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The Marvelous Work of God – Part 2
Isaiah 29:1-24 (2-24)
October 22, 2023

We started this chapter this morning which outlines
“The Marvelous Work of God”

• We are talking about God’s supernatural work.
• We are talking about God’s miraculous work.
• It is that which is too difficult for men, but it is not too difficult for God.

And as we said this morning, this is the work of revival.
This is the work of redemption.
This is the work of opening blind eyes and deaf ears.

Jerusalem certainly had both.
They were a hypocritical people whose worship
Was nothing more than learned tradition.

They had no love for God.
They had no fear of God.
They were robots going through the motions.
They were in need of revival.

What a blessing it is to know that God is in the revival business.
For all the miracles that typically get sought after today,
The one miracle God still does on a daily basis
Is the miracle of redemption and revival.

It is the miracle that is outlined for us in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

• It is God who opens blind eyes.
• It is God who opens deaf ears.
• It is God who softens hard hearts.
• It is God who awakens dead souls.

The story of Lazarus is but one of many examples of God taking what is dead and making it alive.

The salvation of Saul of Tarsus is another example of God taking those who are blind and making them see.

The salvation of Zaccheaus is an example of God taking what is deaf and making them hear.

This is the marvelous work of God.

And as we saw THIS MORNING Jerusalem needed it.

We looked at the first point of this chapter.
#1 THEIR UNACCEPTABLE WORSHIP
Isaiah 29:1

This city, “where David once camped”
That is to say “This city that was once full of genuine worship”

“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”

It was a sarcastic statement as if to say, “What good is that going to do?”
• You keep showing up.
• You keep going through the motions.
• You keep doing the same old things.

But even though your words are near, your hearts are far away.
1. You’re nothing but robots following tradition.
2. And the second you get out of the temple you run into your sin as though I don’t see you.

THEY WERE PEOPLE IN NEED OF REVIVAL.
Fortunately God is the type of God who can bring revival.
He is the type of God will correct our faulty worship.

Tonight we move on to see exactly how God will do just that.
#2 THEIR UNSEEN ASSAULT
Isaiah 29:2-4

You’ll see why it is unseen in a moment,
BUT FIRST let’s look at the assault.

You will remember in verse 1 God referred to Jerusalem with a nickname.
He called her “Ariel” which means “Lion of God”

And here in verses 2-4 we see that this lion
Is now being hunted, surrounded, and put down.

God says, (2-3) “I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me. I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.”

It paints the picture of a group of hunters tracking a lion, encircling it,
Throwing up barricades and preparing to attack.

This is of course exactly what Sennacherib did to Jerusalem
During the reign of Hezekiah.

But here, before Sennacherib ever occurred,
God is promising that this “distress” IS COMING.

And for what purpose?
(4) “Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.”

It is extremely clear.
• The purpose is NOT destruction.
• The purpose is NOT total eradication.

THE PURPOSE IS HUMILITY.
God is going to break the pride of this complacent city.

• This city is full of hypocrisy and tradition.
• This city is full of worldliness and comforts.
• Their worship is unacceptable to God and they are filled with pride.

So God is rising up to do His marvelous work and it begins with distress.

This is how God brings revival to His people.

SOMETIMES IT IS LITERAL PHYSICAL DISTRESS.
• We’ve all experienced times of pain or suffering or hardship which humble us
and drive us to the ground.
• We’ve all experienced times of suffering which causes us to loosen our grip
on the things of the world and renew our interest in God.

BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS PHYSICAL DISTRESS.

Many a man has been led to revival
Because of the distress of his soul.

AND REVIVAL NEVER OCCURS WITHOUT THIS.

Revival always starts with a time of confrontation
And conviction from the Lord.
It always begins with God bringing conviction to the heart.

He always begins by crushing the pride of the sinner.
• We are talking about people who have grown comfortable in phony worship.
• We are talking about people who talk a good game on Sunday, but then live
in sin throughout the week.

The first leg of revival is when
God will crush that phoniness and love of sin.

The Assyrian assault is in many ways a metaphor for what God does to the soul to bring about revival for His people.

Can we go again to Psalm 32?

Psalms 32 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”

You see that point of conviction in David’s life.
“day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality drained away as with the fever heat of summer”

EVER BEEN THERE?
When God just seemed to put His thumb on you and lay you bare before Him?
• He began to put you in distress of soul and crush your pride
• Until you let go of all your self-reliance and love of sin.

That is the first step to revival in your heart.
And that is what God does here.

We have a city of proud hypocritical people
So God is bringing distress in the form of Assyria.

“Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also whisper like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech you will whisper from the dust.”

What a statement of humility!
• “brought low”
• “from the earth”
• “from the dust”
• “you are prostrate”
• “from the ground”
• “from the dust”
• “whisper”

It is a man who has lost all pride and dignity.
It is a man who has nothing left to hang on to.
And God is promising to bring that to Jerusalem.

It is the first step in revival.

But we said that this assault would be UNSEEN.

That is to say, despite the fact that Isaiah has been talking about it,
The people of Jerusalem would be caught totally off guard by it.

WHY?

Well, look down to verses 9-12
(9-12) “Be delayed and wait, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

Isaiah speaks of “the prophets” and “the seers”
And he says that God “has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep”

• They are “delayed”.
• They are “blind”
• They “stagger”

In other words, God has not allowed them to see what is coming.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHY?
We saw it back in chapter 28.

Because when God did try to speak to them,
They responded with scorn and mockery.

Isaiah tried to call them to repentance, but they wouldn’t listen.
• Remember, they made a covenant with Sheol.
• They had a plan…Egypt would protect them.

So when God spoke they saw no need to listen.

And in response to this arrogance
God has now hidden the plan from them.

(11-12) “The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

You have two men there.
• One is literate and learned.
• One is illiterate.

• You hand the first guy the book and he’s too lazy to open it and read it.
• You hand it to the second guy, he can’t read, and he’s too lazy to learn.

You have men here who have no interest in the word of God.
They don’t care what God has to say.
They don’t care to listen to God.

And because of this, they are totally unaware of what God is about to do.
God will bring Assyria right up to the neck of this city
And they will be totally shocked when it happens.

There will be no plan to prevent it.
There will be no plan to evacuate and escape it.
Assyria is going to show up unaware and bust you right in the mouth.

Can I state the obvious to you?
Perhaps God wouldn’t have to hit so hard if His people would simply listen to His word.

• If one cared to read what God had to say and do it…
• If one cared to investigate what God has said to do it…
• Perhaps God’s warning alone would lead to the necessary repentance.

But when a man won’t listen and a man won’t learn,
God has more severe means of getting their attention.

Here God is bringing and army to the gates.

WHY?
So “you will be brought low”

God is going to take you down a notch.
This is the first step of His marvelous work of revival.

• It is conviction…
• It is discipline…
• It is those things in life which pry our idols out of our hands…
• It is those things in life which refute our faulty speculations…
• It is those things in life which crush our self-love and pride…

God must take people who won’t listen
And change their demeanor to make them ready to listen.

JESUS
• Knocked Saul of his horse and struck him with blindness.
• He brought to the surface the immoral decisions of the woman at the well.
• He confronted the darkness and total depravity of Nicodemus’ heart.

THIS IS WHAT GOD DOES.

Even Isaiah first stood in the presence of God and cried, “Woe is me! I am undone!”

God must first crush that pride.
And while this is not pleasant it is so important.

Charles Spurgeon once said,
“I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me against the Rock of Ages.”

Well that is what God is doing here.
Because of their pride.

You see this spoken of yet AGAIN in verse 17
(17) “Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?”

It is the picture of degradation.
• Cities become fields.
• Fields become pastures.

It is a picture of God bringing upon this city His distressing hand
In order to drive them to the dirt.

So far they have been unwilling to listen when He called.
By the time He is finished not only will they be listening, but they will be seeking Him.

This is part of His marvelous work.
This is how He brings revival and redemption.

But it is at this point in the chapter
Where it almost seems like God does a complete 180.

He goes from talking about the distress of Jerusalem
To the destruction of the one who will distress them.

Look at verses 5-8
(5-8) “But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly. From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire. And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night. It will be as when a hungry man dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty man dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations will be Who wage war against Mount Zion.”

So God just said that He was going to drive Jerusalem down into distress.

But then
• He will pulverize their enemy “like fine dust”.
• He will blow them away “like chaff”

According to vs 6, “From the LORD of hosts you will be punished”,
But then He will totally do away with those who punish you.

In fact, in verses 7-8 He compares the Assyrian invasion to a dream.
It will be horrible and terrible, but it will end instantly and suddenly.

Like when you have a nightmare and it’s horrible,
But you wake up and instantly have relief because it was only a dream.

And we know from history that this is exactly what happened.
• We know how Sennacherib surrounded Jerusalem.
• We know how his commanders read that letter to the men on the wall.
• We know how they promised to destroy Jerusalem.
• We know how Hezekiah humbled himself.
• We know that he spread that letter out to God.
• And we know how God killed 180,000 Assyrians in one night.

They came bringing distress.
They drove Jerusalem to the dirt in humility.
Then God blew them away like dust or like chaff.

And in the same breath which God announced their coming,
God also announced their demise.

What do we make of this?

Well this is the 3rd point of Isaiah’s chapter.

Their Unacceptable Worship
Their Unseen Assault
#3 THEIR UNFAILING COVENANT
Isaiah 29:5-8

Do you understand what is happening here?
• Is God angry with His people? Yes
• Is God frustrated with their worship? Yes
• Is God going to distress them and drive to the dirt? Yes

BUT THEY ARE STILL GOD’S PEOPLE
It has never entered His mind to abandon them.
It has never entered His mind to just do away with them.

They deserve discipline and they will receive it.
They need humility and God will teach it.
But He will not cast them away or abandon them.

They are His people.
He made promises to Abraham and He will keep those promises.

They need revival to be sure, and God will bring it.
But total destruction was never on the table.

REMEMBER THAT WHEN GOD BRINGS DISTRESS INTO YOUR LIFE.
He will humble you, but He will not discard you.

His punishment may even be severe.
(6) “From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.”

That’s how you drive a proud people to their knees in humility.
He will do that.
• But as soon as humility occurs…
• As soon as repentance happens…
• God will also remove their distresser and blow him away as though he was never there.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS IN YOUR LIFE?
• God brings about conviction and it is painful and it is harsh.
• He crushes you under the weight of His holiness and His word.
• He relentlessly squeezes until you turn loose of your idols and your sin.

But the second you do, that conviction is gone!
It is replaced with the most amazing peace and joy!

The goal of God was not to crush you beyond hope,
It was to drive you back to Him.

And so look now at THE END RESULT of God’s marvelous work.

Look down to verses 18-21
(18-21) “On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off; Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.”

Do you know what we call this?
We call it revival.
• “the deaf will hear”
• “the blind will see”

That is not physical blindness or physical deafness.
That is when God opens the eyes and ears of the stubborn.

At this point “the afflicted will increase their gladness”

Those who were driven down to the ground in humility
Will be grateful for what God has done.

“the ruthless will come to an end” – that’s called repentance!
“the scorner will be finished” – no more mocking God’s word

God will put an end to evil and liars and defrauders.
It is the end result of God humbling His people.

And listen, only God can do that!

Can a leopard change its spots?
Can an Ethiopian change his skin?
• Can a deaf man hear?
• Can a blind man see?
• Can a dead man live?

No, not unless God does a marvelous work in their life
And that is what Isaiah sees here.

Because God has an unfailing covenant with His people
He will not allow them to remain in their unrepentant state.

Instead He will do a marvelous work that
Starts with distress, produces humility, and ends in revival.

This is the marvelous work of God.
• This is the supernatural work of God.
• This is the miraculous work of God.
• This is what man can’t do, but God can do.

We praise God that He does this in our lives.

And then we take a look at the celebration after revival occurs.

(22-24) “Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel. “Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.”

There is that chief analogy we talked about this morning.
“Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham…”

That God who took a moon worshiping pagan
And transformed him into the father of faith and a friend of God.

THAT SAME GOD is about to go to work “concerning the house of Jacob”

Here Isaiah speaks of Jacob
As one who looks down through the centuries
With shame and embarrassment for what his children had become.

REMEMBER JACOB?
• The deceiver…
• The conniver…
• The self-sufficient…
• The one who had it all figured out…

Remember how God humbled him with Laban?
Remember how God terrified him with Esau?
Remember how God crippled him to teach him to rely on God?

• Jacob came out of that sanctified.
• Jacob came out of that as a man who listened to God.
• Jacob came out of that as a man with no need for the world.

How ashamed Jacob would have been
If he could have seen his descendants.

But Isaiah says, after God finishes his reviving work on Jerusalem, “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.”

Is that just a little bit of a contrast to what we saw earlier?
Look up again to verse 13

(13) “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

That is what they were.

And what did God say He would do?

(14) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

I’m going to take
• Those self-sufficient self-proclaimed wise men who trust in their own logic more than my word…
• Those hypocritical surface only worshipers who don’t love Me in their heart…
• Those celebrated wise men who have no need to listen to My voice…

I’m going to deal marvelously with them.
• I’m going to put them in distress until it drives them into the ground
• I’m going to humble them until they cry out to Me.
• And then I’m going to deliver them, revive them, and wake them up.

And after that, they will no longer scoff.
After that, they will no longer mock or reject.

After that, “they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.”

He goes on:
(24) “Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.”

What a statement!
• God will take and transform those who think wrong!
• God will take and transform those who won’t accept instruction!

NOW BEFORE YOU START THINKING
…Of all the people out there who are wrong and need to be corrected…
…Of all the people who need to learn to listen…

STOP AND PRAISE GOD THAT HE DID THIS IN YOUR LIFE!

That was you!
That was me!

We were those who “err in mind”
We were those who “criticize” and would not “accept instruction”
• We were men and women of a depraved mind.
• We called what was evil good.
• We called what was good evil.
• We thought wrong about everything.

But God has transformed us.
• He has renewed our mind with His word.
• He has given us the mind of Christ.
• He has removed our heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh.

We didn’t do that, God did that!
He redeemed us.
He revived us.
He did His marvelous work in us.

And He can certainly do it in others.

You should also stop and consider what TRUE REVIVAL LOOKS LIKE.

REVIVAL IS NOT SOME EMOTIONAL FRENZY.

So much of the time when people speak of some revival occurring
They are talking about some emotion laden event with people crying and laughing
And filled with ecstatic happiness.

And look one ought to be happy and filled with joy.

But the fruit of genuine revival
Is far different and far more long lasting.

When God brings revival it starts with distress.
• Distress of soul
• Perhaps even distress of body

When God brings revival it produces humility.
• Men are confronted with their perilous state and are driven to the dirt in brokenness.

When God brings revival it is motivated by His sovereign grace.
• God revives those whom He has chosen to revive.
• God works on behalf of His children.

When God brings revival it results in love for His truth.
• It results in people who previously wouldn’t listen to God starting to listen to God.
• It results in people who leaned on their own understanding now leaning on God’s word for understanding.
• It results in obedience as opposed to mocking and scoffing.

Revival takes hypocritical worshipers
Whose hearts are far away from God
And leads them to genuine humility and obedience.

It turns their hearts back to God
And evidences that return with a love for God’s word
Over their own logic and understanding.

THIS IS THE MARVELOUS WORK OF GOD.

NOW,
Has God done that work in your life?
Is God doing that work in your life?

Are you in a state in your life where you can say that you “sanctify His name”?

Are you in a state in your life where you can say that you “sanctify the Holy One of Israel”?

Do you currently “stand in awe of the God of Israel”?

OR
• Do you merely draw near with your words while your heart is far from Him?
• Do you merely honor Him with your lip service?
• Is your reverence nothing more than practiced and learned behavior that was taught you through tradition?

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

If your heart has been revived
Then praise God for doing this marvelous work that only He could do in your life.

If your heart is in need of revival
Then confess that to Him and ask Him to go to work on your heart.

“On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

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The Marvelous Work of God – Part 1
Isaiah 29:1-24 (1, 13, 15-16)
October 22, 2023

Let’s start this morning
With what Isaiah says in the 14th verse of this chapter.

(14a) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;”

This chapter introduces us to what we might call
“The Marvelous Work of God”

The previous chapter introduced us to His “extraordinary work”

Isaiah 28:21 “For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.”

• Isaiah was confronting a people who would not listen to God.
• They scoffed at Isaiah and mocked him when he spoke God’s word.

In response to their scoffing God promised to rise up and do
“His unusual task” and “His extraordinary work”

That work was judgment.
• God is by nature a Savior.
• He is long suffering.
• He is slow to anger.
• He does not delight in the death of the wicked.

And although He is just and willing to judge, judgment is referred to as His “unusual task” or “His extraordinary work”

But here in the next chapter
We are confronted with a different type of God’s work.

We see that God will “deal marvelously”
This is His marvelous work.

The word “marvelously” here is the Hebrew word (PAW-LAW)
And it speaks of something that is “extraordinarily hard or difficult”
Even something miraculous.

It is the word God used when He confronted Sarah for laughing at the announcement that she would have a son.

Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

There it is the word “difficult”

It is the word God used of the mighty signs He would perform against the land of Egypt during the Exodus.
Exodus 3:20 “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.”

There it is translated “miracles”

And it is the word David used to describe the unbelievable things which God has accomplished.

Psalms 40:5 “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”

There it is translated “wonders”

So you understand that when we are talking about
God doing something “wondrously marvelous”
We are talking about something that only He can do.

It is something that depends on His intervention.
It is something that depends on His work.
GOD MUST DO IT.

It is a thing that CANNOT be accomplished through the effort of man.
It is NOT natural, it is supernatural.

And in Isaiah 29 that marvelous work which God is about to do is:
REVIVAL.

• God is about to awaken dead souls.
• God is about to open deaf ears.
• God is about to open blind eyes.
• God is about to soften hardened hearts.

It is something that cannot be accomplished
Through the efforts or planning of man.

When I was a kid every fall and every spring our church would schedule what they called a “Revival”.

• It was typically a Sunday through Wednesday event in which a guest preacher would come in and we’d have church services every night.
• And typically when it was over the pastor would get up and say something like, “Revival has really occurred here this week”

But it was always peculiar to me as a child that everything always
Seemed to just go back to the way it was before this mighty event.

And the point of course is that revival
Is not something you can schedule or plan.

Revival is something which only God can orchestrate.
And when He does it is a marvelous work.

Well that is what Isaiah 29 is about.
• It is God’s promise to bring about revival
• It is God’s revelation regarding why it is needed.
• It is God’s explanation as to how He’s going to bring it about.

In short God is about to transform false worshipers into true worshipers.
God is about to take people who worship only in ritual
And turn them into people who worship in spirit and in truth.

This is nothing short of the marvelous work of God.

I WOULD ALSO POINT OUT THAT
To better explain exactly what God is going to do in the lives of the people of Jerusalem, God actually calls upon A HISTORICAL REFERENCE.

Look down at the end of the chapter to verse 22.
“Therefore, thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob…”

If you want an example for what God is going to do in Jerusalem;
God says He’s about to do the same thing He did in the life of Abraham.

CERTAINLY YOU REMEMBER THAT.
• Abram, the moon worshiping pagan
• Who owned slaves, loved money,
• And would even trade off his own wife if there was a profit in it.

From a human perspective Abram was a lost cause.
But God chose Him.

And we read all about how God pruned Abram.
• We saw how God separated him from his family, even Lot.
• We saw how God forced him to trust solely in His promises.
• We saw how God granted him faith and then grew that faith.
• We saw how God corrected him and sanctified him in his mistakes.
• And we saw how eventually Abraham was called “the friend of God”

From pagan worshiping enemy to friend of God.
That was a marvelous work God accomplished in his life.

And the God who did that for Abraham is the God
Who is about to do the same thing for the people of Jerusalem.

That is what Isaiah 29 is about.

NOW, we’re going to cover it in a little different format that we usually do.
• We’re going to outline the first 8 verses
• And use the remainder of the chapter to reinforce that.
• The chapter communicates in circles and I think this is the clearest way to work through it.

So let’s look at the first 8 verses
And we’ll let the last 16 verses kind of be the supporting cast.

We’re going to break this message down into 3 points.

#1 THEIR UNACCEPTABLE WORSHIP
Isaiah 29:1

“Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”

You know by now that Isaiah likes nicknames (or rather God does).
• Earlier he referred to Babylon as “the wilderness of the sea” (21:1)
• He referred to Jerusalem as “the valley of vision” (22:1)

Well now he calls Jerusalem “Ariel”
(We know it’s Jerusalem because of the reference to David)

The word “Ariel” is literally translated “Lion of God”

And that would explain the coming statements of how
God is going to surround her and set up battle against her and bring her down.

Other commentators have recognized that Ezekiel used the word HAR-EL as the word for “altar hearth”.

And they say that God here is calling Jerusalem His altar.

It seems more likely that the reference here is to a lion,
And perhaps even a rogue lion that must be captured and dealt with.

But aside from that the FIRST THING we notice about the chapter
Is again Isaiah’s usage of the word “Woe”

We saw it first when Isaiah entered the temple, saw the glory of God,
And was sure of his own destruction.

It is a big word to Isaiah.
He does not use it lightly.
And here he pronounces that response on Jerusalem.

The indicator of THE PROBLEM comes in the second line of verse 1.
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”

It is a statement that references the monotony of their worship.
IT HAS BECOME ROUTINE.
• Year after year, month after month, week after week, it’s the same old same old.

It makes me think of the old Dunkin Donuts commercial
Where the man is walking out the door, “Time to make the donuts”

We just do it over and over and over and over.
• There is no enthusiasm.
• There is no excitement.
• There is no joy or anticipation.

It’s time to go to the temple and do it all again.

And what makes this apathetic mindset so regrettable is that
This is “the city where David once camped!”

Do you know anything about David?

Sure, David had his flaws.
• We know about Bathsheba.
• We know about Absalom.
• We know about him numbering Israel.

But in spite of his mistakes, ONE THING DAVID GOT RIGHT,
Is that he pursued the heart of God with everything he had.

David made some mistakes in some areas,
But he got worship right.

Let me just read to you some of the things David said.

Psalms 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.”

Psalms 29:1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”

Psalms 31:23 “O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer.”

Psalms 40:6-8 “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”

Psalms 62:1-2 “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

Psalms 63:1-5 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.”

Psalms 66:16-20 “Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.”

Psalms 86:11-13 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever. For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”

Psalms 103:1-2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;”

Psalms 103:19-22 “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

Psalms 113:1-4 “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, Praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.”

And that’s just the tip of the ice burg.

David made mistakes in life, but one thing he continually got right was worship.
• It was never mundane to him.
• It was never routine to him.
• It was never some mindless obligation.

And when David camped in Jerusalem
That city was a beacon of worship and the glory of God.

BUT MY HOW FAR THAT CITY HAS FALLEN.

It would be like someone 280 years from now standing in the pulpit of Grace Community Church (where MacArthur preaches) and denying the inerrancy of Scripture.

You’d say, “Wow! Denying the Bible in the pulpit where MacArthur once preached.”

That is the kind of downfall that has occurred in this once bright city.
It USED TO BE a city where God was worshiped and honored and adored
NOW it is a city where worship has become routine and heartless.

“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”

WHAT USE IS THAT?

Isaiah already addressed it.
Isaiah 1:11-15 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

It means very little to God that someone just keep a schedule.

We remember it from Malachi’s day.
Malach 1:6-11 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’ “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts.”

There God actually wished that someone would lock the doors.
• If there is not going to be genuine honor…
• If there is not going to be genuine worship…
• If there is only some commitment to some routine…
• Just lock the doors.

Psalms 50:7-15 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

With God it has never been about the routine or the ordinance.

Have we not read about the Corinthian church that was taking the Lord’s Supper but was getting drunk while doing so?

• Paul alluded that God was killing some of the Corinthians for that.

Going through the motions is not enough for God.
Being faithful to a routine is not enough for Him.

AND THIS IS ISRAEL’S PROBLEM.
• They know when to arrive and when to leave.
• They knew when to sit and when to stand.
• They know when to sing and when to be silent.
• But it is all empty.

Raymond Ortlund wrote:
“They were saying all the right things, doing all the right things. They feared God. But their fear of him – even this interior dimension of worship – was only a doctrine taught by human instruction. It was just an idea, a concept in their minds, a catechetical answer, not a Spirit-imparted awareness transforming their hearts. Beneath the beautiful observance, they were using the worship of God as a mechanism for avoiding God, for controlling God, for setting limits on God.”
(Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. [Isaiah: God saves sinners; Preaching The Word Commentary Series; Crossway Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 2005] Pg. 163)

In other words, if you asked them if they feared God?
They would say, “Yes, God is to be feared.”

But they said that, not because they really feared Him,
But because they had been taught to answer in such a way.

That is the danger of phony and routine religion.

Ortlund would also say:
“What is the problem? Jerusalem does not see her privilege and her peril. The God she worships is a fiery personality – not erratic but holy (Hebrews 12:28, 29). For us sinners, God is both high-voltage danger and overflowing salvation. And the only refuge from his holy wrath is his holy love in Christ, our substitute on the altar of the cross. In other words, the only escape from God is in God. But the worship of these people is impervious both to the heat of his anger and to the warmth of his love. They neither tremble nor rejoice in God’s presence. They just go through the motions. So, in his sight they’re wasting their time.”
(ibid. Pg. 161)

What a truth to ponder!
When you enter church to worship,
• You enter either as a sinner in need of salvation
• Or you enter as a sinner who has received salvation.

The first should tremble in holy fear
• That you would dare draw near to a holy God in such a sinful condition.
• You should be filled with “Woe” as Isaiah was when he entered God’s presence.

The second (the forgiven sinner) should be filled with tremendous gratitude
• You should be here to lay all on His altar.
• Your heart should be filled with the “Here am I, send me” of the redeemed Isaiah.
• You should be rejoicing that He has not treated you as your sins deserve.

This morning as you come to worship
You should either be trembling or rejoicing,
And if you are doing neither, then you are wasting your time.

That’s a pretty bold analysis, but he is absolutely correct.

And you hear that in the almost sarcastic tone of verse 1.
“Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.”

But it won’t do you any good.

But this is NOT ALL God has to say on the subject.
His frustration is explained more fully in verse 13.

(13) “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

What a statement!
What a tragedy!

They are a people of “words” and a people of “lip service”

NOW everything they say; all the songs they sing;
Are all filled with the right doctrine.

They quote the Scriptures, they sing the orthodox hymns.
They may even sing them on tune and with great volume and power.

Their worship services are a sight to behold and a joy to the ears.
They are pleasant to those around them.

BUT THEY ARE SUPERFICIAL
“But they remove their hearts far from Me”

David prayed:
Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

David was not only concerned about the words he spoke,
But also the heart in which he spoke them.

BUT NOW, this “city where David once camped”
Has dropped the second concern.

They no longer concern themselves with the meditation of the heart.

With their lips they sing the words,
But with their heart they are focused on something else.
• How do I sound?
• What do other people think of me?
• I wonder how many songs we’re singing?
• I sure hope this is over in time for the football game?

While they are physically present and put on a tremendous display
They are absent in heart and God is not pleased.

God says, “their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

The word “rote” is defined as,
“mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.”

What a dry and heartless time of worship!
A service filled with mechanical people who habitually do what they were told to do without any heart or feeling or genuine love.

• FILLED WITH habit and repetition and taught traditions,
• NOT FILLED WITH gratitude nor captivated by the greatness of God.

What a cold and heartless worship service that must be.
• People stand because they are told to stand.
• People sit because they are told to sit.
• People sing because they are told to sing.
• People pray because they are told to pray.

I’ve shared with you before about the Jewish man I met on the airplane who did not believe in Jesus.
I asked him what he did with Isaiah 53?
• He said, we only read the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

I asked him what he did with the veil that separates man from God?
• He said, we read those first 5 but we don’t believe them.

I asked him why he attended synagogue then if he didn’t even believe the book they study?
• He said, “I find comfort in the routine and the liturgy.”

WHAT NONSENSE!

Where does your heart stand before God?
• Do you love Him?
• Do you fear Him?
• Are you bursting at the seams to belt out His praises?
• Are you captivated and full of anticipation to hear His word?
• Are you blown away by His perfection?
• Are you humbled by His grace?
• Are you here simply to worship Him out of love and adoration?

Or are you just here because it’s what you do?
• Is there any love for Christ at all?
• Is there any desire to tell Him thank you?
• Is there any esteem for the holiness of God?

You may be worshiping in truth, but are you worshiping in Spirit?

John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

10 times the word “worship” is used in that passage.
That’s a pretty good indicator that we can learn something of it there.

Jesus defines worship as that which must be “in spirit and in truth”
Certainly it must be accurate and orthodox.
Certainly true doctrine must be at the center.

But where is the spirit?
Where is the emotion?
Where is the love, the fear, the gratitude, the awe?

God is clearly not interested in worship without those things.

They aren’t here singing because they love Me,
They sing because someone made them and trained them to do it.

A few years ago I had the privilege of performing the wedding ceremony for Norman and Brenda Hill.
• About 20 minutes before the wedding Brenda handed me a love letter that she
had written to Norman for the wedding.
• Brenda wanted me to read it before she came down the aisle.
• It was one of the most awkward things I’ve ever had to do in my life.
• Read a love letter to Norman that was written by Brenda in front of the entire
audience.

The words were true, and they were sincere from the one who wrote them, Yet I doubt Norman was too incredibly touched by the way I read it.

And that is what the worship of Jerusalem was like.
They showed up ever week and read a love letter to God
That someone else had written.

Psalms that David had written.
Hymns that some saint of old had poured his heart into.
The words were the same but the heart was missing.

And it was not pleasing to God.
It was “tradition learned by rote”

Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

Men more concerned with going through the proper procedures of hand washing
Than they were with honoring God by obeying His words.

Their worship must have felt so cheap and so plastic to God.
It was so phony.

Like some sort of arranged marriage or blind date
WHERE NEITHER PARTY WANTED TO BE THERE.

And if you look at verse 14,
God says that their phony worship is the direct reason why He is about to do this marvelous work in their lives.

(14) “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

Their phony worship is the catalyst to doing what He is about to do.

BUT STILL ISAIAH WAS NOT FINISHED.

God’s frustration with their worship is explained still further.
(15-16) “Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”

This is the SECOND great problem with their worship.
• The FIRST PROBLEM was “Empty Religion” and it was bad.
• This SECOND PROBLEM is “Concealed Iniquity”.

First they show up to church and offer God this phony display of love and adoration that is superficial at best.

But then when they leave church and assume that they are out of God’s presence they go about their sinful and immoral lives as though God doesn’t know it.

They act like God is only watching them when they are in church.
• They “deeply hide their plans from the LORD”
• Their “deeds are done in a dark place”
• They say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

It’s the person who acts and talks one way on Sunday
And different every other day of the week.

On Sunday you’d think, “Man this guy really loves God”
But on Monday you’d question if they ever met Him at all.

And the really stupid part about what they do is
They assume God isn’t watching the whole thing.

Do you really think God doesn’t know what you are doing?

(16) “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”

In other words, “Do you think I’m as dumb as you?”
• Do you really think us on the same level?
• Do you think that just because you can fool men that you can fool Me too?

It is nonsense!

Do you remember the day when God grabbed Ezekiel by the hair of the head and transported him back to Jerusalem to see the sins they were committing in supposed secrecy?

God showed him many great transgressions, but look at the last God showed him.

Ezekiel 8:16-18 “Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

Do you really think God doesn’t see?

We talked about this last Sunday morning with the youth at Disciple Now.
Luke 8:17 “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

Psalms 90:8 “You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.”

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Do you understand then how foolish it is
• To come to church and sing some song you’ve been taught to sing and pretend this great love for God
• Then go home and entertain some secret sin?

Take a man who spent all week living in sin and entertaining perversion.
• He gets up on Sunday morning and comes to church because it’s the thing to
do to keep up appearances.
• He sings the songs, he prays the prayers, but he has NO GENUINE LOVE for
God or gratitude to Him.
• And as soon as the service is over he goes right back to the sin that really
captivates his heart.

Is God supposed to be pleased with his worship?

Would you accept the love of your spouse under such circumstances?

You follow your spouse to the hotel where you see them enter with their lover, and day after day you see them continually engage in an affair.

But one night a week your spouse comes home and promises you that
“I love you” and “You’re the only one for me”.

Is that going to just warm your heart?
Are you going to feel extremely valued and treasured and loved?

So why would God be impressed with people who “add year to year” and “observe your feasts on schedule”?

This is what is referred to as unacceptable worship.
It may be worship in truth but it is not worship in spirit.
There is no love or fear or adoration for God.

The heart of David is noticeably missing.

And this is why God is motivated to do
This marvelous and miraculous work in their midst.

We’ll stop here today and finish this chapter tonight,
But this morning can you at least be honest with God about your worship of Him?

• Can you at least look inwardly and determine if your worship for Him is
genuine?
• Can you at least be honest with Him on that front?

And if your worship is phony can you be honest with Him this morning?
• Can you confess that to Him?
• Can you own it and repent?
• Can you ask Him to do a marvelous work in your heart?
• Can you ask Him to forgive you and bring revival to your soul?

HE WILL.
• He is merciful and forgiving and gracious.
• He is kind to ungrateful men.
• If you will repent, and confess your sin He is faithful to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Jesus asked for worship
From one of the most immoral women in the New Testament,
He will accept yours as well
If you will worship Him in spirit and in truth.

 

RULES VIDEO

 

HIGHTLIGHT VIDEO

The Seed is the Word of God – Luke 8:11 – Ben Moore

The Parable of the Sower – Luke 8:4-15 (Ben Moore)

Take Care How You Listen – Part 1 – Luke 8:16-18

Take Care How You Listen – Part 2 – Luke 8:19-21

 

 

download here

download here

Take Care How You Listen
Luke 8:16-18
October 15, 2023

By this time you’ve now heard the parable of the soils.
The banners behind me remind you of each of those various soils.

And now you know what they all mean.
Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.”

The seed in Jesus’ story is God’s word.
And that makes each of the 4 soils a different type of person (or heart)

Some are hard-hearted like THE PATH.
• They never hear, they never listen and Satan takes it away.

Some are faint-hearted like THE ROCKY SOIL.
• They hear but see the cost of Christ us too high and they fall away.

Some are half-hearted like THE WEEDY SOIL.
• They want Christ but they won’t give up their idols and the seed is choked.

But some are whole-hearted like THE GOOD SOIL.
• They give their whole heart to Christ and He makes them fruitful.

You have heard that parable now in detail and
Hopefully it’s truth is beginning to sink in to your hearts.

Well the parable from Jesus is over, but the sermon is not.
There are 3 more verses in Luke 8
That are a part of this sermon which Jesus preached on the soils.

It is how Jesus ended that message that we want to look at this morning.

VERY SIMPLY PUT, if you listened to that parable and then you asked yourself, “How would I know which soil I am?”

• How do I know if I have fruit?
• How do I know if I’m shallow?
• How do I know if I’m idolatrous?
• How do I know if I’m good soil?

If you asked that question
Then you are going to be grateful for these next 3 verses
For Jesus is going to bring clarity.

• He’s going to show you what you should be looking for in your life.
• He’s going to show you what you should be examining in your life.
• He’s going to show you how to tell if you’re producing fruit or not.

And then He’s got one final warning and piece of advice.

So first let’s listen to Jesus tell us how to know
If we’re that type of soil that produces fruit
Or if we are one of the other 3.

There are two realities here.

#1 IS YOUR FRUIT EVIDENT?
Luke 8:16

Now you notice that Jesus has SWAPPED ANALOGIES here.
• He has moved from talking about soil and fruit to talking about light.

There’s a reason for the shift in terminology but understand that
We are still talking about THE SAME SUBJECT.

He is still referring to THE OUTPUT of the Christian life.
• Whether you want to see it as the Christian producing fruit…
• Or you want to see it as the Christian shining light…

We are talking about the SAME THING.

The reason Jesus shifts to light as an analogy
Is because this was a direct confrontation of a Jewish mindset.

Jesus is going right at His crowd here.

Jews believed themselves to be a light to the world.

Listen to Paul in Romans 2
Romans 2:17-20 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,”

You see there Paul mention the Jewish belief that
They were “a light to those who are in darkness”.

In Scripture light represents one of three things.
It can refer to RIGHTEOUSNESS.
• The bible speaks of “deeds of light” or “deeds of darkness”

It can refer to INFORMATION or KNOWLEDGE
• We might say someone was “kept in the dark” or “the light came on”

It can refer to HOPE
• We might talk about “the light at the end of the tunnel”

The Jews considered themselves to be all 3 of those things to the world.
• They viewed themselves as the righteous example in a wicked world.
• They considered themselves to have the knowledge of the truth.
• They considered themselves to be the world’s hope of salvation.

It is interesting then when you get to John’s gospel
And hear John say about Jesus:
John 1:9 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

John was very quick to begin his gospel by revealing that Jesus was “the true light” which was a definite dig at Israel who thought they were light, but weren’t.

Perhaps you are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount.
Most people are familiar with Matthew 5:16 and it is often quoted in reference to the church.

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

• And while it is true that the church is to shine as lights in the world,
• Matthew 5:16 is not about the church,
• It is a sarcastic statement about the hypocrisy of Israel.

What Jesus is saying in the Sermon on the Mount
Is a STATEMENT OF CONDEMNATION.

You claim to be the light of the world, but you don’t shine.
How does that work?

In fact Jesus actually gave a different analogy first that meant the same thing.
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

There He said, you claim to be salt, but you have no flavor.
How can that be?

So you understand why Jesus turns to the analogy of light now.

He is addressing something
That Jews believed to be true about themselves,
But which Jesus does not.

They thought they were the light of the world, Jesus does not agree.

If we were to stay on the previous analogy
It would be the equivalent of Jesus saying, “So you’re a field but you produce no fruit, where’s the benefit in that?”

So you understand what He’s doing here.
• Jesus is confronting people who claim to have light but don’t shine it.
• He’s confronting people who claim to be salt, but don’t taste.
• He’s confronting people who claim to be good soil, but have no fruit.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?
Now, a common excuse of such people is simple.
They like to say things like:
• “My faith is private”
• “My relationship with Jesus is just between me and Jesus”
• “I have fruit, I just don’t display it”
• “I have the light, I just don’t shine it”
• “Just because I don’t talk about Jesus or the gospel doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian.”

Perhaps you’ve heard some variation of one of those statements before.
Perhaps you’ve even made one of those statements before.

Well here JESUS DESTROYS that faulty belief.

(16) “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.”

So you say that “I have the light I just don’t shine it.”
Jesus cries foul and says, “No one does that”.

No one turns on the light
And then immediately covers it with black plastic.

What does He mean?
Simply this:

If you are not shining the light of Jesus
It is not because you’ve just chosen not to.
It is because you do not have it.

If you are not displaying the fruit of the gospel
It is not because you just keep it private.
It is because you don’t have any.

Everyone who truly has fruit displays it.
Everyone who truly has light shines it.
EVERYONE…

“no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container”

SO, IF YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELF whether or not you have fruit, then the obvious first question is this:

IS IT EVIDENT?
(Do other people see it?)

And we remember what light represents.

Light can be RIGHTEOUS LIVING (“deeds of light” or “deeds of darkness”)

So do you live righteously or do you live immorally?
• Do you obey the commands of God or do you disobey the commands of God?
• Is righteous living evident to other people in your life?

Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Which of those two categories is evident in your life?

1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

IT’S REALLY NOT THAT COMPLICATED.

But light also represents TRUTH (“kept in the dark” or “light came one”)

And we would ask “Do you share the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
• You claim to have the knowledge of the greatest truth ever given to humanity;
• The knowledge of the gospel and how sinful men can be declared righteous before a holy God.

You’ve got the greatest single piece of information the world has ever received, DO YOU SHARE IT?

Acts 4:19-20 “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Do you ever tell anyone about what you’ve seen and heard?

A field full of fruit is only valuable if it shares its fruit with the world.
If you are not, there is reason to question.

We also said that light represents HOPE (“light at the end of the tunnel”)

Do you share hope with those in darkness?
• The hope of forgiveness?
• The hope of eternal life?
• The hope of the gospel?

Here Jesus is simply saying that if you don’t share the gospel with other people it is because you have never received it yourself.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE LIGHT SHINE IT.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE FRUIT DISPLAY IT.

SO, IS YOUR FRUIT EVIDENT?
• Fruit is not meant to be hidden.
• That fruitful soil produced a crop 100 times as great.

So is it evident?
Is evident to others?
Do you share it with others?

That’s your first evaluating criteria.

#2 IS YOUR FRUIT GENUINE?
Luke 8:17

This statement of Jesus can be a little cryptic until we study some of the other places where Jesus used the exact same statement.

Luke 12:1-3 “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. “Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

Here Jesus gives a distinct warning to His disciples
Regarding the lifestyle of the Pharisees.

Specifically Jesus warns about their hypocrisy.

You may or may not be aware of this but the Greek word for hypocrite is HUPOCRITES.

It was literally their word for a stage-actor.
When Jesus called someone a hypocrite He literally called them an actor.

They were someone who dressed up in a part and pretended to be someone they were not for the purpose of entertaining someone else.

The slang term today might be “a poser”.
It is at the very heart a phony and a fraud.

Jesus said this is what the Pharisees were and then He said, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.”

And FROM THAT TEXT WE KNOW what Jesus meant by this statement.
Everything that was phony about the Pharisees
Would come to light and be known.

In other words, their acting days would not last forever.
They would not fool people forever.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 23

(READ 1-7) You see the real problem of the Pharisees.
• It’s all for show.
• They just love the glory and the benefit but they aren’t real.

(READ 23-28) You see it again.
• They are all external.
• They are all for appearances.

And now you understand what Jesus is saying here to us about our fruit.

He is referring to the outward things we do
Which may appear as fruit to some people.

In other words:
We asked in that first question whether or not our fruit is evident?
• Does your light shine?
• Do you share the gospel?
• Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life?

And perhaps you were able to say, “Yes” to those questions.
And that’s good.

But Jesus follows that up with another question.

You say your fruit is evident,
Would you say that is true in your private life?

JESUS IS ASKING IF YOU ARE REAL?

Does your fruit only show up when you are church?
• Does your fruit show up in your private life?
• Does your fruit show up when you’re on the internet?
• Does your fruit show up when you’re in the locker room?

Is the fruit you display true or is it just plastic fruit
You put on display for others to see?

WE LIVE IN A DAY OF VIRTUAL FANTASY.

Social media has taught us that people can be one way in person and totally different on their social media account.

We live in a day of phony reality.
• Photoshopped photos
• Virtual friendships via Facebook
• Virtual followers
• Phony athletes with performance enhancing drugs

We even have athletes with slogans like, “Fake it ‘til you make it”

And now we’ve hit the AI era
Where you don’t know if anything you’re seeing is real.

Unfortunately that has been going on in the church since the beginning.

It is those who have a type of plastic fruit,
Like what was on your grandmother’s table.

It isn’t real, but they display it for show,
But when they get alone they know what they are.

Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

But here is something everyone should know.
You may fool everyone around you.
You may even fool yourself.

BUT YOU ARE NOT; AND YOU WILL NOT FOOL GOD.

Psalms 7:9 “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.”

Psalms 90:8 “You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

There is nothing hidden from God.

And Jesus promises that one day it will all come out.
“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

In other words, don’t bank on fake fruit.
God knows the difference.

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.’”

Those people who had done a great job of fooling everyone else,
But they couldn’t fool Jesus.

On the day of judgment their secret was uncovered.
• They were phonies.
• They were imposters.
• Their fruit was a plastic imitation of the real thing.
• And they are excluded from the kingdom of heaven.

So that’s the next question you need to evaluate.

1) IS YOUR FRUIT EVIDENT?
2) IS YOUR FRUIT GENUINE?
• Are you real?
• Are you genuine?
• Or are you playing a game?

SO THAT IS THE WAY YOU EVALUATE WHICH SOIL YOU ARE.

Then Jesus closes His sermon with some ADVICE and a WARNING.

His warning is THE THEME of our entire weekend.
(18) “So take care how you listen…”

• Jesus DIDN’T tell you to try harder.
• Jesus DIDN’T tell you to do better.

If you don’t have fruit it’s NOT because you haven’t worked hard enough.

If you don’t have fruit it’s because
Your heart has not properly dealt with the seed.

WHAT IS THE SEED?
“the word of God”

And the only way you can be fruitful as God demands
Is if you let that seed do its work in your heart.

So the command of Jesus ISN’T work harder.
The command of Jesus is listen better.

You need to receive God’s word!

If you don’t have fruit it’s because
• You’ve been too hard-hearted to let God’s word touch your heart.
• You’ve been too shallow to count the cost and embrace God’s word.
• You’ve got too many idols and they are choking God’s word.

YOU HAVEN’T LISTENED CORRECTLY.

In your quiet time Saturday morning
James told you how to listen to God’s word.

James 1:21 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

• If you don’t listen correctly.
• If you don’t “in humility receive the word”
• You will never produce the fruit that God demands.

“So take care how you listen”

And then Jesus gives His reason.
“for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and who does not have, even what he thinks he had shall be taken away from him.”

The simple point here is this:
GOD TAKES IT PERSONAL

It is not ok with God for you to ignore His word.

In fact, if you fail to listen correctly long enough
God may even quit bothering you with His word altogether.

THAT IS WHAT JESUS SAYS HERE.
• If you hear God’s word and you listen correctly to God’s word, then He’ll give you more.
• If you refuse to hear it, don’t be surprised if He takes away your ability all together.

And do you know what happens when you lose the ability to hear from God?
YOU ARE JUDGED FOR ALL ETERNITY.

Because there is only one way that a lost soul gets saved.
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

You have to hear the gospel and you have to respond to it.
But if you lose the ability to hear the gospel there will be no salvation.

THERE IS NOT A SCARIER REALITY TO CONTEMPLATE
Than the thought that someone could have so offended God
That He stopped calling them to repentance and faith in Christ.

And did you catch this parable at the beginning?
Remember how Jesus started with just a farming illustration?
He then said, (8:8) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And then Jesus dismissed the crowd.

The disciples wanted to know why Jesus spoke so cryptically.
They wanted to know why He didn’t just tell them straight.

In fact in Matthew’s gospel we read:
Matthew 13:10 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Why don’t You just clearly give them the gospel?

Do you remember Jesus answer?
Luke 8:10 “And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.”

Or more clearly again in Matthew’s gospel:
Matthew 13:11-13 “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

They wouldn’t listen so now I have made it where they can’t listen.
I have taken away even what they thought they had.

That is a terrifying reality, but it is a true one.
Hebrews 6:7-8 “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

• How long do you keep watering a garden that won’t grow vegetables?
• How long do you keep watering a field that won’t produce a crop?

And so you understand the warning of Jesus.

“So take care how you listen…”

And this morning allow me to lay it out for you one more time.

• In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the Bible says God made everything good. So good in fact that on the 7th day, HE RESTED (because there was nothing else that could be done) (Genesis 1-2)

• God created a perfect garden and a perfect man and a perfect woman to live in that garden. Everything in that garden was available to them except for 1 tree in the middle of that garden. It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they were commanded not to eat of that tree or touch it or they would surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17)

• There came a day when Satan entered the garden in the form of a serpent and he tempted Eve to eat of that fruit, and she did, and she gave some to Adam, and he ate it too. (Genesis 3:1-7)

• On that day, sin entered God’s perfect creation and all of creation suffered what is known as “The Fall” or the sin curse. (Sickness, Disease, Disaster, Hatred, Death) (Genesis 3:14-19)

• And because Adam and Eve fell into sin, they also raised children with their same sinful nature. (Romans 5:12-14)

• In fact the Bible says that now, as Adam’s offspring, we are all born with a nature that loves sin. (It may show up differently in every life, but every life has it one form or another) (Romans 3:9-18)

• In fact, David said,
Psalms 51:5 “in sin my mother conceived me, and I was brought forth in iniquity”

• This sinful nature, is in all men, and because all men love sin, all men commit sin and by reason of that sin are estranged from God and under His divine wrath. (Psalms 7:11-12)

• In fact, because of sin man is called the enemy of God and is in fact under God’s divine wrath and awaiting eternal punishment in hell. (Revelation 20:11-15)

• And if God had not seen fit to intervene in the life of man, all men would indeed spend eternity in hell as punishment for the sins which they have committed. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Romans 5:8-10 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

• God sent His very own beloved Son into the world that He had created and that which had rebelled against Him in the garden and every day since. (1 Timothy 1:15)

• This Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life in every way. He never sinned, not even once, and was the only human who ever fully satisfied the righteous requirements of God for living. (Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 3:17)

• After 3 years of ministry in which Jesus proved Himself to be the divine Son of God through miracles and works of power, this holy man was crucified at the hands of His own people. (John 5:36)

• And while hanging on the cross Jesus endured more than just the hostility of the Jews, Jesus in fact bore the full wrath of God which was due upon God’s children. (Isaiah 53)

• Jesus then died, was buried, but on the 3rd day God raised Him from the dead proving that Jesus’ death was not for His own sin. His resurrection proves that He really was holy and that His death really was for the sin of others. (Acts 2:24)

• And because of His perfectly righteous life and sacrificial death, salvation became possible to all of God’s children. (Romans 8:1-4)

THIS IS HOW SALVATION WORKS

2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

• When on the cross, even though Jesus was perfectly righteous, God treated Him as if He had lived my sinful life. So that now God can treat me as though I lived His perfect life.

• Jesus was treated as a sinner so that I can be treated as a righteous man.

• This is the very essence of salvation. That through the life and death of Jesus sinners can be reconciled back to God.

• And this is available for all who trust in the work of Jesus for salvation.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

• This is the message of the gospel. Namely that sinful human beings can be reconciled to God because of what Jesus did through His righteous life and sacrificial death. (Colossians 2:13-14)

• And our requirement is that we repent (turn from our sin), and trust in Christ. (Acts 17:30-31)

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Romans 10:9 “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;”

“So take care how you listen…”