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Teaching Notes
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ISAIAH 56:1-2
Way back in 1982, the "ABC Evening News" reported on an unusual work of modern art. It was a chair affixed to a shotgun. Now this artwork was active in that it was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. Believe it or not, the gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined time within the next hundred years.
Now I do realize that there are a lot of strange things that people call artwork, but the amazing thing about this one that had a chair affixed to a shotgun, was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell’s path! Everyone knew that the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn’t happen during their minute in the chair.
Yes, it was foolhardy to sit in that chair not knowing if that gun was going to go off or not. And as foolhardy as those that sat in the chair were, many people who wouldn’t even dream of sitting in that chair live a lifetime gambling that they can get away with sin. They foolishly ignore the risk until the inevitable self-destruction comes upon them.
The church as a whole is growing less concerned with sin, in fact, things have gotten so out of hand, that when some Christians sin, they don’t even realize it because they have no idea what sin is, that they are transgressing God’s commands. Some are suppressing the truths of God to satisfy their own desires. And yet, here in Isaiah chapter 56 God is calling for us to live a different kind of lifestyle and the driving force to live that way should impact our lives every day. So if you would, please turn to Isaiah chapter 56, and lets begin reading in verse 1.
ISAIAH 56:1-2
God’s words, His instructions to us here in Isaiah chapter 56, come on the heels of what He said in Isaiah chapter 55. I know what you are thinking, "Some revelation!" But what is said is very important, and it impacts totally to what is being said in the chapter we are studying this morning. If you don’t get Isaiah chapter 55, then Isaiah chapter 56 won’t make any sense, and it can’t become a reality in your life unless you first receive His invitation that He is extending to all mankind in Isaiah 55.
Listen to what the Lord is saying beginning in verse 1, of Isaiah chapter 55. We read "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you-- the sure mercies of David." Isaiah 55:1-3.
The Lord is calling for us to come to Him and receive the gift of life. This gift is free, it costs no money, but it does cost you. You see, it costs you what you leave behind, the things of this world and its lusts, and you place yourself on the altar of sacrifice before the Lord, so that He may use you as He pleases. Our lives are a living sacrifice unto Him, and thus, it may not cost us money, but we freely surrender our lives to Him! And when you come to Jesus, asking Him to be Lord and Savior in your life, your soul will be satisfied.
It is out of establishing that relationship with the Lord through Christ, that He calls us to live accordingly. He wants us to keep justice, to do righteousness. Not for your salvation, but because you are the Kings kid and your actions not only reflect upon Him, but in keeping them you are blessed.
Remember John Bunyan’s book, Pilgrim’s Progress? In this story Christian and Faithful are on a journey to the Celestial City, and on their journey they encounter many different things that try to hinder their progress, one of them being Vanity Fair and the city of Vanity. Let me read to you what this place was all about and its power to grab hold of peoples lives.
"...The name of the town was Vanity, and the fair was Vanity Fair. The people of the town were vain, caring for nothing but money, pleasure, and fame...
...at this fair is sold such merchandise as fine houses, lands, stocks and bonds, false security, gay clothing, jewelry, expensive cosmetics, gold and silver, antiques, pearls, precious stones, fame, fortunes, reputations, virtue, honor, popularity, positions, phoney titles, counterfeit degrees, contests, chances, games, votes, elections, government offices, personal influences, padded reports, propaganda, falsehoods, fictitious news, deceptions, artificial personalities, schemes, tricks, comics, beauty queens, sex appeal, prostitutes, human lives, and souls of men.
Moreover, at this fair at all times are gambling, juggling, cheating, defrauding, embezzling, lying, stealing, swindling, rogues, knaves (rascals), libertines, carnivals, festivities, drinking, revelries, connivings (conspiring), fools, thugs, lewd women, murders, adulteries, and all kinds of immoralities. The broad road that leads to destruction which brings the fair much trade lies through the town.
And in this town of Vanity are taverns, night clubs, road-houses, seductive shows, popular casinos, culture societies, fashionable churches, synthetic Christians, sectarian denominational segregation, professional pastors (using mass psychology, setting themselves up as lords over God’s heritage, ruling their congregations for ‘filthy Lucre,’ beating and fleecing their flocks instead of feeding them or setting them a good example). There are also famous pseudo scientists, charlatan physicians, dishonorable crafty lawyers, unscrupulous politicians, clandestine book-makers, racketeers - impostors of all kinds.
But, if anyone going to the Celestial City would miss this town of Vanity, he must of necessity go out of the world..."
As Christians, that is what we face every day as we go out into the world. Vanity Fair and the city of Vanity is all around us, and its desire is to suck us in, to destroy us. The filthy lusts of this world are raging war against us, against our souls. And John Bunyan listed most if not all of them that are fighting for our attention. Now we do have an option here, we can resist those temptations or let them take us captive. And if we succumb to the flesh, it is amazing how far a person can fall and how deceived they can be in what they are doing, that their actions are fine, nothing wrong with the lifestyle they are in, or so they think. Do you think I’m off base on this? Think again.
Some of you may remember Jessica Hawn. She was the church secretary who committed immoral acts with Jim Bakker, the former host of the PTL club. By her confession, she brought down the PTL empire.
Sadly, though, if all she had done was not enough, she said back on September 28, 1987, that God gave her a "real peace" about granting an interview with Playboy magazine. Not only that, Jessica Hawn also felt it was perfectly okay to pose topless for this magazine.
Jessica Hawn still considers herself to be a Christian, and she sees nothing wrong in what she was doing. Isn’t it amazing how far into sin we can walk, and yet not even see the immorality that we have gotten ourselves into. We can justify almost any sin in our life, but the reality is, in God’s eyes, sin is sin!
Yes the battle is tough, it keeps trying to draw us into Vanity Fair, the things of this world. Again, in his book Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan said this regarding what Christian and Faithful did when they entered Vanity Fair. You see, like Christian and Faithful, the only way to escape it is not to be in this world, and since we are, we are all going to have these kinds of encounters. The thing we must remember is what are you going to do when you do encounter them. Come up with a plan, make a commitment before the Lord, before you even find yourself in any of these temptations. Listen to what Happened to Christian and Faithful as they entered the city.
"Now, as soon as Christian and Faithful entered the fair they created a sensation, not only in the fair but throughout the town.
First, their dress was so different from the people of the place that everyone gazed at them. Some said they were cranks; some called them outlandish; others said they were there to create trouble.
Second, their speech was different. Few could understand what they said, for naturally they spoke the language of Canaan, while those who kept the fair were men of this world. From one end of the fair to the other, they seemed like barbarians.
Third, these pilgrims showed no interest in their goods, and this worried the people of the fair most. Christian and Faithful did not even care to see them, and when they were asked to buy they would stop up their ears and say, ‘Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity,’ looking upward as if they belonged to another country.
One who had already heard of the men, observing their peculiar behavior, mockingly said to them, ‘What will you buy?’ Then they fastened their eyes upon him and said, ‘We buy the truth.’ At this an occasion was taken to persecute them. Finally the haters of the pilgrims created a mob and such commotion that all order was destroyed."
First of all, their dress was so different from the people of the place that everyone gazed at them. They were clothed in the righteousness of God and the world couldn’t understand this, and they thought they were nuts, there to create trouble.
Secondly, their speech was different. Few could understand what they said, for naturally they spoke the language of Canaan, the language of God. The people of the fair spoke the language of the world, and they could not understand the language that was spoken by the people of God. To them, they seemed like barbarians.
Thirdly, these pilgrims showed no interest in their goods, and this worried the people of the Fair. Christian and Faithful did not even care to see them, and when they were asked to buy they would stop their ears and say "Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity" as they looked upward towards heaven, looking to their home with God.
As Christians, we should be different than the world. When the world looks at us, they should see something that will either draw them to us or cause them to run away from us. They should see the character of God manifested in our lives. The way we talk, the way we deal with various situations, the joy of our hearts being in the Lord and not in what the world has for us.
How did Christian and Faithful get through Vanity fair and all its enticements? Instead of looking at the things of this world, they kept their eyes focused on the Lord, they looked upward realizing this was not their home, they were only passing through this city as they were moving towards the Celestial city.
The same is true in our own lives. Instead of being drawn into all the enticements of the world, keep your eyes focused on the Lord. Look upward, keep focused, realizing this is not our home, we are only passing through. You see, our citizenship is in heaven with our Lord. Too often we make this world our home and we quickly become dissatisfied with what it gives us in return. Too often we are drawn into its seductive ways, and instead of keeping justice and doing righteousness, we find ourselves doing the exact opposite.
I think many Christians are struggling in their walk with God because they have lost a proper perspective of things. Turn to I John chapter 3, and lets begin reading in verse 1, and see what John has to say. We read "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." I John 3:1-3.
John opens up by telling us to take a good look, examine, understand the love that God has given us. We have been adopted into the family of God. We have become joint heirs with Christ. You are the Kings kid! And yet, the world can’t understand it. They look at you and scratch their heads in bewilderment. And the reason they can’t understand this relationship is because they have never experienced it themselves. The natural man can’t understand the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned.
Not only are you the children of God, adopted into the family of God through Christ, but God is working in your lives. He is transforming you into His image. You are a new creation in Christ! You see, the minute you get saved, the sanctification process begins in your life. And God is purging out the dross or the impurities in your life, conforming you into His image. And that process will continue until you go to be with Him, it is a life long process of learning lessons of faith, the cutting out of the hardness of our hearts, and removing those impurities.
It is as Paul said in Philippians 1:6, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." God began a good work in you at the time of salvation, when you surrendered your life to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And from that time on He is sanctifying you so that you will be like Him, the character of God will flow from you, and He will complete that work despite all your failures. As Hebrews 12:2-3 says, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."
And in I John 3:3, here is the key that is lacking in many Christians lives, which leads them into all kinds of unrighteous behavior. They are lacking the hope that the Lord will return, He will reveal Himself to us face-to-face. The same thought is given to us in chapter 56 of Isaiah, where the Lord said in verse 1, "For My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed." Many have negated this truth, the Lord is coming back, or they say that things will just continue as they are, nothing will change, and if He does come back, it won’t be for hundreds if not thousands of years. WRONG ATTITUDE!
The early church was looking for the Lord’s return, they expected Him in their lifetime, and they waited in anticipation for Him to come. Paul said in Titus 2:13-15, "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you."
You see, with the hope of the Lord’s return being any day, any moment, it purified the believers. They lived each day like Jesus was coming back. And I think that is one of the reasons no man knows the day or hour of His return, so we won’t get lazy in our walk, but live every day like it was the day He was coming for us. We would be in a state of preparedness.
When I was a kid, I knew that as it got close for my parents to return home from wherever they happened to be, I needed to clean up my act, not to do those things that would be displeasing to them. The reason was simple. There would be consequences for my actions if they were good and if they were bad. If I did what was good, there would be blessings, you might say. And if I did bad, there would be a chastening you might say.
The same is true with our relationship with the Lord. Knowing that He could come any time for us, we need to be doing those things that are right. And as you study the Word of God, there is not one major prophetic event that I am aware of, that needs to be fulfilled, before the Lord comes for His bride, the church. The stage is set, some of the players are bing moved around, but we are that close. I truly believe it will be in our lifetime, and that we should live with that hope. Now if the Lord does not come in our lifetime, living like He would come is not a detriment to us. We are not going to miss out on anything. In fact, it is a blessing to live like that.
That is John’s point in I John 2:28-29. He says "And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him." John is telling us to abide in Christ, draw close to Him, for as you are attached to Him, you will draw your spiritual nourishment from Him and that will then be manifested in they things you say and do. Fruit will be born in your life.
And again, the point is the Lord is coming back. The word "when", in speaking of His return, is not speaking of an uncertainty like "if" He comes back, but we don’t know the exact time of His return, only the seasons, and things are looking very much like we are in that season. And when He returns we want to be living in a manner that would be pleasing to Him.
Obviously the Lord is righteous, and He is telling us that we need to be moving in that same direction by practicing righteousness. You see, it is truly a state of mind that is then manifested in the things that we do. Yes, we blow it, we aren’t perfect, but the driving force of our hearts should be to do those things that please the Lord, and as we do, as we move in that direction, it shows that we have been born of God! Our life should reflect what God has done and is doing in us, as I John 3:18-19 tells us. We read "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him."
When I ran cross-country in High School, some 23 years ago, my coach would always tell me to stay focused in the race, to place my eyes forward, focusing on the runners ahead and the finish line. He told me not to look to the left or to the right or behind me, for it would only slow me down and it may cause me to drop out of the race or to stumble.
The same is true for us as Christians. We need to stay focused on the Lord, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We have to set our eyes upon the finish line, keep looking forward, for to look to the left or the right or behind us may cause us to slow down, to drop out or stumble. We must always keep in mind that the Lord’s return can happen at any time, and thus, we must be ready!
And when we do succumb to the things of this world, when we become in bondage to the flesh, when we are suffering the consequences of our rebellious hearts, God is right there ready to pull us out again. All we must do is turn to Him and reach for His hand of love. Too often, though, we are running away from God and we can’t understand why we are having so many difficulties in our lives. And as we have all these problems we run to everyone and everything but the Lord. And yet God is in pursuit of us, trying to get our attention so that we would return to Him.
Case in point, "Several years ago an eastern paper reported this story: One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck did. Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman then turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase. Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her auto screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the back seat. The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist in the woman’s car. The chase was not his effort to harm her but to save her even at the cost of his own safety. Likewise, many people run from God, fearing what he might do to them. But his plans are good not evil - to rescue us from the hidden sins that endanger our lives."
It is as Hezekiah, king of Judah said of the Lord in Isaiah 38:20, "The LORD was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of the LORD." God is there ready to save us, to restore us. From His vantage point, He can see those things that are there to harm us, and He desires to warn us. Instead of running away from Him, look up and return to Him. Walk in righteousness as He is righteous.
God has given us a free gift of life through His Son Jesus Christ, and He tells us then to keep justice, to do righteousness, for if you do yo will be blessed. Move away from evil and draw close to God.
I want to leave you with this thought this morning. King Solomon was the richest man in the world. He had it all. He had gold, silver, money, ivory, buildings, women, he wrote books on many subjects, he had wisdom, he all kinds of possessions, more than we will ever know in a lifetime and he still wasn’t happy, he was still empty on the inside. Why?
Because Solomon spent most of his life in a backsliden condition with God. God was placed on the back burner of his life and because of that Solomon tried to fill that void in his heart with all kinds of things, with everything except what he really needed, the Lord!
And finally, at the end of his life, Solomon sees the light. And this is what he says in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."
Don’t wait till the end of your life to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Strive after righteousness. As Peter tells us "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’" I Peter 1:13-16. Look up for our redemption is drawing nearer every day, and may that hope purify us each and every day!