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The Fruitless Vine – Part 3
Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23 (21-23)
March 26, 2023

• You know that we are in the 3rd sermon of Isaiah.
• You know that in this sermon he is announcing that exile is coming.
• You know that the reason for the exile is Israel’s lack of fruit.

You also know that the fruit God desired is “justice” and “righteousness”
But Israel has produced “bloodshed” and “a cry of distress”

So it is a sermon about the fruitless life and what God does with that.

This should not be new information to us.
After all, we have read John 15 our entire lives.

John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Don’t let the phrase “in Me” fool you there.
• Some have read that verse and thought it was teaching that a man can lose his salvation.
• They say this is clearly a branch that was in Christ, but was taken out of Christ because of it’s fruitlessness.
• That is a bit of a misnomer.

If the branch is fruitless
It is because it was never really in Christ to begin with.

Jesus will say later:
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Clearly if you are branch that is abiding in Christ you will bear fruit.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING
As a branch that is truly abiding in Christ that does not bear fruit.

What Jesus is speaking of in verse 2 is the faulty branch.
The one that perhaps claims to abide in Him, but really doesn’t.

John would speak about them again in his epistle:
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

It is the same point here.
• You have some who may claim for a while to be believers.
• You have some who may claim for a while to be in Christ.
• But it eventually becomes evident that they are not and actually never were.

John’s epistle says we can spot this when they leave.

But another way to spot this is when they do not bear fruit.

We think back to what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

This reiterates the point that is being made in Isaiah as well.
GOD EXPECTS FRUIT.
• If a branch does not produce fruit it faces judgment.
• If a branch does bear fruit it is then pruned to bear even more fruit.

But the fruitless vine has no future in God’s kingdom.

To read it again:
John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Israel was proving to be that branch that does not bear fruit
And which would soon be taken away.

That is what Isaiah 5 is all about.

I’ve told you there are 4 major points to the sermon.
#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7

• That was the parable, the song…
• Where Isaiah revealed that God was just to destroy His fruitless vineyard.

It was a testimony to wasted grace.
And God was well within His right
To lay waste to those who had not produced the fruit He expected.

#2 THE SIN OF THE NATION
Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23

Here we learn, not just their sin in general,
But that sin which expressly made them unfruitful.

And we have said that 6 are listed here.
They are each indicated by the same word, “Woe”

1) GREED (8-10)

Those who want more of the world and aren’t satisfied until they get it.

This makes one unfruitful because it shows Christ as insufficient.
• We are called to be “salt” which is life’s flavor.
• We are to be those like Paul who find ultimate sufficiency in Christ and Christ alone.

But what does it say about us when, just like the world, Jesus is not enough, and we can’t be happy unless we also obtain the world?

When we crave the world as though Jesus is not sufficient
It causes us to live fruitless lives.

2) SENSUALITY (11-12)

Very simply it is when your life is controlled by the impulses of your flesh.
You’d rather be entertained than disciplined.

• It is the man who spent all his time partying and barely any time contemplating the person and works of God.
• In Isaiah it speaks of a drunken party, but it can be any distraction in life that we seek other than Christ.

We are told that the secret to fruit is to abide in Jesus.
If you don’t spend time with Him it’s impossible to live a fruitful life.

3) INDIFFERENCE (18-19)

It is when we not only develop an insatiable desire for sin, but when we also grow indifferent to what God thinks about it.

Sin will make you unfruitful…
As will an indifferent view towards judgment…

I think of that parable that Jesus told:
Luke 13:6-9 “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

John the Baptist told his congregation that “the axe is already laid at the root of the tree.”

The tree was temporarily spared,
But the axe was left at the root of the tree as a reminder.

What was the purpose for laying the axe at the root of the tree?
• It was to remind the tree of impending judgment.
• It was to break the tree’s indifference.

Indifference to judgment will not produce fruitfulness in a person.
You must understand that sin is not ok
And very soon you will answer for all of it.

4) DEPRAVITY (20)

It is people who replace God’s standard of righteousness
For the world’s standard of righteousness.
It is people who think their spiritual gift is to be a chameleon.

But this doesn’t produce fruit.

You will never bear fruit for Christ
By always agreeing with the world.

Christ was a walking confrontation.
He confronted everyone about their misconceptions, their bad theology, their hypocrisy, their evil motives, their sinful behaviors, etc.

But always swimming downstream with the world
Does not cause one to be fruitful.

Why would God go to the trouble to plant a vineyard that produces only the same fruit as the land outside the vineyard?

There must be something different.
There must be something true.

SO:
When we crave the world as though Jesus is not sufficient it causes us to live fruitless lives.
When we entertain ourselves with the world instead of spending time with Jesus…
When we hold on to the sin of the world with no care for what Jesus thinks about it…
When we agree with the world and replace God’s standard of righteousness with man’s standard…

IT CAUSES US TO BE UNFRUITFUL

Well all of that we’ve seen, we’ve got two more sins to look at

5) PRIDE (21)

“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!”

This one may be the most dangerous reality of all.

When a person reaches the point that
They think they know better than God we are in grave trouble.

Often times I get the opportunity to talk with people
About those controversial doctrines like election or predestination or limited atonement.

And some people just hate those doctrines.
You hear statements like:
• “That makes God out to be a monster”
• “God wouldn’t violate our free will”
• “That’s not love, God wants us to choose Him”

But what everyone of those statements have in common
Is they are built on a faulty theology.

It is not so much a bad theology regarding God
(although there is some error there),
It is to have a BAD THEOLOGY ON MAN.

I think one of the biggest errors that is commonly made in the church today is our theology on man.

The reason people make statements like that arguing with election
Is because they like to view man as basically good,
Longing for God, and willing to choose Him.

If that were true there would be no need for sovereign election.

But that is not what Scripture says about man.
• Man was formed out of the dirt
• When given the opportunity to make a choice for himself regarding good or evil, man chose evil.

Now understand the best man DID THAT.
• We had Adam who was the best of us,
• Living in a flawless environment, with everything he needed,
• And yet Adam showed man’s true colors.

ADAM CHOSE SIN.

Then with Adam came the fall
And the ability to choose good became even more difficult for man.

And from that day God has been very clear on who and what man is.

Genesis 6:5-6 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

And EVEN AFTER THE FLOOD,
When it was just righteous Noah left to start over.

Genesis 8:20-21 “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

Man is sinful.

Paul does us a tremendous favor in Romans 3 by compiling a list of 6 Old Testament passages which tell us the truth about man.

Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

• Man is not seeking for God, he is rebelling.
• Man is not freely choosing God, but his very will is held captive to desire sin.
• If given the opportunity to choose God, he won’t.

So the only way that sinful man is ever coming to God
Is if God chooses to save him.

But to put it bluntly, man is dead in sin.
• He has no natural affinity for God.
• He has no desire for God.
• He has no Godly wisdom.
• He has no innate goodness.

Apart from redemption man is what we call TOTALLY DEPRAVED

Now we take what is true about man
And we CONTRAST that with what is true about God.

• God is holy and righteous.
• God is all wise, we even call Him omniscient.
• God cannot lie.
• God cannot sin.
• God is perfect in all His ways.
• He never makes a mistake.

And we don’t have time to fully document
All the goodness and wisdom and perfection of God,
But you understand it very simply, that God is far better than us.

NOW,
When you understand who and what man is at his core,

And you understand God’s absolute perfection and infinite wisdom;

You better understand how foolish it is
For a man to think he knows better than God about anything.

AND YET THAT IS WHAT PRIDE SO OFTEN REVEALS.

It reveals a man who ignores the words and wisdom of God
In favor of following the inclinations of his own heart.

Perhaps the most concise statement here is found:

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.”

It is such a simple yet profound and important warning.
“do not lean on your own understanding”

But that is what the proud man does.
“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!”

Very simply, this is the man or woman
Who is totally unwilling to listen to instruction or confrontation
For they hold within them the belief that they always know better.

And my how often Scripture warns against this.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 10:17 “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who ignores reproof goes astray.”

Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.”

Proverbs 15:31-33 “He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility.”

Proverbs 29:1 “A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.”

Perhaps the most comprehensive passage in proverbs on this is found in:
Proverbs 1:22-33 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. “But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Solomon had a pretty good grasp of the issue.

A proud man is a man who follows his own counsel
And is unwilling to listen to anyone else.

Now, certainly in one sense we understand discernment here.

For just because a man comes to you with an opinion or a reproach
It does not mean you automatically should do what he says.

We are talking about the man who comes to you with word of God.
We are talking about the one who reproaches you with God’s truth.

And any man who disregards what God has to say
In favor of his own logic or wisdom is a fool.

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?”

What a great question posed there by Jeremiah.
• It may work well and good for you today to follow your own logic instead of what God has to say, but what are you going to do in the day when your wisdom fails?

Do we not remember what the LORD has repeatedly said?
James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

• Do we really think that God will tolerate man ignoring His wisdom and replacing it with their own?

BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FRUITFULNESS?

READ AGAIN what Jesus teaches us in the upper room.
John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Certainly we already considered that fruitless branches are removed,
But what about branches that do bear fruit?

What does it say that God does to fruit bearing branches?
“He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

WHAT IS THAT?
• It could be when God brings discipline into your life.
• It could be when God sends a brother to confront your sin.
• It could be when God exposes you or corrects you.

• Have you ever had those times in your life when God told you “No”?
• Have you ever had those times when God told you to get rid of something?
• Have you ever had those moments when God called you to repent of something?
• Have you ever had those moments when God’s thinking ran contrary to your thinking and you had to go against your logic and submit to His?

That is what we’re talking about here.

We have that happen all the time.
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

THAT IS WHAT GOD DOES.
He takes His word, He confronts our backward thinking,
And He calls us to submit to His truth.
THAT IS THE PROCESS OF PRUNING.

Consider that great chapter in Hebrews 12 where the writer talks about God’s discipline.

Hebrews 12:9-11 “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Why does God discipline us?
Why does God prune us?
To yield “the peaceful FRUIT of righteousness.”

It is a necessary process.

That is why James says:
James 1:19-21 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

This isn’t a passage just about anger, it’s a passage about accepting what God has to say without argument and without defiance.

• Be quick to hear God’s word.
• Be slow to argue with God’s word.
• And do not get angry in defiance at what He says.

Arguing with God is not the path to fruitful righteousness.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:
“Sin is very clever; it always brings forward reasons, its arguments. Sin knows us so well; it knows that we like to think of ourselves as highly intelligent people. So it does not just tell us, “Do this”; it gives us reasons for doing it, and they appear to be so wonderful. But the whole point is that in reality they are [misleading]; they are empty and foolish. The reasoning is always false reasoning. The arguments are always wrong.”
Cited in: (Ortlund Jr, Raymond [Preaching The Word Commentary Series; Isaiah: God Saves Sinners; R. Kent Hughes editor; Crossway, Wheaton, IL; 2005] pg. 71)

Following your own thinking will always lead you down the wrong path.

And so now you see again why Israel was unfruitful.
They wouldn’t listen to God.

They were “wise in their own eyes”
They were “clever in their own sight”

They already knew what they wanted to do
And not even God’s word could change their mind.

Such pride makes one absolutely fruitless in life
And even destines them for a fall.

You must put your own wisdom, knowledge, experience, logic, education.
On the back burner and fully submit yourself to the revealed word of God.

That is the only way to be fruitful.

There is one more sin Isaiah mentions as a reason for their lack of fruit.
6) CORRUPTION (22-23)

“Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!”

On one hand it would appear that
Isaiah how now circled back to the sin of drunkenness.

But that is not really what is happening.
Isaiah speaks here about a specific type of person.

In all honesty he speaks of that “Feel Good Bar Tender”
That guy who’ll listen to any sob story and agree with any logic
just so the man at the bar will keep buying drinks.

But what you really have here
Are those who will corrupt all justice and pervert all honor
For the sake of being included in the world’s elite.

They rub shoulders with the world and will even endorse them
SO THAT THEY CAN BE INCLUDED.

It’s like what you see in junior highs all over the world where kids will totally forsake their character or behavior just to be included with the “in” crowd.

They’ll join any immorality, they’ll gang up on any target,
They’ll participate in any deed just to be included.

Some people never grow out of that.

At its core it is corruption produced by a desire to be loved by the world.

Instead of walking in justice and righteousness
God’s people were perverting justice
So that they might be accepted by the world’s powerful elite.

Paul talks about such people:
Romans 1:32 “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Do you see the arrogance in that?
To see people engaged in behavior that you know God disapproves of
But to give them approval anyway.

Psalms 50:16-19 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit.”

• To be pleased with a thief…
• To associate with adulterers…

And that doesn’t speak of association for the purpose of gospel ministry;
Certainly Jesus did that.

This is an association of benefit whereby
You condone and endorse their evil for the sake of your own well-being.

Now do you want me to show you a shocking example of that?

Matthew 26:14-16 “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”

We marvel at the despicable Judas who would sell the Lord for a mere 30 pieces of silver.
• 30 pieces of silver was the redemptive price of a gored slave.
• If you had a bull that got loose and gored someone else’s slave to death you
owed the owner of that slave 30 pieces of silver.

What a lowly cost for the Lord.
And people despise Judas and disdain Judas and ridicule Judas; and rightly so.

But what about when you disown Jesus for worldly acceptance?
What about when you ignore the words of Jesus for worldly approval?

HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?

Judas sold Him for 30 pieces of silver,
And we sell Him just to be included in worldly circles.

The are people who endorse the wicked and condemn the righteous
Just to gain some form of worldly currency.

It is spiritual corruption and it kills the fruitfulness of believers.

I can give you a fairly recent example of this in a conversation I had with a man who used to pastor here in Spur.

I and this man were friends on Facebook and one day on Facebook I see a post he makes.

He was attending the Gay Pride parade in Houston, TX and he was holding a big rainbow banner which said, “I’m sorry”.

Now I know how that looked to me, but I didn’t know the context so I reached out to him privately and said, “Help me understand the objective here.”

He said, “We just wanted to show the unconditional love of God to them.”

I said, “Ok, but here’s my next question. How do you go from ‘I’m sorry’ to ‘repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’?”

And he said, “We’re not trying to get there. All we want them to know is that we love them just as they are.”

Now listen, his position has quickly become
The prevailing position among so-called evangelicals.

But his position is not at all the position of Jesus or John the Baptist or any of the apostles who most certainly called sinners to repentance.

All this pastor was doing was gaining the approval of men
At the expense of justice and truth.

• He was selling righteousness for his own 30 pieces of silver.
• He was gaining their approval.
• He was gaining their acceptance.
• He was gaining “likes” on Facebook and words of encouragement from the
world.

But here’s the question.
WAS IT FRUITFUL?

• Does such behavior produce any fruit for the kingdom?
• Does it produce repentance?
• Does it produce salvation?
• Does it produce justice?
• Does it produce righteousness?

When you corrupt your convictions
For the sake of gaining a worldly payoff
You can forget about bearing the fruit which God demands.

That was Israel and it is far too many in our world.

Corruption is not a path to fruitfulness.
• You must preserve justice.
• You must preserve righteousness.
• This is where fruit is produced.

So God is announcing to Israel that they are going into exile for their lack of fruit; namely their lack of righteousness and justice.

WHY DID THEY HAVE NO FRUIT?

1. Because they hungered for more of the world’s stuff instead of finding sufficiency in Jesus.

2. Because they craved more of the world’s entertainment instead of pondering the realities of who God is.

3. Because they held on to their sin with no regard for what God thought about it.

4. Because they supplanted God’s standard of righteousness for their own and called good what He called evil.

5. Because they determined not to listen to anything God had to say but instead rested upon their own wisdom and logic.

6. Because they wanted so badly the approval of the world that they were willing to compromise on their convictions and abandon God’s justice.

And the result of all those decisions was fruitlessness.
Greed, Sensuality, Indifference, Depravity, Pride, and Corruption.

They are the things that will render you fruitless in this world.

INSTEAD OF GREED, BE SALT
• Be content without and show this world that Jesus is all-sufficient.

INSTEAD OF SENSUALITY, SEEK COMMUNION WITH GOD
• Quit seeking out entertainment and seek out the presence of Christ.

INSTEAD OF INDIFFERENCE, DEVELOP A FEAR OF THE LORD
• Let God’s holiness guide your decisions and the way you live your life.

INSTEAD OF DEPRAVITY, EMBRACE TRUTH
• Take what God calls evil and you call it evil too. Take what God calls good and you call it good too.

INSTEAD OF PRIDE, WALK IN HUMILITY
• Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Humble yourself under the word of God and accept His correction.

INSTEAD OF CORRUPTION, WALK IN CONVICTION
• Don’t compromise the truth to gain the world, deny yourself and forsake the world that you might maintain your convictions.

THIS IS THE PATH TO FRUITFULNESS.
This is how we become the vineyard which God expects from us.

Produce the fruit of justice and righteousness.
Be the church that is actually light in the darkness.
Be the church that is actually salt to the tasteless.

BEAR FRUIT!

John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

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The Fruitless Vine – Part 2
Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23 (18-20)
March 26, 2023

It’s been a couple of weeks now since we were together in Isaiah.

If you will remember we are now in the 3rd sermon of Isaiah.
It is a sermon in which Isaiah will make a shocking announcement.

ISRAEL IS HEADED FOR EXILE.

Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”

By the end of the sermon Isaiah will reveal that
God already has their captors in mind.

Isaiah 5:26 “He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.”

• For the northern kingdom the captor will be the nation of Assyria.
• For the southern kingdom the captor will be the Babylonians.

But all of God’s people are soon to be removed from the land
And carried away as exiles to a land they do not know.

The obvious question is: “WHY?”
And the answer is because they have FAILED TO PRODUCE FRUIT.

We broke this sermon up into 4 points.
We saw the first on Sunday morning:

#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7

Without totally rehashing it you will remember that Isaiah gave a parable of sorts about a vineyard which his beloved had planted.

• His friend did everything required to be able to expect a fruitful harvest,
• But when the harvest came the vineyard only produced worthless grapes.

The question was posed:
Isaiah 5:3-4 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?”

And the only answer is that it was the fault of the vineyard.

So the decision was made to totally destroy the vineyard.
• No more protection
• No more provision
• The vineyard would be laid waste

AND THEN THE PARABLE WAS EXPLAINED.

Isaiah 5:7 “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”

God wanted “righteousness”, God wanted “justice”.
All He received was “bloodshed” and a “cry of distress”.

Israel would be exiled for their lack of fruit.

They had wasted the grace of God.
He had chosen them, delivered them, planted them, protected them, and provided for their every need, but they had not produced the fruit He expected.

AND THEY WOULD BE REMOVED.

We must stop again and realize that God expects fruit from His people.
• He expects righteousness from those whom He saves.
• He expects justice from those whom He saves.

Not producing fruit is a serious offense to God.

But that then leads to the next obvious question.
WHY WERE THEY SO UNFRUITFUL?

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

And that led us to the second point of this sermon.
#2 THE SIN OF THE NATION
Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23

In these 11 verses you see the same word used 6 times.
It is the word “Woe”

Each of those appearances introduces a specific sin
That is the explanation for Israel’s lack of fruit.

Certainly Israel had more sins than these that could be listed,
But Isaiah is highlighting those specific sins that cause fruitlessness.

It is these sins which keep men from producing
The righteousness and justice which God expects.

We saw the first two a couple of Sunday nights ago:

1) GREED (8-10)

You see men who are like leaches, they only want more.
• All the land, all the houses.
• More, more, more, more, more

It is very simply the sin of coveting.
It is very simply the sin of wanting more of the world.

How does this cause a believer to be unfruitful?

Jesus said we are to be “salt” in this world.
Salt is representative of flavor.

In short, we say that as Christians we know where true life is.
• We know what it means to really live.
• Just as salt makes food worth eating, we know who makes life worth living.
• We have Christ who gives us life and life abundant.

We remember Paul saying:
Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

And then were remember Paul saying:
Philippians 3:17-19 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

So when a Christian starts coveting the things of the world
We have to ask this question.

If Jesus is all-sufficient
Why do you also need the stuff of the world to be happy?

Christians fail to produce fruit for God
When they are caught up in pursuing the things of the world.

We are told to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”
When we seek our own kingdom and the world’s goods
We cease to produce fruit.

It was one of Israel’s sins which caused her to bear no fruit for God.

We saw also the second sin Isaiah mentioned:
2) SENSUALITY (11-12)

When you initially read it,
It sounds like it’s merely an indictment of drunkards.

• Certainly we don’t defend drunkenness
• Certainly it is hard to maintain a Christian witness when you’re drunk.

But the focus of Isaiah is not simply on drunkenness, it is on sensuality.

It is focusing on the man who finds all his pleasures
In the entertainment of the world rather than the presence of God.

AND THIS CAN BE FAR MORE THAN JUST LIQUOR.

• This can be television,
• This can be your smartphone,
• This can be a relationship,
• This can be a hobby.

The people here sought to occupy all their free time partying.
WHAT DO YOU OCCUPY YOUR FREE TIME WITH?

That is the question.
(12) “Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, nor do they consider the work of His hands.”

Instead of focusing on the LORD,
They focus on the fun and entertainment of the world.

Surely I don’t have to tell you that that is NOT a recipe for fruitfulness.

Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

Romans 8:5-6 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace”

We talked about the difference between Martha who was busy and Mary who was seated at Jesus’ feet and wondered which of the two would bear the most fruit?

It is the problem of a believer who spends little time with Jesus
But it is really the world’s entertainment that captivates your gaze.

Fruitfulness only comes from abiding in the vine.
Fruitfulness only comes from abiding with Jesus.

I’m not saying you can never enjoy any entertainment at all.
I enjoy watching sports or a movie
I have been on social media
We went and watched Zech play baseball yesterday

You just have to know those things won’t help you produce fruit.
And so things like that cannot captivate your life.

And that was another problem with Israel.
Their passion was partying not communing with God and the result was fruitlessness.

Incidentally, this sin was given the most credit for causing their exile.

(13-14) “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.”

They “go into exile for their lack of knowledge”

Perhaps if they had spent more time with Jesus and less time at banquets
They could have escaped this coming exile.

YOU SEE THE PROBLEM.
Israel is fruitless because of the sin of greed and the sin of sensuality.

LET’S MOVE ON: There are 4 more sins which contribute to their fruitlessness.
3) INDIFFERENCE (18-19)

“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”

Here we see TWO GREAT REALITIES that jump off the page at us.
• One is an insatiable desire for sin.
• The other is total unconcern about what God thinks of it.

Their love for sin is evident.
“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;”

• It’s one thing to carry around sin in your arms.
• It’s one thing to carry around sin in your backpack.
• But when you need a trailer to carry around all your sin you have real problems.

THIS IS A SIN HOARDER
• They can’t get enough.
• There is no self-control.

What is more there is no longer even a desire to conceal it.
If you’re dragging your sin behind you
It is obvious that everyone knows about it.

AND THAT ALONE IS A MAJOR FRUIT INHIBITOR.
As Jesus taught us, it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to take the spec out of your brother’s eye when you have a log in your own.

OR HERE WE MIGHT SAY it is difficult to rebuke your brother for the sin in his hand when you have a trailer load that you are hauling.

SIN IS AN ENEMY OF FRUITFULNESS.
(and that make sense since the fruit God wants is righteousness)

But to compound the problem here Isaiah keeps going.

(19) “Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”

In other words, they aren’t even worried about their sin.
They live in sin with no fear of judgment.

It reminds us of those mockers that Peter spoke of.
2 Peter 3:3-6 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.”

It is ironic that Peter mentioned the flood of Noah’s day because
Those people were also notorious sinners with no fear of judgment.

Jesus referenced them when He spoke of people unprepared for judgment.
Matthew 24:37-39 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

We are talking about a people who are content to live in their sin
With no thought whatsoever of a coming day of reckoning.

THEY JUST DON’T THINK GOD WILL RESPOND.

One can only imagine the mocking which Noah endured…
But mockers have continued even after the global flood.

Psalms 73:8-11 “They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

But the greater tragedy is when those indifferent thoughts toward sin
Come from inside the church.

Malachi talked about it:
Malachi 3:13-15 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts? ‘So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.’”

And that is the same thing Isaiah speaks of here.
It is men who all but dare God to come and do something about their sin.

They see judgment as a myth.
They are unconcerned.

Some today follow a cleverer pattern than this.
We would refer to it as licentiousness.

It is the distorted belief that because of grace
We are free to sin all we want with no fear of judgment.

Paul referenced it in Romans 3
He quoted his opponents…
Romans 3:7-8 “But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.”

• Paul’s opponents actually held to a distorted belief that somehow by sinning
more they just made grace look that much better.

• So, in one sense, by sinning they were actually doing God a favor by making
Him look that much more gracious in forgiving their enormous amount of sin.

Paul didn’t even feel the need to refute such backward logic,
Simply stating, “Their condemnation is just”

He would approach the subject again in chapter 6 of his epistle to the Romans:
Romans 6:1-7 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

The whole point of salvation is that
Jesus came to save you from sin, not to save you for sin.

Anyone that treats their sin and God’s hatred of it as a small thing
Does not understand the nature and work of God.

But that is what Israel was doing.
• They sinned in great amounts.
• They actually flaunted it and pulled it in trailers behind them.
• And when someone questioned them as to whether or not they were afraid that
God might be offended they just shrugged and said, “I’d like to see God do something about it.”

It was total indifference to sin and judgment.

And this is ANOTHER REASON they were UNFRUITFUL people.

Do you understand that if you take an indifferent approach to sin and God’s hatred of it that is impossible for you to bear fruit in this world?

I would direct you momentarily to the book of Titus.

TURN TO: TITUS 2
I know several of you ladies spent a lot of time examining Titus 2 in the fall.

You notice that there are very direct commands specifically given to older men, older women, younger women, young men, and even slaves.

But what must be noticed is that
These specific commands for specific behaviors
All come with the same overarching purpose.

Older women are to teach the younger women (5) “to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands…”

Why?
“so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

Later young men are told (6) “to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach”

Why?
“So that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Later bondslaves are told “to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith”

Why?
“so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”

You see that it is not sinful behavior which glorifies God,
But righteous behavior.

You will produce no fruit by living a sinful life.
• Fruit comes from righteous living.
• Fruit comes from fearing God and honoring Him.

And then Paul goes on to sum it all up for everyone.
(READ 2:11-15)

Grace doesn’t expect you to continue in sin,
Grace expects you to walk in righteousness.

And then look at how Paul sums up his instruction for the church.
(3:14) “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE POINT?
Being indifferent to the righteous life God calls us to live
Is not a way to be fruitful.

Fruit comes from living in the knowledge of God’s truth & obeying it.
INDIFFERENCE DOES NOT PRODUCE FRUIT.

But there’s more.
4) DEPRAVITY (20)

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

We see here confused and backward thinking.

Depravity simply means “moral corruption”
• It is when men do that which is morally wrong.
• It is when men do what they ought not do.

Scripture speaks clearly on the subject of depravity.
Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

• It is just a list of things that are wrong.
• It is a list of things that should not be done.
• And it’s a list of things that not only invite the wrath of God, but things which God allows when His wrath sits upon a culture.

It is when men supplant the righteous standard of God
With their own righteous standard.

This, incidentally, is as SATANIC as it comes.
Calling what is evil, “good” is straight out of his playbook.

Genesis 3:4-6 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

When a culture or a person takes what God calls evil and calls it good
You can see no other influence behind it other than Satan.

I want to be as dogmatically clear on this as I can be because it is a problem in our culture and one that is even creeping into the church.

The hot-button front and center topic of our day is homosexuality.
• Whether it is gay marriage…
• Whether it is gender confusion…
• Whether it is homosexual behavior…
• Whether it is effeminate men…
• Whether it is radical feminism…

Those are all things that the world is championing as “good” things and those are things that God unequivocally calls evil.

We don’t set the standard, God does,
And He has definitively stated His views on such things.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”

Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.”

Now you all know these things.
• You all know what Scripture says about them.
• So did the people in Isaiah’s day.

BUT NOTICE THE PROBLEM HERE
Is NOT that they were engaging in evil deeds.

What is the problem?
They were calling what was evil good.
(doesn’t say they were doing it, they were simply approving it)

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;”

They were endorsing sinful behavior.
They would see a sinner doing what is evil and congratulate them
And even call their evil deeds good.

You can’t tell me this is not a problem of the church today.

THE CHURCH TODAY IS ABSOLUTELY LOSING HER BACKBONE.

We are so afraid of being labeled as hateful by a sinful culture
That we will applaud and approve anything.

Homosexuality is the top of the list when you see the number of “evangelicals” who now support gay marriage as a good thing.

But the list doesn’t stop there.
Sexual sin in general is being congratulated in this culture.

• Have you ever congratulated a couple for living together outside of marriage?
• Have you ever told them how happy you were for them?
• Have you ever congratulated a couple for conceiving a child out of wedlock?

HOW ABOUT OTHER SINS:
• Have you defended someone for being selfish?
• Have you ever approved someone’s idolatry or greed or lust?
• Have you ever assured someone God is not angry at their sin?
• Have you enabled someone to continue in their sin because you wanted them to like you?

That is SATANIC
That is what Satan does.

And that is what Israel was doing.
They called what was evil good.
• They “substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;”
• They “substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

And the problem is that it rendered them FRUITLESS

HOW?

Because they no longer distinguish themselves from the world.
They are grape vines that produce what the world produces.

Instead of righteousness and justice
They produce the same old rottenness of the world.

If you constantly “Amen” the logic of the world
How do you ever expect to be fruitful for the kingdom of God?

LET ME ASK YOU:
• Do you ever confront the backward thinking of the world?
• Do you ever call someone out on their depraved thinking?
• Do you ever disagree when someone says something wrong?
• Do you ever expose a lie for what it is?

Or do you always just nod and go with the flow?
• Do you just give your assent to their deceptive thinking because you don’t want to cause a division?

THAT IS FRUITLESS LIVING.

You certainly won’t find such procedure in the life of Jesus.
GO READ THE GOSPELS.

Most of the time when Jesus speaks
It is to directly confront and correct someone’s backward thinking.

• He was a walking confrontation.
• He was constantly exposing the depraved thinking of the world.

Listen to Paul:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “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. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

Do you ever do that?
• Do you ever engage in spiritual warfare?
• Do you ever take a thought captive in obedience to Christ?

Ephesians 5:11 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;”

How about that?
• Do you ever do that?
• Do you ever expose evil?

Consider the churches in the book of Revelation.
Listen to the times when Jesus rebukes those churches.

Revelation 2:14-15 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”

Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

Jesus was NOT looking for the church
That would join the world in their backward thinking.

Jesus was looking for the church that would confront the world
And call what was evil, “evil”.

Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

I love that last line.
“and having done everything, to stand firm.”

That means, when you’ve done all you can.
It may even feel like you’re losing the battle.
Everyone may be against you.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT THAT MOMENT?
You stand.

The church was called to be rock in the middle of the stream
But she is quickly becoming an innertube
Floating down stream with the rest of the world.

And this is why she is so often unfruitful!

The world can’t see any difference.

SO IT WAS WITH ISRAEL.

God wanted righteousness and justice from His vineyard,
But all He received was the same worthless fruit
That was growing outside His vineyard.

GRACE HAD MADE NO DIFFERENCE IN THEIR LIVES.

LISTEN, if God wanted you to tolerate sin, embrace folly, shake hands with immorality, congratulate abominable deeds, and strive to just get along with sinners then there was no need to redeem you.

If He wanted you to live and think and talk and act like the world
Then there would have been no need for grace in your life.

• He saved you so that you’d be different.
• He saved you so that you’d be fruitful.
• He saved you so that you’d be righteous even in a world that is sinful.

BUT
1. If you crave the things of the world as though Jesus is not sufficient…
2. If you entertain yourself with the world instead of spending time with Jesus…
3. If you hold on to the sin of the world with no care for what Jesus thinks about
it…
4. If you agree with the world and replace God’s standard of righteousness with
man’s standard…

Then you will never bear any fruit.

These were the sins which caused Israel to be unfruitful.
Because of her lack of fruit God was about to send them into exile.

He had no need of a vineyard which would not produce fruit.

I HOPE YOU HEAR THIS CHURCH.

What purpose does God have for a church in America that will not stand against the greed, sensuality, indifference, and depravity of America?

If we won’t be salt and we won’t be light
why would God feel the need to preserve our presence here?

The church must bear fruit; the fruit of righteousness and justice.

BECAUSE UNTIL WE PRESERVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL HAS NO APPEAL.

Why do men need to be forgiven if they do not understand their sin?
DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM?

• When we crave what the world craves…
• When we love the world’s entertainment more than Christ…
• When we carry with us the same sin the world carries with no thought of judgment…
• When we tell sinners in their sin that it is good and ok…

HOW IS THAT FRUITFUL?

Was that the ministry of John the Baptist?
John just sat out there at the Jordan river drinking up the world, telling everyone who came to him, “You’re good, no need for you to repent or get baptized!”

What that how Jesus did it?
He just walked around Galilee buying up land and telling everyone He saw, “Don’t change a thing you are already perfectly acceptable to God.”

Did the apostles do it like that?
Went throughout the world attending parties and telling people in sin, “No problem, just stay right where you are, God is already pleased with you.”

YOU KNOW BETTER.
It is time for the church to wake up and start bearing fruit.

Well, there’s two more sins Israel was committing that were hindering their fruitfulness, we’ll look at them tonight.

Download Here:

The Fruitless Vine – Part 1
Isaiah 5:8-12
March 12, 2023

Raymond Ortlund Jr. wrote:
“One of the anomalies of our age is how the lives of professing Christians are often little distinguished from the lives of others.”
(Ortlund Jr, Raymond [Preaching The Word Commentary Series; Isaiah: God Saves Sinners; R. Kent Hughes editor; Crossway, Wheaton, IL; 2005] pg. 68)

We have all witnessed this reality,
Sadly often we have witnessed this reality in our own lives.

Jesus confronted this reality in the Jews of His day when He said:
Matthew 5:13-16 “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. “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.”

That is to say, If you are light, why are you hidden? If you are salt, why is there no flavor?

There ought to be a stark contrast between the life of a Christian
And the life of those still in the world.
Far too often however, it is virtually indistinguishable.

Whether we want to evaluate the arena of hobbies or passions
Or forms of entertainment or language or anything else.

Far too often we must admit that:
• The language of Christians mirrors that of non-Christians.
• The entertainment of Christians mirrors that of non-Christians.
• The priorities of Christians mirror those of non-Christians.
• And so on…

There ought to be a difference, but so often there is not.

TURN TO: EPHESIANS 4:17-5:21
That is just a vivid reminder that Christians should live different from the world.

And if you are looking for a good term for this, we would call it: FRUIT.

WE LEARNED THIS MORNING that God desires fruit from those He has redeemed and that fruit is justice and righteousness.

It is to live differently from the world.
It is to shine a light in darkness.
It is to be the salt of flavor to a confused world.

We are not to look like them we are to be a shocking contrast to them.
This is the very epitome of what it means to bear fruit.

This morning you learned how important it is.
It is so important that when God’s people failed to produce fruit,
God chose to exile them to a foreign land.

Fruitfulness matters.

Matthew 3:7-10 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 13:6-9 “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Romans 7:4 “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

You get it, Christians should bear fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

THIS IS THE GOAL.
As a recipient of grace, you are expected to bear fruit for God.
As one who has been indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit,
You are expected to reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

But this is precisely the problem with Israel: NO FRUIT
It is basically a waste of grace.

God has chosen and saved them and they are wasting the benefit
And refusing to produce fruit.

This 3rd sermon of Isaiah confronts that and announces the coming exile which is a punishment for that lack of fruit.

You can break this sermon into 4 points.
We saw the first this morning.

#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7

• There Israel was likened to a vineyard which had been meticulously cared for
• But which still produced worthless grapes.
• And how this vineyard would be abandoned and destroyed for its failure to produce fruit.

Tonight, let’s move on in the sermon.
#2 THE SIN OF THE NATION
Isaiah 5:8-12; 18-23

What you actually have in the sermon is a recognition of sin
Then a revelation of the consequences of that sin immediately following.

And this happens twice.
• (8-12) Sin revealed
• (13-17) Consequences listed
• (18-23) Sin revealed
• (24-25) Consequences listed

We’re going to combine those segments and look at the sin first
And then the consequences.

We’re going to break this down a little further.
The specific announcements of sin are easy to see
Because they all start with the word “Woe”

And there are 6 of them.

When you read the word “Woe”
Just think of it as the opposite of the word “Blessed”

What I want you to understand is that
These are not just moral shortcomings.
These sins explain why Israel is unfruitful.

Consequently these sins will explain why we are unfruitful as well.

Let’s look at these 6 sins of the nation.
1) COVETING (8-10)

Here we come across that familiar person
Who just can’t get enough of what they want.

(8) “Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!”

At a simple glance it just good old-fashioned coveting and greed.

O rich man kept buying up land and someone finally asked him, “How much land are planning on buying?”
He responded, “I’m just looking to buy all the land that touches mine.”

It is bad enough in that sense, but in ISRAEL IT WAS EVEN WORSE.
More than just coveting and greed
It denoted a defiance of God and His declaration for Israel.

It is God who divided up the land for Israel,
And that land was to be the inheritance of every Israelite.

Leviticus 25:23-25 “‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. ‘Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land. ‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.”

But in defiance of such a command you have here
Men who are eagerly gobbling up the land of their brothers.

Micah 2:2 “They covet fields and then seize them, And houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.”

We remember the story of King Ahab and how he wanted Naboth’s vineyard.
• Whey Naboth refused to surrender his inheritance the queen had him falsely
accused and stoned to death so Ahab could acquire it.

It was an example of insatiable greed.

And such greed and coveting was SUCH AN AFRONT TO GOD
That He immediately broke out in rebuke.

(9-10) “In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, “Surely, many houses shall become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants. “For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.”

It is God’s immediate response to such greed.

Isaiah says, “In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn…”

It’s Isaiah’s way of saying, “I’ve heard from God on this issue and He is not happy!”

God is going to rip you out of the houses you’ve acquired.
“Surely, many houses shall become desolate, even great and fine ones, without occupants.”

NOT ONLY THAT, but all of those seized fields are going to become fruitless.
“For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.”

• A “bath” is about 6 gallons which isn’t much for yield for 10 acres.
• A “homer” of seed is about 6 bushels but it will only yield one “ephah” of grain which is half a bushel.

In other words, God refuses to bless their greed.

It was insatiable coveting to the point where
There was no longer any room for anyone else
And those who owned the land basically lived alone in it.

So in disregard of God’s gracious provision of land
We have people who want more than what God had allotted them.

It is coveting.
It is a lack of contentment.
And according to Isaiah is the epitome of fruitlessness.

BUT LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT.
Why does coveting make a Christian fruitless?
Why does greed result in a fruitless life?

A moment ago we read from Matthew 5
About how we are to be “salt and light” in the world.

Most people are aware of the significance behind the analogy of light.
• They realize that light represents truth (light came on)
• They realize that light represents hope (light at the end of the tunnel)
• They realize that light represents righteousness (deeds of light or darkness)

But the analogy of salt is a little less clear to many.
• Some liken it to a preservative and see the church as that which is supposed to preserve the world from falling into evil.
• There may be some truth to that, but that is NOT WHY Jesus says that we are to be salt.

TURN TO: LUKE 14:25-35

You see there that Jesus is addressing “large crowds”
• And any time He does this He likes to address the misconceptions of the crowd.
• Here Jesus wants to make sure that the crowd understands the cost associated with following Him.

And here the cost is significant.
(16-17) ““If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

We are familiar with that announcement.
• We understand that our family might not be on board with our decision and thus they might have to be left behind.
• We understand the calling to take up our cross. Namely that the world hates Jesus and we must bear up under that same hatred.

But Jesus goes on here as He explains what it means to count the cost.

(28-32) we see the basic analogies of the importance of counting the cost.
• Whether you are building a tower or going to war,
• You should always assess the cost of what you are about to attempt.

But notice how Jesus concludes those analogies.
(33) “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

Jesus sums up that segment on counting the cost
By reminding that His disciples must totally forsake the world.

Let’s say that again:
The call to follow Jesus is a call to forsake the world.

Do we remember what Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel?
Matthew 16:24-26 “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?”

In order to follow Jesus we relinquish the right to obtain the world.

Jesus may not require every follower to forsake it all,
But He has the right to require any of His followers to do so,
And everyone of His followers must be willing.

Now that is what He said in Luke’s gospel too.

But then comes the link to how this is to be SALT in the world.

(Luke 14:34-35) ““Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Did you catch that?
“Therefore, salt is good”

So based on the context, being salt has something to do with
Counting the cost and being willing to forsake this world.

But it is also possible for salt to become “tasteless”
And then it has no use.

So what is “salt”?
What did Jesus mean when He said we were to be “salt”?

Certainly it is to be flavor to a tasteless world, but what does that mean?
Somehow it is linked to a willingness to forsake one’s possessions,
Take up the cross, and follow Jesus.

And this should be becoming clear now.

What is the message of a Christian to the world?
Is it not that you can take this world
Because I have found something infinitely more valuable?

Do we not sing:
“Take this world, but give me Jesus all its joys are but a name. But His love abides forever, through eternal years the same.”

Do we not sing:
“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands; I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand. Than to be the king of a vast domain Or be held in sin’s dread sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.”

Do we not quote:
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

That is our message isn’t it?
• Don’t we tell the world in evangelism that they should forsake this world and trust in Jesus?

• Don’t we tell them that this world is passing away, but we have an eternal inheritance with Christ?

• Don’t we say that a man should not store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal?

Of course we do, that is our message to the world.
We tell them that Jesus is infinitely more valuable
Than anything this world offers.

We tell men to let it go!
We tell men we don’t need it!

We point to people like Abraham:
Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

We point to people like Moses:
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

We talk about those Hebrews who faced joyously the seizure of their property.

We talk about Paul who lost all things and counted it but rubbish so that he could gain Christ.

• We talk about Peter and Andrew leaving their nets.
• We talk about James and John leaving their father.
• We talk about Matthew leaving that tax booth.

• We rebuke the rich young ruler for choosing his riches.
• We commend Zacchaeus for giving up his possessions.

You see the point?
We say to the world that Jesus is more!
(He’s the pearl of great value! He’s the treasure in the field!)

But what does it say to the world when
We are just as hungry for the things of the world as they are?

What does it say about Jesus
When I think I need all the toys of the world to be happy too?

It’s a massive problem in America
Where we all think that happiness revolves around new cars and new toys and second homes and extravagant vacations and cruises and whatever else.

It’s an even worse problem when Christians
Are just as greedy for the things of the world.

What does it say about Jesus when I attach my happiness to the same stuff the world attaches their happiness too?

• You can’t be happy without a new car?
• You can’t be happy without that new toy?
• You can’t be happy unless you get to do all that stuff?

It’s hard to preach a message about how sufficient Jesus is
When we’re in the world’s mob trying to get the world’s stuff
Just as fast as they are.

It’s hard to witness in a black Friday line while fighting for that same big screen TV that the world thinks they need to be happy.

Do you see how this is not being salt?
• Do you see how this does not look like we know the secret to the flavorful life?
• Do you see how this does not make Jesus look all-sufficient?

Paul told Timothy what the Christian attitude should be.
1 Timothy 6:6-12 “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

The Christian should be content.

Remember Romans 7 Paul lamented in his pre-redeemed life how the Law had exposed him as a coveter and no matter how hard he tried he could not stop coveting.

But once He cried out to Jesus and was filled with God’s Spirit his entire mindset shifted.

Then he wrote:
Philippians 4:12-13 “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

We think of Asaph and his depressive state because he was envious of the wicked.

We note how God changed his heart so that he wrote:
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

Now let me ask you, does Asaph make Jesus look beautiful?
Yes he does.

Did Paul make Jesus look all-sufficient?
Yes he did.

That is what it means to be salt.
That is what it means to having what makes life worth living.

Do you see why Israel lacked fruitfulness?
Because they weren’t satisfied with God’s provision in their lives.
• They wanted more!
• They coveted more!
• They greedily pursued more!

IT MADE THEM UNFRUITFUL.

If you want to bear fruit for God then walk right up close to Jesus
Until all the shiny things of this world lose their luster.

Don’t we sing it?
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

That is the fruitful life.
That is the salty life.

Israel’s covetousness and greed made her unfruitful
And because of that God was about to destroy His vineyard.

So there’s one: Their Greed
2) SENSUALITY (11-12)

“Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.”

Now the easy target here would be the drunkard.

“those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!”

Anyone waking up and immediately going to the bottle
Anyone who’s sole source of pleasure at night is to hit the bottle again.

We see the plague in our nation.
It’s as though the only real entertainment our world enjoys is any venue where they can use it as an excuse to get drunk.

• I see the golf tournaments that are only an excuse to get drunk.
• I see football games where we get to have a tailgate party and get drunk.
• We have the cookouts and barbecues where we can get drunk.
• People who like to go fishing so they can get drunk.
• Night clubs…
• Rodeos…
• Ballgames…

You’ve seen it in our culture.
And certainly we are not going to cut any slack to such a filthy lifestyle.
Certainly Scripture condemns drunkenness.

Certainly any Christian who is participating in such a lifestyle is not only failing to be salt, but is making willfully sinning and making a mockery of the Christ who calls them to live in self-control.

That is clear.

But DON’T read this segment of Scripture and say,
“Well I don’t drink so this isn’t about me.”

NOT SO FAST.

Raymond Ortlund had this to say:
“The gospel explains that there are basically two kinds of people in the world: sensate and spiritual (Romans 8:5-6). The sensate mentality is drawn to entertainment, while the spiritual mentality is drawn to worship. Isaiah condemned Judah’s unreasoning passion for one thrill after another, because a visceral approach to life quenches the Holy Spirit. The gospel says, “Do not get drunk with win…but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) The power of grace does not lie in spiritual moderation but in deep, repeated gulps of the Spirit. And that kind of excess does not dull our minds; it sharpens our awareness, so that God becomes real to us.”
(ibid, pg. 69-70)

His point is that Isaiah is speaking about more than just drunkenness.
He is talking about what you or I might call ESCAPISM

It is that propensity that just turn off the mind
And escape the realities of the day.

I must admit his words were convicting to me who is far too prone in the evening to want to just get lost in a movie and “turn off the brain”

But as I read his words my thoughts were, “How is my wanting to numb out while watching a western different from a drunk who uses the bottle to do the same thing?”

At it’s core we’re talking about what people saturate their mind with.

And saturating your mind with the world instead of the word
Will not lead you to the fruitful life.

Did you catch what Isaiah said?
(12) “Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flue, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.”

Instead of focusing on the truth of God in Scripture,
They are instead looking for a party or some other form of entertainment.

THAT WILL NOT LEAD YOU TO FRUITFULNESS.
That is not what Jesus had in mind when He said to “abide in Me”

And that DOES NOT produce fruit.
Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

Worldly entertainment and escapism will choke out the seed of the gospel
And restrict the fruitfulness of the Christian life.

Romans 8:5-6 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,”

If we want fruit…
If we want to be people of justice and righteousness

IT REQUIRES A DIFFERENT FOCUS.

I can show you the difference real easy:
Luke 10:38-42 “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

It’s not hard to figure out which one was the most fruitful.

And this is the issue at hand.

We have here a nation that is not producing fruit.
All they are giving God is rancid grapes.

And this is not the expected return for the grace which God has shown them.

AND WE THINK OF OUR LIVES.

• Those of us who have been chosen and predestined and redeemed and forgiven and saved.
• Those of us who have been given the Spirit and an inheritance and a future and a hope.
• Those who have been given the mandate to produce good works.

Certainly God wants more
Than for us than to crave the things of the world with the world.

Certainly God wants more
Than for us to be preoccupied with entertainment instead of dwelling on His glorious person.

The secret to fruitfulness is to abide in Him.
• It requires loving Him
• It requires focusing on Him
• It requires meditating on Him
• It requires time spent with Him

How do we expect to be fruitful when we crave and run to the things of the world just like everyone else?

YOU GET THE POINT.

Well, there’s the first two expressions of the sin of these people.
We’ll look at the rest of the list next time.

Download Here:

The Worthless Vineyard
Isaiah 5:1-7
March 5, 2023

This morning we come to the 3rd sermon of Isaiah.

I always think it is good to give you a “bird’s eye” view
Of what is going on to help better understand the pieces.

In this 3rd sermon of Isaiah
A terrifying and tragic announcement is being made.

In the first 2 sermons Isaiah spoke of GOD’S DEFINITE DISPLEASURE with Jerusalem and Judah.

• We’ve seen their bloody hands and lack of care for the helpless.
• We’ve seen their lack of justice and unwillingness to reprove the ruthless.
• We’ve seen their impotent religion which did more to irritate God than pacify
Him.
• We’ve seen their pride and propensity to trust in idols and men and even their
own beauty.

And in all these instances we’ve listened to God tell this people
That the only way redemption would come is through justice.

That is to say, there is only ONE OPTION for these people if they are to satisfy God and appease His anger: THEY MUST REPENT.

The first 2 sermons have both ended on the same note of redemption.
And both of them point out that redemption
Only comes through the justice of repentance.

Isaiah 1:25-28 “I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy. “Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city.” Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end.”

Isaiah 4:4-6 “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.”

God is expecting His people to hear of His displeasure
And to repent of their bloody hands, their empty religion,
And their persistent arrogance.

God is expecting His people to repent and return to Him
That they may once again enjoy His favor.

BUT THE PEOPLE HAVE REFUSED TO REPENT
The warnings of God have gone in one ear and out the other.
They are not listening.

And while God has spoken generically of a coming TRIBULATION
Or time of peril which will purify and smelt away the dross of Israel,
In this 3rd sermon God is about to get specific.

This 3rd sermon comes with a bone-chilling announcement.
EXILE IS COMING.

Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”

Isaiah 5:26 “He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.”

God has repeatedly offered redemption through repentance.
God has repeatedly offered redemption through turning from sin.

But when a people won’t repent
God brings about redemption through judgment.

The KEY PHRASE of the entire sermon is found in:
Isaiah 5:16-17 “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.”

That is what this 3rd sermon of Isaiah is about.
It is a message from God regarding
How He will deal with the sin of unrepentant Jerusalem.

MORE THAN THAT IT IS A TRAGEDY.
It is a sermon about WASTED GRACE.
• It is a sermon which first recalls all the benefits which God had done for Israel
• And what little return He had received from them for His investment.

They are a waste!

And if Israel continues to refuse repentance
There is only one option on the horizon.
REMOVAL FROM THE LAND.

Isaiah 5 reveals to us that God will whistle for a distant nation
To come and lay waste to Jerusalem, burn that city with fire,
And thus purify this land from her sin.

It is certainly a drastic message,
But if you learn nothing else from this 3rd sermon of Isaiah
Then know that with God it is: RIGHTEOUSNESS OR BUST.

His grace is poured richly upon His people with the expectation that
They will return with an offering of justice and righteousness.

There is no compromise on the part of God
When it comes to righteousness or holiness.

God has said it:
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.’”

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

The apostles preached it:
1 Peter 1:16 “because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

I realize that much of our world seems to think
That God grades on the curve and that when push comes to shove
We’re all sinners and God won’t care.

THAT SIMPLY ISN’T TRUE.

This entire ministry of Isaiah was built off a vision that he had of God.

Isaiah 6:1-3 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Isaiah tells the people that “I saw the Lord”
• What was He like?
• What did you see?
• How would you describe Him?

And Isaiah has but one answer
Which overwhelmingly described who God is to the people.
“Holy, Holy, Holy”

And nothing less than that will be accepted.

WE SAY IT ALL THE TIME,
If you’re not holy as God is holy you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

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.”

It is RIGHTEOUSNESS OR BUST with God.
Here we are reminded just how serious God is with that expectation.

THAT IS THE 3RD SERMON OF ISAIAH.

Well, this sermon begins in a unique fashion.
• It begins with a parable of sorts.
• It actually begins with a song.

It is the first of 4 points to be made in this sermon.
#1 THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah 5:1-7

Here you see clearly that
We are dealing with a poem or song of sorts to begin.

(1) “Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.”

Here we see Isaiah speaks of a friend who had a vineyard.
“My well-beloved has a vineyard on a fertile hill.”

So we are entering a simple story from Isaiah
Regarding this friend and his vineyard.

Let’s break this song down into 4 parts.

1) THE DISAPPOINTING HARVEST (1-2)

So we already saw that his friend acquired a vineyard
And we see that he was very devoted to making this vineyard productive.

(2) “He dug it all around, removed its stones,”

We call that PLOWING.
• This man worked the soil well.
• He prepared the ground.

“And planted it with the choicest vine.”

He didn’t just throw random seed into his vineyard,
He selected what he thought to be the best seed.

He gathered seed from a choice vine
And was going to use that here in his vineyard.
He is not cutting any corners.

“And He built a tower in the middle of it”

This speaks to the PROTECTION of the vineyard.
• This is where the guard would sit so that he could see the entire vineyard and protect it from those who might threaten it or ruin it.

“And also hewed out a wine vat in it;”

He has an expectation of gathering a grape harvest and making wine.
• He has done everything he needed to do,
• The expectation is that if all goes according to plan he’ll soon have wine.

Which is what we see:
“Then He expected it to produce good grapes,”

WHY WOULDN’T HE?
• He did everything he was supposed to do.
• He did what other farmers have done.

And so now he sat back and waited for the harvest.

But we read something SHOCKING:
“But it produced only worthless ones.”

This is clearly NOT what Isaiah’s friend had expected.

Throughout the Bible farmers are analogous of hope.
All that they do is done in hope of a coming harvest.

2 Timothy 2:6 “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”

But here that was NOT the case.
• The vineyard failed.
• He was left only with worthless grapes.
• The Hebrew word actually suggests “stinking grapes”, they are rancid.

No mention of drought.
No mention of insects.
No mention of any other outside problem.
HE JUST DIDN’T GET GOOD GRAPES.

It was a disappointing harvest.

2) THE DISCERNING QUESTION (3-4)

So after presenting the problem of his friend and the disappointing harvest Isaiah now looks to the congregation for insight.

It’s as though Isaiah is saying, “I’d like to go back and give some insight to my friend as to why his vineyard failed. Would any of you like to weigh in?”

(3-4a) “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?”

• Did I not do something I should have done?
• What more could I have done?
And what is the answer to that question? Nothing.

If we are to judge the farmer here we have to find him innocent.
• He plowed, he planted, he protected, he prepared.
• He did everything he should have done.

Well that brings up a second question.
“Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?”

What are we to discern was the problem?
It had to have been bad seed.

In fact, the farmer said, “Judge between Me and My vineyard”

He gives you the two options.
It was either my fault, or it was the vineyard’s fault.
Which one?

It has to be the fault of the vineyard.
You cannot lay the blame of fruitlessness
Upon the back of the vineyard owner.

So Isaiah has outlined the disappointment of his friend
And the congregation has rendered a verdict against the vineyard.

So let’s look at the response.

3) THE DECISIVE ACTION (5-6)

And this only makes sense.
(5-6) “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

Why would you continue to PROTECT a vineyard that won’t produce?
Why would you continue to PLOW a vineyard that won’t produce?
Why would you continue to WATER a vineyard that won’t produce?
YOU WOULDN’T.

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.”

If you plow ground and plant ground and water a field and get produce then that’s one thing. You’re prone to continue.

But if you do all that work and receive no fruit for your labor, then you won’t keep putting yourself through all that labor.

So no one here can blame the vineyard owner for His decision.
In fact, his decision makes perfect sense.

And EVERYONE in Jerusalem and Judea who heard Isaiah’s song
WOULD AGREE that this is the proper course of action.

But Isaiah has one more thing to say regarding this vineyard.
He has yet to identify the friend, or identify the vineyard.

4) THE DIRECT APPLICATION (7)

Now we know who the vineyard owner is, it is “the LORD of hosts”
And we know who the vineyard is, It is “the men of Judah”
And we know what the preferred fruit was, it was “justice” and “righteousness”

And so when we look back over the song, it makes perfect sense to us.

• “my well-beloved” is the LORD.

• He “had a vineyard on a fertile hill” which is the Promised Land and even more specifically Jerusalem.

• “He dug it all around, removed its stones” – that is to say he removed all the nations from that land and gave it to Israel.

• He “planted it with the choicest vine” – which is of course the descendants of Abraham, the chosen one.

• He “built a tower in the middle of it” – which is His temple

• And He “expected it to produce good grapes” – which is righteousness and justice.

All of those are expressions of God’s grace upon Israel.
All of those are things which God did for Israel
That He did not do for other nations.

• It is the beauty of election
• It is the beauty of providence
• It is the beauty of CHECED or loyalty or lovingkindness
• It is the beauty of sustenance and protection and provision

God poured His grace richly upon the nation of Israel
With the expectation of a harvest of “justice” and “righteousness”

IT IS THE EXPECTATION OF GRACE.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

God does not pour out the riches of His grace upon a human being
With the intention of leaving them in sin.
He expects that His grace will produce righteousness in their lives.

HE EXPECTED THAT FROM ISRAEL AS WELL.

So we return to the questions we again ask:
What more could God have done to prepare for the success of Israel?

NOTHING.
• He delivered them from Egypt with a mighty hand,
• He cleared out the nations before them,
• He planted them in the Promised Land,
• He protected and blessed them as He waited for them to honor Him with
righteous living.

BUT THEY DIDN’T

They did not respond as they should have.
“Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce only worthless ones?”

And the answer again can only be – IT IS A BAD VINEYARD.

Paul teaches us:
Romans 9:6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”

These people may have a physical lineage which can be traced back to Abraham, but they are not true sons of Abraham.

• Abraham was a man of faith.
• Abraham became a man of righteousness and justice.
• These men are nothing like their father Abraham.

AND THE QUESTION NOW IS
Could anyone fault God for destroying this vineyard?

Could anyone fault God for bringing in a demolition crew to tear down the walls, destroy the tower, rip up the vine, and throw it away?

And of course the answer is again “NO”.
God demanded righteousness & justice and the vineyard didn’t produce.

“Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”

Do you remember the “bloodshed” He spoke of?

Isaiah 1:15-17 “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. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

God wanted them to walk in justice.
• He wanted them to “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

But they oppressed the widow and the orphan, they neglected the poor
And God attributed that to their bloody hands.

He wanted “righteousness” but all He received was “a cry of distress” from those widows and orphans who were neglected by the people.

When you read in the Mosaic Law what I think is the greatest passage on benevolence in Scripture we read:

Deuteronomy 15:7-9 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you.”

And here we see how dangerous that poor man’s cry is
For you if you have not helped him.

But all in all there is a simple point here.
GOD DEMANDS FRUIT FROM HIS PEOPLE
AND THAT FRUIT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

“You are to be holy, as I am holy”

Now, let’s take what Isaiah said and run to the New Testament
Because Jesus sang a very similar song to the people of His day.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 21

Now the chapter begins in the first 17 verses with one of the most despicable demonstrations of hypocrisy in the Bible.
• These people who are today shouting “Hosanna” will be in a few days shouting “Crucify!”
• It is phony worship and phony religion.

Following that demonstration we get a brief object lesson from the Lord.
(18-19) “Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.”

• What you should know about fig trees is that they put on figs before they put on leaves, so if this fig tree had leaves it was declaring, “I have fruit!”

The problem was, like Israel, it was a liar, and it had no fruit
So Jesus did the same thing God did to His vineyard.
He cursed it and it immediately withered.

From there Jesus enters the temple
And begins teaching where He again exposes a people who are phony.

And what I want you to see is that to this phony crowd of hypocrites Jesus gives a parable.

(READ MATTHEW 21:33-41)
You recognize the story don’t you.
Jesus references that same vineyard that Isaiah spoke of.

Only here Jesus gives us more information than Isaiah had given us.
• Here we find that when it was time for harvest our vineyard owner had hired hands whom He sent to gather the produce.

• But there were vine-growers in that vineyard who had corrupted the vineyard and started to beat the slaves and ultimately kill them, even the son of the landowner.

• It wasn’t just bad seed, it was also bad leaders.

But again, notice the main thrust of the vineyard.
(41) “They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

What did he expect?
FRUIT! (“the proper proceeds”)

But there is ONE MORE POINT to be made by Jesus here.

(42-44) “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

So immediately following that new telling of Isaiah’s parable
Jesus immediately takes it to this new direction.

He says, “Did you never read in the Scripture, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER STONE; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’”?

• You are aware that Jesus is “the stone which the builders rejected”
• You are aware that He is “the chief corner stone”
• And you are aware that this was all the plan of God.

So Jesus just spoke of a fruitless vineyard, but He DOESN’T blame the failure of the vineyard on a lack of work or a lack of effort.

Jesus blames the failure of the vineyard
On the fact that the vine-growers rejected the Son.

That is where He puts the massive failure.
• You rejected God’s corner stone.
• You rejected the One God sent.
• This is why your vineyard failed.

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone (repentance) will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls (judgment), it will scatter him like dust.”

SO JESUS SAYS
Those who rejected Him and refused to repent at His preaching
• Will be excluded from the kingdom as fruitless vines
But those who trust in Him
• Will be given the kingdom because of their fruit.

DO YOU SEE THAT?

NOW, WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS?
There’s one more passage we must read an then we’ll fully understand this song of Isaiah.

John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Pay special attention to this famous “I am” statement of Jesus.
“I am the true vine”

What does that mean?
• What did God expect from Isaiah’s vine? FRUIT
• What was the fruit God expected? “righteousness” and “justice”

But He never received it.
They were a bad vine.

But notice what Jesus says, “I am the true vine”
I am what God expected from His vineyard.

I have the righteousness and justice which God demands of His people.

That’s all well and good, but how does that affect us?
“Every branch IN ME that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

You must be IN HIM

John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Now you understand why those who rejected this chief corner stone
Lose the kingdom and are tossed out of the vineyard.

Because the ability to satisfy God’s righteous demand
Only comes through Jesus.

Only He can clothe you in the righteousness which God demands.

ISAIAH TAUGHT US OF A VINEYARD
Which God expected righteousness from and that vineyard failed.

In response to their failure God annihilated that vineyard.
• He would send in Babylon to tear down its walls and towers and God would eradicate that faulty vine from His vineyard.

The only hope would be that He might find a “true vine” a “good seed”
• That was Jesus.
• He showed up and was everything God expected from His vineyard.
• He was the epitome of justice and righteousness.
• And He offered to make anyone who fell upon Him in repentance acceptable to the Father.

But Israel was so consumed with their own goodness
That they saw no need for the Son and they killed Him
Thinking they could seize the inheritance on their own.

BUT IT DID NOT WORK.

God promised to once again eradicate that bad vine.
Matthew 21:40-41 “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
• Which God did again in AD 70 when this time Rome burned the temple.

And then in a shocking move, God offered this righteousness which comes through His Son to a wild vine of which you and I are a part.

Romans 11:19-21 “You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”

It is yet again the same warning.
First given to Jews and now extended to Gentiles.

There is only one way to be the fruitful vineyard which God demands.
You must be in Christ Jesus.
• He is the only “true vine”
• His righteousness is the only acceptable righteousness.
• He alone can make you satisfying to God.

Romans 3:21-24 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

BUT LISTEN FURTHER.
WE AREN’T just talking about justification here.
WE ARE talking about producing righteous fruit in your life.

In order to do that, you don’t just come to Him once,
You must remain in Him.

John 15:3-6 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

The problem with Israel is two-fold.
• It is a failure to receive Him
• And it is a failure to abide in Him

Church, the only way we will produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives is if we believe in Christ and abide in Christ.

HE IS OUR CONSTANT NEED.

And that is why we come now to partake of this Lord’s Supper.

We see here the symbolism of His body in which He lived a righteous life.
We see here the symbolism of His death in which He atoned for sin.

He came to satisfy our righteous requirement.
He came to satisfy our sinful debt.

AND WE EAT THIS SACRIFICE CONTINUALLY
BECAUSE ONLY IN HIM ARE WE RIGHTEOUS
AND ONLY IN HIM CAN WE LIVE RIGHTEOUS.

• Have you believed in Him?
• Have you been grafted into the vine?
• Are you remaining in the vine?

We’re going to see in the rest of this chapter all the worldly allurements
That have kept Israel from remaining.

Being fruitful before God is directly linked to your devotion to Jesus.
• Are you devoted to Him?

Let this Lord’s Supper be your declaration of devotion.

Maybe it is taken this morning in repentance.
• Jesus, I haven’t been devoted, but here today, I am confessing that and coming home.

Let this ordinance be a time of worship.
Let this ordinance be a time of repentance.
Let this ordinance be a time of commitment.

We’re going to have a time of preparation and then we’ll partake.

Download Here:

Making Christ Beautiful
Isaiah 2:1-4:6
February 26, 2023

Tonight we are going to finish the second sermon of Isaiah.
I told you that this second sermon contains chapters 2,3, & 4.

• We have not yet looked at it in it’s entirety to sort of put it all together,
• Rather we have just examined parts and pieces of it,
• But tonight I want to show you the flow of the sermon.

Because we have already worked our way through much of it,
We won’t have to hit it all in detail, but I do want you to understand the sermon as a whole, so tonight let me outline the entire thing for you.

The thrust of the sermon is how God will make Christ beautiful
To a world who does not see any attraction in Him.

We read Isaiah 53 often enough.
Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

That sums up the world’s attraction to Jesus.
• To the world Jesus is a weak and broken man who died on a cross as a criminal.
• Paul reminds us that to the Jews the cross is a stumbling block and to Gentiles it is foolishness.

The world naturally gravitates to the rich or the famous
Or the movie star or athlete or conquering general.

But before the world’s eyes Christ was none of those things.

• Christ commanded you to forsake the world…
• Christ commanded you to die to self…
• Christ commanded you to embrace persecution…
• Christ commanded you to endure insults…

And all of that would be true of your life if you follow Him.

So a world which is ambitious to get ahead sees no value in Christ.
• They aren’t interested in His commands.
• They aren’t interested in His ideals.

And so, WE DO NOT SEE a world that flocks to Christ
To learn from Him and obey Him as God spoke of will happen one day.

But God has a plan by which He will drive the world to Christ.
God will make His righteous branch beautiful and glorious to the world.

AND HE WILL DO THAT THROUGH TRIBULATION.

That is what this second sermon if Isaiah is about.
• So now, having looked at much of it already let’s zoom out
• And let me show you the outline of the sermon,
• And perhaps this will make these 3 chapters clearer to us before we move on in our study.

It is probably best to identify this sermon
As Isaiah speaking to you of 4 different days.

#1 THE DAY OF REVERENCE
Isaiah 2:1-4

We looked at this last Sunday night
But it is a picture of the future millennial kingdom.

There is much more that will be said of this day in future sermons by Isaiah.

But the main point Isaiah revealed here is that
• All the world will flock to Christ.
• And it will not be a token appearance, they will genuinely want His instruction and they will follow His commands.
• And the result of the entire world seeking Christ and obeying Christ is that the world will finally enjoy world peace.

(2-4) “Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.”

That is the day of reverence.
And Isaiah interjected in verse 5 that we should seek for that day now!

(5) “Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

But that is not what people do.
It is not what Israel did.

We do not currently see a day of reverence.
We see a different day.

#2 A DAY OF REVELRY
Isaiah 2:5-11

Again, we already examined this text so we don’t have to dwell long here,
But what we SEE IS NOT men seeking God.

Rather we see men who seek the wisdom and logic of men.
(2:6) “For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.”

Their desire is not for holiness.
They are following the pattern of the world.

We know that because of how they live:
(2:7-8) “Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made.”

And what we pointed out is that these two days
Are on POLAR OPPOSITE ends of the spectrum.

• We don’t have men seeking and obeying Christ.
• We have men seeking the world which has produced corruption and idolatry.

• The poor have been squashed so that man might obtain wealth and keep it.
• They don’t love God, they love their worldly idols.

• They worship silver and gold and the things of the world.
• It is totally backward of what God expects from the world.

So we do not have a day of reverence.
We have a day of revelry.

Now, to remedy this situation we see the third day God will bring.

#3 THE DAY OF RECKONING
Isaiah 2:12-4:1

We have obviously STARTED looking at this day,
But have not yet finished looking at all of it.

You see it clearly stated in verse 12.
(12) “For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased.”

It is God’s day of reckoning
And though several things are mentioned specifically,
God’s bullseye is most definitely fixed upon the PRIDE of man.

There are things that man loves and things that man trusts and things that man boasts in and GOD IS ABOUT TO REMOVE IT ALL.

Now, as I said, some of these things we have already discussed, but it’s easiest to see God’s day of reckoning as focused on 3 specific targets.

1) THEIR LOVE FOR IDOLS (2:12-21)

The world taught God’s people to love the things of the world.
• Israel was not seeking the things of God.
• They didn’t care about the poor or the widow or the orphan.
• They wanted to keep their gold and silver and live extravagantly.

They had their idols and they wanted to keep them,
So the FIRST TARGET of God’s day of reckoning is on
The idols of silver and gold that God’s people had acquired.

And we saw a day of such fury and wrath that men would gladly throw away their idols if it would subdue the anger of God which was pointed at them.

(19-21) “Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.”

From Isaiah’s vantage point there is both a near and far fulfillment.
• For Israel will most certainly offer any gold or silver trinket they have if it will appease the wrath of Babylon and save them from exile (which it won’t).

• But also in the end, when God’s wrath is revealed from heaven we read in Revelation 6 how men will cry out to the mountains and hills to fall on them and cover them from the wrath of God.

God will unleash such terror on the idols of men
That men will drop them like a hot potato.

AND WE SAW THAT LAST WEEK.

We also see a second target of God’s wrath which will be attacked during God’s day of reckoning, and we actually started looking at it this morning.

2) THEIR DEPENDENCE ON MAN (2:22-3:15)

It really starts with God’s outburst in chapter 2 verse 22
(2:22) “Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?”

It’s not just the idols that Israel loved.
They also loved the approval and power of man.

Israel looked to their worldly leaders and worldly allies
As their saviors in times of calamity.

IT IS SIMILAR TO like when there are times of war or times of economic hardship and someone says, “Don’t worry, the government’s going to take care of us.” Or “Our military will defend us.”

God sees a world that arrogantly trusts in itself instead of in Him.

So, as we saw this morning,
God will orchestrate the removal of those in whom you trust.

(3: 2-5) “The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder, The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter. And I will make mere lads their princes, And capricious children will rule over them, And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable.

We actually saw Him do that during the Babylonian invasion
When Nebuchadnezzar deported everyone who had any skill or insight at all.

But it will happen again in the end when during the great tribulation
God will remove men of honor as leaders
And replace them with a psychotic world leader named Anti-Christ.

Men will beg for someone to step up and lead.
Men will beg for someone to help them against his tyrannical reign.
But no one will be able to help.

It will be a terrible and devastating day when God removes all help.

And as we saw this morning,
It will be such a terrible day that even God grieves and moans over the plight of His people.

(3:12) “O My people! Their oppressors are children, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths.”

AND THAT IS WHERE WE LEFT OFF THIS MORNING.

We stopped in this sermon of Isaiah
With God outlining how He will remove every noble and capable leader
And leave men in a state of peril
Where they are oppressed by their incompetent rulers.

AND AS WE NOTED, this is a common judgment of God on a nation.

How many bad kings did Israel and Judah have to endure?
Do you suppose it is simply because God wasn’t good at picking kings?

OF COURSE NOT.

Those bad kings were a judgment of God
On a people who would not seek or trust Him.

IN JESUS DAY, you see a similar judgment falling on the people.

Do you remember what Jesus had to say about the rulers of Israel in His day?
Matthew 23:13-15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

Jesus said that the leaders of the people
Were not those who would lead them to life,
But rather were leaders who would lead them to hell.

He would continue:
Matthew 23:16-17 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”

Jesus went on to call their leaders “blind guides” and we know from other passages that if “a blind man leads a blind man they both fall into a pit”.

Those bad leaders were a judgment from God on a nation
That had rejected Him as their source of wisdom and truth.

AND WE CAN CLEARLY SEE SUCH JUDGMENTS IN OUR DAY.
• We see corrupt and incompetent leaders.
• We know that our government messes up everything it touches.
• Our elections are corrupt
• Our leaders are immoral

WHY IS THAT?
If you see that as anything other than the judgment of God on our nation
Because of our love of the world and unwillingness to seek God
Then you have no understanding of the sovereign prerogative of God.

ISAIAH SPOKE OF A DAY
When God will completely remove our dependance on man.

In fact, ISAIAH GOES ON regarding this subject.

Look at verses 13-15
“The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the people. The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses. “What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?” Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

There is another reason why God will remove the leaders from the land.
• It is NOT JUST because the people have rebelled against Him.
• God will also remove the leaders because of their corruption.

Notice who bears the brunt of the blame for the oppression of the poor.
God puts that at the feet of “the elders and princes of His people”

He says, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.”

And God even gives them a sort of:
“Who do you think you are?” confrontation.

(15) “What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?” Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.”

God will remove the good leaders and ultimately judge the bad ones.
• He will strip the world of those whom we trusted in to save us
• And then He will judge the corrupt ones that took their place.

We are reminded here again of
What we have said many times regarding civil leaders.

They dabble in a lot of areas that are not within their jurisdiction
And they try to take the lead in several areas that are not their business.

But they do have some legitimate functions from the LORD.

Romans 13:4 “for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

The civil government has the legitimate function
Of being the one who rewards good and punishes evil.

• It is their job to bring wrath on those who practice evil not promote it.
• It is their job to do good to those who do what is right not discriminate against
them.

• They should care for the poor they should care for the widow and the orphan.
• They should punish the evil doer and offender.

But as Isaiah pointed out, this not what they have done
And therefore God is judging them.

But in the grand scheme of things you see again
God removing every possible savior.

In His day of reckoning He attacks man’s love of idols
And He attacks man’s dependence on man.

There is a third thing God attacks during His day of reckoning.
3) THEIR EXTRAVAGANT ATTITUDE (3:16-4:1)

Here the focus is on the women of the culture.

(16) “Moreover, the LORD said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on their feet,”

God specifically addresses the issue of women’s dress.

J. Vernon McGee said:
“Women’s dress is the barometer of any civilization. When women’s dress is modest it tells something of the nation as a whole.
In these last few verses twenty articles of women’s wear are mentioned by name. These certainly is nothing wrong with a woman dressing in style – if the style is not immodest. I feel that all of us should look the best we can with what we have, even though some of us don’t have too much to work with. God is not condemning the women of Israel for dressing in the style of their day. He is talking about the inner life. They were haughty and brazen. Real adornment is beneath the skin, not from the skin outward. Women’s dress is the key to a nation’s morals.”
(McGee, J. Vernon [Thru-The-Bible Commentary Series; The Prophets; Isaiah Chapters 1-35; Thomas Nelson Publishers; Nashville, TN; 1991] pg. 47)

I certainly agree with him.

On one hand we can all agree that the immoral dress code of our land has become down right sinful.

• There is no other word for it.
• The dress of women in our culture is provocative and brazen and immoral in so many cases.

What is interesting here is that Isaiah actually critiques the women of his day because they “tinkle the bangles on their feet.”

• You’re familiar with the dress of the ancient world.
• Women covered everything.
• About the only skin you might see on a woman was her face, her hands, and her feet.

But here you have women wearing ankle bracelets with apparent bells on them to attract attention to what little skin they had showing.

Isaiah would have a conniption fit today!

The dress of our day is downright immoral, but it wasn’t in Isaiah’s day.

The issue in his day, as McGee stated, was their heart.

They “are proud and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes”

It wasn’t their fashion that Isaiah took issue with,
It was their prideful heart.

The New Testament agrees.
1 Timothy 2:9-10 “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

1 Peter 3:3-4 “Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”

The key word in both of those passages is “adorn” or “adornment”
The idea is what you are using to make yourself attractive?

Sarai was in her late 70’s when Abram took her into Egypt and told her to say she was his sister so men didn’t kill him on behalf of her beauty.

The problem is PRIDE and ARROGANCE and HAUGHTINESS.
You can certainly include INDECENCY to the list.

But it was just another indicator of a culture
That had totally abandoned their care of what God thought.

• They loved idols
• They trusted in themselves
• They flaunted an extravagant arrogant attitude

And God is going to deal with that too.

Look at God’s plan for dealing with a culture of women who pride themselves in their physical appearance and seductive abilities.

(17-24) “Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads bare.” In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, finger rings, nose rings, festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils. Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.”

THAT IS EVERY WOMAN’S DREAM!

FIRST, God is going to take these women with their beautiful hair and SCALP them.

“the LORD will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”

We call it the mange.
And it’s hard to make your hair look right
When you have such a condition.

And look at what God is going to do
With all their BEAUTY PRODUCTS and ADORNING JEWELRY.

Very simply in verse 18, “the LORD will take [it] away”

He is going to STRIP these women of all their accessories.

And regarding their PERFUMES and LOTIONS and BATH BOMBS and BODY WASHES?

(24) “Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction;”

God is going to SOUR these women and they won’t smell good anymore.

A rope instead of a belt.
A plucked scalp instead of a hair doo
Sackcloth instead of fine clothes
Branding instead of beauty

It is every woman’s dream.

She’s going to lose everything external by which she adorned herself.

In short, if she has no inner beauty she is going to be sunk
Because she certainly will not have any outer beauty.

And then God will bring upon the women exactly what you would expect.
• If she is ugly both inside and out,
• She’s going to have a tough time finding a man.
• God will SECLUDE her.

(25-4:1) “Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle. And her gates will lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground. For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”

AND SO YOU SEE WHAT GOD IS DOING.

• We have a sinful culture that is living in absolute revelry.
• They are filled with influences from the east.
• They love the world’s idols.
• They trust in men as their deliverance.
• They are arrogant as typified by the behavior of the women.

And in God’s day of reckoning, He is going to put an end to all of it.

Think about some of what you know to be true of the Great Tribulation.
• The third and fourth seals bring famine and plague. That’s certainly good for eliminating worldly leaders and fine adornment.
• The sixth seal is when the heavens are pealed back and men try to hide in the mountains and caves from God’s wrath.
• With the first trumpet a 1/3 of the earth is burned and you have not only death but many burn victims which certainly affects the outward appearance.
• The 5th and 6th trumpets bring demonic oppression accompanied by plagues which kill and mutilate the body.
• The first bowl creates loathsome and malignant sores.
• The fourth bowl causes the sun to scorch men with fire.
• The fifth bowl produces pain and men gnaw their tongues.

You see how God will accomplish all of this.

Certainly He will do these things in part when Babylon invades Judah,
But the truest fulfillment will be the day of God’s great tribulation.

His day of reckoning will put an end to man’s love of idols,
His dependance on man, and his extravagant attitude.

God is going to break the pride of man.

You have a DAY OF REVERENCE which is we do not currently see.
You have a DAY OF REVELRY which is happening all around us.
You have a coming DAY OF RECKONING when God will break man’s pride.

#4 THE DAY OF REDEMPTION
Isaiah 4:2-6

Just as we saw at the end of Isaiah’s first sermon,
So we see again at the end of his second sermon.

THERE IS A SAVIOR!
There is a Redeemer.

And here He is referred to as “the Branch of the LORD”

We know who this is.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah 33:14-16 “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’”

Zechariah 3:8-10 “‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch. ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’”

John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”

God has promised the coming of His righteous Branch
• He is the One who will come from David’s line
• And He is the One who will be our righteousness.
• It is a picture of His imputed righteousness which He will earn and impute to us by faith.

But as we said, the world is not currently interested in Him.
They don’t want righteousness and so they don’t want Jesus.

But after God unleashes terror on the world
And men realize that it is in response to their sin,
Then righteousness will become increasingly more important.

And when it does there is only one place to go to look for it.
They will go to God’s Branch.
They will run to Jesus.

(2) “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious”

Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Revelation 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

Men come to love Jesus when they feel the weight of their sin
And the judgment that accompanies it.

God’s day of reckoning will drive them to a day of redemption.

“and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.”

After they run to Him (as we saw in the first 4 verses of chapter 2) this world will reap the benefits of His righteous rule.

• War will cease, but so will the curse.
• This world which languishes under sin will finally know blessing and the earth will produce fruit.

And what Christ produces on the earth
Will be the pride of man and the adornment of the survivors.

In other words
• Men will no longer boast about what they have made or done.
• Men will no longer adorn themselves in the extravagance of the world.

Men will boast in what Christ has done
And they will adorn themselves in His righteous works.

That is the gospel!

(3) “It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy – everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.”

After God’s wrath spreads through the only ones left standing will be His.

We call it THE REMNANT
• They are those who have been “recorded for life in Jerusalem”
• They are the elect.

Matthew 24:21-22 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

Isaiah will speak of them again in chapter 6.
Isaiah 6:11-13 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

So you understand what God is doing.
There is coming a day when redemption will occur through judgment.

Is this not what Isaiah said at the end of his first sermon too?
Isaiah 1:27 “Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness.”

Remember we talked about
• How God will purify and wash His people.
• He will burn away the dross and melt away the impurities.
• And what will be left will be the righteous remnant.

This is why we call men to repentance
Because there is no redemption without the removal of sin.

God will unleash fury on this world and men will have two options.
THEY CAN REPENT OR THEY CAN PERISH.

Those who repent will survive
And they will be called the remnant who were chosen by God.

Look at the parable of the wheat and the tares; same thing.
Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

IT IS THE REMNANT.

And you see that same terminology again here in this second sermon.
(4) “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,”

See again what He will do.
There is no scenario where men get to keep their sin.

God will redeem this world.
God will draw men back to Jesus.

And Jesus will baptize either with the Holy Spirit or with fire.
But in the end those standing will be those who are holy to the Lord.

(5-6) “then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.”

It reminds us of God’s covering those in the days of Moses as they wandered through the desert.
• He covered them with a cloud from the heat
• And guided them with fire through the dark.
• His glory was their covering.

That is the same protection seen here.

It is God’s plan to be the supreme leader of His people.
• He sees A Day Of Reverence when men look to Him and trust in Him for all things and on that day the world will be glorious.

• But we live in A Day Of Revelry when men don’t seek the things of God but rather the things of the world

• So God is planning A Day Of Reckoning in which He will crush the pride of the world in every form.

And when the fires of judgment are finished
The only ones left standing will be those who have trusted in the LORD.

This world will have been purified by fire and washed with judgment and will finally be the world God intended.

THEREFORE THE CALLING IS CLEAR.
It is what Peter preached to the Jews after they crucified Jesus.

Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

You certainly don’t want Him coming to find you in pride
Refusing to repent of your sin.