Worship - Sunday at 10:30AM
Bible Study - Wednesday at 6:30PM
2007-04-29 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church
OTHER GODS (PART 2)
Isaiah 2:1-22
1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
(That's the end of the pleasant part of this chapter)
6. Therefore (Here's why) thou (God) hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, (They/we stand by and do nothing to prevent the corruption of the church and the nation) and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. (They/we enjoy the corruptions)
7. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures (Garage sale after garage sale); their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: (Take a Sunday drive up and down Hwy 71, counting the used cars for sale)
8. Their land also is full of idols (Every major city has sporting stadiums, arenas, great concert halls, and on TV, we have the "E" channel, among others); they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9. And the mean man boweth down (Mean, as in common, everyday man, not malicious man. The common man bows down...), and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. (We might be tempted to think so, but God is not required to forgive our sins based on our perfect attendance at worship services.)
10. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14. And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15. And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21. To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Let's examine all the ways we place more trust in ourselves than in God, and let's start working to correct that. In every place and in every way we trust in ourselves, we demonstrate pride and a misplaced fear. There is great freedom in humility and fear of the Lord, in yielding to His will, but pride comes with a heavy yoke. When I take pride to myself, or in my things, the fear of man creeps in.
When we think of false gods, we think of statues and idols rather than pride, but these are only outward symbols of an inward problem. Long before I make the decision to construct an idol and serve it, I have already decided to give my heart to that god.
In matters of Truth and Life, we have Jesus as our example. We honor His life, His sacrifice at this table, so it seems appropriate to recognize His victory over death. In Colossians 2:15, we see that His sacrifice made an open show, a spectacle of the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). At this table, we show forth His death 'til He come; that is a sobering and somber reality that exposes our blood-guiltiness in His death. But, His victory as firstfruits of the resurrection transforms sober and somber into relief and rejoicing. If Jesus made an open show of His victory in the spiritual realm, I think we should celebrate this by exposing our enemy's methods of operation.
When He lived with us, Jesus was our example of meekness and humility, in fearing the Father, and giving all glory to Him. Our enemy is the opposite. He comes to us through pride and flattery, and if we are honest about this, we must confess that we all have bowed down before the god of pride and flattery.
Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Pride is our enemy. Pride is our enemy.