This morning we will be looking
at the book of Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30, if you
would like to follow along in your Bibles. I hope you will.
Now, the word of God through the prophet Isaiah is so very
appropriate for our generation. Since God hasn't changed and
man hasn't changed, therefore the word of God to man hasn't
changed. And man's problem has always
been a blatant disregard for God's Word, a refusal to hear
it and believe it. And that is man's problem now
more than ever. And that is what Isaiah addresses
in chapter 30, as well as many other portions of Isaiah. I'm
reading, beginning with verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 30. He says, Woe to the rebellious
children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me. Woe to the rebellious children. Rebels. Now, a rebel is one who
despises authority. One who rebels against any form
of government or authority. And what a description that is
of our day. when it's almost virtuous to
be a rebel against anything and everything that is called authority. And he says, they take counsel
but not of me. That is, they listen to man's
words and wisdom and counsel and philosophies, but reject
God's word hands down. In verse 2, he goes on to say,
they go down into Egypt but have not asked at my mouth, or inquired
from the word of God." They go down to Egypt. Now, Egypt in
the scriptures, Egypt has always represented the world. That is,
the philosophies, the opinions, the fashions, the ways of the
world. Egypt was the center of culture
and the world's philosophies and so forth. In the scriptures,
Egypt always represents the world, and so what he is saying is they
take counsel from, they go down to and listen to the philosophies,
opinions, fashions, and ways of the world, but they won't
listen to what I have said. And he goes on to say they trust
in Egypt. In verse 2, they trust in the
shadow of Egypt. A shadow is a fleeting thing,
a thing that does not last and has no substance. Well, they
trust in the shadow of Egypt. That is, they trust, they believe,
they listen to what the world is saying, which will soon fade
away, which will soon pass away. The so-called or purported wisdom
of the world is quickly forgotten in place of something new. Why,
most folks today implicitly trust and believe the six o'clock news
rather than the eternal Word of God. I continue to read in
verse 3, Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame,
and trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. All trust, all
belief in whatever the world is doing and saying will soon
be brought to confusion and everyone put to shame. Now it never fails,
it never fails that God eventually does something in the natural
world He does something to turn the world upside down and bring
everyone into a state of chaos and confusion. One little spark
will set this powder keg ablaze. Skip on down to verse 7 where
the word says, their strength, that is, the Egyptians' help
is in vain. It's no purpose. There's no help
in Egypt. No help in listening to it. But
he goes on to say, their strength is, strength of mind, of heart,
of life, is to sit still. Did you hear that? He said their
strength is to sit still. You mean do nothing? That's exactly
right. Sit still. Be still. Does that sound familiar? That's
what the Lord told all those children of Israel in the wilderness
who were fretting and fussing. He said, Still, you need to know
that I am God. Men and women and young people,
what we need is to sit down, we need to sit down and shut
up and listen to what God's word says. But no, no, he goes on
to say in verses 8 and 9, go write it down, just write it
down in a table and note it in a book. that it may be for the
time to come and for ever and ever." In other words, he is
saying, write it down. Write it down against them to
their own condemnation and judgment. Verse 9, that this is a rebellious
people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of
the Lord. Write it down, he said. Just
write it down. going to hear what God's Word
says. They will not hear, because they
are rebels. They refuse any dogmatic doctrine,
any absolute truth, or that which is called absolute. They refuse
it. Any talk of an absolute, just
God, a judge of the universe, we will not have it. We won't
listen to that. And this is all, people, a result
of, it's all, I lay all the blame in the pulpit. I lay it in the
pulpit. We've got preachers who are not
preaching the God of the Bible, and therefore all error follows.
Well, Isaiah tells us this. He tells us this in verse 10.
He says, these rebels, these who will not hear the word of
God, they say to the seers, or that is, Those who are supposed
to have spiritual sight and foresight. They say to these seers, see
not. Don't see what you see. Don't
read to us what you're reading from God's Word. They say to
the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, true things. Don't tell us exactly what it
says. Twist it. Corrupt it. Make it say, now listen to what
he says here. speak unto us smooth things."
In other words, prophesied deceits, he said. In other words, don't
tell us about a holy, just, and angry God who will by no means
clear the guilty, who will punish sin, a God who is angry with
the wicked every day, who hates all workers of iniquity. Don't
tell us that. We know the Bible says we don't
want to hear that. We don't want to hear that. We
want a smooth thing. Tell us how much God loves us,
how much God needs us, how that God can't do without us. Tell
us that. That's what we want to hear,
and then we'll just go our merry way, and when we die, we'll make
our little decision and get right with God, make our peace with
God. Don't tell us these old-fashioned Jewish fables, so-called. No more of that. Well, we're
an enlightened generation. We're the love child. We're love
children. They say these prophets. Now,
Paul said to Timothy, they've heaped to themselves teachers. That is, they have educated and
raised up and hired. That's what they are, hirelings. They've hired prophets. P-R-O-F-I-T. Prophets. paid them to tell them what they
want to hear, not what it actually says in God's Word. No, you can't
get a big hearing for telling the truth, and you can't make
much money at it either. So, he said, they say to these
seers and these prophets, say smooth things to us. Prophesy
to see. Just twist it a little bit. Take away the edge. Don't be
so hard and so negative. We don't want that. They say,
verse 11, get you out of the way. Turn aside out of the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel
to cease from us. In other words, don't tell us
about a holy, just, and just God, which the scripture speaks
of more than any description of God. Verse 12, now here's
the answer to these rebels. Here's the answer. Here's the
Word of God. to that generation and ours. Wherefore, I read verse
12, wherefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel. Now, who
is this Holy One of Israel? This is Jesus Christ speaking. God has always spoken through
His Son. He is the Word. Christ is the Word. Anytime God
has ever spoken, it has been through His Word, who is Christ. Verse 12, thus saith the Holy
One of Israel, because you despise this Word, and trust in oppression,
or that is, fraud, lies, and perverseness, that is, the twisted
truth, the corrupted Word of God, the translated away, the
interpreted away Word of God, and stay there on, that is, you
are set in your obstinance. Therefore, he said, verse 13,
I continue to read, therefore this iniquity, this rebellion
This refusal to hear God's word shall be to you as a breach ready
to fall, like a high wall whose breaking cometh suddenly at an
instant." In other words, he says this whole mess is ready
to bust wide open. This whole thing is ready to
explode. He goes on to say in verse 14, he's going to break
it as the breaking of a potter's vessel. broken in pieces and
there won't be a pot-shared left of this whole mess. God is ready
to break it. Yes, Jesus Christ. If you'll
read Psalm chapter 2 sometime, you'll read of the true Christ
of Scripture. Not gentle Jesus, but rather
a coming destroyer. And you'll find out He's the
one who's going to destroy this world. Now, there's nothing more
ridiculed in our day than the old-fashioned message of God's
judgment upon this world. Anyone who talks in that way
of a holy, just, and angry God who will punish sin, who will
destroy this earth and the inhabitants thereof, is ridiculed as an ignorant,
illiterate, religious right madman, a hate monger, and a troubler.
That's what they said of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, Zechariah,
Ezekiel, and so forth. And consequently, you won't hear
any of these well-liked preachers saying such things. No matter,
it doesn't matter, God has not left himself without a true witness
in this generation, men who are bold to tell the truth, the same
truth which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi, and Ezekiel
said, which all the prophets declared, which did get their
heads cut off, get them killed. But the truth hasn't changed.
These are men who are not afraid of men and not interested in
the favor and the applause of men, but rather the glory of
God and the truth of his word and the urgency of this message
It needs to be heard. Verse 15, I must hurry. He says,
Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning
and rest shall you be saved, and quietness and confidence
shall be your strength. Returning to the old paths and
the good way wherein is rest, Jeremiah said. The old path,
the good way, is the way, the method that God has chosen, that
God is pleased to speak and deal with men. One man, one book,
people sitting still and hearing, thus saith the Lord." Line upon
line of God's Word, old-fashioned declaration of the truth. A return
to old-fashioned preaching and hearing of that preaching. And I don't mean miracle meetings
or cheerleading sessions, I mean diligent line upon line declaration
of the whole counsel of God. And rest, he says. There is too
much chaos, commotion and frenzy going on. Too many voices. Too
much working for Jesus when men need to sit and hear the work
of Jesus Christ. And it's a fact, people. Let
me be very bold to say this. No one is going to hear God's
Word when their mouth is open. Too many voices and too many
people saying too many things. And very few saying what God's
Word is saying. And so he says, in quietness
and confidence shall be your strength. quietness, quietly
sitting and listening, which produces confidence in Christ,
a settling knowledge of the truth, not fickle emotions. And that
is the way of Bible salvation and spiritual strength. But here
is the sad reply of man. It says, and you would not. You would not. Well, how about
you, hearer? How about those who are here
this morning? May God reveal the truth of this word to you.
Amen.