“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Isaiah 5:21
The prophet has strong words to the people who make claim to being followers of God. The spirit of God is still using this message to people who make claim to being followers of God. Does the word of God mean anything to God’s people today? God uses his word to reform mans thinking.
The Word Of God Reforms Everything from NCFIC on Vimeo.
While I’ve been away for a few weeks, Mark King has done the preaching on Sunday mornings on Isaiah 5. I’ve just finished listening to both sermons.
I post them here as a highly recommended use of your time.
I post them hear for your consideration.
In this post I explain the reasons behind parents teaching their children to listen to the preaching. The hardest thing to teach a child in church is to listen to the preaching.
Tips for Church and Family
In this post I encourage parents to read ahead in the scripture text at home and teach the children to listen for key words, listen to what songs we sang, ask them later what they heard.
Tips for Church and Family
I began preaching through Isaiah several weeks ago and am very thankful to God for these strong warnings. As one looks and listens to Isaiah warn the nation of Israel it is not missed why they were judged by God so harshly as they ignored God and His preacher.
I began preaching chapter three last Lord’s Day. Here, Isaiah informs the nation of what it will look like as the decay of the nation is in full effect. There are many things along the way that lead to this but Isaiah makes it very clear what the last days of the nation that rebels against God looks like. All nations should look closely at this. All Churches should pay close attention to this. Every family should stop and look into these words. Every professing believer should examine his life closely against the plumb line of holy Scripture.
Here is a general look at the entire chapter three. (Based on Isaiah 3:1-12)
It is necessary for this progression to happen for a total collapse of a nation. If foolishness attempted to overthrow a nation ruled by men of valor and godly honor it would be thwarted with ease and a corrective course would happen quickly.
The family must recover. Husbands must pray that God would grant them courage and pray that God would give mercy to their wives. Fathers must instruct the children and mothers must gather and nurture the children. Parents must co-labor in this God ordained duty.
Where are you family?
The church must come out of her slumber. Pastors must lead, deacons must serve, congregations must secure the preaching post with heralders of truth. She must advance this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without any mixture of the philosophies of men or fallen angels.
Where are you church?
Where the family and church was once the birthplace and training ground that society looked to for principles of justice and good will, the majority are now petri-dishes of undisciplined selfish little boys and girls who demand others give them what they want while redefining and rebuilding a society that more impoverishes and distresses with the markings or the Judges of what it’s like when everyone does what is right in their own eyes and hates that which is true and just.
Arise Church! to your duty! The day demands it! Our Lord commands us!
Go into this day and advance this Gospel, now!
Isaiah 3:10
“Say to the righteous that it will go well with them…”
Why does he stop to tell them this? Obviously there is a reason why Isaiah stops midstream of his sermon to speak to the righteous, In this sermon where God is going to remove men from their ordained place of leadership and all things begin to unravel He needs to speak to the remnant for a moment. Not all is lost. It looks like it is. But no, not for the redeemed righteous.
When the Lord begins to remove “both supply and support” (Isaiah 3:1) of a nations strength, the redeemed must remain unstained by the world and sustained by the Word of God.
When God begins the removal of the mighty man, the warrior, the discerning judge, the elder statesmen, the leaders of men of valor, honorable men, counselors, men of craft and skill and the faithful herald of the oracles of heaven watch for who he He will replace them with. Watch with a praying voice to God for mercy.
He will replace reason with capricious children who will rule and oppress. He will give a nation that pridefully turns their back against Him what they deserve; rude, arrogant, disrespectful insolent, rash, and set them on a reckless path to failure. “Do not be deceived” by this, “God is not mocked”. “A man (a family, a church, a nation) reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7-10)
This reaping what we sow goes both ways. The evil will reap evil. The righteous will reap righteousness.
This is a marvelous news to fall upon the ears of men. “They will eat the fruit of their actions.” (Isaiah 3:10)
Anyone who claimed September 23, 2017 as the end of the world and used the bible to prove their position should be viewed as a false prophet.
Church, discipline yourself to put our primary work in front of us and be faithful to the work of the evangel (the gospel). Date setting is no new thing and we should expect that as dates come and go that a more predictable pattern is that date setters will be required to adjust and reinterpret their claims.
Yes, we should give ourselves to reading Scripture and noticing that the time must be near, but be sure not to get distracted with that which will distract from the Gospel. Give yourself rather to living a life devoted to the Lordship of Christ in your life and speaking the grace of God in His gospel to all.
Date setting the unknown things of God is irresponsible evangelism.
Give yourself to responsible evangelism. Proclaiming the truth of God, the nature of humanity, the redeeming work of Christ, and the required response to this truth; this is our great duty.
Here are a few things I see that normally happens when the date setters gain popularity and their dates pass by…
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22)
There are unmistakable biblical markers of what a New Testament church should be doing when they gather together. There are sure things that ought to cause a New Testament church to gather together. (1) Preaching, (2) Singing, (3) Caring for each other (especially for widows and orphans in distress), (4) Baptizing converts, (5) Eating, (6) Proclaiming the Lord’s death, and (7) Praying.
The faithful church is sure to want to keep true in all of her duties. But, as warned by the Apostles, certain individuals have crept in and have been successful at times to redirect the efforts of the church in other ways.
It makes since when you think about it.
If any church in any given community were to announce this coming Lord’s Day that it will no longer hold corporate prayer meetings many professing Christians could care less. They may even wish the church would do so so they don’t have to feel guilt about not attending and praying together. But that’s not really the point of my observation here; many churches have practically closed the prayer gathering by filling up the church calendar with so much activity that many churches have practically no corporate prayer times anymore.
What would any community look like if there was not a praying people praying on behalf of the community at large? Why would a professing follower of God not want to obey His Lord and gather for prayer? If professing followers of God are either too busy or just generally not interested in this commanded duty of our Lord, what has their attention that they are willing to set this command aside and disobey God willfully. What god are many churches following if they are willing to willfully disobey their professed Lord?
Here’s what happens to many across the land…
The community God has planted His church in should be (1) Preaching, (2) Singing, (3) Caring for each other (especially for widows and orphans in distress), (4) Baptizing converts, (5) Eating, (6) Proclaiming the Lord’s death, and (7) Praying. Yet, in many communities across the land, churches are going another way. A way that transplants a powerful church in a community with a powerless not-a-church.
What then should we do?
Repent of our willful distractions and gather with the Lord’s people to pray. Church, this church gathers every Wednesday night for prayer at 6:30 p.m. we don’t provide any other distractions or attractions to capture our attention. It is a quite simple gathering. We read Scripture and we pray. The church described to us by the the work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts met at specific places and specific times on specific days to pray.
Prayer isn’t just something we start and close a meeting with, it’s something we should gather to do!
Church, arise! To you post! To your duty! To your God! Don’t let your community have a prayer-less church filled with prayer-less professors of Christ’s Lordship.
Preaching through Isaiah begins at 10:30 a.m. on August 6, 2017 at Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho.
“…give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” 1 Timothy 4:13
