THE NAKED TRUTH

ISAIAH 20:1-6

Charles Lindbergh once said: "In my youth, science was more important to me than either man or God. I worshipped science. Its advance had surpassed man's wildest dreams. It took many years for me to discover that science, with all its brilliance, lights only a middle chapter of creation."

"I saw the aircraft I love destroying the civilization I expected it to save. Now I understand that spiritual truth is more essential to a nation than the mortar in its cities' walls. For when the actions of a people are undergirded by spiritual truths, there is safety. When spiritual truths are rejected, it is only a matter of time before civilization will collapse."

"We must understand spiritual truths and apply them to our modern life. We must draw strength from the almost forgotten virtues of simplicity, humility, contemplation and prayer. It requires a dedication beyond science, beyond self, but the rewards are great and it is our only hope."

Very insightful words by Charles Lindbergh. What holds a nation and a people together is the spiritual truths found in the Word of God. Without that, a nation and a people are in trouble. That is the thought expressed in Isaiah chapter 20, as we are going to see. Isaiah is going to go out and give the people the naked truth, the truths of God. So lets begin reading in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 20.

ISAIAH 20:1-6

Here we see God pronouncing judgment upon the Philistines, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. And this judgment would come by the hands of the Assyrians. We must also note that before judgment came, they would be warned. And this warning came by the prophet Isaiah, who was to take his sandals off, walk barefoot, and remove his sackcloth from his body, and walk around naked for 3 years. Now Isaiah was not totally naked, but was probably wearing a loin cloth. But even at that, when people saw him walk by, when people saw this prophet of God standing in just a loin cloth, I'm sure it sparked their curiosity, and it gave Isaiah a chance to share with them what God was going to do to these nations, that judgment was coming.

You see, the Assyrians were a tough and brutal people and no one was able to stop them. And so the weaker nations would try to join forces with other weaker nations to fight against the Assyrians, but that was of no real help. They were just to strong. In fact, in verse 6 we see the hopelessness of these alliances that were made, how futile they were. In The Amplified Bible this verse reads, "And the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, See! This is what comes to those in whom we trusted and hoped, to whom we fled for help to deliver us from the king of Assyria! But we, how shall we escape [captivity and exile]?"

Instead of looking to God for help, they looked to the strength of man to deliver them, and they found out it only lead them into captivity and exile. It did not free them from the assault of the Assyrians!

Now for 3 years God commanded Isaiah to walk around in this condition as an object lesson to the people. You might say he was presenting the naked truth to the people who had fallen into a state of spiritual sleep, spiritual complacency. And this was to shock them out of that condition, to awaken them out of their spiritual sleep.

Let me ask you this question, and think about if for a minute. What do you think is the biggest enemy to the Gospel? Interesting question with probably many answers. Is it the New Age movement? Is it pornography? Is it the ecumenical movement? What about the teaching of evolution to our children? Is it atheism? These and many more play a role in stifling the Gospel, the truths of God, but they are not the biggest enemy to the Gospel.

What seems to be the biggest enemy to the spreading of the Gospel message is not something we think about to often. In fact, it may even be a shock to you. THE BIGGEST ENEMY TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE BEING SPREAD IS APATHY AMONGST GOD'S PEOPLE!

You see, in a society where self is placed above all else, we have become apathetic in our care for others, in sharing with them the naked truth of the Gospel. Now I am not telling anyone to do this, but if God told you to do what Isaiah did for those three years, how many of us would do it? How many of us would think we must have misunderstood God? It is not always easy, it is not always popular to speak the naked truth. And I do understand that our lives are busy, that time is a valuable commodity in our lives, that we are being pulled in many directions for our time. But again, look at the extremes that Isaiah went to so that he could present the truths of God in a manner that God had instructed him. And you see, it all boils down to the fact, do we really care? Is the eternal destiny of others really important to us?

Even in our own walk, when we blow it, when we say or do something that would not be pleasing to God, we make excuses for them. We have developed a bumper sticker mentality that says "CHRISTIANS AREN'T PERFECT, JUST FORGIVEN!" Now as true as that statement may be, it is also a cop out for our actions, for our behavior.

You see, people are watching you, they are looking at what you are doing, what you are saying in various situations, and many times the only truth of God they will see or hear is what comes from you. Many will not enter a church, but they will watch you to see if your faith is real. Our life is to be a witness of our faith. In a sense, like Isaiah, our life should be an object lesson to the unsaved showing them that what we say is what we believe and that is then manifested in our life, the things we do.

Turn to I Thessalonians chapter 1, and we will begin reading in verse 5. In this section Paul is sharing with us what happened as they shared the Gospel message with their lives to the people in Thessalonica. We read, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." I Thessalonians 1:5-10.

Paul did not come to them with just empty words. He didn't bring an empty message. He was not just a bag of wind or just a lot of hot air. But he brought the truths of God by the power of God to a people who were in spiritual darkness. And it was out of this relationship that Paul had with God that was manifested in his life, and was a witness for them to see. Paul's faith was real! His life reflected that relationship he had with Jesus. As Paul said in I Corinthians 11:23, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you..."

Because Paul was willing to give the naked truth, and expose his life for all to see, when he spoke the Gospel, people were saved as God's Spirit touched their lives. You see, Paul not only said these words in Romans 1:16, but he believed them and lived them. What was in his heart was manifested in his life. His faith was real. He said "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

Now these people who got saved also became object lessons or witnesses to those around them. A people who were heavily into idolatry have now severed their ties with these idols, these gods, and have turned to the true and living God. Their life was now a testimony to what God can and did do. Their friends and family must have seen the change, the idols were gone, and they lived what they believed! And it was out of that we see a door of opportunity open for them to share their faith.

Paul, in I Thessalonians chapter 2 speaks of what transpired in their lives as they turned to the true and living God. Beginning in verse 10 we read, "You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans." I Thessalonians 2:10-14.

As they were saved, they allowed God's Word by His Spirit to guide them and as young children they became "Imitators" of those who were mature in the Lord. They mimicked them. Why? Because they wanted to be like them, to have that same faith, to grow in the knowledge and grace of Christ. And as new born babes in Christ they found solid Christians to follow so their faith could grow and they could mature.

And don't think for a minute that this was some kind of "easy believism" type of faith. When they turned from their idols, from their gods, they were persecuted by family and friends for their faith in Christ just as the Jewish believers were. This was not a "Try Jesus" type of faith. Where if He doesn't meet your needs, you move on to something or someone else. When you came to Christ you knew what was going to come your way when you severed your ties from the idols you once served, and anyone who was uncertain about their faith, would not suffer the persecution for something they did not believe in.

I Think in the church today many people come because they feel it is the right thing to do. As a child you were taught that you needed to go to church and now as an adult you just continue with that practice. It is usually easy, not much commitment, comfortable, no real persecution or for that matter conviction. And as you do your time at church, you then are quickly on your way, doing things that really matter, that really satisfy.

That is not the reason you come to church. In fact the reason we come to church is not for ourselves, but it is to come and worship the Lord. And it is out of our worship of Him that He blesses us through His Word, He speaks to our heart and comforts us, encourages us, convicts us, and-so-on. If you are coming to church because you feel it is fulfilling some kind of religious requirement, then you better re-evaluate your relationship with the Lord.

One of the other issues in the church today is that we like to make alliances with the world to fight against various causes, various enemies, and I think that is a big mistake. We see that with the abortion issue, the pornography issue, teenage violence and drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, and-so-on. All good causes to fight against, but not joining forces with the world to solve those problems, that is a big mistake and not the solution to the problem.

In fact, when you read Isaiah chapter 20, you can clearly see that the alliances made with the world were of no help against the Assyrians. Then where do we go? What do we do to fight against the enemy? I love the way David put it in Psalm 61. He said beginning in verse 1, "HEAR my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings." Psalm 61:1-4.

Our only hope, our only strength, our only solution is found in the ROCK that is higher than I, and that is Jesus Christ. David looked at what God had done in the past for him, how God sheltered him from the various storms of life, for assurance in the present situation. David did not look to the world for help, but to God, and so should we!

With the remainder of our time this morning, I would like to spend some time dealing with this issue of truth or presenting the naked truth to the world. And I do understand that it is shocking to them many times, but as Isaiah did, so must we, present the truths of God and not veil it or hide it.

Now we must first establish what is truth. The Mormons believe they have the truth. The Jehovah Witnesses believe they have the truth. The atheists, the agnostics, the evolutionists, the New Agers, the Muslims, and-so-on, all believe they have the truth, and so do we. All of these can not have the truth for they contradict each other. Then who is right. How do we know what is truth and what is error?

First of all truth has two meanings in the Scriptures. The first is the temporal facts that man may observe about himself and the physical universe. The second is the eternal and spiritual reality pertaining to God and the relationship all else bears to Him. Now the Scriptures are not in opposition to the first meaning, and when there seems to be a contradiction, it is always a lack of information or a misinterpretation of the information. The Scriptures are right!

Now the second meaning is really what we are after here, truths related to God and our relationship with Him. You see, how do we find truth? How do we know what is truth and what is error? In John 17:17 Jesus said "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."

Thus, the Book of Mormon, The New World Translation of the Jehovah Witnesses, and anything else that is contrary to the standard found in the Word of God is in error, it is not the truth. Now I do understand that is a bold statement, but the Scriptures support that. You see, 25% of the Scriptures are prophetic, with many of the prophecies already fulfilled. We can look at the historical record and see that what was spoken long before the events occurred, actually took place. In fact, there are over 333 prophecies of Jesus Christ's first coming, and all came to pass. So we can rest assured that the Word of God is truth and it is our standard to follow.

In Acts 28:23-24 we read of Paul speaking the truth of God, "So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved."

Paul used the Scriptures to point them to Jesus. He sowed the seed of God's Word and some fell on good soil and germinated and grew, others fell on hard soil and did not grow. The point being, Paul spoke the message from the Scriptures, the truths of God, and the Bible was his standard, and we should do no less. We should not be ashamed to use the Scriptures, for they are living and powerful and able to change lives by God's Spirit!

Knowing we have the truth of God in our hands, at our disposal, we should speak with boldness the Gospel message. We hear so many people speak lies with such boldness and yet we have the truth and we are timid in our response, we are afraid to speak the truth. Paul said "As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia." II Corinthians 11:10. Nothing was going to stop Paul from speaking the truth. There was a boldness to his actions, to his life.

Now there may be times we can go a little to far, but God is gracious, as is evidenced by this story. Early on in the ministry of Jerry Falwell they use to have a ministry were they would bus kids into the city, so they could go to church. But after a while the kids got smart and took the free ride into the city, not to go to church, but to venture in the city, making it back in time to catch the bus home. During one of the board meetings they decided that the solution to this problem was to put a couple of big, strong guys in front of the church so anyone that got off the bus and tried to go into the city, would be stopped. Not only would they be stopped, but instead of going to Sunday School they would be brought down to the front row of the church and have to sit through the church service.

And this one morning, as Jerry Falwell was preaching, in walks one of these big, strong guys with two kids under his arms, and he sat them down in the front row. These two kids stayed for the entire service, and at the end, when Jerry Falwell gave an altar call, they came forward and gave their life to Christ. And at that time, once you did that you were immediately baptized, which these two boys did.

And after the service, after they were baptized, after they were done talking with these two boys, the elders told them that the bus had already left, and they would provide transportation for them to get home. At this point one of the kids spoke up and said, "Mister, we don't need a ride home, we live in the area. We were just walking by the church and this big guy grabbed us and brought us into the church and sat us down in the front row!"

Yes, God is gracious and merciful in our boldness and zeal. The problem comes when we are doing nothing and wondering why nothing is happening. And I do understand that some are concerned in what to say and what to do. But rest assured, for Jesus tells us in John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

As you study the Word of God, the Spirit of God will guide you in all truth. He will show you what needs to be spoken to each individual. He will give you the words to say and the boldness to say them. He will give you the truth, the naked truth to speak to them.

You see, to often we are lazy, we neglect our responsibility and just say that we are going to let the Spirit guide, doing nothing on our part. That is just plan laziness. That is just plan neglecting our responsibility. Paul admonished young Timothy, and us, in II Timothy 2:15 when he said, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

In The Amplified Bible this verse is translated, "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth."

There does need to be an effort on our part, to present the Word of God accurately, and thus, we must study, divide and then present the truth of God's Word in the power of His Spirit.

Now in saying all that, it doesn't mean that all will come to know Christ, our responsibility is to present the truth of God, as opposed to the lies of the enemy. Our lives should be a living testimony to our faith in Christ. And as people see what God has done in us, by the way we conduct ourselves, it should open a door to share with them the truths of God.

Isaiah was commissioned by God to speak, give and live the naked truths of God to nations in which judgment was coming upon, and we too have been given a commission by God to speak, give, and live the truths of God to a world that is coming into judgment. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

If we become apathetic in our response to the lost, God will use others to speak His truths. But His desire is to use us as His witness to a world in darkness. By taking that calling too lightly, William Schlamm said that the epitaph of our society should read: "This civilization died because it didn't want to be bothered." May that not be the case! May we have the boldness, the love, the desire, to reach out to the lost, even though they may not like to see the naked truth, but they do need to see it!

As I bring this study to a close this morning, listen to this story and may it make you think about what we have talked about this morning. You see, I'm sure it was not easy for Isaiah to do what he did for those 3 years, but God called him, and he did it. May that be our hearts desire, to do the will of the Father!

"If we are in a crowd of onlookers, it is easy to assume that we're not the one who should get involved. The case of Kitty Genovese vividly illustrates this. You may remember her story. She was the young woman who was murdered in a New York residential section while at least 38 neighbors watched from their windows. During the course of the 30-minute assault, no one even telephoned the police."

"Recent studies have uncovered some surprising facts about these people. Interviews revealed that they were not totally indifferent as many had suspected. The main reason nobody did anything was that each person thought someone else would take the initiative to get help."

May we not wait for others to do something, but may we get involved. May we take those steps of faith and present the naked truth to a world that is lost in their sins. But it is truly our choice. We can be used by God or we can be put on the shelf and collect dust. It is up to us. I don't know about you, but I want to go like Paul, living his life fully for Christ. And as his life was coming to an end, he said in II Timothy 4:7-8, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."