Pastor George Dronen
Midland SDA Church
May 26, 2012
Opening Hymn # 71 Come, Thou Almighty King
Text—Isaiah 58:13-14
Closing Hymn—# 249 Praise Him! Praise Him!
Theme thought: How true, God speaking; Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 58
1Crya aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.b
An urgent plea given to the prophet. God’s people are sinning.
The prophet is not to hold back. The warning is to be given in a trumpet like sounding. Notice God still calls them “My people.” This is reassuring but it requires action from the people.
Don’t God’s people want to know what they are doing that would cause God to provoke His prophet to give such an urgent summons. Could this Loud Cry warning be for us today?
Revival and Reformation are key words in our church. We know revival must take place, but what happens after the revival? Reformation—but what is reformation?
Are we ready for change?
1jBlow a trumpet in kZion;
sound an alarm on kmy
holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for lthe day of the LORD is coming; it is
near,
2ma day of darkness and gloom,
ma day of clouds and thick darkness!
A similar call to revival:
Joel has it as plain as any of the prophets.
A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!
I am afraid we are going to see a lot of happenings before the “rapture” as some people teach and believe.
The church is going to go through some rough times before it is all over, but God is our refuge and a very present help in the time of trouble.
A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at the right hand but it shall not come nigh thee.
Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
Have you read about the plagues, I really don’t want them to come near me.
Isn’t God’s word reassuring? Isn’t it wonderful to have this hope.
Our God shall come and not keep silent. No secret rapture but a shout that will wake up the dead.
2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near unto God.
Don’t we seek the Lord daily? Don’t we delight to know God’s ways? We keep the Sabbath, we tithe, we have our outreach programs. We gather week to week to worship but something is wrong.
3Wherefore have we fasted, say they , and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure, andc exact all your labors.d
Is all that we are doing not getting your attention, Heavenly Father? Is all that we are doing in vain?
Is it possible that all that we are doing is for our own pleasure and for our own labors. It sounds as if God’s people are saying; “why go through all this if God isn’t listening, isn’t answering our prayers.”
Do you ever feel like your prayers are not effective, their aren’t reaching God and they aren’t going any higher than the ceiling?
Why have a Seventh-day Adventist church, a church school, a community service, our outreach programs, evangelistic efforts.
Do you watch your clock on Sabbath afternoon waiting for the sun to go down so you can do your thing, get on with your life? Is it a challenge for you to get your check book out and take that 10 percent right off the top plus may be another 5-10 percent for offerings, do you ever feel tempted to fudge a little?
This is what is going on in the prophets mind. Why Lord, why is it such a challenge to follow You and do what You ask? Why the struggle?
4Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness:e ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.f
We are doing this “good deeds” but we still have strife and contention among ourselves. Are we doing things because we wanted to be heard, we want to be noticed, are we doing the good deeds to be saved rather than because we are saved? It seems that Isaiah is dealing with a motivational issue. The deeds of God’s people was not what but why. They were fasting and praying because this is what Christians do.
Are we Christians because we want to get out of the target zone or are we Christians because we have fallen in love with Jesus because of who He is and what He has done for us?
Dear people, this is the affliction of the human race. We are selfish, “me” centered, and we want to get out of it what is in it for me.
God created our first parents “God centered.” When they sinned they became “I” centered. We are all that way born with those propensities God gave directions that were directed to service. He wanted them to be free and to be free they must serve. They were to tend the plants, care for the garden, multiply and fill the earth, to have dominion over all the creation. This earth was theirs to enjoy, tend, and fill, and in doing such they would serve, unselfish service. God is an unselfish serving God. His delight is in making His creatures happy and fulfilled. He takes no delight in pain and suffering.
5Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Listen to our Father speak. Will you not humble yourselves? Will you not take a good look in the mirror, why are you calling this service—to go through the routine of pretending you are worshipping when you are not. God was disappointed in the way His people were spending their Sabbaths.
Is your Sabbath a series of don’ts? We can’t do this, we don’t do that—because it is the Sabbath. That is what it was like when Jesus was on earth.
John 5, catch the scene. It is Sabbath morning and Jesus is making His way to the temple. He makes His way by the Sheep Gate to a pool. In a corner, on a dirty old mat lies a man, dejected, eyes withdrawn who is paralyzed. Can you imagine, he has been this way for 38 years. What were you doing 38 years ago, 1974? In today’s terms he has been paralyzed since 1974.
Jesus comes to him, asks if he wants to be made well, Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
This is Sabbath morning. The man has been in this condition for 38 years, surely Jesus could have waited until after the sun went down. Another 7-8 hours isn’t going to make that much of a difference? What would we say?
Dear ones, we need to examine our motives, our reason for being. Are we here in church this morning for selfish or unselfish reasons?
Are we really Christians or do we call ourselves Christians because it is the thing to do? In the time of the first Apostles after Pentecost there was a death decree hanging over your head if you said you were a Christian.
Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath He was brought before the Sanhedrin on the Sabbath to answer a charge of Sabbath breaking.
The Desire of Ages page 210 has one of the most remarkable paragraphs:
“The humble Nazarene asserts His real nobility. He rises above humanity, throws off the guise of sin and shame, and stands revealed, the Honored of the angels, the Son of God, One with the Creator of the universe. His hearers are spellbound. No man has ever spoken words like His, or borne himself with such a kingly majesty. His utterances are clear and plain, fully declaring His mission, and the duty of the world.”
Jesus revealed Himself to the Jewish leaders as the King of the Universe. They were without excuse.
This sends chills down my spine. Do you know why?
We too are a most favored people. We have more light than anyone else on planet earth. Do we treasure what we have been given and are we willing to share?
Desire of Ages 313
Worldly policy and the undeviating principles of righteousness do not blend into each other imperceptibly, like the colors of the rainbow. Between the two a broad, clear line is drawn by the eternal God. The likeness of Christ stands out as distinct from that of Satan as midday in contrast with midnight. And only those who live the life of Christ are His co-workers. If one sin is cherished in the soul, or one wrong practice retained in the life, the whole being is contaminated. The man becomes an instrument of unrighteousness.j
Listen carefully to the next verse in Isaiah 58:
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
What true worship is; service. Deeds of kindness, deeds to uplift fallen humans beings, members of our family are suffering and God has put it in our hands to feed them, to free them from bondage, to clothe them, and provide shelter for them, especially those of our own household. Do we consider the person hitchhiking down the road, unkempt, dirty, with a forlorn look, a member of our family? How about the person sentenced to jail for 30 years, is he a member of our family?
As our society progresses the space between the haves and the have not’s becomes greater.
The Apostle John said we are known by our love. Love is manifested in deeds of mercy, kindness, and forbearance. Jesus said; these you ought to have done and not left the other undone.
Is the sin of omission as great as the sin of commission? Is it as much a sin to excuse as it is to commit. Are we guilty of what we could have done?
We have 20-20 hindsight. What about the text that says; “these we should have done?” who does that excuse? Is the sin of neglect a greater sin than doing something and making a mess of doing it? Are we our brothers keeper or do we stand a far off and say, “my isn’t that terrible,” when we could have averted a problem? We must come to the place where we are willing to say, “what is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine.” That means I am willing to share in your sorrows because now they become mine, I am willing to share in your calamities because now they affect me too.
8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall by thy rearward. 9Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am.
Do we want immediate answers to prayer? Here is the formula. If our prayers are for those who are less fortunate, those in beds of sickness, those in pain and suffering, God is there ready and waiting to answer our requests.
God wants us to be conduits—vessels to convey God’s love to fallen humanity. He wants to use us to tell others what He is like and God is like a father who loves and cares for his children, and when we start taking care of God’s children because we represent Him then we can expect answers to our prayers just like Jesus did.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;
There is one more point that God has laid on my heart. We must take away critical, faultfinding, pointing of the finger out of our midst.
Jesus had some interesting people as His followers. Matthew was a tax collector. Peter used some rough language. The Apostle Paul was guilty of murder. David was an adulterer. Solomon was a womanizer.
Go through the list in Hebrews 11. Go through the genealogy of Jesus. It is pretty interesting group. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba. How far would these people get in the nominating committee? We wouldn’t give them a job would we? Jesus is not afraid of bad company.
What is so wonderful about being a Christian is you don’t have a past to worry about. The Bible says; “I have covered your transgression with a thick blanket.” “I have buried your sins in the deepest ocean.”
Off the coast the Guam is some of the deepest ocean in this world. When we sailed that part of the ocean I went up in the Sonar shack aboard our ship. When they took soundings it was amazing. They would sound and it would be several moments before the echo would come back. The depth of the ocean is 36,000 feet deep and God says don’t you go deep sea fishing, bringing up sins of your fellow church members. We must forgive like God forgives.
There are some things God can’t do, one them is that He can’t see sins that have been confessed and forgiven and when we bring up sins He says I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.
1verse 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Before Jesus comes back He will have a church with the same characteristics that He left.
People, God wants to take care of us. He knows what is best for us. He created us, He wants to restore us to the intentions He had for us in the beginning. It has to be on His plan, not ours. We have had 6000 years to make our plan work.
13If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honork it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:l 14then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.