1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:09,400 The currency of God's Kingdom is righteousness, and in Scripture 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,920 you go to Isaiah songs, to Paul's epistles, to Jesus's 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,440 words and the Gospels. They teach this foundational 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:22,080 truth that righteousness is the essential medium of value, 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,000 identity and relationship in God's Kingdom. 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,160 This is so important. Read this one more time. 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,720 Righteousness is the essential medium of value, identity and 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,640 relationship in God's Kingdom. Righteousness is what God issues 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,440 to us. It's what he values, it's what 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,200 he requires, it's what he forms in US and it's what he rewards. 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,920 And once you see the centrality of of this concept, you can't 12 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,400 Unsee it because it's the theme that runs all the way through 13 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:51,880 the Bible. It's the gospel, it's salvation, 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,640 it's reward. And so to help you understand 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,840 this, a few points. Righteousness in Scripture is 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,760 revealed to us. That's what Romans 116 is. 17 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,840 It's one of our favorite verses. It says, I'm not ashamed of this 18 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,280 gospel. Why? 19 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,760 Because in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith. 20 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,080 For faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith, the 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:15,680 righteous one shall live by faith. 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,360 It's revealed to us. Righteousness in Scripture is 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,000 pursued. It is the goal of Christian 24 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,520 maturity. It's the end of Christian 25 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,400 maturity. Second Timothy 222 So flee 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,240 youthful passions and pursue righteousness. 27 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,320 Righteousness is embodied. Paul commands the church in 28 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,480 Romans 6. Do not present your members to 29 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,720 sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present 30 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,080 yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to 31 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,600 life and your members as instruments of righteousness to 32 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,120 God. Why? 33 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,680 This is because you've been set free from sin and you are no 34 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,680 longer a slave to sin, but you are now a slave to 35 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,000 righteousness. Righteousness is a person. 36 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,400 Righteousness is Jesus Christ first John 2. 37 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,080 He is Jesus Christ the righteous one. 38 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,960 First Corinthians 130 Jesus became for us wisdom and 39 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:07,840 righteousness. He made him who knew no sin to 40 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,680 be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God 41 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,720 in Jesus. Righteousness is protective. 42 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,200 So interesting. It defends you like armor. 43 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:22,720 You're called to put on the breastplate of righteousness and 44 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,240 through that you can withstand all of the arrows that the evil 45 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,560 1 shoots at you in the world. Righteousness is relational. 46 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,040 What's the reason that Paul gives for why we don't marry 47 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:34,960 unbelievers? Why do Christians not marry 48 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,320 unbelievers in this world? He says, What fellowship does 49 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,720 righteousness have with lawlessness? 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,080 So righteousness creates boundaries in the Christian 51 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,760 world that it governs our relationships and our 52 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,000 associations. Righteousness is trained. 53 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,440 Why do we have a Bible? Why do we have Scripture? 54 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,360 Because it says all Scriptures breathed out by God, and it's 55 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,200 profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for 56 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:05,160 training in righteousness. We train ourselves unto this. 57 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,680 It's rewarded. Righteousness is rewarded. 58 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,240 It says that laid up for us in heaven is the crown of 59 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,040 righteousness, which the righteous judge will award to us 60 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,320 on that day. Righteousness is God's delight. 61 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,560 Psalm 11/7 For the Lord is righteous. 62 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,960 He loves righteous deeds. Jeremiah 923 I delight and 63 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,520 steadfast love and injustice and in righteousness. 64 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,000 Righteousness is the purpose of Jesus life and death. 65 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:37,120 Why did Jesus bear our sins? Why the cross first Peter 2/24 66 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:42,080 He himself bore our sins, that we might die to sin and live to 67 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,240 righteousness. Righteousness is the hunger and 68 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,800 thirst of our soul. If you're a Christian, it ought 69 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,360 to be. God pronounces this blessing and 70 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,520 the beatitudes. Jesus says blessed are those who 71 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,840 hunger and thirst for righteousness. 72 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,480 And then finally Jesus says righteousness is the priority of 73 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,640 the church. He tells the church, seek first 74 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,000 the Kingdom of God and his what righteousness and all these 75 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,480 things will be added to you if you would just seek his Kingdom, 76 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,320 submit to him, do his will, seek for his righteousness. 77 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:15,680 Everything else he will take care of. 78 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,600 It's like a breastplate. It will guard you. 79 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,040 And so I hope you see the significance of this concept of 80 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,560 righteousness cannot be overstated in Scripture. 81 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,000 It's all through Scripture. And Isaiah uses this word in 66 82 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,240 chapters, 59 times. And so if you'll open to Isaiah 83 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,400 59, you're going to see this theme come alive. 84 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,240 And in connection to the theme as Isaiah uses it, turn to 85 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:41,960 Isaiah 59. And I want to remind you what he 86 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,920 said in Isaiah 5 with the parable of the vineyard, the 87 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:49,160 parable that Jesus is drawing on when he preached in Matthew 21. 88 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,440 Isaiah had a love song back in chapter 5 and he he sings it in 89 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,200 verse 1. He says, let me sing from my 90 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,920 beloved, my love song concerning his vineyard. 91 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,960 It's amazing how many types of literature are in the book of 92 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,280 Isaiah. It's been awesome, this love 93 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:05,920 song. He says, my beloved, my beloved 94 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,880 had a vineyard on a very fertile hill and he dug it and cleared 95 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,000 it of stones and he planted with choice vines. 96 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,720 He built the watchtower in the midst of it and he hewed out a 97 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,640 wine VAT in it and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it 98 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,400 yielded wild grapes. What was the song about what is 99 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,240 this fruit that he was looking for? 100 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,560 He said in verse 7, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is 101 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,960 the House of Israel and what is the fruit? 102 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,080 The men of Judah were his pleasant planting and he looked 103 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,320 for justice, but behold bloodshed. 104 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,920 He looked for righteousness, but behold an outcry. 105 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:41,840 That's we've seen it even in Jesus. 106 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,080 He, he gave this vineyard, he, he redeemed this people so that 107 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,640 they would produce fruit. And the fruit was supposed to be 108 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,720 righteous deeds and justice and mercy. 109 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,680 And he says he looked for it, but behold, he looked for grapes 110 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,280 and he got wild grapes. And it was kind of corny in the 111 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:02,360 original, but he says he looked for grapes and behold, stink 112 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,440 berries. He didn't get what he was 113 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,040 looking for. It was putrid. 114 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,880 And so he says rhetorically, you may remember this, I looked for 115 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,440 justice, but I got bloodshed. I looked for mish pot. 116 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,720 I got mish pot. And he says I looked for 117 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,520 righteousness, but instead I got an outcry. 118 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,200 I looked for saw the car and instead I got saw a car. 119 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,400 I didn't get what I planted. My people did not produce the 120 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:25,920 fruit. Ida lied in. 121 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,520 And we can ask just to catch you up from last week. 122 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,400 What was what would this fruit look like practically? 123 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,880 What does righteousness look like practically in the world? 124 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,520 What does it look like to do righteousness? 125 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,000 Isaiah 58 said it clearly and powerfully. 126 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,160 If you missed last week and you want to know, go back and watch 127 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,080 that message. To sum it up, he said 128 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,520 righteousness is to lose loose the bonds of wickedness. 129 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,040 It's to undo the straps of the yolk. 130 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,320 It's to let the oppressed go free. 131 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,760 It's to break every yolk. It's to share your bread with 132 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,080 the hungry. It's to bring the homeless poor 133 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,080 into your home, to cover the naked, to not hide yourself from 134 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,360 your fellow man and your fellow flesh, to take away the yolk, to 135 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,480 pour yourself out for the hungry and to satisfy the desire of the 136 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,720 afflicted. And that's the summary statement 137 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,880 of Isaiah 1. He summarizes this all in verse 138 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,040 17 when he says this is the the end of mankind. 139 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,680 Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring 140 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,000 justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. 141 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,080 Jesus says hunger and thirst for this. 142 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,480 You have to do this first. Jesus says seek this first. 143 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:35,320 And this is what it looks like practically. 144 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,360 We sum it up as a church all the time to provide, to protect and 145 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,880 include the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, the soldier, and 146 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:43,360 the sick. That's what loving your neighbor 147 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,120 means, giving a hand up a leg up to anyone who's in need. 148 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,400 Jesus is seeking this fruit from his church. 149 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,880 And as you look at Isaiah 58, there's no break, there's no 150 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,040 section break. That's it's, it goes straight 151 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,400 into Isaiah 59. No breaks in thought. 152 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,720 The subject is still righteousness. 153 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,400 It's a it's a long chapter, but I want to read it together. 154 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:09,800 Read with me Isaiah 59. God says, Sir, Isaiah says, 155 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,920 behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save or 156 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:15,360 his ear dole that he cannot hear. 157 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,680 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and God. 158 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,800 Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not 159 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,160 hear. For your hands are defiled with 160 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,400 blood, and your fingers with iniquity. 161 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,000 Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. 162 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,320 No one enters suit justly. No one goes to law honestly. 163 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,400 They rely on empty pleas, They speak lies, They conceive 164 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:39,080 mischief and give birth to iniquity. 165 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,520 They hatch otter's eggs, They weave the spider's web. 166 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:46,680 He who eats their eggs dies, And from one that is crushed a Viper 167 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,720 is hatched. Their webs will not serve as 168 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:50,640 clothing. Men will not cover themselves 169 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,920 with what they make. Their works are works of 170 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,680 iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. 171 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,800 Their feet run to evil, and they're swift to shed innocent 172 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:00,760 blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of 173 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,200 iniquity. Desolation and destruction are 174 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,680 in the highways. The way of peace they do not 175 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:08,120 know, and there is no justice in their paths. 176 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:09,920 They have made their roads crooked. 177 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,200 No one who treads on them knows peace. 178 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,960 Therefore justice is far from us. 179 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,360 Righteousness does not overtake us. 180 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,920 We hope for light and behold darkness and for brightness, but 181 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,800 we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the 182 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,720 blind. We grope like those who have no 183 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,680 eyes. We stumble at noon as in the 184 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:29,640 twilight, among those in full vigor. 185 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,960 We are like dead men. We all growl like bears. 186 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,760 We moan and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but there 187 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,360 is none for salvation. But it is far from us, for our 188 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,360 transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify 189 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,800 against us, for our transgressions are with us. 190 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,880 We know our iniquities, transgressing and denying the 191 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,480 Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking 192 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,000 oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the 193 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,360 heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and 194 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,480 righteousness stands far away, for truth has stumbled in the 195 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,720 public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. 196 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,360 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself 197 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,040 a prey. The Lord saw it, and it 198 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,400 displeased him that there was no justice. 199 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,120 He saw there was no man, and wondered that there was none to 200 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,800 intercede. Then his own arm brought him 201 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,440 salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. 202 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,000 He put on righteousness as a breastplate and helmet of 203 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,920 salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance 204 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,640 for clothing, and wrapped himself in a in zeal as a cloak 205 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,840 according to their deeds. So he will repay wrath to his 206 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,160 adversaries, repayment to his enemies, to the coastlands he 207 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,000 will render repayment. So they shall fear the name of 208 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,360 the Lord from the West, and his glory from the rising of the 209 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,320 sun. For he will come like a rushing 210 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,720 stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. 211 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,680 And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those and Jacob who 212 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,160 turned from transgression, declares the Lord. 213 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,360 And As for me, this is my covenant with him, says the 214 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,240 Lord. My spirit that is upon you, and 215 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,760 my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of 216 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,280 your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the 217 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,000 mouth of your children's offspring, says the Lord, from 218 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,040 this time forth. And forevermore. 219 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,320 So if you remember last week, the people were complaining 220 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,440 because they're doing religious things and they weren't getting 221 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:15,920 the answers from God that they wanted. 222 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,880 He wasn't answering their prayers in the way that they had 223 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,760 hoped. And so their conclusion, look at 224 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,760 verse one. Maybe God can't hear us. 225 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,880 Maybe he lacks awareness or maybe he lacks the the power to 226 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,000 do anything about our prayers. And you hear the same complaint 227 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,360 in our own day. You hear it formally stated from 228 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,400 atheists or agnostics where they say we believe three things as 229 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,680 Christians, but only two of them can be true at the same time. 230 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,280 It says evil exists in the world, God is good and God is 231 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,600 powerful. And they would say only two of 232 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,960 those could be true. Because if, if sin exists and 233 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,000 there's only a few people or groups of people that are stupid 234 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,680 enough to try and argue that the world is not evil and then sin 235 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,720 doesn't exist, you've got to be New Age or Christian Science or 236 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:01,920 something like that to try and to argue for that. 237 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:06,800 So they say if sin exists, then God either is not good so he can 238 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:08,280 do something about it, but he doesn't care. 239 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:10,520 Or he's not powerful and he would love to do something, but 240 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,120 his arm is too short and he can't. 241 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,360 And what you have here in verse 2 is God responding, or in verse 242 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,840 one, God's responding to their culture and to our culture 243 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,880 saying, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can't 244 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,280 save, nor is his ear dull, that it cannot hear. 245 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,520 His inaction is not due to inability or lack of awareness. 246 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:36,960 The problem, God says, is not with him. 247 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,920 The problem is with you. Your sins have separated you 248 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,720 from God so that he does not hear you. 249 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,880 Verse 2 says your iniquities have made a separation between 250 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,880 you and your God. Your sins have hidden his face 251 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,000 from you so that he doesn't hear. 252 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,640 And I want you to pay extra close attention. 253 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:59,080 This passage hinges on the pronouns that Isaiah is using, 254 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,000 and it reminds me of Andy Stanley. 255 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,960 He has a book called A Communicating for a Change. 256 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,920 It's his attempt at a preaching book, but he's got this method. 257 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,560 He calls it me, we, God you, we, me, we God you, we. 258 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,880 It's how he works his way through a message and he says he 259 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,600 starts with me. You start by building report 260 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,760 with people. You, you, you tell a story and 261 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:24,280 you, you invite them in and you get them in. 262 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,080 And then you move on to we or you involve the church. 263 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,040 And now it's all of us together. It's not just me, but it's us. 264 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:32,200 And then once you've included the whole audience, you 265 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,720 introduce God and his word and what he says about the issue at 266 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,400 hand. And then once you have the 267 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,800 opportunity and you've you've brought God and his word into 268 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,600 it, then you lean and you say you, you must live your life 269 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:44,080 this way. You ought to live in light of 270 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,440 the word. And then he moves finally back 271 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,720 to what we are to do with it as a community. 272 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:54,280 And we could say this is a very popular contemporary preaching 273 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:56,400 strategy. It's a very soft preaching 274 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:57,520 strategy. And as you read through 275 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,960 Scripture, you'll see it's not frequently used. 276 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:04,160 It's rarely scriptures approach in the Bible, only in very, very 277 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,160 pastoral situations. Maybe a Romans 7 would he use 278 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,120 this. And you see, Isaiah doesn't 279 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,600 start this chapter with I. He doesn't build rapport. 280 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:15,960 He starts by pointing the finger. 281 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,400 It's offensive. He says you, your sins have 282 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,960 separated you from God. You could think of Peter. 283 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,920 You have killed the Lord of glory. 284 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,880 You've murdered him and so he starts with you listen to what 285 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,240 he says. Your sins have made a 286 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,040 separation. Your sins have hidden has hidden 287 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,200 his face from you. Your hands are defiled with 288 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,760 blood, your fingers are defiled with iniquity, your lips have 289 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,760 spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. 290 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:45,600 You are the problem. Quit blaming God and what Isaiah 291 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,240 does over and over. We're in chapter 59 and we've 292 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,720 seen it multiple times. He points out frequently, always 293 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,680 the iniquity of the culture and the horrible things that 294 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,200 Israel's doing and the culture is doing and the foreign nations 295 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,600 are doing. And then he always includes 296 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,320 himself in that list, in that iniquity. 297 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,960 That's His order. So He always starts with you. 298 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,600 You are wicked. And then he moves to I and I am 299 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,120 also, and then to God. But he is merciful. 300 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,440 Remember back to Isaiah 5 and the parable of the vineyard. 301 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,560 He pronounced all of these woes. Woe to the greedy, woe to the 302 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,240 drunkards, to those who enjoy good things from God and excess. 303 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,840 Woe to those who mock God. Woe to those who call evil good 304 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:32,640 and good evil. Woe to those who are wise in 305 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,880 their own eyes. Woe to those who corrupt our 306 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,000 society. And that brings you into chapter 307 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,760 6. And what's the 7th and final woe 308 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,400 that he pronounces? Woe is me. 309 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,920 I am undone. And he says I'm a person and I 310 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,640 have unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of 311 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,680 unclean lips. And so he says they're evil, and 312 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,840 so am I. He brings himself. 313 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,360 And so these these pronouns as they shift through 59 have led 314 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:00,560 the church to see 3 distinct sections in Isaiah 59 because 315 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:02,680 the pronouns shift majorly twice. 316 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:05,520 And so they tie in with the theme of righteousness because 317 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,520 every time a section ends, he makes a statement about 318 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,160 righteousness to teach you more about it. 319 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,680 And so I want you to see the first section is in verses 1 to 320 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,840 8 and pronouns important. Verses 1 to 8 is the depth of 321 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,640 your ruin. And the section concludes with 322 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,080 this statement. Therefore, justice is far from 323 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,680 us and righteousness does not overtake us. 324 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,840 You move to the second section, verses 9 to the first part of 15 325 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,080 is the cry of our hearts. There's the depth of your ruin. 326 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:36,680 And then all of a sudden he brings in it's us. 327 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,840 Now once you understand that, once you repent, it's the cry of 328 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,440 our hearts. And it concludes with this 329 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,360 statement. Justice is turned back. 330 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:50,720 Righteousness stands far away. And then finally 15 to 21 is the 331 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,960 gift of his righteousness. And you see this, it's 332 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,800 incredibly powerful rhetorical. Jesus moves from heaven to put 333 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,480 on breast righteousness as a breastplate and righteousness 334 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,040 pursues you. It's amazing. 335 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:07,880 And the helmet of salvation is on his head. 336 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:12,040 But it starts in verses 1 to 8 with the depth of your ruin. 337 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:17,599 And he reminds you what he reminds you last week, that you 338 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:20,720 can't expect the blessings of God when you're trapped in sin 339 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,319 and you fail to produce and to pursue righteousness. 340 00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:28,079 He says sin has created a chasm between you and God. 341 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,000 It's an eternal fixed chasm Canyon. 342 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,960 And it can only be healed, repaired through repentance. 343 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,120 The only means across is repentance, the only means of 344 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,720 healing. Verses 3 to 4 show practically 345 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,520 what that means. Their whole person, their 346 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,320 intellect, their heart, their hands and their feet are all 347 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,480 bent towards sin. Look at verse three. 348 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,160 He says, your hands, or you could read it as your palms are 349 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,640 defiled with blood. Your fingers are defiled with 350 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,960 iniquities. You can use this as an exercise 351 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:01,520 for yourself. He says, look back and think, 352 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,720 what if my hands done? What if my fingers touched? 353 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,720 What? What are my fingerprints left 354 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,320 on? Have you done righteously that 355 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,480 God would bless you? He moves on to your lips. 356 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:17,720 He says your lips have spoken lies. 357 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,000 Your tongue mutters wickedness. Listen back to the words that 358 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,520 you've spoken. Were they uplifting? 359 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,960 To quote Paul, Were they gracious and seasoned with salt? 360 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,280 Did they build up or were they polluting? 361 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,720 You can skip ahead to verse 7. Your feet run to evil. 362 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,000 They're swift to shed innocent blood. 363 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,800 He says, where have you been? Where have your feet taken you? 364 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,240 Innocent blood? When he uses his calls to mind 365 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:50,160 Cain and Abel. Where Cain murders his brother 366 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,680 for the sole reason that his his offering was more righteous than 367 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,760 his brothers. He had done nothing wrong. 368 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:57,760 It was innocent blood. He was jealous. 369 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:02,200 It brings to mind Jezebel's plot to take Nabis Vineyard and to 370 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,000 falsely accuse him. He did nothing wrong. 371 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,880 It reminds you of David and Bathsheba. 372 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,920 You say, why did he try to murder Uriah the Hittite? 373 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,800 He was innocent. He was serving. 374 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,360 It was to cover up his adultery. And so where do your feet take 375 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:17,480 you? Do they take you to places of 376 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,200 righteousness? Do they take you to places of 377 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,520 Christian service? Do they take you to worship? 378 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,520 And finally, he says your thoughts are thoughts of 379 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:29,200 iniquity. What's your thought life like? 380 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,640 If the church was able to read your thoughts on the screen for 381 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:38,920 20 minutes, what would we see? Righteous things, What are your 382 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:40,880 hopes and your dreams? Are they aligned with God? 383 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,680 Are they righteous? And Isaiah 59 are the exact 384 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:49,520 words that Paul uses in Romans 3 to demonstrate the godless human 385 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:51,320 way. When when humans refuse to 386 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,360 acknowledge God, he says this is the result. 387 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,320 I want to read it with you. It sounds so familiar. 388 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,760 Romans 39 to 18. Paul says none is righteous. 389 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:00,800 No, not one. No one understands. 390 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,120 No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. 391 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,560 Together they have become worthless. 392 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,720 No one does good, not even one. And then Paul does exactly what 393 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,600 Isaiah does. He's taking his cue from Isaiah. 394 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,440 He begins to use metaphors of the body, and he moves on. 395 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,560 Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to 396 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,680 deceive. The venom of ASPs is under their 397 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:21,520 lips. Their mouth is full of curses 398 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,120 and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed 399 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,120 blood in their paths are ruin and wizardry in the in the way 400 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,480 of peace. They have not known there is No 401 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,080 Fear of God before their eyes. I always remember this this 402 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,880 section because you know the verse that says out of the 403 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:36,520 abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 404 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,240 So whatever comes out of us is just part of what comes into us. 405 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,040 And what Paul is saying is what is in US is a dead man. 406 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,960 It's a rotting sepulcher. It's an open grave. 407 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,920 And when you open your mouth and the air comes out, I picture the 408 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,880 pathway that of of this passage as as air coming out of your 409 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,160 lungs. And it says that it's it's 410 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,360 corruption coming out. It moves from the throat, coming 411 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,440 out of your throat. He says it's an open grave. 412 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,280 It's corruption and filth coming out, and it's what's in our 413 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,080 heart. And it moves from the throat to 414 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,280 the tongue, which he says deceives. 415 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,000 It moves from the tongue to the lips, which he says is like 416 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,360 poison, then to the whole mouth, which he says is the whole thing 417 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,320 is full of curses and bitterness. 418 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,680 And then you imagine it coming out and pouring over to your 419 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,760 feet. And he says your feet are swift 420 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,760 to shed blood, and then out from your feet is the pathway. 421 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,400 And he says in your pathway are ruin and misery. 422 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,320 The way of peace. You have not known. 423 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,520 Think of the refrain of Isaiah, as he says over and over after 424 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,760 every major section. There is no peace, says my God. 425 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,120 There is no peace, says my God. For the wicked there is no 426 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,520 Shalom. It's because your heart is 427 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,240 corrupt and your sins have separated you from the Lord of 428 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,640 glory. And so Paul says, like Isaiah 429 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,840 says, and that's me, I'm not righteous. 430 00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,720 I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 431 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,480 Woe is me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips in the 432 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,080 midst of a people of unclean lips. 433 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,120 Like the tax collector, I have to say God be merciful to me. 434 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:15,280 A Sinner in Romans 315 is Isaiah 59 seven. 435 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,080 Swift are the feet to shed blood. 436 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,000 Romans 316 is Isaiah 59 seven. Destruction and distress are in 437 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,360 their ways. Romans 317 is Isaiah 59 eight 438 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,800 and the way of peace they have not known and it sums it all up 439 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,480 in verse 18 saying the reason for all of this, there is No 440 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,160 Fear of God from before their eyes. 441 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,960 Sin breaks fellowship with God. Sin causes him to hide his face 442 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:40,920 from you. And he's saying in Isaiah it's 443 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,040 it doesn't just createspace between you and God, your sin 444 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:45,880 does it, but it also poisons society. 445 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,840 It undoes the justice that we're supposed to be doing for the 446 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,000 poor and the vulnerable. It poisons the world. 447 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,520 It stains the world. And he's going to emphasize 448 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,720 here, it destroys societal justice. 449 00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,640 And as you go into verse four, he gives you a practical 450 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:01,760 illustration of this. What does it mean that sin 451 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,680 pollutes our culture and our society? 452 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,200 He takes you in before to the justice system, the legal 453 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:10,120 system. He says, you want an 454 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:11,400 illustration? Look at this. 455 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,240 No one enters lawsuit justly. No one goes to law honestly. 456 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,040 They rely on empty pleas and they speak lies and they 457 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,640 conceive mischief and they give birth to iniquity. 458 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,280 Is that true in our culture today? 459 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,360 You go to the courtroom and what is it? 460 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:28,800 What are the insurance companies do? 461 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,520 They've got a slogan, delay, deny, defend, right? 462 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,680 They're not there for justice. They're there for money. 463 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,200 What do we call personal injury lawyers? 464 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,160 Ambulance chasers? It's pejorative because they're 465 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,440 they're not there for upholding the just. 466 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:44,720 They're not there for the sake of the poor. 467 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,640 They're there to make money at the expense of the poor, McKay 468 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,720 says a verse 4A commentator. This describes a society whose 469 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,920 procedures are distorted and whose energies are perverted in 470 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,840 pursuit of what is empty and depraved, he says. 471 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,440 The individual suffer, the societies suffer. 472 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,720 There's no benefit to the culture in the community. 473 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:08,960 Isaiah moves from the depth of their ruin, talking about body 474 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,640 analogies and look at verse 5. And he moves to an interesting 475 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,120 place. Animal analogies. 476 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,320 They hatch adders eggs. It's a snake. 477 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,240 They weave spider's webs. He who eats their eggs dies. 478 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,720 And from one, from one that is crushed, a Viper is hatched. 479 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,960 He's talking about the fruit of your works, the fruit of your 480 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:30,720 laborers, the fruit of your hands, the fruit of your 481 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,280 righteousness. And I know this because he uses 482 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,160 the word works three times. He repeats it three times for 483 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,320 emphasis. Their behavior patterns are 484 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,240 destructive. Their achievements are 485 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,400 insubstantial and useless. The adder is a Viper. 486 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,440 It's a venomous snake. He says all that the the people 487 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,400 hatch is characterized by poison. 488 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,200 If you eat one of their eggs, it means you become a victim of 489 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:54,000 them and it brings you down to death. 490 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,160 It says if you try to stamp out their plots by crushing their 491 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,320 eggs, a snake will hatch from it. 492 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,920 Poison yields more poison. This is the fruit of the 493 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,480 culture. And this is exactly the context 494 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,120 when Paul needs to describe the society in his own day. 495 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,880 He says the only thing that describes how wicked my society 496 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,360 is is Isaiah 59. And you Fast forward to today, 497 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,040 even in our own culture, when Paul Hanson's looking at our 498 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,800 culture, he says the only way you can describe us now is 499 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,880 Isaiah 59. It's the same, he says, in our 500 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,600 own era, repeats the same in our society as well as theirs. 501 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,360 The hopes and expectations of many are raised by glorious 502 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,680 promises of prosperity, peace, and divine favor, only to be 503 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,080 dashed on the rocks of poverty and marginalization. 504 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,880 So we have to confess in light of this that the stain of Adam's 505 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,400 sin is on everything and will continue to be until Christ 506 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,600 comes to make all things new. That's what the passage is 507 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,000 teaching. And added to that, you are 508 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,080 guilty and you have to face the reality that your throat is an 509 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,480 open grave. You have poisoned the world with 510 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,320 your sin. The depth of your ruin is 511 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,200 eternal. And there's only one response to 512 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:04,960 understanding this. This is the pathway of the 513 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,320 gospel. You cannot have salvation. 514 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,280 You do not understand until you recognize this is you. 515 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,960 And the only response for understanding what you have 516 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,840 contributed to the the wretched state of the world is lament. 517 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,480 And that's what you see in verses 9 to 15. 518 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,640 It's communal lament. It's our lament. 519 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,480 The pronoun shifts. Verse 9 to 15 is the cry of our 520 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,960 hearts. And verse 9 is a summary of 521 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:33,800 their estate. The section ends in verse 9. 522 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,040 You can read it with me. There's no righteousness and 523 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:38,720 hear the words of the people corporately. 524 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,720 But therefore justice is far from us. 525 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:42,920 Righteousness does not overtake us. 526 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,360 We hope for light and behold darkness. 527 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,440 We hope for brightness but behold, we walk in gloom. 528 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,920 And So what you're going to see in the next 6 verses is heart 529 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,520 wrenching because it's people having to confront themselves 530 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,200 and be honest with themselves about the state of their own 531 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,280 heart and swallowing your pride and admitting you. 532 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:03,920 You've done wrong. That's what they're doing. 533 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,960 And it's the hardest thing to do to say I was wrong. 534 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,000 What are the hardest words to speak in the whole world? 535 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:16,240 I'm sorry I hurt you. You're right and I was wrong. 536 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,440 No excuses, no justifications, just the words. 537 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,240 I'm so sorry and read this whole section with me. 538 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:25,800 This is their lament. They understand. 539 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,840 They they see their sin. Verse 10 continues with the 540 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:30,520 lament. We grope for the wall like the 541 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,160 blind. We grope like those who don't 542 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,760 have eyes. We stumble at noon as in the 543 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:37,640 twilight, and among those in full vigor. 544 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,680 We're like dead men. We growl like bears, We moan and 545 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,320 moan like doves, for we hope for justice, but there is none for 546 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,920 salvation. But it's far from us, for our 547 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,600 transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify 548 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,920 against us. Our transgressions are with us, 549 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,040 and we know our iniquities. Transgressing and denying the 550 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,800 Lord and turning back from following our God, speaking 551 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,360 oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the 552 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:04,520 heart lying words. Justice has turned back and 553 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,800 righteousness stands far away. For truth has stumbled in the 554 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,040 public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. 555 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,960 Truth is lacking. And he who departs from evil 556 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,360 makes himself a prey. And so the finger that was 557 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,840 pointing to society in verses 4 to 8, he now points back to 558 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,360 himself, saying again, woe is me, I'm undone. 559 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:25,520 I'm a man in of unclean lips, living in the midst of a people 560 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,760 of unclean lips. They are corrupt and I am 561 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,840 corrupt. And here you have God's people 562 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,720 communally lamenting we are complicit with our wicked 563 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:35,640 society. It's not that they're wicked 564 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,080 outside these walls, it's that we're wicked within them. 565 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,320 And what are we supposed to do? There is no righteousness 566 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,200 because of us. There is an absence of divine 567 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,040 blessing. Verse 10. 568 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,960 The condition is dire. They grow, but they don't have 569 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:51,640 eyes to see. They can't see because they're 570 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,160 blind. And together as a nation, 571 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,840 they've stumbled, and they've stumbled because they couldn't 572 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,080 see the spiritual obstacles that were right in front of them. 573 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,360 Verse 11, they're waiting for divine intervention and there is 574 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:03,640 none. And so they lament. 575 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,800 Verses 12 to 13 is beautiful when you realize that they don't 576 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,720 shy away from their specific sins. 577 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,040 And so as you all know, the words I'm sorry don't mean a 578 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,200 whole lot if you don't add anything to them. 579 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,240 You're sorry for what? What are you sorry for? 580 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:26,320 And the more specific you are, the better the apology and the 581 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,720 deeper the humility. It shows who you're repenting 582 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,680 to, what you're repenting of, and that you understand it and 583 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,960 that you get it. You see your faults, you see 584 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:38,360 their consequences. And so they say we're sorry, and 585 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,480 they add to it. For transgressing and denying 586 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,680 the Lord, for turning back from following God, for all the 587 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,560 oppressions, for the revolts, for conceiving and uttering 588 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,840 lying words in verse 4 to 14 and 15, for the role that we played 589 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,200 in poisoning society, for the stain that we left, for the 590 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,200 corruption in society. This is our fault. 591 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,240 And at that exact moment, God reveals Himself to them. 592 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,080 He hides Himself from the proud. He reveals Himself to the 593 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,400 humble. At the moment that they they 594 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,080 lament, at the moment that they repent, you have a model of it. 595 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:15,440 You see that God reveals Himself. 596 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,320 Verses 15 to 21 is the gift of His righteousness, and so the 597 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,240 previous point ended with a statement of righteousness, and 598 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,360 it guides us to this final statement. 599 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,880 Verse 9, Isaiah concludes the first point by saying therefore 600 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,720 justice is far from us. Righteousness does not overtake 601 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,360 us. He moves to the second point and 602 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,240 concludes it with this. And verse 14. 603 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:38,560 Justice has turned back. The righteousness stands far 604 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,440 away. He says he finds no one to 605 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,920 intercede for the people. He says they have an utter 606 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:48,560 inability to live righteously, and it's at this moment when 607 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,760 they recognize they're unrighteous, when they recognize 608 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,760 there is no righteousness, their utter inability to do it, 609 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,680 righteousness pursues them. This is the rhetorical force of 610 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,600 all of this. He says at this moment Jesus 611 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:03,160 puts on the armor of a warrior. He wears righteousness like a 612 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,160 breastplate. He puts on zeal as a cloak. 613 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,240 He puts on a helmet for salvation, and righteousness 614 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:13,520 pursues you. Look at verse 17, He says that 615 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,560 he put on righteousness as a breastplate, a helmet of 616 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,800 salvation on his head, garments of vengeance for clothing. 617 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:20,800 He wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. 618 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:25,000 Go down to verse 20 and a Redeemer will come to Zion, to 619 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,280 those in Jacob who turn from their transgressions, declares 620 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,280 the Lord. And he has this absolutely 621 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,240 beautiful covenant promise to all of those who repent and turn 622 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:34,960 and submit. Bow the knee to Jesus Christ. 623 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,120 He says. And As for me, this is my 624 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,480 covenant with them. This is the gospel in the Old 625 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,120 Testament. It's the same gospel, my spirit 626 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,320 that is upon you and my words that I've put in your mouth 627 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,040 shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouth of 628 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,320 your children or out of the mouth of your children's 629 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,000 children, says the Lord for this time forth and forevermore. 630 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,960 And I want you to see the the full circle of these pronouns 631 00:31:57,960 --> 00:31:59,480 that come. He begins in verses one and two. 632 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,320 And he says your iniquities have caused a divide between you and 633 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:04,560 God. They've separated you from God. 634 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,720 They've hidden his face and he comes to this final section to 635 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,240 the same people he was talking to in verses one and two. 636 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,880 Those who have repented of their sins put their faith in Jesus. 637 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:17,280 He's addressing these same people. 638 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,680 He now says, my spirit is upon you. 639 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,920 My words are in your mouth. It shall be forever more you. 640 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:30,000 And he extends it and your children and their children from 641 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,440 this time forth and forever. And you ask what healed the 642 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,560 chasm between God and men? It answers for you. 643 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:41,560 It was the Redeemer acting through your repentance and 644 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,760 faith and don't miss it. He says a Redeemer will come to 645 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,840 Zion to those who turn from transgression. 646 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:50,800 And so if you've never done that, today is the day. 647 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,080 This is the morning. If you've never turned from your 648 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,000 sins, the model is there for you. 649 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,720 And 9 to 15, this is the cry of your heart to say, I'm sorry. 650 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,920 It's so simple to submit to Him and allow His righteousness to 651 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,600 pursue you and to those who repent. 652 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,480 Verses 9 to 15, God will come to you. 653 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:11,960 He will cross the chasm. He will bring righteousness on 654 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,560 your behalf. Look at verse 19. 655 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,080 His glory will come from the rising of the sun from the far 656 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,080 West, He says, to the rising of the sun, which is the Far East. 657 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,040 Verse 19, He will come like a rushing stream driven by the 658 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,520 wind of the Lord. This is a a powerful, powerful 659 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,120 metaphor. It's an image of overwhelming, 660 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,480 uncontainable power. And he, I've, I've told you 661 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,600 before of the, the time we went to Multnomah Falls at the 662 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,120 snowmelt and we get out of our car a half a mile from the river 663 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,720 and you can hear it roaring even from the car. 664 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,600 And that's the illustration, this, this massive uncontainable 665 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:49,680 river. And it adds to that. 666 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:51,560 It's not just that the river is flowing, it says it's also 667 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:56,280 driven by the wind of the Lord. And so it's saying that it's a 668 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,840 divine agency. Salvation and blessing and 669 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,760 judgement will come by the Lord's own doing, and it will 670 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,080 come according to His timetable. Yahweh's coming. 671 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,000 He will put on righteousness like a breastplate, salvation 672 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,520 like a helmet, garments of vengeance for clothes, and he 673 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,400 will wrap himself in zeal like a mantle. 674 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:20,400 And when he comes, he says it's, it's going to be salvation for 675 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,800 some, it'll be the salvation of the church, and it will be the 676 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,360 judgement of the wicked. And those are the same event. 677 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,159 It's the two sides of the same coin. 678 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:32,080 And the decisive event that determines how you will meet the 679 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,480 Lord on that day is whether you have turned from your sins and 680 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,040 submitted to the lordship of the King of glory. 681 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:43,199 A Redeemer will come to Zion. And here's the final the, the 682 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:45,719 conclusion of that promise. As for me, this is my covenant 683 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,600 with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, which is upon you, 684 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:50,639 and my words, which I put in your mouth, shall not depart 685 00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:53,400 from you, nor your children, nor your children's children. 686 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:56,080 From this time forth and forevermore, His Spirit and His 687 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,360 Word will be with you, and He will not take them away. 688 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,240 They will be permanently present with His people across 689 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,680 generations. Remember the rhetorical question 690 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,920 that he asked in Isaiah 5? What more was there to do for my 691 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:10,560 vineyard that I had not done in it? 692 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:14,080 I looked for righteousness, but behold an outcry. 693 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,760 I look for justice, but behold bloodshed. 694 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,200 What more could God do when righteousness didn't overtake 695 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:20,760 them? What more could He do when 696 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,960 righteousness was far away and didn't have to answer that 697 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:25,440 question? But he answers that question in 698 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,000 Isaiah 59. He says He redeemed His people 699 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,760 Himself. The answer was redemption. 700 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,080 To send a Redeemer. You've been bought with a price. 701 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:39,120 That means the burden that you had has been shouldered by 702 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,720 somebody else. First Corinthians 1:30 Because 703 00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:47,280 of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us righteousness. 704 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,720 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might 705 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:53,200 become the righteousness of God in Him. 706 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,520 And you were redeemed, Scripture says, not with corruptible 707 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,680 things, not like a prisoner of war, not like a slave. 708 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:01,680 You're not redeemed with corruptible things like silver 709 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,000 and gold or money, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a 710 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,800 lamb, without blemish and without spot, the depth of your 711 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:10,480 ruin. The cry of our hearts are 712 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,640 answered by the gift of His righteousness to those who 713 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:14,800 repent. Go back to the beginning. 714 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,800 Remember, righteousness is the currency of the Kingdom. 715 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,560 Righteousness is the essential medium of value and identity and 716 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,520 relationship in God's Kingdom. Remember all the points it's 717 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,240 revealed to us. It's to be pursued, It's 718 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,640 embodied by the church. It's a person, Christ. 719 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,720 It's protective, It's relational. 720 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,120 It's trained. We train ourselves for this. 721 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:37,360 It's rewarded. It's God's delight. 722 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:39,440 It's the purpose of Jesus's life and death. 723 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,200 It is to be the hunger and thirst of our soul. 724 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:44,920 It's the priority. And it's utterly out of reach 725 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:49,120 for you. And the depth of your ruin is 726 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:53,480 eternal. But for those who lament and 727 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:58,000 repent and fall on Jesus Christ, who is the righteous, 1 He will 728 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,960 redeem you, and he will give you what Martin Luther called an 729 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:05,240 alien righteousness, emphasizing this is not yours. 730 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:09,480 It was out of reach, it did not pursue you, but it has been 731 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,280 given to you as a gift. Your price of your freedom has 732 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,240 been paid. You have been redeemed. 733 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:19,280 You are now a slave of righteousness, and you're the 734 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:22,480 response of your heart not to be Jude 24 to 25. 735 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,000 Now to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to 736 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,600 present you blameless. To the only God our Savior, 737 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,480 through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty and 738 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,360 dominion and authority forever, Amen. 739 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,680 The cry of your heart should be First Timothy 117 To the King of 740 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,960 ages, immortal, invisible, to the only God be honor and glory 741 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:44,160 forever and ever, Amen. Pray with me this doxology 742 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:47,560 first. First Chronicles 29 Yours, O 743 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,400 Lord, is the greatness and the power, and the glory and the 744 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,400 victory and the majesty. Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord. 745 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,480 And now we thank you our God, and praise your glorious name. 746 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,520 Continue to pray with me. As we say, Lord, we see the 747 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:04,160 value of righteousness. We see how utterly far it was 748 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,040 from us. We confess to you, and we we 749 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,360 lament corporately that This Is Us. 750 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,840 This was our doing. This world is a it's beautiful. 751 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,480 It has just this image of you. It declares your glory, but it's 752 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:20,320 it's marred by sin. God, everything has been 753 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,120 corrupted by sin. And we confess to you in this 754 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,000 moment, it's our fault. I'm sorry. 755 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,120 We're sorry for the sins that we've sinned against you. 756 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,760 The specific sins, Lord, we confess those to you in our own 757 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,760 hearts. We're sorry for not loving You 758 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:35,120 well. We're sorry for not loving our 759 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,840 neighbor as ourself. And we thank You that when we 760 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,920 were lacking in righteous, when there was no righteousness, when 761 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,200 we were groping as if blind, You have made us to see 762 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,000 righteousness pursued us. You put it on as a breastplate, 763 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,360 Lord, and there is nothing we can say except we love You and 764 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:53,840 thank you. Teach us to be trained in 765 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,680 righteousness. Teach us so that when you come 766 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:59,120 again in glory and you look to the earth and you will see that 767 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,880 there is fruit. You've given it to the Gentiles 768 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:05,520 and we have not neglected to to care for those whom you most 769 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,120 cared for. Lord God, we love you and we 770 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,760 thank you for your righteousness which comes in your Son, Jesus 771 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:12,960 Christ. Amen. 772 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:15,880 Thanks for listening.