Woes to the Wicked (3) - Isaiah 5:8-30
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Isaiah 5:18-23]
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19 Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
[PRAYER]
In our passage this evening we see the final worthless grapes Isaiah sang about at the beginning of Isaiah 5.
Isaiah’s song was about Israel as a choice vine and God a careful vinedresser who gave His vine every advantage so that it would bear good grapes.
Instead the vine produced worthless grapes.
In Isaiah 5:8 we saw that Israel produced the worthless grape of greed or materialism.
8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
In Isaiah 5:11-12 we saw that Israel produced the worthless grape of drunkenness, the frivolous partying that gives no mind to God.
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! 12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
In Isaiah 5:18-19, we saw that Israel produced the worthless grape of contempt.
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19 Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”
And in Isaiah 5:20, we saw that Israel produced the worthless grape of distortion.
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
And for all of these worthless grapes there is the woe of God’s coming judgment.
Tonight we look at two more of Israel’s worthless grapes and examine ourselves to make sure that we are producing good grapes—good spiritual fruit as we abide in Jesus the True Vine.
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Worthless Grape #5: Foolishness (Isaiah 5:21)
Worthless Grape #5: Foolishness (Isaiah 5:21)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!
[EXP] The fool says in his heart there is no God. The fool believes that God doesn’t see his sin and won’t call it to account. The fool believes that he is wiser than God, that he knows better than the Almighty.
In Isaiah’s day, God’s people had their share of fools.
Wicked kings thought they knew better than God.
Rebellious people thought they knew better than God.
False prophets thought they knew better than God.
This led to a life of ignoring God, a life of following their own way, a life of redefining write and wrong to suit the sinful desires of their flesh.
This was a period in Israel’s history not far off from the period of the Judges; there was no king so everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
[ILLUS] When King David was forced to flee from his son, Absalom, there was a man named, Shimei, who cursed David and threw stones at him as he went. After Absalom’s rebellion failed, Shimei was forced to live in Jerusalem permanently.
If he left, the new king—David’s son, King Solomon— said that he would die.
Soon, however, Shimei had some servants who ran off to Gath, away from Jerusalem, and Shimei had to decide if he would what was right in his own eyes or what was right according to the king’s command.
Shimei decided to go look for his servants.
When he returned, King Solomon had him executed.
12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
[APP] Rather than doing what’s right in our own eyes, we must do what’s right in the eyes of our King.
Proverbs 3:5-8 says…
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.
As followers of King Jesus, we must decide if we will be wise in our own eyes or if we will trust His wisdom.
If we trust His wisdom, then we shall stand.
If we do not trust His wisdom, then we will fall and great will be the fall of it.
[TS] …
Worthless Grape #6: Corruption (Isaiah 5:22-23)
Worthless Grape #6: Corruption (Isaiah 5:22-23)
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
[EXP] Those who take the bench as judges ought to be heroes of justice under the law. The judges in Isaiah’s day were, however, heroes of intoxication under the influence of strong drink.
They probably weren’t sober enough to make a reasonable, lawful decision, but even if they were, they were also opened to bribes.
For the right price, they would let the wicked go free and punish the innocent.
[ILLUS] A judge in Miami, Florida, was refused more alcohol at a local bar. When the bartender told her that she had been cutoff, she became irate and cursed out the bartender.
The police were called, and when they arrived, she referred to them as pigs.
The judge was driven home by a friend, but just a couple weeks later seemed to be impaired while at the courthouse.
People noticed that her speech was slurred and that she appeared unsteady on her feet.
She was ordered to go home and wanted to drive her self but was eventually taken by her bailiff.
On the way, however, the judge could not remember her address, the way to her house, her bailiff’s name, or whose car she was in.
The lawyer for the judge said that she had been given a new prescription medication but did not provide any paperwork to prove it.
The judge was eventually suspended by the Florida Supreme Court.
[ILLUS] A judge in Texas was sentenced to five years in prison because he took bribes in exchange for lenient sentences.
On three separate occasions, the judge released clients of a defense attorney who had bribed the judge with cash hidden in six-packs of beer in addition to other favors.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick said, “The bribery of a judge may be the worst break of the publics’ trust in government.”
If that’s for us, how much more so for the people of God?
[TS] Will God not do something about all this wickedness?
He certainly will.
Judgment is coming.
Looking at vv. 26-30 once again.
Woe on the Wicked (vv. 26-30)
Woe on the Wicked (vv. 26-30)
26 He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly. 27 No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken. 28 Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the prey And carries it off with no one to deliver it. 30 And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.
[EXP] Let’s notice a few things about this woe, this judgement...
First, notice in v. 26 that is summoned by God.
Second, notice also in v. 26 that it will come racing when God’s summons.
Third, notice in v. 27 that this judgment will not be slowed.
Fourth, notice in v. 28 that this judgment will be ready for battle.
Fifth, notice in v. 29 that it will be ferocious like the strongest lions.
Sixth, notice in v. 30 that this judgment will be engulfing.
This will be the reality when God summons Assyria to judge Israel in the north.
This will be the reality when God summons Babylon to judge Judah in the south.
The rebellious people of God will be swallowed up the just judgment of God.
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
[ILLUS] I once saw a video of a flood somewhere in middle America. Rushing water pushed past the banks of a nearby river and soon this beautiful farm house was dragged into the torrent.
There was nothing anyone could do.
I don’t believe anyone was in the house, but no rescue could’ve been made.
Within second the house and even the land it sat on was engulfed the raging flood water.
Such will be the wrath of God on the wicked producers of worthless grapes.
[APP] Brothers and sisters, let us examine ourselves.
God’s patience will run out.
Pastor Derek Thomas writes, “For those who insist on pursuing a life outside of Jesus Christ, there isn’t a ray of hope.”
Jesus said…
13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.
We must make sure that we are in Christ and that we are abiding in Christ.
To be in Christ, we must believe on Jesus Christ for salvation.
We must believe that He lived the perfect life we should have lived, that He died the death that we deserved, and that He rose from the dead guaranteeing us resurrection life if we trust in Him.
Jesus is the True Vine, and we don’t have a ray of hope before the judgment of God without Him.
To abide in Christ, we must as J.C. Ryle said, cling to Him, stick fast to Him, live the life of close and intimate communion with him, get nearer and nearer to Him, roll every burden on Him, cast our whole weight on Him, and never let go our hold on Him for a moment.
We must make sure that we are in Christ and that we are abiding in Christ.
Without Him we don’t have a ray of hope.
Only then will we bear much fruit.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]