WEBVTT 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:06.639 The book of Isaiah, chapter 58. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:13.039 And if you happen to be using a pew Bible, you can find that on page 654. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:18.800 Isaiah 58. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:29.600 And if you are visiting with us, and if you don't have a Bible that you could call your own, please take this pew Bible there as a gift from us to you and read it. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:38.560 Isaiah 58, we'll be reading this entire chapter and looking at this chapter this morning as we continue on through the book of Isaiah. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.600 Isaiah 58, 1 through 14. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.039 This is God's word. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:49.119 Cry out loudly, don't hold back. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.640 Raise your voice like a ram's horn. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.200 Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:04.799 They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.439 They ask me for righteous judgments. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.920 They delight in the nearness of God. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.959 Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.840 We have denied ourselves, but you haven't noticed. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:22.799 Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:27.439 You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.920 You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high? 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.200 Will the fast I choose be like this? 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:41.120 A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.200 Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:48.719 Isn't this the fast I choose? 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:57.439 To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, to tear off every yoke? 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:06.959 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:13.439 Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:19.199 Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord's glory will be your rear guard. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:23.599 At that time when you call, the Lord will answer. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:27.199 When you cry out, he will say, Here I am. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:42.479 If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger pointing, the malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:47.599 The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.479 You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.400 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:59.120 You will restore the foundations laid long ago. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:05.520 You will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:37.599 If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable, if you honor it, not going your own way, seeking your own pleasure or taking business, then you will delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.639 Just go again to prayer. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:46.000 We need you speaking to us. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:55.360 If we just have mere human words, we have we have truly all that we need. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:59.599 So work today again, we ask, for your name's sake. 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:00.240 Amen. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:06.240 Appearances are not always what they seem. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.240 Does the name Bernie Madoff ring a bell to you? 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:16.959 He was once the chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:31.360 He had an investment firm thought to be worth billions of dollars until he was arrested in 2008, until it was revealed that he was running the largest Ponzi scheme in human history. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.439 Appearances are not always what they seem. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:43.600 In our chapter today, the nation of Israel has a certain appearance of godliness. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:44.720 All is well. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.560 Look at verse 2. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:55.839 They seek me day after day, they delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and doesn't abandon the justice of God. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:00.160 Sounds great, only it's not. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:10.079 In the very first verse of this chapter, God says that Isaiah needs to raise his voice like a trumpet and tell Israel their sin. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:14.160 And the word here for trumpet is the word shofar. 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:15.920 Have you ever seen one of those? 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.839 This is no piccolo trumpet. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.079 Those things can blast sounds. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:23.040 This sin is a big deal. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:28.959 God calls Israel to repent in this chapter. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.360 And that call for repentance is a call to us as well. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.800 And you might say, well, hold on a second here. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:42.079 I mean, I'm I'm no hypocrite like Bernie made off. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:50.399 Maybe not, but all of us face the temptation to be content with a good appearance. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:58.879 Some of you don't actually know the Lord, but you're content to let other people think you're a you're a good Christian. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:07.600 Others among us are genuine followers of Christ, but it's just so easy to start going through the motions. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.800 In Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses, this was the very first one. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:26.160 When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said repent, he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.399 That's the path we walk. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.720 It's not just a one-time event. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.079 And God is so merciful in this passage. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:36.720 We know he's called us a repentance. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:38.399 We know we need to repent. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.639 That alone should be motivation enough, but he gives us more. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:48.000 He offers so much hope for what happens when we do repent. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.319 And we'll get there. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:56.959 But first we need to look at what the nature of repentance is from this chapter. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.040 So we've got a very simple three-part structure for the sermon today. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:13.680 If you happen to be taking notes, what repentance isn't, what repentance is, and then what repentance brings. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.079 So we'll start first. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.879 What repentance isn't? 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:24.560 Repentance isn't merely acknowledging God. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:31.759 As we read this chapter, Israel is not out there like shaking their fist at God. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:35.040 They're in some sense acknowledging him. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.199 Verse 2, in some sense, they're asking for his righteous judgments. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:45.680 They draw near to God in some way, but apparently it's really more of a show than a reality. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:49.839 They acknowledge God, but they don't adore God. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.319 They recognize God, but they don't respond to God. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:59.759 They profess God, but they don't actually possess God. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:07.360 Even in our own day, there's some public figures who acknowledge God in certain ways when they didn't used to acknowledge God. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.040 We can be thankful for that on some level. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:15.279 You know, I'd rather have someone acknowledge God than to champion the gods of Baal. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:20.959 But we also must say that merely acknowledging God is not true repentance. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.720 What about you? 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:32.720 Parents, are you content for other parents to hear you acknowledging God before your children? 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:37.440 Or would your children say in the home, God is fully present? 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:39.840 Or maybe children who are here. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.720 Are you content to let your Sunday school teacher think, you know, you've got the right answer? 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:50.080 You're acknowledging the right things, even if your heart is far from the Lord. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.080 Repentance isn't merely acknowledging God. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.159 Repentance isn't empty rituals. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.159 We see that so clearly. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:01.840 Verse number three. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:09.200 We've denied ourselves, but you haven't noticed. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:19.440 Israel's very proud of its fasting, but God isn't impressed, because for them it had just become an empty ritual. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:30.000 I'll give you one example of that: Matthew 9, 15. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.159 Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:43.600 The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.480 Christ has been taken from us. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.159 We're longing for his return. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:56.480 It's appropriate at times to go without food, to remind ourselves of our passion for his return, our love for him, our focus on who he is. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.480 It's not wrong to fast. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:07.200 And even for those that were at prayer meeting recently, or you get the updates from the Kunis and the Wisis, those are missionaries we have serving in Indonesia. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:17.360 They invited us to join them for some specific needs there in this season of difficulty right now on the island through prayer and fasting. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.440 Were they asking us to do something that God hates? 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.480 No, no, not at all. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:26.720 They weren't asking for empty rituals. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:28.960 They were asking for earnest prayer. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:38.960 And perhaps you take one meal a week, and instead of eating, just let that hunger fuel you to be praying for God's glory there in Indonesia. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:46.879 So fasting's not wrong, but we do see from our passage that it can become an empty ritual. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.919 Think about the Pharisees. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:54.720 They fasted, but their hearts were far from the Lord. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:01.840 Do you ever notice how sometimes people seem eager to slip into a conversation that they were fasting? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.159 Like we really wanted the Lord's will to be done. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.639 So we sought the Lord through prayer and fasting. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:17.919 Just be careful of your heart. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:25.200 It's one thing to invite someone to a public cause and a public fast, but Jesus does say, wash your face. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:28.240 Don't put on gloomy attire when you fast. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.159 It's before God that you do that. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.679 And then just one other side comment about fasting. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:40.320 If fasting makes you kind of sleepy and irritable, don't do it on Sunday. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.679 You know? 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.799 Well, I'm on an intermittent fasting plan for my health. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.279 Well, that's great, but you're sleeping through the sermon. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:57.759 So, you know, get up Sunday morning, have an omelet or a muffin or a banana or something so that you can come ready to engage and you can lose that half a pound on Monday and Tuesday. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.000 That's just practical advice. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:06.159 Paul warns us of the danger of ritualism in Colossians. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.039 And this is very similar to Isaiah as well. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.879 Paul says, Don't let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:14.559 These are a shadow of what's to come. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.399 The substance is Christ. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:22.559 Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:28.399 If you died to Christ, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.080 Why do you submit to regulations? 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.639 Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:38.559 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:44.000 They're not of any value in curbing self-indulgence. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:50.000 What does empty ritualism look like today? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.320 Well, it probably doesn't look like worshiping angels for most of you. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:58.799 It could look like, in some cases, worshiping saints. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:06.559 It could look like saying the same prayer thoughtlessly over and over again and thinking, oh, this is just what repentance is. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.240 If I say these words enough, then God will really hear me. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:12.639 That's not what repentance is. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:17.360 Going to church could even become an empty ritual. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:23.440 Now, if you're worshiping saints, don't do that, worship the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.639 If you're going to church, don't stop going to church. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:28.080 God does command that. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:35.679 But don't just put on Sunday shoes and sit in the pew and think that all is well if your heart is not right before the Lord. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:39.200 If it's become an empty ritual, seek him. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:45.600 Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:50.559 So repentance isn't simply acknowledging God. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.759 Repentance isn't empty rituals. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.360 What is repentance? 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:03.759 In the first place, repentance is agreeing with God. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:08.240 Not just acknowledging God, but agreeing with God. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:14.080 This chapter here in Isaiah contains a kind of dialogue between God and the people. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:21.120 So in verse 3, which we read, they're complaining that God hasn't taken notice of their fasting. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.279 And then in the rest of the chapter, God answers them. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:29.200 Are they going to agree with God's assessment? 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.120 Or are they going to remain entrenched in their own ideas about what brings approval from God? 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.159 Verse 1, the verdict's already come in. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:42.000 House of Jacob, people of Israel, you are in sin. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:46.240 Are they going to listen and agree with God's assessment? 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.960 Or are they going to object and make excuses? 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:54.080 We have to agree with God about our sin. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:55.840 And how do we know what that is? 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.840 How do we know what's right and wrong? 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.559 Well, once again, we've got to go back to God. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.440 He's the one who made us, who designed us. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:07.120 He's the one who has to be able to tell us what's right and what's wrong. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:13.279 It's no praise to be on the right side of history if you're on the wrong side of God. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:17.279 So we need to listen to what God says here in His Word. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:24.399 But true repentance is more than just agreeing with God about our sin. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.759 It begins there. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:30.960 Repentance is also a heart change toward God. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.279 Repentance is a heart change toward God. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.360 Look down to verse 13. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:52.960 If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:58.480 We're going to get to behavior in a minute, but God's not looking for mere behavior. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.679 He's looking for behavior that flows from a certain kind of heart. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:12.399 If you call the Sabbath a delight, you will eat these lima beans and you will like them. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:12.879 Okay. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.960 I'll eat the lima beans and I'll like them. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:15.919 I know it's good for me. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:17.919 I'm going to lose that half a pound. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:26.240 The Lord doesn't want the Sabbath to be this burden that the people are taking on merely out of obligation. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:32.080 He wants it to flow from a heart that is so in love with him and who he is. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:38.240 It's called in this verse, the holy day of the Lord. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:51.120 If people don't delight in the holy day of the Lord, what does that say about the love they have for the Lord? 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.240 Do you hear the heart there that the Lord is going for? 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.080 They needed a heart change. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.240 Jesus himself reminds us of the need for a heart change. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:01.600 Matthew 15. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:11.759 Hypocrites, Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:17.759 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines, human commands. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:22.079 And you can ask God for a change of heart. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:34.559 If God and his righteousness always seems to taste like lima beans, and sin always seems to taste like that homemade lasagna, ask for a heart change. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:35.839 Do it. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:39.599 He loves to grant that humble request. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:43.519 Repentance is agreeing with God. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:47.680 Repentance is a heart change toward God. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:57.200 And then also from our passage, repentance, true repentance, is turning with a new desire to obey God. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.359 It's turning to obey God. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:05.839 The people say, hey, we're fasting, and God says, yes, but it's an empty ritual. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:11.279 And then God goes on to point out, look at all the things that you're not doing that I've commanded. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:18.000 If you really had a heart in you to keep my ways, why wouldn't you be doing the weightier matters of the law? 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.039 And he's going to outline what some of those things are. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:22.640 Verse number three. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:29.119 God says, Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:36.160 Verse 4 continues, you fast with contention and strife, to strike viciously with your fist. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:39.440 Verses six and seven, isn't this the fast I choose? 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:46.240 To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, to tear off every yoke? 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:52.880 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him? 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.240 Not to ignore your own flesh and blood? 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:10.079 Yet fasting, but what about loving justice and walking humbly with your God and these greater, weightier matters of mercy that I've said to do these things, Israel, you're not obeying from your heart all those things. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:21.200 Why does God here compare these good deeds, this love of neighbor that the people have left off? 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.440 He compares it to a fast. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:28.720 Yeah, you've got that ritual. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:30.480 I've got another kind of fast. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:39.119 He's not only saying that it's it's a substitute behavior for the wrong behavior they're engaged in. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.960 When you fast, think about what you're doing. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:49.119 You're giving up something that brings you some measure of comfort and joy. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.920 You're making a sacrifice, you're going without for some other purpose. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.759 In the good sense of a fast, you're going without to be spurred on towards prayer and the supreme. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:03.920 Value that we have to Jesus Christ, even more than food. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.400 Loving your neighbor is hard. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:10.799 It takes sacrifice. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.640 It takes self-denial. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:22.400 You've got to be willing to give up some things that might be comfortable to you, customary to you, in order to serve your neighbor. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:26.079 So it's a certain kind of fast, it's a different kind of fast. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:31.200 Mothers, why are you so willing to give up sleep for your baby? 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.119 That's costly. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:39.759 Because they have a need, and you're willing to sacrifice so that that need could be met. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.759 That's the kind of thing that God is calling for here in this passage. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:46.880 So how can we apply this to our lives? 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:50.720 Uh, you might say, well, this passage talks about breaking the chains. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:55.359 I don't really have anyone chained up, you know, in my garage, so that's good. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:57.039 Uh clothing the naked. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.960 I haven't seen anyone wandered through New Hyde Park naked, they could use an extra shirt or two. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.200 How do we apply this? 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:10.559 Well, some people really want to turn Isaiah into a comprehensive public policy maker. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:24.720 There's there's touch points here in our passage for governments, but Isaiah's main point is not that God is instructing us exactly what the effective tax rate should be in New York City or Tokyo or London in 2025. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:26.559 God's after the heart. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.880 So let's think about the heart. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:31.440 Let's start in the workplace. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.359 Verse three speaks about oppressing your workers. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:38.880 Maybe you own a business, maybe you're a supervisor. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.240 Say, hey, I've never once physically assaulted someone here, like the striking of the fist. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.960 Praise God for that self-restraint. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:50.000 And I mean that sincerely. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.759 That does still happen today. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:58.640 But are you willing to make sacrifices so that those under you can have it better? 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:03.119 That's the heart of the kind of fast that Jesus speaks about here. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:11.920 Or are you just quick to say, Well, I worked my way up and I've earned my place and my salary, and they and they What about hospitality? 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:17.039 Verse seven speaks very directly to that issue. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.720 Well, Micah, the Bible also says if people don't work, they shouldn't eat. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.319 It does say that. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:30.799 What about people that you know are very willing to work, but they're between jobs and they're looking and they're hurting. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.039 Unexpected expenses come up. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:37.839 Are you willing to sacrifice to help out? 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:47.759 If you want to hear more about hospitality, a few Sunday nights ago, our brother Mark Wiesner preached an excellent message from 3 John dealing with that theme. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:49.759 You can go back and listen to that more. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:53.279 But start where you can, start in small ways. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:23:06.000 I know some of you, you wouldn't even hardly dream of doing what verse 7 says, bringing someone else into your house that's in need for a month or three months or six months. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:10.960 Oh, Micah, but our culture is so much different than the Old Testament culture. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.000 That's right. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.240 In our culture, selfishness and hospitality is much more acceptable. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:17.119 That is a big difference. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:18.160 You're right. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.319 How about how you treat the Lord's day? 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:33.039 Yes, I understand that under the old covenant, Israel had, as a nation, more of an exact blueprint for their behavior on God's Sabbath day. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:34.559 The new covenant has come. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:36.240 Christ has fulfilled it. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:37.200 He is our Sabbath. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:43.519 We don't have this exact blueprint as they did in the old covenant for all of Lord's Day activities. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:49.200 And yet the Bible still says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:59.599 It still says in Acts chapter 2 that the early Christians devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to prayer, to breaking bread, to fellowship. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:06.000 Making Sunday a priority probably is going to involve some sacrifice. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:12.480 And that's the kind of fast that God loves from a heart that's in love with Him. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:20.480 I was listening to an interview this week where somebody said, Boy, when I go to church every Sunday, it feels like I get saved every Sunday. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.759 Not precise theology, but the sentiment is good there, right? 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.640 We think we can understand that if we know the Lord. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:31.039 So we've looked at what repentance is not. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:34.559 It's not merely acknowledging God, it's not empty rituals. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:35.759 What is it? 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:43.599 Well, it's agreeing with God, it's a heart change toward God, and it's a turning to obey God. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:58.160 But before we get into the final heading today, I do want to say that God doesn't just say you need to repent, He holds out this amazing reward for repentance. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.839 And I just have to commend you. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:12.079 Yes, in this passage, Isaiah really, through inspiration from God, he puts the finger on some of the soft spots in Israel's life. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.720 And we have to do that with one another. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:22.559 But I also want to commend you, I see so much evidence of heart change and a walking with the Lord in this body. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:24.160 I am just so grateful. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:32.960 And the Thanksgiving offering we recently had, we brought in close to $15,000 thanks to your generosity for people that are in need. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:37.519 We have people in our church who are amazingly hospitable. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:43.440 So many of you do your work with great integrity, and you're trying to help those that are under you. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.240 There are people that are here every single week. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:51.519 You could be out trying to make money or just sleeping in, and you you love the Lord's Day. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:56.559 Not because it's lima beans, because this is your homemade lasagna, and you're grateful to be here. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:00.880 And so I want to commend you in all of that and say, keep on keeping on. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:03.200 It's an encouragement to me as well. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:10.319 But finally, for today, last heading, what does repentance bring? 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:16.400 Repentance brings renewal. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:23.680 If you looked at the sermon title in advance, you knew where I was going because that's the title, Repentance Brings Renewal. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:25.519 I hope that doesn't sound bland. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:27.920 Once you get into it, it's not bland at all. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:32.400 When you see how it actually plays out here in the text, look at verses eight and nine. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:44.640 Then your light will appear like the dawn, your recovery will come quickly, your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord's glory will be your rear guard. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:46.880 At that time when you call, the Lord will answer. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:50.640 When you cry out, he will say, Here I am. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.680 Look in the middle of verse 10, picking up there. 00:26:53.680 --> 00:27:09.519 Then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night like the noonday, the Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, strengthen your bones, you will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.960 Who wouldn't want those things? 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:24.720 And the most fundamental kind of renewal that God gives us here in this passage is the personal presence of God in our lives. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.279 That's what all true Christians should crave more than anything else. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:35.519 Repentance brings renewal. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:39.440 And let me start with those of you that may not truly know the Lord. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.839 You need a whole new renewal. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:43.279 It's a renovation of your life. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:47.680 You need, as Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:53.920 You don't want to be among those who at the last day before Christ say, Well, look at all the fasting I did. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:56.559 Look at all the all the words that I repeated. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.519 And he says, Depart from me, I never knew you. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:05.759 You want to be those, like in verse 10 here, where the Lord says, Here I am. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.680 Welcome home. 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:12.559 And you can have that relationship with the true and living God. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:20.319 The only person who ever lived a life completely free of all hypocrisy was our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:36.559 You know, if anyone ever lived a life where all of their words and their behavior perfectly matched their heart, he never had to put on a show for anyone because all that he did, I do always those things that please him. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:39.200 And he wasn't lying when he said that. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:52.880 And you know, he lived that life of perfect righteousness for sinners, so that that life could be credited to us, and God could see his perfection as our perfection. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:29:02.240 He died as a sacrifice for our sins, the sins of appearance and people pleasing and all these minor hypocrisies and major hypocrisies. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.440 He died and suffered the very wrath of God that we might have life through him. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.279 If you haven't embraced that hope, embrace it today. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:23.359 Now, what about those of us this morning who we know the Lord's saving work in our lives, but maybe you find yourself like David. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:26.400 All your bones are wasting away because of your sin. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.559 Or like Peter. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:33.920 You started off well, but you've been drifting towards a life of denial. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:35.599 There's hope. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:41.359 It's the same hope for those that don't know the Lord, it's a return to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:46.319 It's his life in us, working through us, and recovery can come. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.160 Verse 8 tells us that. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.240 It's a beautiful description here. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:54.799 What seems so dark can be transformed to light. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:57.039 The Lord look at verse 8. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:01.359 The Lord's glory will be your rear guard. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:09.039 You can walk through life wherever you are right now, you can walk through life. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:13.119 And when you look back, you don't have to see sin and failure. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:16.160 It's there, but you don't have to see that. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:21.279 The Lord's glory can overshadow all of our sin and failure. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:27.359 And Yahweh Himself and His brilliance can push us forward for the rest of our lives. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:37.039 There's some ways in our passage that there's some specific descriptions for the nation of Israel and its history. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:43.440 Verse number 12 envisions a time when they return from captivity. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:46.720 So they're going to be in Babylon in captivity. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:51.440 They're going to return and get to rebuild aspects of Jerusalem and the temple. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:53.920 And you can see that there in verse 12. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:31:00.960 And yet the heart of the matter is still the presence and blessing of God. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:08.480 That's what they needed even more foundationally than a new temple or new streets. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:10.319 They needed sin to be dealt with. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:13.119 They needed God's presence in their lives. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:16.559 And it is more blessed to give than receive. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:18.880 God has given to us greatly in Christ. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:24.079 And you know, this passage, this is a great passage to go to if you're talking to someone. 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:31.599 And sometimes people, their idea of renewal is all about kind of prosperity in the here and now. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:44.799 Yes, it is true that under the old covenant, God worked with the nation of Israel, and he did tie part of his blessings and his cursing to their economic prosperity or their health as a nation. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:53.920 But this is a passage that reminds us he was doing that to teach a lesson about what their sin sick souls really needed. 00:31:53.920 --> 00:32:01.920 And it's what all of our sin-sick souls really need: the forgiveness and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:08.160 God's not just aiming to be a distant father who showers people with gifts. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:16.240 Verse 13 talks about this real renewal. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.599 So you call the Sabbath a delight. 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:24.079 And then look at verse 14 how it begins. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:28.720 Then you will delight in the Lord. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:30.319 There it is. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:31.279 Do you see the connection? 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:38.559 It's not take off of work on Sunday, and God will make sure you get triple the sales on Monday. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:48.480 It's love the things that I love and share in the heart that I have, and you'll get to have your reward and portion more of me. 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.839 That's the greatest reward. 00:32:51.839 --> 00:33:01.759 That's the value that God is placing on Himself and how we can know and enjoy the person that we were most designed to know and enjoy and relate to. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:11.599 This is from a book of wonderful prayers called The Valley of Vision. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:12.880 Some of you have that book. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:17.920 And the title helps us see and express this truth. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:21.920 Repentance brings renewal. 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:33.920 It doesn't bring only forgiveness, it brings wholeness in the best kind of sense that we've been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:40.799 So I'm going to read this prayer in conclusion, and I invite you to bow and pray with me in your hearts. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:56.720 Oh Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, you have brought us to the valley of vision where we we live in the depths and yet we see you in the heights. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.759 We want to see your glory. 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:23.440 Help us, Lord, to learn by a paradox that the way down is the way up, that to below, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul. 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:42.239 Yes, Lord, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:49.599 Lord, in the daytime, stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells, the brighter those stars shine. 00:34:49.599 --> 00:35:07.440 Help us to find light in our darkness, that your life would be in our death, your joy in our sorrow, your grace in our sin, your riches in our poverty, your glory in our valley. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:09.119 In Jesus' name. 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:10.079 Amen.