Let's start in verse 21 of Isaiah
1. How is the faithful city become
and harlot? It was full of judgment, righteousness
lodged in it, but now murderers. Thy silver has become dross,
thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious and
companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth
after rewards. They judge not the fatherless,
neither does the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore
saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. Ah,
I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies.
And I will turn my hand upon you. You see a change in the
language here. and purely purge away thy draws, and take away all thy ten. And
I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors
as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called
the city of righteousness, the faithful city. You were righteous,
you became vile. Now I'm gonna do something and
you're going to be righteous again. Zion shall be redeemed. It's going to cost something.
If you're going to be righteous, it's going to cost something. Shall be redeemed with judgment
and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors
and of the sinners shall be together and they that forsake the Lord
shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of
the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for
the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose
leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water, and the strong
shall be its toe, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall
both burn together, and none shall quench them. It would be
difficult to read this passage without being conscious of something
of the judgment of God. God is not interested in being
what men call politically correct. When he describes our sin the
way he did in the early verses of this chapter, for example,
and men are too sentimental and too sensitive to say it, perhaps. Modern pretend preachers are
ashamed to talk about judgment, but God's not. God's word doesn't really mince words about it.
This passage is clear. God's going to throw a lot of
people in hell. Going to throw a lot of them in hell. And he
makes no bones about it. God's unrestrained wrath is going
to fall upon all who are not in the ark, who are not in Christ. His judgment is against this
world. If you're not in the ark, his judgment's gonna fall on
you like it did on those who were not in the ark. If you're
in the ark, his judgment fell on the ark, his son. It's a terrible and frightening
prospect. Sinners slip quietly out of this
world. It happens every day, doesn't
it? And it's quiet, we say a few
pleasant words, and we sing a couple of songs, and we get on with
our lives. And we don't see what happens next. Hebrews 9.27 says, it is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this, this is the part we don't
see, the judgment. God in this passage before us
is pronouncing judgment upon the earthly nation of Israel. But he's also pronouncing his
intent to have mercy, to redeem, to save. Habakkuk prayed in Habakkuk
3.2, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord,
revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of
the years, make known in wrath Remember mercy and God always
does. He always does. He does never
forget his covenant or his covenant people. This is what Paul said
in Romans 10 and 11. Israel doesn't know God, but
God has not cast away his elect. You remember when we studied
that if you were here. The book of Romans chapters 10 and 11
speak of Israel as a nation not obtaining the righteousness that
they sought because they sought it by the works of the law and
not by faith. But Paul is careful to emphasize
that the election hath obtained it. The elect among Israel and
among the nations of this world hath obtained righteousness by
grace through faith. So we see, as in all of scripture
here in this passage, judgment and mercy, wrath and grace, death
and life. Look at the first few verses
again, verse 21. How is the faithful city become
in Harlot? It was full of judgment. Righteousness
lodged in it, but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross. Thy wine mixed with water. Thy
princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth
after rewards. They judge not the fatherless,
neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. They don't
care about anybody but themselves, in other words. Therefore saith
the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. Ah,
I will ease me of mine adversaries. and avenge me of my enemies."
You notice the words become. You were this way and you've
become this. Verse 21 there refers to a previous time when Israel
was generally faithful to God and worshiped God. Since the
days of King David there was a fear of God in the land. But
now there was degeneracy. They had grown superstitious and added
all of the will of man and the inventions of man to the worship
they still outwardly observe the religious ordinances of God
but it was heartless form and it amounted to idolatry in the
eyes of God like religion today they still call him God and they
still use the word of God but they worship to God of their
imagination. verses 24 and in verses 28 God foresees that many
will do what He warned against in verse 20. You saw we read
verse 24 He said, I will ease me of my, I will avenge me of
my enemies now. In verse 28 the destruction of
the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and
they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. There is going to
be wrath. There is going to be a day of
reckoning. And why? Because verse 20, he said, if
you refuse and rebel, you'll be devoured. And he foretells
here that many will. If you refuse and rebel, you
shall be devoured. And here we see that that's going
to happen. Many are going to do that. And
he's going to do what he said he would do. God had promised his blessing
and favor to all who would come to him And confess their sin,
in verse 19, if you be willing and obedient, you shall eat of
the good of the land. If they would listen to God concerning
how sins can be washed, come to him now and reason concerning
their sin and the putting of them away, that they would be
blessed. But he warned also of the consequences
of continued rebellion. He counts them his enemies those
who rebel and promises their destruction. You see this in the Garden of
Eden in the beginning it was once a paradise. But it became. A place of curse and banishment. He says you were you were there
was righteousness but not now. And this is this is a picture
of what happened in the garden place of communion with God but
it fell under the curse of sin when man rebelled against God.
You notice that word rebel in verse 23 that princes are rebellious. That's what happened in the garden.
We rebelled against God's authority and his clearly expressed will. You see our day in this passage
too because what happened in the garden is still happening
now. And I don't mean by that that we can really look back
to a recent time when it was particularly better than now,
but certainly the descriptions of verses 21 through 23 can be
observed all around us. People have no concern whatsoever
for God or his truth or righteousness. It's all about gain. Didn't he
say that in the past? It's all about how can I benefit
from all this? And the important lesson here
is not concerning nations but to see this as a warning to us
as individuals. Romans 15, four, this is a warning
for me now. Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. There's warning,
there's learning, there's hope here. Did you see hope in these
verses? There's hope. God's gonna redeem
somebody. We're not all gonna get what
we deserve by nature. Hebrews 4.10, he that is entered
into Christ's rest, he also hath ceased from his own works. That's
what we talked about this morning. You can't rest in him till you
cease from your own works. You see, if you still work in
your way to heaven, there's no rest there. You never will achieve
it. No matter how hard and how fast
and how good and how frenetically you labor to
please God, you can never sit down. But when you enter into his rest,
when you take his yoke upon you and rest, and you cease from your own works
as God did from his, he pictured that, In the beginning, let us
labor therefore, Paul said, to enter into that rest, lest any
man fall after the same example of unbelief. You see the warning
here? We have examples all through
the Old Testament Scriptures. We have examples of unbelief
and apostasy that we're to take heed to. Lest any man, you see
how it was the nation then, but any man, lest any man fall, it
comes down to There was a good beginning referred
to in verse 21 there, you saw that. And we're warned concerning
churches and individuals in the same way. Paul said to the Galatians,
you did run well. What happened? Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? Now, none of God's elect can
ever fall away, and he will never forsake his own, but there can
be the appearance of godliness, a form of godliness, Paul called
it, but denying the authority of God. They have all of the appearance
of godliness, except they just won't let God be God. Well, guess
what? He's not waiting on you to let
him be God. He just is. There is a form of godliness
that can deceive us. And remember the warning of Colossians
121. You that were at one time alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have he reconciled.
That's what he came to do. He didn't come to condemn us.
We were already condemned. We'd done a pretty good job of
that ourselves already. He came that the world through
him might be saved. And he came to reconcile us in
the body of his flesh through death to present us holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue
in the faith, I'm talking about you, Paul said, if you're one
of the ones that continues, because if God has done this for you,
if he sent his son for you, if he redeemed you with that precious
blood, you'll continue. So if you continue, then I'm
talking about you. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which you have heard, which was preached to every creature,
which is under heaven. God hasn't hid this thing in
a corner. Where have I Paul and made a
minister. Notice also in verse 22, that
there was a mixture. You see, we learned some things
about religion and we're warned by these things. There was a
good beginning. And in the beginning there was.
We had fellowship and communion with God and we fell. And you
see that played out in individuals. There can be an appearance at
the beginning. There can be a receiving of the word with joy and a springing
up, but there's no root. And so we're warned now that
this thing of faith and God's salvation, it's a continual thing. It's not how you start. It's not how you anything. But also here, secondly, there
was a mixture. There's wine, but there's water
in it. There's silver, but there's dross.
And this is always the case with false religion. They use the
same Bible we do. They say a lot of good things.
It's what they don't say that's the problem. And silver with
dross in it still looks shiny to men, but if God is gonna save,
he's gonna purge away the dross. That's what he said in verse
25. He's talking about his sheep there. If God's gonna save you,
he's gonna get rid of the dross. Wine mixed with water still looks
about the same. But God won't drink it, you might. But God's the one that's gotta
be satisfied here in this thing, and he will be, whether that's
judgment or mercy. And also, false religion is always
about the money. Verse 21, oh, you're a harlot,
he said. What is a harlot? A harlot counts
as nothing that which is precious and honorable, all for personal
gain. And you see that in verse 23.
The companions of thieves, you're out for reward. This is religion. This is the characteristic trademark
of false religion. They're always fundraising, you
know. We're doing it for the Lord.
Really? Does God need us to raise funds
for Him? Our Lord said, you devour widows'
houses. There's nothing more repugnant
to God clearly from the scriptures now Then then man-centered free
will self-righteous self-serving religion And those who are the
leaders of it But let's get to the good part verse 25 And I
will turn my hand upon thee I God's gonna do something now. We see
man's work and man's will, it's degeneracy and falling further
and further into evil and wretchedness. But now God's gonna turn his
hand and we're fixing to see something now. And when I do,
your dross is gonna be gone. Well, wait a minute, Chris, you
still got a lot of dross. Not to him I don't. Not to him. And I'm gonna take away all thy
sin. And you might as well just put an S there. That's what he's talking about.
Sin is sin. I'm gonna take away all your
sin. Isn't that what he did? God's grace and mercy. God's
salvation. Here it is. Here's what it sounds
like. I will. When God says, I will,
somebody fix me to be saved. I will. He saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. He
expresses his will to judge also and to condemn and to punish.
But wherever God says I will, you look for the mercy because
it's there. You look for Christ. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. There was a remnant, there always
has been a remnant, and Paul said in his day there is even
today a remnant, and I'm telling you right now, there's a remnant
according to the election of grace. He's gonna turn his hand
upon you. And you've got dross just like
them. There was no difference. Is there? There's dross. There
was dross. He condemned them for dross.
But you, he's gonna purge your dross away. No difference in us, but there's
a difference in how he deals with us. You know what you have when dross
and tin are purged away? Pure silver. Pure gold. Job said, he knoweth the way
that I take. And when he hath tried me, when God's done with me, and
this isn't what religion's talking about, oh, I'm getting better
and better every day. No, you're not. But Job said, when God hath tried
me, when God hath purged me, when he takes away my tin, I
shall come forth as gold. He's predestinated it. He's predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of his son, and there's no dross
in his son. We're gonna be gold now when
God turns his hand on us. Notice that phrase, isn't that
a beautiful phrase? I will turn my hand upon thee. You look at everything he's turned
his hand upon and see the beauty of it. And I can even see the beauty
in you upon whom he has turned his hand. What God has done is
beautiful. He makes all things beautiful
in his time. And this is sovereign, irresistible
power. This is the one who said, my
hand is not shortened that I can't save you if I want to. I'm going
to turn my hand. All power, our Lord Jesus said,
is given unto me in heaven and in earth that I should give eternal
life, that I should redeem, that I should purge to as many as
thou hast given me. Dross is sin. How does he purge
away sin? God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down. on the right hand of the majesty
on high. How's God gonna purge away our
dross and our tin? By himself, by Christ his son. Only the precious blood of God
can purge away sins. He just talked about it. He just
called him unto it. He said, come, and your sins
are scarlet, but they're not gonna be. They're gonna be white. White as snow. And he washes
us from our sins in his own blood. That's what John said, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Unto
him be glory and dominion forever and ever. And unto him will be
glory and dominion forever and ever. Because he's worthy. He's worthy for he was slain.
That's what we remember in tonight. And look in these remaining verses
at the result of God's redeeming love and power. Look at verse
26. I will restore thy judges is
at the first he's going to give his servants to the people to
guide them. The Lord Jesus Christ ascended
on high and did what? Received gifts for men. And Paul
said he gave some pastors, apostles, teachers, preachers, shepherds,
guides, overseers, bishops. And Christ himself is our chief
shepherd. Verse 27, Zion shall be redeemed. All of the church Not all of
earthly Israel, but Zion, the church of God, the city of God,
shall be redeemed. All of them, Jews, Gentiles from
every nation, tongue under heaven. Christ will lose nothing, but
will raise it up again at the last day. It is a certainty that
all whom Christ redeemed with his precious blood shall be saved. And in these last words, these
words of judgment, we just read them so we won't look at them
again, but look at verse 31. Now this is a good reminder to
see who it is again now that God condemns. We're warned. These
were written for our learning, lest we fall after the same example
of unbelief. You know who He condemns? Verse
31, the strong. How about you, are you strong? You know who he saves? Those
who are without strength. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. You know why that
word yet is in there? When we were yet without strength, When we were yet completely unresponsive
to God, except to respond with disgust and rebellion. When we
were yet, wow, He wasn't waiting on us to distinguish ourselves.
When we were yet, just like everybody else, He redeemed us with His
precious blood. He died for us, and that's the
difference. We were yet without strength,
even as others. but God who is rich in mercy. Romans 5, 6, yet without strength. But those who are strong in their
own estimation, strong in the flesh, God will destroy. The
strong shall be his toe. You know what toe is? This is
interesting. It's a strand of flax. And you
know why it's mentioned here? Because of its flammability. Because you see that word spark
in the text? That's why a strand of flax is
mentioned. Because if you want to start
a fire, you know what the easiest way to start a fire? Find something
thin and dry that you can just, just a spark
will set it off. He said, those who are strong
in themselves. You remember what he said to
the Pharisees? If you were blind, you wouldn't have any sin. But
you say we're strong, we see. And therefore your sin remaineth. The stronger as a strand of flax. And you know what the spark is?
This is interesting now, the maker of it. You know what those
words mean in the original? I wasn't surprised to see this,
but it was a blessing to me just to see the The simple truth of
God as it's borne out all through the Word of God. To is a strand of flax. And the
word maker there, you look it up. The word maker in the original
Hebrew there, it means work, deed, doing. You are a strand
of flax. And you know what's going to
burn you up? Your own works. your own righteousness. And just pick one, your very
best one. If you bring only the very best
work you ever did with you before God, you're gonna burn. The wicked is as toe and his
works are the spark that will destroy him. And if you see in
the context of this chapter, his religious works. are the
biggest sparks around. May God give us grace to cease
from our own works and rest in his son. In judgment, Lord, remember
mercy. He does. He does. And he told us to remember something,
too. His mercy. And we remember him and his grace
and love and mercy toward us by remembering his son and what he did to redeem us. Thank God for that word redeemed
in our text. Zion shall be redeemed. And that's how, by what that
picture's right there. So let's remember him tonight.
I pray for his presence and spirit, his blessing upon this, because
you know without him we can't do anything. And that really
shows up when we try to do something important, doesn't it? When we
want to do something significant, we realize all the more without
him. it's going to be absolutely vain. So I pray his blessing
upon us. Let's remember him together,
Tommy.