sacrifices and no longer welcome in the synagogue.

It was a huge cost to pay.

But the writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 13:10-14 “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

And that is the same call from Christ here.
“Listen to Me…My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation to all generations.”

• There may be a cost involved in seeking Me.
• There may be scorn involved in seeking Me.
• But I am the only way you will ever find the righteousness you seek and the blessing that comes with it.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not,
But we have seen a parallel here.
It is a parallel to God’s offer to Abraham.

God started off with Abraham by explaining the gospel promise of blessing.
Genesis 15:1 “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

God then told Abraham to evaluate the reality of that promise by looking at the heavens, just as he did this crowd.
Genesis 15:2-5 “Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

Abraham was then charged to embrace the gospel which God had promised and he did.
Genesis 15:6-7 “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”

And here Christ is asking these Jews to learn from their father Abraham.
• He heard the gospel.
• He evaluated the gospel.
• He believed the gospel.

And as a result he achieved the righteousness God promised
And the blessing that came with it.

You have been pursuing righteousness to no avail,
This morning you can catch it.

• You can achieve it through faith in Jesus Christ.
• You can abandon your works-based hope
• You can place all your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

When you believe on Him,
He will give you the righteousness which you can not earn.
And you will be an heir to the promises that come with it.

This is a gospel call from the Lord Jesus Christ
To all who want to be righteous
But who have failed to do it on their own.

THIS MORNING,
It is your opportunity to cry out to Him
And to ask Him to save you and to justify you.

He can and He will.

Romans 10:8-13 “But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

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What Have You Done With Jesus? – part 4
Isaiah 50:1-11 (11)
May 26, 2024

Tonight we come to the conclusion
Of this remarkable 50th chapter of Isaiah.

I remind you again that this is Jesus speaking
And He is speaking to the people of our time.

Isaiah 50-66 is a prophetic segment of Scripture
That occurs after the first coming of Jesus.

It is mostly the evangelistic call of Christ to the nation of Israel that rejected Him when He came.
• We see events like His incarnation and rejection (here)
• We see His crucifixion (ch. 53)
• We see multiple evangelistic appeals from Christ to Israel.
• We see Israel’s future repentance (ch. 64)
• We see God’s salvation and subsequent millennial reign (ch. 65)

But it is also an evangelistic call even to Gentiles of our day.
• A gospel message is a gospel message no matter the crowd.

Here in chapter 50 we are dealing with that initial coming of Christ
And the rejection He received by Israel when He came.

John 1:11 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

We are looking at those people,
With the addition of the remnant, which was the small group that did believe.

We are looking at 4 different responses to Christ and His gospel.
As we have said, every human who has heard the gospel fits into 1 of these 4 categories.

#1 THE REBEL
Isaiah 50:1-3

• These were those who did not believe when He came.
• They rejected the light of the gospel.
• As a result they were broken off, or here it is said that they were divorced and sold into slavery.

#2 THE RIVAL
Isaiah 50:4-9

• These were not content simply to reject Christ, they are the ones who militantly attack Him.
• While the first group rejected the light, this group has set out to extinguish it.
• They bring charges against Christ.
• They seek to condemn Him.

• The were condemned by the gospel of Christ and they must either crucify themselves or crucify Christ. They chose Christ.
• But they don’t last either.
• Christ reveals that they will wear out like a moth-eaten garment.

#3 THE REMNANT
Isaiah 50:10

We saw them this morning.
This is the group that did believe.

Their faith is evidenced by their fear of God
And obedience to His commands.

However, their faith has been costly.
• They live in a world of rebels and rivals and the frustration has mounted.
• They are becoming hopeless and it feels to them like the light is gone.

Christ’s command to them was to trust and rely upon Him.
Don’t just say you trust Him…TRUST HIM.
Don’t just say you rely on Him…RELY ON HIM.

Run to Him in faith.
He is your Savior.

SO WE’VE SEEN
1. The Rebel who rejects the light.
2. The Rival who seeks to extinguish the light.
3. The Remnant who must cling to the light.

And tonight we look at our final group:

#4 THE REPROBATE
Isaiah 50:11

The word REPROBATE it defined as: “a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person; a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.”

WHY would we say that about this group?
• Not only have they rejected the gospel.
• Not only have they sought to eliminate the gospel.
• They have now replaced the gospel with their own system of belief.

Let me show you 3 things about this final example; this reprobate.

1) FALSE LIGHT

“Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands,”

We are now speaking of salvation through the analogy of light.

Light would reference really any message of salvation.

Everyone who preaches any message of salvation (even pagan idolatrous ones) love the analogy of enlightenment or light.

And Scripture is no different.
• We are certainly aware that Jesus refers to Himself as “The Light of the
world”

Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES— “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

When Peter spoke of the Scriptures he said:
2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

And when Jesus talked about the preaching of John the Baptist, He referred to it as light.
John 5:33-35 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”

So you understand the analogy here.
Light is simply a reference to a saving message.

Certainly only Jesus was the TRUE light.
John 1:9 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

Only Jesus is the true message of salvation,
• But in a general sense everyone who comes preaching a message of salvation is offering some kind of enlightenment.

The reference here is to people who rejected the light of Christ
And have instead sought to replace it with their own light.

It is NOT a true light.
It is NOT a saving light.
But they have clung to it anyway.

• They “kindle a fire”
• They “encircle [them]selves with firebrands” (called “sparks” in the KJV)

It is a false light.
It is a man-made light.
But it is their plan of salvation.

And WE SEE THESE types of false lights often times today
Just as we saw them in Jesus’ day.

One such false light is:
WORTH

By that we mean a person’s faulty view
Of their own self-worth or their own goodness.

We talked about it Wednesday night,
• You actually had the Pope come out this week on 60 minutes
• And declare that all people are basically good.

THAT IS OFTEN TIMES THE BELIEF OF MAN.

We remember the Rich Young Ruler’s faulty self-assessment.
Matthew 19:18-20 “Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

For anyone to claim that they have kept any one of those commands
Is a tremendous case of FDS
(faulty discernment syndrome).

When Jesus came and rightly taught the Law in the Sermon on the Mount
• We quickly found out that there is not a single command which we have not
broken repeatedly.

Paul gave us that profound conglomeration of Old Testament passages
In Romans 3 reminding us that there is none good, not even one.

But people still tend to believe it.

• Even people who have been found guilty of atrocious sins in our world
will still often times defend themselves by saying, “But I am not a bad
person.”

• There used to be a post that went around Facebook that said, “I have a
good heart, but this mouth…”

BUT YOU UNDERSTAND THE FALSE LIGHT HERE.
It is people who measure themselves with faulty standards
And actually think they have no need of salvation
Because they are already good.

Another false light is:
WORKS

This is good old-fashioned legalism.
I have done something that has made me now acceptable to God.

I will admit that I was sinful.
I will admit that I fell short of God’s requirement.

However, I have now done something that has made it up to God
And I am now justified in His sight.

Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

Or we think about those people whom Jesus rejected at the judgment but were so sure of themselves by reason of their religious works.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Romans 2 (if you’ve been with us on Wednesday nights)
• Is set to crush all the legalistic beliefs of the Jews who thought they were saved because they had been circumcised.

IT IS A COMMON FALSE LIGHT.

Today people think they are saved
Because they’ve been baptized or because they go to church
Or because they take communion or some other work.

They are all false lights for no work of man
Ever measured up to the righteous requirements of God.

• He gave His Law and it must be followed flawlessly in order for salvation to occur.
• You cannot break the Law and then substitute some other work and call it all good.

That is a false light.

Another false light is:
WITNESSES

They come from various sources,
And the first is usually your own corrupt heart.
People simply invent their own gospel message and adopt it instead.

For example:
Acts 23:8 “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”

Well that’s convenient.
• Just do away with the after-life.
• No fear of judgment,
• No supernatural activity to speak of, just ignore it if you don’t like it.

Or the Jews who were convinced
• They were saved because they were children of Abraham
• Or disciples of Moses.

Neither of those are true gospels.
But people sort of wanted to believe it
In their own hearts and minds so they do.

But Solomon said:
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

Just because you can rationalize it in your own heart and mind
Doesn’t mean it’s true or that it can save.

OTHERS, simply employ other witnesses to come and tell them what they want to hear.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Isaiah 30:9-10 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.”

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

They are people who reject the true light of the gospel
And then just employ their own that they like better.

Similar to the United Methodist “Church” deciding this week
That homosexuality is no longer a sin.

Well you can declare it and you can employ preachers to affirm it,
But that is only a false light.

But this is what you see from the Reprobate.
• They haven’t just rejected the true light…
• They don’t just seek to extinguish the light…
• They set out to replace it with a light of their own making.

And that is such a real problem which continues down to this very day.

There’s a second thing we see about this group:

2) FRUSTRATED CONSENT

“Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze.”

This is the response of the Lord, (The true Light)
To their desire to make their own fraudulent light.

His frustration is seen,
NOT in the fact that He tells them to put that light out,
But in the fact that He encourages them
To keep it burning and trust it fully.

This is the epitome of wrath.
This is why we call them a Reprobate.

Romans 1:21-25 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

That is what we are discussing here.
God has given them over.
He is allowing them to have the full enjoyment of their light.
• You can keep it.
• You can trust it.
• You can walk in it.
• In fact you can have ALL that comes with it.

It’s the equivalent of God saying:
• Just bring your baptismal certificate to the Great White Throne judgment.
• Just bring your edited copy of the Scriptures when you stand before Me.

He invites them to make a detailed list of all their works,
Get it notarized, laminated, collated, and bound in a fancy cover
And then present it to Me.

BUT WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT IS GOING TO GO.
THAT FALSE LIGHT WILL BE EXTINGUISHED.

• All those works will be burned up.
• All those witnesses will be condemned before their very eyes.

All their worth will be measured next to the glory of Christ
And they will be found terribly wanting in their assessment.

And the only words they will hear will be, “Depart from Me”

The consent that God gives here
Is not a compromise to accept their false light,
But rather a calculated judgment
Upon those who would dare to even try to light their own.

It is consent, but it is consent to judgment.

And then we see a third thing about this group.

3) FURIOUS RESPONSE

“This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.”

Jeremiah came to his people with one of the greatest questions in the Bible:

Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”

Those are people who lit their own false fires.
And they loved it.

Don’t they love it today!
Don’t they boast and brag and argue about their false ways of salvation?

To all of that Jeremiah simply asks:
“But what will you do at the end of it?”

Well, that question is answered here.
“This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.”

And what a powerful two lines of Scripture
To clarify for us topics that are under continual debate.

I see the debates all the time:
• God would not send anyone to hell, He’s too loving.
• God doesn’t send anyone to hell, they send themselves there.
• Hell would be contrary to the nature of a good God.

And yet we read:
“This you will have from My hand:”

Not only is judgment real, but it is none other than God who dispenses it.
• He doesn’t judge sinners through a surrogate.
• You don’t receive your licks from a substitute.

No, God Himself does it.

Have we not learned?
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”

God says that vengeance is reserved for Him alone.

Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

It is God’s hands you fall into.

When we get a glimpse of hell in the Revelation we see:
Revelation 14:9-10 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

You can take all your notions and wishes and false prophecies
About God not being willing to judge sinners
And throw them out the window.

He most certainly will.
He most certainly does.

You can also throw out your alternate views of hell.
• Many today favor the view of annihilationism where sinners are just snuffed out of existence.
• They don’t see God cruelly tormenting sinners for all eternity.

But here we read: “You will lie down in torment.”
• He doesn’t say you will be snuffed out of existence.
• He doesn’t say you will go to some Purgatory until you get your act together.

He says that all those who trust in a false light
Will receive from His hand eternal torment.

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

It is really a foolish thing to deny the gospel.
It is even more foolish to fight against the gospel.
But the most foolish thing you can ever do is seek to replace the gospel.

If you seek out a false light by which you trust for your salvation
Then the wrath of God is seen in allowing you to believe it
All the way to hell.

DON’T DO THAT.
• Certainly if you are a rebel, repent, God saves rebels.
• Certainly if you have been a rival, repent, God saves rivals.

BUT DO NOT, under any circumstances, stay in your sin
And just determine to invent your own plan of salvation,
For I can assure you that God will not honor it.

In the day of judgment all your confidence will quickly fade.

SO NOW THE POINT OF THE CHAPTER BECOMES CLEAR

THERE IS NO OTHER SAVIOR.

1) You didn’t like Jesus when He came.
• He was too holy.
• He was too convicting.
• He wouldn’t accept your sin.
• He demanded repentance.
• He wasn’t pleased with your religious works.

2) so you decided to rebel against His call to repentance and salvation.

3) Yet somehow, what He said cut you to the quick so instead of just letting it go, you decided to try and condemn Him.
• If you could prove Him false then everything He said about you would be thrown out of court as inadmissible.
• But you realized that no matter how hard you attack Him, you can’t make anything stick.

4) So you determine to just alter the gospel and rewrite your own code of salvation.
• You just looked to your own sinful heart for what you thought was right.
• You gathered around a multitude of teachers to affirm your new doctrine.
• And you’ve got your own plan of salvation.

But it won’t work.
THERE IS NO OTHER SAVIOR.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

Only Christ fulfilled the Law of God and lived a sinless life.

Only Christ satisfied God’s righteous requirement.

Only Christ then paid the debt for sinners on the cross.
• It was there that God, by His own hand, afflicted Christ with the punishment that sinners deserve.
• It was there that God poured out all the wrath for all the sin of all the elect for all time.

No one else ever did that.
No one else ever pleased God by righteous living.
No one else ever took the punishment that sinners deserve.
ONLY CHRIST DID THAT.

There is no other way.
There is no other light.

John 1:4-7 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.”

John 3:19-21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.”

There are NOT MANY ROADS all heading up the same mountain.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

It’s been a while since we’ve discussed this great statement from Jesus,
But by all means you should know it.

Jesus spoke of two gates.
Jesus spoke of two paths.
Jesus spoke of two crowds.
Jesus spoke of two destinations.

One gate is small, you can’t take anything through it with you.
The other gate is wide, it doesn’t cost you anything to go through that gate.

One path is narrow, it has poor visibility and it is full of dangers.
One path is broad, it has easy travel with well marked signs

One crowd is small, only a few people enter that small gate and travel that narrow way.
The other crowd is large, most people have chosen the wide gate and the broad way.

One destination leads to eternal life.
The other destination is eternal destruction.

And it is important to understand what is going on here.

Each of those roads has a sign above the gate,
But it’s not the sign you might think.

That sign above the wide gate does NOT read, “The road to destruction”.
If it did, it wouldn’t be so crowded.

No, the sign above that gate reads, “The Road to Heaven”.
• The problem is that it has been mis-marked.
• That sign was hung by the false prophets Jesus spoke of in the next verse.
• They are people who offer a false light and a phony plan of salvation.

They assure you
• You can keep your sin and keep your friends and keep your idols.
• There is no sacrifice involved in the path to heaven.
• God loves everyone and all are welcome to Him.

And that road is easy, it’s a four-laner, you can set your cruise control and just go down the road without giving it any thought at all.

And it is a popular way, in fact that’s the way most people go.
• It is filled with religious people doing good works.
• It is filled with gay pride banners with people insisting God made them that way.
• It is filled with other religions and tolerance is the way of travel there.

Everyone on that road is just certain they are headed to heaven.
BUT THEY AREN’T.

THAT ROAD ENDS IN DESTRUCTION.
YOU DON’T GET TO MAKE YOUR OWN LIGHT.

But what about THAT NARROW GATE?
Does that gate also say “The Road to Heaven”?

No, that gate says, “The Road to the Cross”.

For the hanger of that sign is the Lord Jesus Christ who told us:
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

This gate forces you
• To lay down your idols
• And lay down your sin.
• To enter alone because two at a time won’t fit.

And the road is treacherous and hard.
• The vision is poor and the lighting is dim.

In fact, we saw the people who travel this road in verse 10 of this chapter.
(50:10) “Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

These people entered that gate at the command of their Lord,
But the road has been hard and at times they are hopeless.

AND YET, the Lord of that road is faithful to sustain them
Every step of the way and to guide them according to His great light.

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

Their motto as they travel is:
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

And by faith the Lord guides them down that path.

They also often times travel that path alone.
• There are few people who go that way, for most prefer the easy way.

But at the end,
• It is this path which lands them in eternal life,
• For this path takes them by the cross of Jesus
• Where their sin is atoned for
• And they are justified in His righteousness.

It is the only way.
He is the only light.
There is no other Savior but Him.

And this is the message of Isaiah 50.

• Have you been a rebel? REPENT
• Have you been a rival? REPENT
• Are you the remnant? KEEP GOING
• Are you a reprobate? IF POSSIBLE REPENT

There is no other savior.

We trust in this Suffering Servant.

(4-7) “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.”

He alone can save.
He alone can sustain.
We trust in Him and we trust in Him alone.