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[0:00] Isaiah chapter 56, and we're going to begin reading at verse 9, and read through verse 13 and chapter 57.

[0:10] ! Isaiah 56, 9. Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour all you beasts of the forest.

[0:23] Israel's watchmen are blind. They all lack knowledge. They're all mute dogs. They cannot bark. They lie around and dream. They love to sleep.

[0:34] They're dogs with mighty appetites. They never have enough. They're shepherds who lack understanding. They all turn to their own way. Each seeks his own gain.

[0:45] Come, each one cries, let me get wine. Let us drink our fill of beer, and tomorrow will be like today, or even far better. The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart.

[1:01] Devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace. They find rest as they lie in death.

[1:14] But you, come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?

[1:26] Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars? You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree. You sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.

[1:40] The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion. They, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings.

[1:52] In the light of these things, should I relent? You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill. There you went up to offer your sacrifices. Behind your doors and your doorposts, you have put your pagan symbols.

[2:06] Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed. You climbed into it and opened it wide. You made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness.

[2:19] You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away. You descended to the grave itself. You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say it is hopeless.

[2:33] You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint. Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts?

[2:47] It is not because I have long, is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me? I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.

[2:59] When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you. The wind will carry all of them off. A mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.

[3:16] Why do those who profess to be the people of God need warnings and calls to repent? Why should sermons here at Grace Fellowship that are chiefly to those who profess to be Christians, why should they include warnings and calls to repent?

[3:38] Well, because we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking something that we are not. And wherever our lives come short of God's standard, precisely there we need to repent.

[3:54] And we are those who are ever confessing that every day and in word and deed we do come short. And therefore, until glory we have need of repentance.

[4:08] Never think yourself beyond the need for warnings and calls to repent, people of God. These are the very tools that God uses to save us, to get us home to heaven.

[4:24] In Isaiah 56, God sent a call to repent to those who claim to be his people. And it's a call to turn from their own way and to walk in his way.

[4:36] And his way was spelled out for us in detail. That holy life expected of all God's people. To maintain justice and to do what is right.

[4:46] To keep the Sabbath without profaning it. To keep your hand from doing any evil. To choose what pleases God. To hold fast to his covenant.

[4:57] To live as his people with him as your God. And to bind yourself to the Lord. To serve, love, and worship him. Those were the ways that this practical holiness was spelled out.

[5:11] A holiness for all the people of God. We saw that last week. Now, we are next going to be shown why this call of repentance was needed. Isaiah wasn't wasting his breath.

[5:24] There was a reason he made this call to repent. It was because the nation as a whole was far from living this way. Isaiah 56, 1 through 8 did not describe their lives.

[5:38] Rather, Isaiah 57, 1 through 13 described their lives. And the end of chapter 56, 1 through 13. As we'll see. And so, their sad spiritual state is shown first in the leaders.

[5:51] And then, in the people at large. And together, what we have then are seven lessons for people needing to repent. The first lesson is that those who lead have a greater accountability to give.

[6:09] And that because of their greater influence upon others. And this principle holds true for parents and pastors and presidents and teachers and bosses and anyone in any form of leadership positions.

[6:28] It's why James sounds the warning. Not many of you should be teachers. My brothers, my brothers. Because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

[6:42] So here, when God comes in judgment, he starts with the leaders. And this section begins with God preparing a feast and inviting his guests to come.

[6:54] Now, it's a strange feast. The thing to be devoured is the nation of Israel. Now, and it's a strange, they are strange guests.

[7:06] They are wild beasts of the field. Verse 9. Who are invited to come and devour. Wild beasts are often the figure used to speak of the enemy nations of Israel.

[7:20] Israel. And so we have this call of God to the enemy nations around to come and devour. His professing people.

[7:33] Israel. And the reason God's judgment is falling on Israel follows then. And it starts with failed leadership. He starts with failed leadership.

[7:44] Throughout the Bible, leaders are called watchmen and shepherds. Indeed, those are terms used of the leaders in a church, the leaders of state. But a watchman was a man who was placed on the wall and given the charge to keep watch.

[8:02] He was a man who watched. He was looking out for the enemy. And that allowed the people to go about their business or to go about sleeping.

[8:16] Because there was a watchman on the wall and he was watching for them. At the least or at the first approach of danger, he was to warn the people.

[8:28] He was to tell the people, danger. Here it is. And he was to arouse them. Well, that's the duty of leaders then.

[8:40] But we read in verse 10 that Israel's watchmen are blind. They can't see the spiritual danger. Though it's all around them. Because they all lack knowledge.

[8:53] They lack knowledge of God and his word. And even if they saw danger, they couldn't warn against it. For they are all mute dogs that cannot bark, Isaiah says.

[9:06] And so they don't warn against sin and error. And doctrinal heresy. And looming judgment. They don't call people to repent.

[9:17] No, they don't do these things that Isaiah does. They just like to have a positive ministry.

[9:28] None of the negatives of repentance and exposing sin. That's not for them. Leave that to someone else. And on top of that, they're lazy.

[9:42] They lie around and dream. They love to sleep. Now, they're meant to stay spiritually alert. We're talking about a watchman now posted on the wall. They're meant to be spiritually alert.

[9:53] But they're spiritually fast asleep. Now, suppose due to robberies in your neighborhood, you're in the market for a watchdog. And you see one advertised on Craigslist.

[10:07] And you go to check it out. And here's the mutt. And you're looking it over. Sure enough, it's a fine-looking German shepherd. It's got all the papers.

[10:18] It's a purebred. A lovely coat of hair. You like the color, the markings. It's all fine. The only thing wrong with it is that he's blind. And oh, yes, he can't bark.

[10:29] And he sleeps all the time. But other than that, he's a good watchdog. Well, it's comical. But the application to Israel's leaders is tragic.

[10:42] What good is a watchdog that can't see, can't bark, and can't keep awake? And what good are watchmen? What good are preachers? What good are leaders?

[10:53] They never bark? Never warn. Never call to repent. Never warn of danger in living and in things believed.

[11:06] These were Israel's watchmen, the prophets. And though they don't do what a watchdog is supposed to do, they do have a mighty appetite, like a dog.

[11:22] Verse 11 says, they never have enough. Well, leaders are also called shepherds. And these were figures, again, that were very common in Israel.

[11:33] They knew what a watchman was. Many of their cities had them up on the wall. They knew what a shepherd was. Many of them were shepherds or knew them and had them all around them at all times.

[11:43] And what's a shepherd meant to do? Well, he's meant to care for the flock. He's meant to care for the flock. Watch over and care for the flock. But these only care for themselves.

[11:55] They all turn to their own way. Each seeks his own gain. That's the hallmark of rebellion. We've all turned to our own way.

[12:06] We've all sought our own way. Well, that's what they're doing. And they're not choosing what pleases God. They're self-absorbed. They're doing as they please. And their true condition is heard in the very cry of their hearts.

[12:19] Verse 12, come. Come, each one cries. Let me get wine. Let us drink our fill of beer. And tomorrow will be just like today or even far better.

[12:30] And in hearing that, you see right to the heart of them. They have no fear of tomorrow. No fear of the future. They don't give a rip about anything. As long as there's alcohol to be consumed, then they're living the good life.

[12:45] And it couldn't be better. And they think the party will never end. Little knowing that God has already issued his own come. And it's not a come, let's get more wine.

[12:59] It's come, you wild beasts of the enemy nations. Come and feast on these people because their watchmen are asleep and their shepherds are self-absorbed.

[13:12] The word of judgment has gone out. Severe judgment is coming. And when the watchmen sleep, all kinds of thieves come into the house and rob the souls of men.

[13:27] And when shepherds are unholy, all kinds of evils flood into the church. So severe judgment is pronounced for leaders who are incompetent, without knowledge.

[13:38] They are lazy. They love to sleep. They are self-absorbed. They do what they want to do. And that word goes for fathers who advocate their role of leadership in the home.

[13:53] And that word goes for pastors who don't preach against sin and don't warn and call to repentance and holy living. You need to pray for your pastors.

[14:05] It's a lot easier to tell you things that are all positive. But if that's all we do, we are dogs that cannot bark. We are unfit to be shepherds.

[14:19] Leaders, are you leading as you'll wish you had led in the day when you give an account to God? Well, this failure of Israel's leaders then is something that would not be resolved until Christ came.

[14:31] And Pastor Jason read that the one true shepherd is coming. It's the Lord Jesus. He's the anointed prophet, priest, and king of his people. He's the leader of his people.

[14:43] And in contrast to those self-serving shepherds, he will be the one who is the true good shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep.

[14:55] And who says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. And I give them eternal life and they will never perish. You see, his sheep are safe under his care.

[15:07] Because he gives his life for the sheep. Well, this Savior has come. The good shepherd has laid down his life.

[15:18] Have you trusted in him? Are you following him? Are you listening to him? Are you under his watch care? If so, you will never perish. But if not, you will perish. Take refuge in Christ the shepherd.

[15:33] Well, when the head is sick, the whole body is affected. And when Israel's watchmen are sleeping and their shepherds are self-serving, we're not surprised to find that the greater part of the people were wandering far from God, as we read in chapter 57.

[15:53] Verses 1 and 2 tell us there were a few righteous exceptions. There were a few righteous men. There's always the remnant in God's Israel.

[16:07] The Israel within Israel. There's always those that really know the Lord and walk with him. And they're called upright and righteous in these first two verses.

[16:17] They were doing what was right in God's eyes. They were walking uprightly. They were living those holy lives that chapter 56, 1 to 8 called upon them to live.

[16:29] And they were doing it right in the midst of an unholy people. Now, those would have been the kind of guys to make your leaders, right? But instead of being made their leaders, they were made the butt of their jokes.

[16:41] You see that in verse 4. They were mocking them. They were scoffing at them. You know, holiness will always be mocked and scorned by the unrighteous.

[16:54] And we see it here. Well, as these devout people were dying, no one had enough discernment to realize what was really happening. God was doing them a favor.

[17:05] He was taking them away to be spared of the evils that were about to fall on Israel.

[17:16] The enemy nations were about to devour them. And in order to spare them, God took them away in death. These righteous people. Such judgments were coming that it is a mercy to die now before it happens.

[17:34] To be found resting in peace in heaven when he pours out disaster on earth. And so we see the judgment that is coming.

[17:45] And we see the righteous who are dying in the Lord resting in death. And so the chapter begins with the righteous resting. And it will end with the righteous resting in peace.

[18:00] But not for the wicked. Well, the second lesson we learn from this section of Isaiah is that turning to idols, or what we're calling God's substitutes, is spiritual adultery.

[18:15] Now, you'll read a lot about sexual immorality in this passage, but most of it is metaphorical for spiritual adultery.

[18:26] God is saying, you have done to me what the adulterous wife has done to her husband. She's walked out on him for other lovers. You were married to me.

[18:38] You promised to forsake all others and to have only me as your God. And you have forsaken me for your idols. That is adultery.

[18:49] That is spiritual adultery. That's why James says, you adulterers and adulteresses. Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? You said you'd leave the world for me.

[19:01] And now you're going back to it. Well, that's what was happening in Israel. With shepherds sleeping, the people had drifted into idolatry, and they loved it.

[19:14] They became like the nations around them. They worshiped their false gods. And that's ever the pull of the world. There's always the pull of the world. It's always pulling us toward their gods.

[19:26] And unless you are waging war against that pull, you are being sucked in. You are being conformed to the world unless you're fighting and pushing back. You're assimilating to the world and its ways.

[19:41] And no small part of our battling against the idols of the world is just to keep God central. To keep God first in your heart. To keep the priority straight.

[19:52] God at the center. God at the top. No competition for Him. Enjoying Him.

[20:06] Delighting in Him. Seeking Him first. And finding in Him all that you need. Having Him as your joy. Having Him as your refuge. Your treasure.

[20:16] Your trust. Because idols are what we turn to when we're no longer content with God. We're no longer content with Him. That's when the world gets real attractive.

[20:28] That's when its idols start pulling us. And we start getting sucked into them. Because idolatry is a failure to know and prize the one true God.

[20:40] the other night many of us were right out in this yard and we saw through a telescope I think we saw four moons of Jupiter that night all lined up in a row and they're rotating they're revolving around they're orbiting Jupiter they're being pulled in by that force of gravity pulling them into that huge planet Jupiter people are like moons drawn by gravity to the largest bodies near us and if God is not kept large and near and dear in our hearts then that force of gravity pulling in us will be weaker and we'll start getting pulled into other objects and start having our lives and our hearts revolving around things that are substitutes for God the lesson is to keep God big and central and near and dear to you so that he is the center of your least endeavor he is the one you wake up to you walk with you go to sleep with you live for and live with all day long they turn to God's substitutes and God calls it adultery whenever we treasure anything more than him it's idolatry that's why Jesus says wherever your heart is or wherever your treasure is there will your heart be also we've got to keep God as our treasure

[22:25] God is the one we delight in spiritual adultery giving to others what only God should have in the way of our love and affection and trust and fear obedience and worship it's going back on our vows it's going back on that covenant that we are to bind ourselves to the Lord to have him alone as our God it's to have other gods besides him which is something that we said we would not do so Israel's idolatry was spiritual adultery and it's no less in our lives but Israel's idolatry led them to do things that they never probably thought that they would do and this is our third lesson that your idols will own you and they will always take you further than you wanted to go do you know that many are clinging to their idols even though it ruins their health you know that don't you many people's health is being ruined because of some idol in their life that controls them and it's taking them farther perhaps than they even wanted to go but it now has a hold on them and it's ruining their health people will cling to idols even though it ruins their marriages even though it ruins their jobs their finances their relationships and in their idol worship

[24:05] Israel found themselves involved at least in three things first of all in sorcery you see the reference in verse 4 you sons of sorceress what is sorcery?

[24:16] it's seeking knowledge from evil spirits instead of being content with the knowledge that God has revealed to us and so we want to know the future and God hasn't told us exactly our future what's going to happen tomorrow and so we people are lured in to go into sorcery and so seeking guidance from fallen angels who themselves are condemned to hell who want to damn you all such is an abomination to God poem readers horoscopes seances fortune tellers and where such is practiced you can be sure that something other than the one true God is being worshipped they were sucked into some idol worship that brings about sorcery the second thing that their idolatry brought them to do was sexual immorality it led them into sexual immorality the Canaanite fertility cults had their temple prostitutes and consorting with them became a part of worship as much as standing to sing or to pray that we have done in our order of worship having their lust inflamed and satisfied by temple prostitutes was a part of the worship of these

[25:41] Canaanite deities these idols and I would say that wherever sexual immorality is the practice of people today you can be sure that another God is being worshipped in their heart than the Holy One of Israel found in the Bible and the third thing that their idolatry brought them to was to sacrifice their own children and you see that in verse 5 Molech was the god of the Ammonites and he required them to have their children pass through the fire of sacrifice well you say at least we don't do that but I ask has not attachment to idols been at the bottom of many a man or a woman sacrificing their children leaving them to raise themselves leaving them to themselves where is mom where is dad it's some other idol that is claiming their loyalty their time and attention well you see they got sucked up into these things idols will take you further than you wanted to go when you give to something the place that God should take that God should have they made their idols their portion in their lot when God himself is to be our portion in lot when he's not enough an idol looks attractive the fourth lesson then is don't underestimate the powerful grip of idols if Israel found themselves sacrificing their own offspring don't underestimate the powerful grip of idols verse 10 shows us this grip you were wearied by all your ways but you would not say it is hopeless you know all this idolatry can be wearisome to men as they expend great energy on their idols you know that don't you men spend lots of money and energy on their idols and they aggressively

[27:54] Israel was aggressively seeking other lovers their idolatry they were exhausting themselves in the pursuit of their new idols in fact verse 9 shows that no money was too much to spend they multiplied oil and perfume as they went out no distance was too far to go for their idols they sent solicitors far away to pursue and no height was too high to climb they went to the high places on the mountain tops no depth was too low to stoop they descended into ravines even to Sheol itself all in pursuit of their idols and it all had a wearing effect upon them idols are wearying they wear you out it leaves you weary and heavy laden and yet it has a tenacious hold upon the person so that they cannot break free of it now in contrast to the way of idolatry you have God's ways the ways of wisdom the ways of his law following in that way all his ways are paths of pleasantness and all his paths are peace the Bible says but they would not walk in

[29:08] God's ways they would walk in their own ways and idolatry and sin often carries its own punishment so for their drunken party there's always that hangover and that regret for the things they did under the influence of alcohol and for their sexual amorality there's always that nagging conscience and that cheapening of self and that unwanted pregnancy perhaps and for their making of their job an idol there's always the stress that goes along with it and the brokenness of neglected relationships and for the idol of fearing man there's the bondage of trying so hard to please and impress others idols wear you out and that's the picture that Isaiah is painting for us you were weary he says in verse 10 you were wearied by all your ways but you would not say it is hopeless you wouldn't get to the bottom where you say what am I doing this is a dead end street this is going nowhere this is hopeless and to abandon it no you found renewal of your strength and so you did not faint brothers and sisters have we not seen men brought so low by their idols and the consequences of that life that we said surely now they'll hit the bottom forsake their idols and come to christ i mean look they're they're lower than how could they not hit bottom how could they not give it up as hopeless but what we have seen is the amazing ability to pull oneself up by one's own boot straps to scrape oneself up off the ground and to find some renewal of strength to go on in their own way and that's what is is watching as he looks at his countrymen you were weary you should have said it's hopeless and abandoned your idols but you didn't you found some strength to go on don't underestimate the powerful grip of idols though their head is bloodied it is still unbowed and though rebellion against

[31:32] God is always hopeless because you win God as your enemy and your opponent yet they still refuse to say it's hopeless dogged determination to continue on in their own way this is the power of sin in mankind and so for every prodigal son who does hit bottom and come to his senses and abandon his way and come home to the Lord Jesus Christ there are tens and twenties and hundreds who never turn around but just scrape themselves up and go another week go another day another year on their way to destruction takes more than outward consequences of sin takes more than judgments to save a sinner takes the work of the Holy Spirit to change that heart to show a man how hopeless they are without

[32:32] Jesus and to draw us to draw us to pull us out of our big pen of sin to the Savior the fifth lesson for people who need to repent is to avoid the fatal misinterpretation of God's patience God's patience it's a tricky thing God is patient and men think he doesn't care God says I'm going to be long suffering and though they're going after their idols I'm not going to immediately come in and judge them and so Israel thinks well the hammer hasn't fallen I guess it never will and on they go in their sin they draw a wrong conclusion they miscalculate the silence of God it's not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me because I didn't come in judgment you don't fear me in judgment everything's going fine life is good won't it always be good bring on the drinks tomorrow will be the same or even better not knowing what you are doing is that you are misinterpreting the patience and long suffering of God it does not mean that God doesn't see it doesn't mean that God doesn't care it doesn't mean that God views sin lightly it just means

[34:11] God is amazingly patient to not immediately punish us for our sins but the people were miscalculating and thinking I can go on and get away with sin well God says to them through the prophet you're going to find out otherwise for at last my patience will end and my judgment will fall and when it does I will expose your righteousness and your works for the filthy rags that they are your righteousness and your works will not benefit you as you think they will they will not benefit you in the least all your church going all your your sacrifices all these good deeds you've done I will expose them in the day of judgment and you'll see them just consumed as straw and stubble they were not done out of faith in Jesus Christ they were not done out of love to God and seeking of his glory so they were nothing but straw they're not able to save you from judgment and my judgment is falling and when it comes you will cry out for help and I will leave you to your collection of idols to save you but you will find in that day that they will be blown away by a mere puff of wind avoid the fatal misinterpretation of

[35:39] God's patience in the day when judgment falls the worthlessness of idols will be exposed that's the sixth lesson judgment will show the worthlessness of all God's substitutes everything put in God's place will in the day of judgment be seen to not be able to save the greatest danger of all hell is now in the balance and what men put in the place of Christ the only savior will prove unavailing but you notice the one good word at the end of verse 13 but the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain those who turn to me in their danger those who hide in me for salvation will find it in the day of judgment what a blessed gospel word thrown in here to turn our hearts toward Christ what wicked folly!

[36:40] then to turn to anything anyone other than the Lord Jesus he's a willing and an able savior he's the only savior and whoever trusts in me whoever makes me his refuge will find salvation!

[37:29] no it's only possible when God himself comes to live within you by his spirit so that God's own holy character might be seen in the soul of man lived out by the power of his spirit in the whole of life and that's precisely what he does in verse 15 he says this is what the high and holy one says he who lives forever!

[37:55] whose name is holy I live in a high and holy place but also with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit to revive the heart of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite what's the picture you can't live this holy life you can't do what I'm calling you to do but as I come to live in you you will have powers that you didn't have before you know they look at the holy life required of Christians they read the law of God they read Isaiah 56 1 through 8 and they say I can't do that of course you can't that's why you need a savior do you realize the only way for you to live a godly life is if God can come into your heart and live there it takes God in you to live a godly life that's the last lesson for us and that's what

[38:59] God says he'll do yes I live in a high and holy place so high you can't come there you're too sinful but I stoop to live in hearts that are poor and contrite so do you come to a passage like this and say John I don't measure up oh I find my heart being pulled into the orbit of idols of this world and what the world says is important I start finding is important to me and I start neglecting my Bible my meetings with God and worshiping him and praying and all of that suffers because some idol now has sucked me into its orbit and I'm going around it and God means less oh I'm so weak pastor is your heart broken over that are you low and contrite when you see the power of idols in your life those are the people that

[40:05] God comes and dwells in it's not the one that says idols not me I've got this Christian life by the tail I don't have any idols that ever bother me and the talk of idolatry and God replacement not me Isaiah 56 1 to 8 that's that's the story of my life you'll live without God's presence and power it takes God living in your heart to produce a godly life so sinner don't make that an excuse to come to Christ Satan would damn you by hanging on to that obstacle I couldn't live that way I couldn't live that holy of course you can God in you can God working in you you will work out those very things he comes to live in those who are broken and contrite do you know

[41:08] God knows the inability and weakness of sinners do you know he knows what idols are sucking at you and pulling at your heart you know he knows all of that of course he does it's lost love from him he knows where that's going he's looked he's seen what you're doing he's seen what you're spending your money your time on and where you're going he sees that he knows that that's why he's the savior for weak sinners when we were without strength he came to us when we had no power of our own he died!

[41:46] he knows the tenacious grip of sin and idols he knows that left to ourselves we can't free ourselves from them and that's why God says he'll not always accuse verse 16 he'll not always be angry do you realize if God was always accusing and angry as long as the sinner was going on in his sin he would always accuse!

[42:06] and be angry because the sinner would always go on his own way and so because God knows that the sinner will always sin because that's what we are he says I will not always accuse I will not always be angry he's talking about those elect that he's going to save he does not just continually follow them their sin accuse anger or the spirit of man would faint There'd be no bright light beyond the horizon at all we'd go right to hell with God's anger tracking us down and so he says so I will not always accuse and be angry forever you know why he can say that because his anger fell on Christ therefore he's able to not cast it on us and his word accused Christ that we might go free and so God says he'll not always accuse and be angry forever His punishments for their sin did not cure them verse 17

[43:07] I punished him and I hid my face in anger yet he kept on in his willful ways verse 18 I have seen his ways his willful ways but I will heal him now that should shock us they sin I punish I punish and what do they do they keep going on in their own willful stubborn ways therefore I will heal him why does he keep going on in this stubborn way because he's got a wandering heart he's got a heart that says my way not your way and as long as he has a wandering heart he'll have straying feet and God knows that about us and so he says I will not always be angry I will not always punish because punishment did not cure us so I will heal him so Ezekiel says it in this way I will cleanse you from your idols

[44:08] I will take out your old heart of stone and I'll put in a new heart of flesh I'll put my spirit in you I'll come and dwell in you and I'll cause you to walk in my ways and to be careful to keep my laws I'll heal you no amount of time will heal the sinner's heart no amount of punishment from God will heal the sinner's heart sinners will be sinners in hell forever and ever there's one thing that will heal you and that's God coming to live in you transforming your heart making you a lover of God instead of lover of yourself in your own way this is the gospel that Isaiah ends chapter 56 with I will heal him he says it twice and then I will guide him and I'll restore comfort to him I'll create praise on his lips peace oh what a wonderful peace I will give to him no longer the accusing conscience saying you're guilty judgment is coming now peace with God through the merits of our

[45:10] Lord Jesus Christ soul rest but you notice it's not for everyone not for the wicked who refuse to repent not for the wicked who go on living according to their own way living without Christ for the word for them is verse 20 and 21 but the wicked are like the tossing sea which cannot rest whose waves cast up mire and mud there's no peace says my God for the wicked peace follows Christ into the soul where Christ goes peace comes no Christ no peace no salvation no peace do you have peace do you know if you die tonight you'd be in heaven do you know that all of your sins are under the blood of

[46:14] Christ do you know that there's no condemnation for you because you're in Christ Jesus you know he's yours you know he's your savior then you have this wonderful peace of assurance peace peace real peace but if you do not have Christ your heart is like the tossing sea like the waves that cannot rest that are ever billowing ever flowing crashing into one another that's a picture of your heart you're guilty and your conscience knows that you know you're going to stand before God one day you know you're you're not right with him and conscience comes accusing and it's like a troubled turbulent sea you live with that turbulence and Jesus is saying come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me and you will find rest for your soul soul rest peace the peace of knowing that Jesus saves us from the coming wrath come to

[47:27] Jesus and you'll find out what real soul rest is and dear believers let's press in closer to our God let's keep him nearer and dearer to us so that so that we are in the orbit and being sucked in by that gravity of love and amazement and fear and awe of who he is rather than growing distant and we start to get sucked into another orbit may we take this opportunity whoever we are to draw near to God and he will draw near to us we sing this song as our response from the overhead nearer still nearer let's stand as we respond to the Lord who has spoken to us in his word we confess our God and Savior that we have let other things come between you and our hearts and we are ashamed we're sorry for our sins and we ask you to forgive us our sins for Jesus sake to cover them to remove them from us as far as the east is from the west take us in your arms and draw us nearer we do confess that there is enough in you to keep us wondering and amazed for all eternity oh give us eyes to see now to be taken up with you as our delight to be kept from sin and idols that would call out to take your place come and rule and reign in our hearts come and save those who are still in the bondage of sin come and stop your anger for

[49:15]  Jesus sake and have mercy on them and heal their wandering heart draw them to yourself and be glorified by living in them all the days of their life we ask it in Jesus powerful name amen