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Teaching Notes
ISAIAH 5:20
In Isaiah chapter 5, God is going to pronounce six woes upon the Southern Kingdom of Judah. God is expressing His grief over the sin His people are involved in. And as I said on Thursday, six is the number of man or incompleteness. And when you are living outside of God, you are incomplete and God will judge you accordingly. But in Christ we are complete, we are a new creation, and thus the penalty for our sins has already been paid for by Christ.
Now the first woe was based on GREED, where a small group of people had a monopoly over the lives of the majority of people, they took advantage of them for their own profit. The second woe was based on HEDONISM or a party mentality that clouded their mind so much that God was far from their thoughts. The third woe was LIBERALISM where anything and everything goes. Their sin is openly displayed for all to see with no shame at all. The fourth woe is RELATIVISM which basically says nothing is wrong, you can't judge anything even though you may not agree with it. The fifth woe is INTELLECTUALISM which is nothing more than man priding himself in how smart he is, but by his rejection of God, he shows that he is a fool. And the sixth woe is based on a PERVERSION OF JUSTICE, where people can buy their way out of any crime they have done. Money talks!
It was these six sins that were bringing the nation down and they were the fruit that was born in the hearts of a people who had turned from God. They were to be a light to a world living in darkness, and yet they were now the ones living in darkness. And because of this, judgment was coming.
Now as we look at these six woes that God pronounced against Judah, we can also see them as being very prevalent in our own nation. And we can expound on each of these but what I would like to do this morning is focus on just one, and that is RELATIVISM. You see, for years we have been teaching this to people, and now we have seen the fruit that is born out of this teaching. And you will see what I mean in a few minutes. And understand this, the buzz word for relativism is TOLERANCE!
And so, would you please open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 5, and our text this morning is going to come out of verse 20.
ISAIAH 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
The charge that is being made here is there is no identification between right and wrong, good or evil. The idea is you might not like what I do, you might not agree with it, but you can't judge me for everything is relative. And again, we call this today, TOLERANCE!
In Alan Bloom's book, The Closing of the American Mind, he brought out this fallacy by pointing out that 'openness" had become the new fad in America, especially in education. Every idea must be respected, nothing could be wrong, and no one should be 'put down' by suggesting that someone might be in error. He explained that Americans had in fact become so open to everything, that they had been closed to the idea that something might be right and something might be wrong.
The basic problem here is that people are open to anything and everything. If you are not tolerant to others views you are committing hate crimes. And I find it very interesting to see how open people are, except when it comes to the truths of God, then they are closed to them, they no longer are tolerant, in fact they fight very vigorously against the truth!
You see, it is a double standard. We are to accept every individuals belief's, values, lifestyles, and claims of truth as being equal. No one's truth, values are more important than another's. No one has the exclusive right to truth. As long as you believe that what you are doing is right, then no one has the right to come against you and judge you, no matter what you do. Except, of course if you hold Christian views, then you are wrong.
Do you think I am wrong with this concept? Listen to this. A judge just dismissed the charges of a father who fondled his children because the accused said that in his home in Sicily this was a normal part of their culture. No its not! It is hard to imagine, but the judge, probably not agreeing with what this man did, but being tolerant of his culture, or so-called culture, let him off! How warped have we become?
Now you can go and try to protest against abortion, freedom of speech, and get thrown in jail, so much for tolerance!
And our society is now reaping what it has sown over the years. Listen to this article from U.S. News & World Report, July 1997, that is reporting on two articles published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27, 1997. As I read a portion of these two articles, I think you will be shocked by the degree of moral relativism that is being expressed by college students today, the next generation!
Robert L. Simon, professor of Philosophy at Hamilton College, said this in regards to how his students felt about the Holocaust: "They accept the reality of the Holocaust, but they believe themselves unable to morally condemn it, or indeed to make any moral judgments whatsoever. Such students typically comment that they themselves deplore the Holocaust and other great evils, but then they wind up by suspending moral judgment."
In that same publication, Kay Haugarrd, who is an instructor of creative writing at Pasadena City College, was shocked to see the response made by her students after reading a story about human sacrifice. In this story people were ritually stoned to death with the belief that in doing this, their crops would grow well. Now their response to human sacrifice was as follows: "No one in the whole class of more than 20 ostensibly intelligent individuals would go out on a limb and take a stand against human sacrifice." That is scary folks!
In the conclusion to that U.S. News & World Report article, the author said: "Postmodern theory on campuses denies the existence of any objective truth...Values emerge as personal preferences...The search is on for a teachable consensus rooted in simple decency and respect...As a spur to reshaping it, we might discuss a culture so morally confused that students are showing up at colleges reluctant to say anything negative about mass slaughter."
We have come a long way in this country. What is amazing to me is these teachers are shocked by what their students are saying, or not saying. The reality is they are just a reflection of what they are being taught. And when you look at their response, they have passed with flying colors!
How bad is it? Just look at what Americans are saying. Over 75% of Americans embrace relativism and oppose absolutism, or believe there are no absolute truths. If you think that is bad, listen to this. George Barna reported that some 66% of born again Christians don't believe in absolute truth!
Now if you don't want to look at statistics, you can just listen to what people are saying and see how this thinking is played out in the lives of people across America. And when we look at the barometer of how far we have sunk into this pool of moral relativism, we will see that we are drowning.
The best and saddest example right now, that truly is affecting almost every man, woman and child in America, are the actions of our President. When you listen to the response of his sexual immorality, lies, cover-ups, you see the fruit that has been born out of the teaching of moral relativism or tolerance.
Let me share with you a couple of examples of what people are saying. These are responses to what has transpired in the White House over the last several months, letters to the editor of Time magazine from people across America. These letters were published in the September 14, 1998 issue, after the President admitted to his wrong doings, his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his lies, although he never actually used those words.
One person wrote: "The simple words of Rev. Jim Casy in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath provide meaningful commentary on the Clinton-Lewinsky matter: 'There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing. And some of the things folks do is nice, and some ain't nice, but that's as far as any man got a right to say.'"
With that kind of logic, with that way of thinking, you can justify the most heinous of crimes. And we see that happening today. Listen to another letter from Time magazine and you will see how twisted we have become in our thinking. You sill see how we have come to a point in our society where we call good evil and evil good.
This person wrote in and said: "I, like President Clinton, will do anything to avoid the prying eyes of self-righteous demons like Starr and his horde, who show utter contempt for privacy."
Now I have to admit, I am truly amazed by that statement. I think they have it confused on who is showing contempt. Mr. Starr, who was hired to seek out the truth of this situation, and in doing so has exposed the sins of the president, is now the evil person. He is the demon. Now President Clinton, it doesn't seem to matter that he lied about his affair under oath, deceived the American people, used all kinds of legal maneuvers to hide or cover up his sins, costing the tax payers of America millions of dollars over the last several months. No, the President is right and Ken Starr is the demon. Go figure? We truly are calling good evil and evil good!
Folks, we are living in the days of moral confusion. When God has been removed from our life, we don't know what is right or what is wrong, or more likely we suppress that truth that God has placed in our hearts, a consciousness, that tells us what is right and what is wrong. And thus, we call evil good and good evil. Even Christians are following with this line of reasoning. It is as Judges 17:6 says, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." When God is not on the throne of men's hearts, this is what happens!
In his book, The New Absolutes, William D. Watkins list several things that have changed over they years or have been clouded over in regards to our outlook on them. Death is now a beautiful choice we make. No longer do we seek to live out our God appointed days in these bodies of flesh, but if things get tough, choose death!
A second point he makes is in regards to marriage. It is an "I do...for now" relationship. If my needs are not being met, if I find someone who is cuter, more handsome, or whatever, you're out of here!
No longer is the family unit a husband and a wife, but the family is who you come home to. Now that may sound nice, it may sound benign, but the reality of a statement like that is they are saying a family unit can be a man and a man, a woman and a woman, and any combination outside of marriage is a family unit! Not according to what God has to say.
Love the one you're with sounds great, until you understand what they are saying. Sex outside of marriage is fine, acceptable, and the partners are always changing, depending on who you are with!
Deviance was once considered an abnormal lifestyle, but now it is approved of, applauded and is seen on TV's and movies across America, and now even the internet. The abnormal lifestyle is found in those that try to do good, live lives that would be pleasing to God. That is now abnormal!
Now we can go on-and-on, but I think you get the point. We have sunk very low in this country. It may be very discouraging to see how bad things are. Maybe some would like to bury their heads in the sand, ignoring what is going on. But that won't help the situation.
And it is easy to stand here and point out all these faults and accuse people of all the wrong that they have done, but they reality is, that won't help either. And we must be careful that we don't become self-righteous and arrogant in our stand, only seeing the problem, which can cause hatred to build up inside our hearts. We must be part of the solution, if we are not, then we should just keep quiet!
You see, it is as Gary Bauer said, "In every society, someone's values prevail and are made into law. If our law doesn't reflect the Judeo-Christian worldview, it will reflect some other set of values. Increasingly, it looks like Barbarian values will fill the void."
May we allow the light of Christ to shine forth from our lives and impact the fabric of our society! But, I will tell you this, if your faith has not impacted your own life, it will do nothing for those around you, let alone the nation. Your faith needs to be real. You need to live what you believe.
With the remaining time we have this morning, I want to look at three areas to help us in our walk, to strengthen our faith, to help us to not only know what we believe, but then share those truths with others.
1. PURSUE THE TRUTH
There is a true story of a London street preacher who announced to his audience that every atheist was a fool because the Bible said so. In the crowd was a well-known atheist who shouted back at him that it was a slanderous insult, which he took very personally, and he would sue the preacher for damages. The preacher responded by saying, "It's not slander to tell the truth."
Well the atheist was not going to take this laying down, so he countered the preacher by saying, "And it's not truth unless you can prove it! You'll have to prove it in court that I'm a fool or I'll take every pound you've got!"
The preacher calmly responded back by saying, "I don't have to go to court to prove it. You say you're an atheist?'' The man replied back, "Yes, and not just a casual one. I've spent my life proving God doesn't exist. It's a pernicious myth!"
The preacher said, "You have spent your life proving God doesn't exist, have you? Tell me this, if a man who spends his life fighting against something that doesn't exist isn't a fool, who is?"
Folks, truth is truth, no matter how you slice it. Jesus said "...'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" John 14:6. Now was Jesus being intolerant to other views? Was He being unloving in what He had to say? Was He being hateful, putting down everyone else's beliefs? No, He was just speaking the truth!
Can you imagine being caught in a burning building with only one exit. What a horrible situation to be in. And smoke has quickly filled the building, making it very difficult to see and to breath. You could not see the exit sign because of the smoke and you were just trying to breath, choking and gasping as you stood there helpless. But a fireman is able to get into the building, and he beings to show everyone the way out. And as he points, he begins to say, "This is the only way out, follow me. Hurry, quickly!"
Now what if you turned to this fireman and said to him, "Aren't you being a little narrow minded? I am sure there are other ways to get out! You need to be open to other truths, other realities. Don't be so narrow minded!" Besides being a nut for saying those things, you know what else would happen? By rejecting the truth, as narrow minded as it may be, you will die in those fires.
And you know what, that is exactly what Jesus is saying. If you reject Me, then you will burn in hell! In John 8:31-32, 36 listen carefully to the words of Jesus. We read, "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
God's Word tells us what is truth, what is good, what we need to do, who we should obey. Let me say this, it is not my place nor is it your place to judge what is good or what is evil. Now before you jump to any wrong conclusions, listen carefully to what I am about to say. We don't set the standard. God has already told us what is right, what is good, what is evil. All we need to do is obey. Now what we have done is we add to Gods Word, and become legalistic, and that too is wrong. Our judgment of right and wrong is not based upon our feelings, but upon God's standards, His Word!
But when a society doesn't listen to God's instructions, and when a person doesn't listen to God's instructions, there will be a moral inversion as you rationalize your sin away. You can justify anything if you want, but God will not accept your justification.
Listen to what David had to say in Psalm 119 regarding our walk. He said "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!" Psalm 119:9-11.
That is the key folks, that is our standard to follow, God's Word. Thus, PURSUE THE TRUTH THAT GOD HAS SET BEFORE US IN HIS WORD!
2. ASSOCIATE WITH JUSTICE
To really adhere to the view of tolerance or moral relativism, a society would degenerate into anarchy. Think about it. All the civil laws, our judicial system would have to be done away with, for there is no right or wrong, no good or evil. With that mentality you could not make any laws, for that would be a sign of intolerance. What you do is your own business and nobody else's. Thus, you can do whatever you want, but also remember so will everyone else, there are no laws, anarchy is the condition of the society. Is that what we want in this country? Because that is the direction we are heading in!
The Psalmist said in Psalm 106:3, "Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!" You see, there are blessings involved when you are obedient to God's standards. There are also consequences to our actions when we transgress God's standards. And as a group of believers, by letting sin continue, by ignoring it, we are approving it. We need to be a light to a nation in darkness, and not only expose the sins of the nation, but also the sins of the church.
Listen to how Paul responded to a situation in the church at Corinth. There was a son who was having sex with either his step-mother or maybe even worse, his mother, and the church kept silent. This is how Paul dealt with it, starting in verse 1 of I Corinthians chapter 5. We read, "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles; that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" I Corinthians 5:1-6.
If sin is not dealt with it is like a cancer that will invade the entire body and destroy it. We need to adhere to what God has said in His Word. It is for our own Good! Thus, ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH THE JUSTICE THAT GOD HAS SET BEFORE YOU!
3. ACT IN LOVE
Many times we get the first two down, pursuing truth, seeking justice, but we forget about or ignore the issue of love. And when we do we end up coming against people with a self-righteous, holier than thou attitude. As Paul said in I Corinthians 13:1, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Too often we make a lot of noise, but there is no sense to it, no rhyme or reason, and thus, without love what we have to say is futile.
That, of course, does not mean we become tolerant to sin, for tolerance speaks of indifference. But when we love someone, speak the truth to them, that love is sincere, caring for that individual. Paul put it this way in Romans 12:9, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." Thus, LET THE AGAPE LOVE OF CHRIST FLOW FROM YOUR LIFE AND TOUCH THE LIVES OF OTHERS!
As I bring this to a close this morning, listen to this story of how times have changed, and pray about how God can use you to right the wrong that has taken place in this land. To let your faith have an impact on the moral fabric of our society. To let your light shine, sharing the truths of God with others, the truth of a loving God who sent His only Son to pay the penalty for our sins, resulting in our restoration with God by the precious blood of Jesus.
Listen to how the message has changed over the years. "Illustrative of the change and decay in the world around us is the difference of emphasis between the first telegraph message sent by Samuel Morse and the first still picture transmitted by satellites."
"The first telegraph message sent by Inventor Samuel Morse over a 40-mile line between Washington and Baltimore was 'What hath God wrought?' [In March] the first still picture ever transmitted via two satellites, Lani Bird II And Early Bird, was sent more than 7,000 miles between Honolulu and London." The picture? Swedish Crown Prince Carl Gustaf together with a coed in a bikini on the beach at Waikiki! We have gone from the Bible, Numbers 23:23, to the lust of the flesh. And we wonder why this nation is in trouble!