Sermon #239                                                           Series: Isaiah

          Title:           THE DANGER OF DISREGARDING GOD

          Text:           Isaiah 65:11-16

          Reading:    Office:                  Auditorium:

          Subject:     The Cause of Man’s Eternal Ruin

          Date:          Sunday Evening - May 5, 1996

          Tape #       S-51

          Introduction:

 

          I want to pick up right where I left off this morning. My last word to you this morning was a word of warning. Those who refuse to hear and obey God’s call in the gospel court his judgment and everlasting wrath.

·        Proverbs 29:1

 

          Tonight I want to preach to you on The Danger of Disregarding God. My text is Isaiah 65:11-16.

 

          "Ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. (12) Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. (13) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: (14) Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. (15) And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: (16) That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes."

 

Proposition:         Without introduction, lest I should turn your attention away from the words of God in our text, I want us to carefully consider these solemn words, in which the Lord shows us the cause of divine judgment and consequences of unbelief.

 

Divisions:   I am striving at simplicity tonight. I do not want a single word of this message to be missed by anyone. My outline will be given to you very simply under these three heads:

1.    A Charge

2.    A Choice

3.    A Contrast

 

I. A CHARGE

 

          In verses 11 and 12 the Lord God lays five solemn charges against men and women who shall be numbered to the sword of his wrath.

 

A. First, we will look at the charges of the indictment made against sinners by God.

 

1. “Ye are they that forsake the LORD.”

 

          I cannot imagine a more solemn charge being made against man. When men forsake God they forsake all good and court both temporal and everlasting destruction for themselves, their families, and all who are influenced by them.

·        Romans 1:20-28

·        John 6:60, 66

 

          Those who forsake God usually forsake his worship. Look at the next line.

 

2. “Ye are they that forget my holy mountain.”

 

          God’s holy mountain was Jerusalem, the place of his temple, the place of his worship. Those who forget God’s house and worship forget the privileges of it and their responsibilities to it. It may seem to some a harsh judgment to make, but it is a matter of fact that those people who forsake the worship of God never knew God and have forsaken him.

·        Hebrews 10:25-26

·        I John 2:19

 

Illustration: “I just kindly got out of the habit of going to church!”

 

3. “Ye are they that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.”

 

          This is a charge of idolatry. Some think these terms refer to the worship of Jupiter and Mercury. Others think they have reference to the worship of the stars, of fortune and luck (superstition), and nature.

 

          Whatever form of idolatry is intended, these worshippers spare no expense or toil in their allegiance to their gods. They prepare ornate tables for them and make great sacrifices for them. Their devotion ought to shame us out of niggardly attempting to worship the true and living God.

·        II Samuel 24:24

 

          With the Word of God in their hands, the prophet of God in their streets, and the name of God upon their lips, the Jews did exactly what their descendants are doing today - They worshipped and served other gods, and dared presume that God was honored! But even base idolatry is not the worst of their evils. Look at verse twelve.

 

4. “When I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear.”

 

          Nothing in the world can be compared to the horrible evil of willful, base infidelity. Some of you, my friends, sit here week after week in your smug self-righteous infidelity. You hear, but refuse to obey the gospel. You vainly imagine that God smiles upon you because you are not a drunk, a harlot, a pimp, a pusher, or some base creature from the gutter of society. You are mistaken. Your willful rejection of the gospel is the greatest evil any sinner can commit against God.

·        Matthew 23:37-38

 

          It is not me you reject. It is not my message that you disregard. Will you hear me? You are defying God himself! It is God’s stretched out hands that you disregard (v. 2). He has spoken and yet speaks to you...

·        By His Word.

·        By Providence.

·        By His Spirit.

 

          Not only do you willfully disregard his Word, you live contemptuously before him. Look at the next line.

 

5. “Ye did evil before mine eyes.”

 

          This is not a matter of sin slipping up on you and taking you by surprise. Oh, no! You may convince others that your actions are accidental; but you know what God knows. The evil deeds that characterize your life are matters of out and out rebellion to and defiance of God. That which is most offensive to God, rebels dare to brazenly practice with contempt before his very eyes.

 

Note:         You cannot hide from God!

 

B. Your contempt of and disregard for God will be the cause of your everlasting ruin in hell.

 

          “Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall bow down to the slaughter.” Three things are here affirmed.

 

1.    God’s judgments are just - “Therefore.”

2.    God’s judgments are deliberate - “I will number you to the sword.”

3.    God’s judgments are irresistible - “Ye shall bow down to the sword.”

 

II. A CHOICE

 

          I will spend little time here, but I cannot fail to call your attention to this fact. Our text reveals that man’s ruin is the result of his will. You will never be saved by your will. But if God leaves you to your free will, you will certainly be destroyed and damned by it. “Ye did choose that wherein I delighted not.” Listen to me. I am not some wild-eyed crack pot. I am telling you the truth.

A.   Freewill religion is the religion of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14).

B.   Man’s will was the culprit in the crucifixion of Christ (Acts 2:23) “Pilate delivered Jesus unto their will.”

C.   It is your will that chooses that which will destroy you, that in which od does not delight.

·        Tradition rather than Scripture

·        Sin rather than Righteousness

·        Works rather than Grace

·        Religion rather than Christ

 

III. A CONTRAST

 

          In verses 13 through 16 the Lord tells us that he will make a distinction between his people and the rest of the world. It is a distinction that is manifest in time and shall be forever and universally manifest in eternity, both to the righteous and to the wicked.

 

A. Here is one clear distinction - Believers are God’s willing servants; unbelievers are rebels.

 

          Unbelievers buck God. Believers submit to him.

·        To His Word.

·        To His Ways.

·        To His Will.

 

B. There is a very great difference between the believer and the unbeliever in this world.

 

1.    Believers find satisfaction in Christ; unbelievers find satisfaction in nothing (Phil. 4:12).

2.    Unbelievers are cursed in everything they are and in everything they do; but believers are blessed even in that which appears to be a curse upon them.

3.    The believer is called by and blessed under a new name of grace.

·        Christians.

·        Sons of God.

·        Hephzibah - Delight of the Lord.

·        Beulah - Married to the Lord.

·        Jehovah-Tsidkenu (Jer. 23:6 & 33:16).

4.    The blessedness of the believer is a matter of truth and justice ascribed to the God of truth and to him alone (Pro. 16:6; Rom. 3:24-26).

 

C. There shall be an everlasting contrast between the believer and the unbeliever.

·        Luke 16:19-31

 

Application:

 

          Look at the last part of verse 16. Here is the blessedness of grace and of glory. “The former troubles are forgotten...They are hid from mine eyes.”