"The Lord is Our Refuge" Sermon: Isaiah 57:1-13 (manuscript)

 

“The Lord is Our Refuge”

[Isaiah 57:1-13]

June 13, 2021 YouTube

            Who is the Lord for those who obey God and those who are idolaters?

            God tells Jerusalem – and us – that He is different for those who are obedient to God and those who are idolaters – for the righteous and the prostitutes.

            God begins by talking about the righteous who die.

“The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart;”

The word “perishes” that God uses here indicates that this is not a normal death.  This is a sudden death – an accident or murder.  There is no reason to believe this righteous man will die, but he does.

So, God says a righteous man dies suddenly and unexpectedly in a tragic way, and no one learns from it.  No meaning is gleaned from it.  No one considers their own lives and who they should be and what they should do before their own death.

Moses writes, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, ESV).

We all ought to consider the death of the righteous – especially the unexpected death of a righteous person.  The wicked should consider death even more so.  And this is not a morbid thing – everyone will die unless Jesus returns first.  It is something we ought to be prepared for because it could happen suddenly and unexpectedly.

 “devout men are taken away, while no one understands.”

“Why?” Is not an uncommon question when people die – especially devout people – righteous people – and especially when their death is sudden.  We don’t understand why they died at the time they did or in the way that they did.  Even unbelievers may be shocked to see someone they understood to be an outstanding person in the neighborhood die suddenly or in a sudden way.

Even so, though we may not understand specifically why a righteous person dies suddenly and unexpectedly, we know something about the death of the righteous, don’t we?  We know something about the believer who dies in faith, don’t we?

The Psalmist writes, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15, ESV).

And David writes, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).

God says, “For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;”

When a righteous person dies – even suddenly and unexpectedly – the righteous person is taken out of the world and does not live through the punishment of the wicked.

“he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.”

The righteous enter into the eternal peace of God.  There is no more pain or sorrow – ever.  They rest in their beds – a euphemism for the grave – until they rise on the last day.

No matter how the righteous die, their death brings them to a far better place and life than they ever had on this earth.

The wicked – who God calls prostitutes – do not have such a promise or hope.

“But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.”

Unbelievers are the children of wickedness and disobedience – children of sorceresses, adulterers – for example – and every other type of sinner.  There are conceived by the wicked and raised to be wicked.  (Of course, not everyone brought up in a bad situation stays wicked; this is a specific look at those who are raised and remain in wickedness – becoming prostitutes to idols themselves.)

“Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit,”

The adulterers are arrogant.  They mock God’s evaluation of them.  They stick their tongues out at God – telling God that they don’t need Him, and He can go away.  God condemns them as the children of transgression and the offspring of deceit.  These have transgression and deceit as their parents, and they are just like their parents – reveling in sin and lies.

“you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?”

Jerusalem joins in Canaanite idolatry:  they set up Asherah poles and worship them, and they worship the god, Moloch, who requires the sacrifice of children – thrown into the fire.

How can they boast when they deny the Ture Gd?

Paul explains the delusion and deceit involved in idolatry, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:9-12, ESV).

 “Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they, are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a grain offering. Shall I relent for these things?”

Rather than bring their offerings to the Temple, they pour them out before idols as they pray.

Rather than give our tithes and offerings to Bible-believing churches where the Gospel is taught rightly, we keep our money – most of our money – for vacations, food, cars, stereo systems, jewelry – our idols.

“On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifice.”

They literally prostitute themselves before the idols in the hopes that such “holy prostitution” would be pleasing to the gods.

“sleeping your way to the top,” we call it.

“Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial;”

God says it is to be obvious that Jerusalem – and we – believe in God, the One True God.  Anyone who encounters us should know what we believe.  Our beliefs about Jesus are not to be hidden, yet that is what Jerusalem is doing.

God says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, ESV).

God is not necessarily saying that the law is to be written on the actual doorposts of the house, but that God’s Law is to be obvious in the believer and to the unbeliever.  Whatever we are doing, it should be obvious that we do so because we believe in God the Savior and seek to obey Him.

Jerusalem is not doing this – they are putting the Law behind the door so no one will see it – and they will not have to be reminded of it either.

You may have seen a mezuzah on the doorpost of a Jewish person’s home – some Christians have it, too.  It is a small rectangular container that contains a scroll that says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Jerusalem claims to believe God’s Law, but she doesn’t want to offend anyone – she doesn’t want to be convicted by God’s Word, so they hide it behind the door, rather than having it right out in the open on the door.

You may have heard the expression, “undercover Christian.”  That refers to someone who says he is a Christian, but there is absolutely nothing about him that would make you think that he is a Christian.

“for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness.”

Jerusalem is engaged in real prostitution – in the Temple, and in front of the idols on the hills and in the valleys.  They have lifted lust to the place of a sacrament.  The phrase “have looked on nakedness” is a euphemism for phallus worship.

Physical intimacy between spouses is a good thing, yet we have accepted “friends with benefits” as a normal thing.  We reduce the profound intimacy that God has given, instead treating it as nothing – a throwaway – a piece of gum that has lost its flavor, only to be replaced with another.

“You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far off, and sent down even to Sheol. You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, ‘It is hopeless’; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint.”

Jerusalem is devoted to her idols.  No matter how much is required of them to get the idols to answer them and give them what they pray for – what they sacrifice for – even if they never receive anything from these impotent idols – they continue in their obstinate pursuit after idols all the while they boast of their faithfulness.

One reason they consider themselves faithful, despite their idolatry, is that God does not punish them – not for a long time.

 “Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. “

            God tells them that they may claim for be faithful people of God, but their actions – their idolatry – their devotion to the idols, shows that they do not believe in the One True God at all.  They are deceived – they are ignorant – they are blind.

            Have you spoken to people who say they are Christians, but they don’t go to church, they say that there are many ways to Heaven, that God just wants us to be good, or that they don’t believe the Bible is for today – or, even, that they don’t believe in God?  I have.

            The “good” such people do for their idols has no profit before God.

“When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away.”

God tells them that the day will come when they cry out to God, and God tells them to cry out to their idols.  If they have such faith in them, let them save them if they can.  And, of course, they can’t.  They idols will eventually fall apart and return to dust and blow away in the wind.  Only God, the True God, never dies or weakens, but remains Almighty forever.

The end for the prostitutes – the unbelievers – those who prostitute themselves before idols and never believe – is to be cut off from God forever.  God will not hear them. God will not deliver them.  God will let them descend into the eternal suffering they have prepared for themselves.

This is a warning to all those who don’t believe in the Servant Savior – in Jesus Alone for salvation – you are cutting yourselves off from God to damnation.  Give up your idols, repent and submit to the One True God.

We are reminded again of the righteous:

“But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.”

All those who take refuge in the Lord – all those who have faith that leads to salvation – they shall be brought into the New Jerusalem, where they will live in peace, in the refuge of our God, worshipping Him forever and ever.

Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3, ESV).

Put away your idols.  They are a stench in the nostrils of God – little idols, as well as big idols – they can do nothing but prepare you for Hell.  Rather, believe in Jesus, the Savior sent by God to redeem all of His people.

For the Lord is a refuge to all those who believe.  And when the believer dies, he is brought into the presence of Jesus, worships Him, and finds everlasting peace.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for delivering Your people from the worship of idols and bringing us into Your refuge.  Help us to show those who are still enraptured with idols that it is a futile and damning pursuit.  Help us to root out the idolatry that remains in us.  And thank You for forgiving us through Jesus and for His preparing a place for us in the New Jerusalem, in Your Peace.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.