Look with me this morning at
the first chapter of the book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah,
chapter one. Now, this first chapter is so
relevant to the times that we live in, the state of things
relevant to the state of our society, religion and the church,
the true church. In verse one. It says the vision
of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now, this is what Isaiah saw
in his day, and this is what I see. I see the very same things
which Isaiah saw in his day. And it says that he was living
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah, four different kings, in other words, Isaiah lived
through four different administrations, four different kings. And if you will read back the
stories of these four different kings, it would read one did
that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and then the next
one would not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and
then the next would do what was right, and then the next not
what was right. There were different kings with
different character and different ways. Now, let me say this. It does matter who rules in our
country. It does have serious consequences
upon our society. Character most certainly does
matter in the ruler of a nation. The honesty and moral integrity
of the leader sets the tone for his followers. lamented his day. He lamented
the state of things. He lamented quite often the state
of the rulers of his day and the people. Jeremiah did the
same, Ezekiel, Hosea, Obadiah, all of the prophets. The Word
of God, in fact, says very little good about any generation, any
generation. All the prophets lamented the
sad state of things in their day, and so do I. Now, here is
the Lord God speaking in Isaiah 1, verse 2. He describes mankind. He says in verse 2, Hear, O heavens,
and give ear, O earth. For the Lord hath spoken, saying,
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled
against me. I have nourished, or that is,
I have provided for, I have given to, I have been gracious to,
Nothing but rebels. They've rebelled against me. This is what Paul said in Romans
chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, verses 19 and
following, I read, it says, that which is known of God is manifest
to them. God hath showed it unto them.
The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
His eternal power and Godhead. so that they are without excuse.
All men and women, the natural man is without excuse, can clearly
see the hand of an all-powerful Creator and sovereign God. But verse 21 says, when they
knew God, or that is, these things are very clearly seen, they glorified
Him not as God. They refused to believe that
there is a God. Neither were thankful, did not
give God the credit, the thanks, the glory for these things. So
they became vain in their imaginations, ridiculous in their notions. Their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. And it goes on to say God gave
them over to a reprobate mind, a mind void of judgment. Though
professing themselves to be wise, educated, wise, intelligent persons,
yet they became fools in their notions of how this world came
into being and that there is no God. The fool has said no
God, the psalmist said. Now, these words have never been
more relevant, more applicable to a time and a people than now,
in these last days. Now, I'm going back to Isaiah
chapter 1. And so God says, I've nourished,
I've brought up, I've created, and I've taken care of nothing
but rebels, a bunch of rebels. In verse 3, he says, the ox knows
his owner. The ox and the ass, or the mule,
the donkey, knows his master's crib, but Israel doth not know. My people, they don't even consider. He says the ox knows his owner
and the ass is master's crib, but Israel, but the people, they
don't even consider their owner. Now. You've often heard someone
insulted by calling them a dumb ox or something of that sort. Well, that's really an insult
to the ox, to the ass. Because these so-called dumb
beasts seem to know more than mankind does. It says the ox
knows his owner. He knows who owns him. He knows
who decides all things. He knows who rules over him.
The ass knows his master's crib. He knows who provides for him,
who sustains his life. I have an old workhorse at my
little farm. And that big, dumb horse, if
you will, he knows I own her. She knows I own her. She knows
I feed her. She knows I take care of her.
And every morning that I walk outside, first thing in the morning,
she's waiting at the fence. She's calling on me. She calls
upon me in her own way. And every time I'm out of doors,
she is looking to me. She is looking to me for something.
Not man. Not man. The ox knows, the ass
does, but mankind doesn't know. He doesn't even consider his
God. He doesn't wake up thinking about his God, and he doesn't
call upon Him. He doesn't look to Him. He's not thankful for
what he has. He doesn't acknowledge what he
has been given. Not man. In verse 4, he goes
on to say, now this is, people, if you read this, if you read
the Word of God, It is relevant to every generation, to every
society, to every country, not just Israel. God's word is spirit. Christ said, My words are spirit.
They that are spiritual understand all things in a spiritual light.
This is not just speaking of Isaiah's day. This is speaking
of ours. The word of God is relevant to
every age or else it would not have been recorded. We don't
need to just know what Israel was like, but we need to see
what our own country is like right now. Verse 4, our God describes
mankind, describes Israel then and America today. Verse 4 says
a sinful nation, a sinful, full of sin, a people laden with iniquity,
a seed of evildoers. Children that are corruptors.
It doesn't say they're corrupt children, but corruptors. That
is, they corrupt everything they get their hands on. They have
forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
of Israel. Provoking why men and women,
the natural, even children, calling God's name, of provoking the
Holy One of Israel. They are literally shaking their
fist in the face of the Holy God. They have gone way backward,
it says. Gone way backward. I hope you
will turn with me to Isaiah chapter 59. In the book of Isaiah chapter
59 is a clear commentary on our day in our society. Isaiah 59,
I read verses 14 and 15 which say, is turned way backward. That is, good sense, good rationale,
judgment, good reasoning, moral reasoning is backward. It's backward. Man is backward, so upside down
and perverted and backward in his thinking that man now thinks
that God is like man and man is like God. That God is the
one in man's hands. not vice versa as it should be.
Got the cart before the horse, if you will. Man now calls good
evil and evil good. I read on. It says man is backward. Justice standeth afar off. Why,
there is no such thing as justice in our society because man has
lost sight of, man does not believe in a just God, an absolute holy,
just God who will punish evil. Read on. I read from Isaiah 59. It says, Truth has fallen in
the street. Equity cannot enter. Truth has
fallen in the street. Man doesn't want to hear the
truth. He doesn't want. Jeremiah said it in his day that
they ask the false prophets to prophesy to them. They pay the
false prophets big money to cry, peace, peace. When there is no
peace, there is no peace for the natural man. The natural
man is under the wrath and judgment of God, not under the love and
the peace of God. That's why man needs, greatest
need is mercy at the hands of God, grace at the hands of God. Mercy means sparing the guilty. Now, man's not under the love
and the peace of God, but rather the wrath and the judgment of
God. This is what Isaiah saw in his day, and this is what
he said. Truth has fallen in the street.
Yea, verse 15, truth failing. And he that departed from evil
maketh himself a prey, or that one who believes God's Word and
believes the truth and departed from the false direction of his day, why he's
a prey. People are honing in on him. They've got their guns pointed
at them. He's a prey. If you go back with me to Isaiah
1, he says, here's the problem. Here's the problem. He's got
a bad mind and a bad heart. This is what it said. Verse 5
of Isaiah 1. Why should you be stricken anymore?
To revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. Why should you be stricken anymore?
Man is so foolish and so ignorant that the skies can pour down
water, literally, miraculously. The skies pour down water and
destroy, flood everything he owns. The winds can blow everything
away. The earth can literally open
up and swallow him and his possessions, yet man still doesn't acknowledge
that it's God. No, well, insurance companies
do. They call it an act of God. But not man. No, it's just a
freak of nature. Not the judgment of God. Well,
our Lord says the whole head is sick. The heart is faint.
The mind is warped. The heart is bad. Verse 6. The
sole of the foot to the top of the head knows no soundness in
him. Wounds, bruises, putrefying sores have not been closed, bound
up, or mollified with ointment. You've got a bad heart and a
bad head. Verse 7, your country is desolate,
your city is burned with fire, strangers devour it in your presence,
overthrown by strangers. Literally, our nation which professes
to be one nation under God is absolutely desolate of any sense
of decency or morality or principle. It's burned up with the fires
of lust and avarice. And led by strangers to the covenant
of grace, strangers to the truth, of God's Word, led by. And I'm
principally talking of religion. Verse 8 is a commentary on religion. The daughter of Zion is a cottage
in a vineyard, a sweet little church in the wildwood, a lodge
in a garden of cucumbers. What a sweet little place. What
a nice little country club with its women rectors blessing the
house pets. A meaningless little clubhouse,
charity organization, powerless and useless social club run by
ignorant fools. Ah, but he says in verse 9, except
the Lord of hosts had left us a remnant, we should have been
like Sodom and Gomorrah. A remnant. There is a remnant
according to the election of grace. Yes, a chosen few, a holy
nation, a peculiar people chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, revealed
the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit, a remnant which actually
believes, still believes, God is God, man is dead in trespasses
and sin, and man is in the hands of this holy and sovereign God,
and salvation is totally, 100% up to that God. Very few, very
few, but there is a remnant that believe God does the choosing,
Christ does the saving, the Holy Spirit does the revealing and
the giving. I hope you are among that remnant. If you are, give all glory to
God that you are. Until next Sunday, may the Lord
bless His Word.