How can we be the Church............

“Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.

 Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.

 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.
But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!”  Isa. 1:16-20 NLT

 

So how can we be the church? 

How can we live Godly lives in a corrupt world?


 Isa. 1: 16 - 17, gives us a place to start that journey.

It says we are to wash ourselves; make ourselves clean.  As Christians we need to ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins.  I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We then need to put away the evil.  When you ask God to forgive you of your sins then you need to turn from your sinful ways.  But, that is the problem for some of us, a lot of times we ask God to forgive us, knowing very that we will do the same sin again and we are just looking for some temporary relief of our guilt.

 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

 This means we must turn away from our wicked ways. A total surrender of our flesh and old habits must be left behind.   We all desire to turn from our old sinful nature but sometimes we like it too much that we choose not to give it up.  Our desire to live in the flesh is stronger than our desire to surrender to Christ. 

We must make a choice to stand in faith and believe God to empower us to walk in righteousness and holiness.   We have the Holy Spirit living in us to guide and empower us to be Christ like if we surrender and choice to live for Jesus.

We also must learn to do good.  How do we learn to do good?

We learn from the teacher. And who is the best teacher?  None other than our Lord Jesus Christ; He taught us by example and through His teachings.

Hebrews 4:15, says; “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”   (NIV)

Always remember to pattern your life and the decisions you make to be like Jesus.

If you do these things then you will learn how to live godly in a corrupt world.

In verse 19 we find the last two conditions of how to live godly lives:

Willingness and Obedience!

The first thing you have to do is be willing.  You have to be willing to make the sacrifices to obey God and His commands to make it happen.

What is the church?

Hear [O Jerusalem] the word of the Lord, you rulers or judges of [another] Sodom! Give ear to the law and the teaching of our God, you people of [another] Gomorrah!

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me [unless they are the offering of the heart]? says the Lord. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts [without obedience]; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of he-goats [without righteousness].

When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you that your [unholy feet] trample My courts?

Bring no more offerings of vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility); [your hollow offering of] incense is an abomination to Me; the New Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure—[it is] iniquity and profanation, even the solemn meeting.

Your New Moon festivals and your [hypocritical] appointed feasts My soul hates. They are an oppressive burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

And when you spread forth your hands [in prayer, imploring help], I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood!”      Isaiah 1:10-15  AMP

There is Hope in our Lord Jesus.

God is tired of people playing church instead of being the Church.

What is the church? 

Is it the four walls that surround us?

No, we who are Christians are the Church.

1 Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

If you profess to be a Christian, you are the Church.  You may be the only Jesus others may see.  You are leaving as a representative of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why is it so important for us to be a good representative of Jesus?  

When we as Christians see other people professing one thing and living something different, they are living a lie.  When the lost see us doing the same thing, professing this and living that, then they just see the lie. They see the lie, because they don’t see the truth of the only true satisfaction is in a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. They see the lie and do not believe there is any reason to get saved.  They see themselves as being just as good as the person claiming to be saved, so why do they need to get saved.  We need to lead by example.

We say we love Him with our mouth; but in our actions we don’t reflect it.

James 2:14-20, “ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled; but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body; what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe
that there is one God; you do well: Even the demons believe, and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

So how are you?  Are you dead?  Are you living in compromise?  It’s not that works save you, but rather you are saved to do works.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

You may ask what are some of the ways that people are playing church?

We play church by our lack of concern for reaching the lost.

We will go to church and we will sing a song or two and put some money in the plate when it goes by and try to stay awoke during the sermon, but to ask someone to join us. Forget it. We are comfortable in our own little world and we really don’t want to cause others to feel uncomfortable by inviting them to church.

We play church when our prayers do not include others who need the Lord, when they pray it’s all about them, Lord give me this, and pray for my loved ones, me, me, and more me. Our prayers should always include the lost.

We play church in our attendance. We will go to church most of the time, when it is convenient or if we feel like it.

Hebrews 10:25, “ Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.”

 

Exhorting means to come along side and inspiring another with the truth. You start getting a bunch people coming together and others will come if for nothing else to see what’s going on.

I don’t think we would have room in our churches if everyone who claimed to be a member of a certain church they attended as claimed in the obituaries.  Did you ever notice that 99% of all people listed in the obituaries were a member of some church?  

Your name written in some obituary stating that you attend some church will not get you into heaven; only your name written in the Lambs book of Life will get you into heaven.

So how can we be the church?  How can we live Godly lives in a corrupt world?

“God’s warning……. a cry of anguish…”

“Why should you be stricken and punished any more [since it brings no correction]? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint (feeble, sick, and nauseated).

From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness or health in [the nation’s body]—but wounds and bruises and fresh and bleeding stripes; they have not been pressed out and closed up or bound up or softened with oil. [No one has troubled to seek a remedy.]

 [Because of your detestable disobedience] your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land—strangers devour it in your very presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens.

 And the Daughter of Zion [Jerusalem] is left like a [deserted] booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, like a besieged city [spared, but in the midst of desolation].

 Except the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant [of survivors], we should have been like Sodom, and we should have been like Gomorrah.”            Isaiah 1: 5-9 Amp.

 

“Why should you be beaten anymore?”  (Isa. 1:5–9).   Isaiah’s prophecies are not arranged in chronological sequence.  These verses suggest chapter 1 should be placed after Assyria had deported Israel. In that invasion many thousands of citizens of Judah were also taken into captivity.

God’s warning here is best understood as a cry of anguish.  It hurts the Lord to discipline His people.

Why, will we not respond, and free Him from the painful necessity of punishment?
“What are they to Me?”  (Isa. 1:10–17).  There is no indication here that the people of Judah violated any ritual regulation. Their fault, a fault which kept God from listening to their prayers, was moral.  No one who sins against his fellowman can be confident of a hearing with God.

“Though your sins are like scarlet” (Isa. 1:18–20).  God chose scarlet for a simple reason. This bright red color was the most “fast” color known.  While other colors might be bleached out, scarlet could not.  How powerful the promise, then when compared to “scarlet”.  Even if our sins, like scarlet, are impossible to remove, God will do it if only we will turn to Him; “willing and obedient.”

Sometimes Christians cannot forget their sins. The past seems fixed, forever coloring their outlook.  How awesome to realize that God can erase our past and through Christ, He has purified us so that in His sight we are “white as snow.”

“Zion will be redeemed” (Isa. 1:21–31).  All things change.  The faithful city fell and became wicked. You and I may fall too. Yet God will not leave us in such a state, any more than He would leave the ancient city or its people. God said, “I will remove your impurities,” and, “You will be called the City of Righteousness.”  What a wonderful word of reassurance.  You may have failed God.  But He will not fail you.  He will “remove your impurities” and you will be known for your righteousness!

In verses 10–17 the prophet described a religious people whose ritual seems to be according to the Law. These people had religion down pat, and were absolutely “right.”  They went up to the temple for the required festivals. They offered the right sacrifices. They made long prayers. But God called all these things meaningless.

He went on through Isaiah to tell these religiously “right” people to “stop doing wrong, learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (vv. 16–17).

The point, of course, is that what demonstrates a real and vital faith is not that we are “right,” but that our relationship with God has produced righteousness.

What God cares about most is, are we righteous?

As a personal application we should want to please God and pay more attention to doing right than to being right.

Isaiah was faithful……………..

“Heaven and earth, you’re the jury.
Listen to God’s case: “I had children and raised them well,
and they turned on me.

The ox knows who’s boss,
the mule knows the hand that feeds him,
But not Israel.

My people don’t know up from down.
Shame!  Misguided God-dropouts, staggering under their guilt-baggage,
Gang of miscreants, band of vandals—

My people have walked out on me, their God, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back.

 “Why bother even trying to do anything with you
when you just keep to your bullheaded ways?

You keep beating your heads against brick walls.
Everything within you protests against you.

From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head,
nothing’s working right.”   Isa. 1: 2-6 Message Bible

 

Perhaps the most significant thing we know about Isaiah is found in chapter 6. There Isaiah accepted his commission from his holy God, and was told that he must spend his life speaking to a people who would hear, but never understand; who would see, but never perceive.

What a burden for anyone to bear! And yet, Isaiah was faithful, not just for a year or 2, but over a 50-year span!  

Isaiah’s contemporaries would not hear the words Isaiah spoke. Yet his words echo through the centuries, and conjure up images for you and me today that help us know God better, and that deepen our awe of God’s wisdom and His love. When God calls you or me to minister, and others do not seem to hear, or reject our efforts, we can remember Isaiah.

His years of rejection bore unexpected fruit and our faithful service will too.

“The ox knows his master” (Isa. 1:2–4).

“Knows” here implies “responds to.”  Even a dumb animal recognizes and responds to its master’s voice.

 But Judah did not respond to God.  Isaiah identified the reason. This was a willful rather than ignorant failure to respond.  Note the three descriptive terms: forsaken, spurned, and “turned their backs on.” We may be critical of things the sinners among us do in ignorance.  But sins we, Christians, commit are far worse!

We know God’s will, but fail to do it anyway!

 

What was the purpose of Isaiah’s Message?

Uzziah was a good king for the most part. He promoted worship at the temple and honored God. When his son Jotham took over the throne, it may have appeared as though there were a true and deep devotion in Judah. However it was not as deep as it seemed. There was a rapid growth of the spirit of luxury and indulgence. True piety was declining steadily. After Jotham, Ahaz brought on a true disaster for the nation when he began to worship idols, even sacrificing his own son to the fire. Temple worship was forbidden, Yahweh ignored and war threatened the tiny kingdom.

When Hezekiah came on the scene, he tried to reverse the spiritual damage of his father, but it was too late. Hezekiah stood alone against the overwhelming tide of Assyrian power.

Assyria never did conquer Judah as it did Israel. Yet because Judah failed to listen to the message of Isaiah and change their ways, Isaiah predicted that the empire of Babylon would destroy Judah too. “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD” (Isa.39:6).

Such was the time of Isaiah. They lived in a façade, pretending to know peace and security, wealth and happiness. Yet they would pay for ignoring the God who had blessed them so richly.  

Do these times sound familiar?

What was the purpose of Isaiah’s Message?

When we think of prophetic oracles or messages we tend to think of judgment. That may be why we do not like reading the OT. Isaiah does speak judgment to Judah and Jerusalem in chapters 1-39 and mingles it with words of hope. Then he speaks of comfort for his people in chapters 40 to 66 mingling it at times with words of correction.

One of the great images of Isaiah is the picture he paints of two cities. He begins with the historical Jerusalem of his day, corrupt and under judgment (1:8), and draws us through the story of Jerusalem’s fate, until he finishes with the end-time city of God, the New Jerusalem. This is not just a historical reference, this is the imagery of heaven and it involves you and I.

 

The influence of Isaiah on the New Testament is huge. The book of Isaiah is quoted 66 times from Matthew to 1 Peter. There are allusions to Isaiah on top of this such as Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem…there will be no more death or mourning  or crying or pain…” which is based on Isaiah 65. Only the Psalms are quoted more often than Isaiah in the NT.

The apostle John quotes Isaiah in his gospel and then makes this amazing commentary, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him” (John 12:41). What an amazing insight into what Isaiah saw; Isaiah saw Jesus.

In the early part of Isaiah the prophet foretells of the birth of the Messiah and gives precise details about how and where he would be born. Isaiah wrote, “Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14).

Chapter 9 foretells of the Messiah being born in Galilee of the Gentiles, a location unheard of in those times. It tells of the amazing and never-ending reign of this great deliverer. And chapter 11 assures us that this Messiah will be born of the house of David, a direct descendant.

Not only is the birth of Jesus specifically detailed, his ministry is highlighted in advance as well. When Jesus is handed the scroll to read in the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth, He reads these words: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…” (Isa. 61:1). When this happened it was as though He had received it, not just from human hands, but from the hands of God. By reading it as He did He assumed the role of the Servant whom Isaiah had described and all that this meant. It was the beginning of His journey to the cross.

 

Who was Isaiah? Part II

”See how Jerusalem, once so faithful,
has become a prostitute.
Once the home of justice and righteousness,
she is now filled with murderers.

 Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag.
Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine.
 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.

Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes!
 I will raise my fist against you.
I will melt you down and skim off your slag.
I will remove all your impurities.

 Then I will give you good judges again
and wise counselors like you used to have.
Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice
and the Faithful City.”

Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
 But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the Lord will be consumed.

 You will be ashamed of your idol worship
in groves of sacred oaks.
You will blush because you worshiped
in gardens dedicated to idols.

 You will be like a great tree with withered leaves,
like a garden without water.
The strongest among you will disappear like straw;
their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire.
They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire.”  Isa. 1: 21-31 NLT

Isaiah’s life and ministry were lived in the midst of the Divided Kingdom.

The Kingdom was divided into north and south. The ten tribes of the North wanted Jeroboam to be king but the two southern tribes wanted Rehoboam as their king.

 Israel was consistently ruled by wicked kings right up until their destruction. Judah was more fortunate that they had some good kings and often had times where the nation of Judah pleased the Lord.

So from the time of Uzziah to the reign of Hezekiah, kings of Judah, Isaiah preached his message. This message dates from 740 BC to 687 BC, about 700 years before Jesus would be born.

Off to the near North lay a growing empire, an empire chomping at the bit to expand its territory. Throughout the book you will read references to many nations and their impending doom. God uses Assyria to bring about this doom. Even Israel, because of its wickedness and disobedience and rejection of Yahweh, falls in 722 BC.  This would be in the middle of Isaiah’s ministry.

 

 

Who was Isaiah?

These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

 Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth!
This is what the Lord says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me.

Even an ox knows its owner,
and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—
but Israel doesn’t know its master.
My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

 Oh, what a sinful nation they are—loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.

Why do you continue to invite punishment?
Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured,
and your heart is sick.

 You are battered from head to foot—
covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—
without any soothing ointments or bandages.
Your country lies in ruins,
and your towns are burned.
Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes
and destroy everything they see.

 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned
like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,
like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,
like a helpless city under siege.

 If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of us,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.

Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.”

Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”
“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.

 When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.

I want no more of your pious meetings.
 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.

Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
 Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.

 Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.

 “Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.

 If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat.
 But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”   Isa. 1: 1-20 NLT

If Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him, we can assume that he had visions and experiences where he audibly heard the voice of the LORD. Here was a man whom God had anointed to present a very special message to a chosen audience.

He would speak what he heard from the Lord and was meant to overturn their perceptions of themselves and of their God. The message would change their lives if they listened to it, internalized it, and obeyed it.

Very little is actually known about Isaiah personally. The introduction to the book tells us he was the son of someone named Amoz. That means very little to us unless we consider the Jewish tradition that Amoz was a brother to King Amaziah. This would make Isaiah the cousin of Amaziah’s son, King Uzziah. It would also explain why Isaiah enjoyed a free pass into the royal courts to speak. Isaiah was royalty. He was the perfect person to speak to the kings on behalf of God.

His ministry extended across the reigns of four kings as it says in the first verse: “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (1:1).
Jewish tradition again suggests that it was due to his ministry for the Lord and his relentless passion to speak for God that he was put to death by King Manasseh.

Isaiah was married and they had two sons, one named Shear-Jashub (7:3), which means “a remnant shall return,” and one named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, which means “quick to plunder.” These names were given as prophecies of what was to come and a reinforcement of the prophet’s predictive message.

Isaiah himself was called a man of God, implying that he was more closely related to God than most people.