[0:00] Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18, if you would, Isaiah 30 verse 18. We are in for five woes, five negatives tonight.
[0:13] The Holy Spirit of God through Isaiah is speaking to the nation and talking to them. But even in all the woes, he's a good God. And if you read the Bible and you spend much time in the Bible, it's a beautiful thing to know what a God we serve.
[0:30] You ought to be just plumb mushy about God. If you knew him, you'd be just plumb mushy about him. He is so good and so sweet. So I would start out, even though we're going to be in the woes, I want to take you to Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18.
[0:44] Look at this verse. It says, and therefore will the Lord wait. He said, I ought to kill you, but I'll wait. I get an amen right there.
[0:57] I mean, just say about it. Therefore will the Lord wait. Why? That he may be gracious unto you. That he may be gracious unto you.
[1:09] He's talking to Israel. It's brilliant to us. But it does tell you the character of our God. It tells you what a God he is. It tells you what a sweet God he is. Old Testament.
[1:19] The mean, vindictive God that you that don't study your Bibles think you heard about all your lives said, therefore will the Lord wait. Why? Because he wants to be nice to you.
[1:31] Therefore will he be exalted. Why? That he can have mercy on you. Look at that. That he can have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of judgment, of righteousness, of doing the right thing.
[1:42] Everybody that waits on God is happy. Blessed are they that wait on him. What a God. Amen. Father in heaven, I pray now as we look into your word that you would form us and mold us and help us understand that even when you're scolding us, you're loving us.
[2:02] And even when you're dealing with things in our hearts, you're always doing it because you are waiting on us to be gracious to us. You are waiting to have mercy on us because you are good and you are right.
[2:17] And we are happy that we know you and I'll give you praise for all you do in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Go now with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 28 verse 1. You should have five woes written down by the time we finish tonight.
[2:31] The first thing God does when he's talking to the nation of Israel is he warns them about pride, against pride. You know God hates pride. God hates it when you think you're somebody.
[2:43] And when people lift themselves up, God doesn't want that. God wants you to realize you're the created one. God wants you to realize he's the big one and we're the little one. God wants you to realize and me to realize he's the one that ought to be served.
[2:56] But what ends up happening is pride makes us want to live this pleasure life. Look at this. Pride makes me want to live this pleasure life. I deserve a good life.
[3:07] I deserve a life of pleasure. Look at Isaiah 28 verse 1. And woe, woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards. That means they got an abundance.
[3:18] You can't get drunk without an abundance. The abundance of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is as a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys. That's full.
[3:29] Fat valley means it's a valley full of produce, full of crops, full of harvest of them that are overcome with wine. They got so much that it just takes over their life.
[3:42] When you get proud, you expect a certain lifestyle. When you get proud, you expect a crown. When you get proud, you expect blessings and bounty.
[3:53] When you get proud, you mock the word of God. Isaiah chapter 28 verse 9, they said, Who shall he teach knowledge? Who do you think God's going to teach knowledge?
[4:04] Who do you think he's going to make understand doctrine? We're not kids still on the breast. We're not kids that need to be taught. We know what we're doing. How do you get to be so rich? How do you get to be so successful living in Alpharetta?
[4:17] You don't need anybody to teach you anything. Because you've gotten far enough, you don't need to be taught. I don't need to be taught. That pride's starting to come out. Pride makes them feel that they can get to a point in their life that God can't judge them.
[4:31] Look at Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 15. Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death. And with hell, we are at agreement.
[4:43] When the overflowing scourge shall pass through. When the punishment does come, it won't come to us. Because we made lies our refuge. And under falsehood have we hid ourselves.
[4:55] They were so proud that though they knew that judgment was already over in Ephraim. And they knew judgment was coming their way. And they know that the economy may fall and China may be in waste.
[5:06] And they know that Venezuela may get in trouble. And they know that the other parts of the world might get in trouble. This is America. We will be all right. The pride that got them lifted up.
[5:18] Now here's the question. That was talking really to the nation of Israel. That's talking to the nation of Israel. But here's the question for us. How much are we letting our pride destroy us? We are living our lives like our lost neighbors.
[5:35] I think we need to think about that a second. When the only difference in my house and my neighbor's house is the address, there's some pride there. They live for the weekend.
[5:47] They live for the party. They live for the money. They live for the pride. We don't seek God. We raise our children just like they raise their children.
[6:00] Our kids do what their kids do. Our kids go where their kids go. We spend our money just like lost people. And sad to say, we even treat the Bible like they treat the Bible.
[6:13] They don't read it. They don't obey it. We might read a little, but we don't pay attention at all. There's a strong warning in Isaiah chapter 28 against pride.
[6:24] God wants to be respected. God wants to be looked up to. Now go with me to chapter 29 if you would. Isaiah chapter 29. Actually, the punishment, God's kind of given a warning, and he started over here at the neighboring country.
[6:40] He basically said, watch this. I'm going to take out Mexico, and I'm going to take out Canada, so you'll get the idea. I'm coming for you next. But they said, oh, you can take out our neighboring countries, but you'll never get to us.
[6:54] And so in chapter 29 in verse 1, he makes it clear, he will humble the proud. In chapter 29 in verse 1, he said, Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt.
[7:06] That's Jerusalem. You can write Ariel, draw a line. It's just another word for Jerusalem. You, year to year, kill the sacrifices. I will distress Jerusalem, Ariel.
[7:18] There shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be unto me as Ariel. Isaiah chapter 29 in verse 4. For they shall be brought down.
[7:29] They shall speak out of the ground. They shall whisper out of the dust. You see, God won't let us get away with pride. We can be high and mighty and lifted up.
[7:43] We can lift ourselves up, and we can be up there for a while, but God warns against the pride and the proud, and then God says, I'm coming after the proud and the pride. In Isaiah chapter 29 in verse 8, all of a sudden they got all the things that their pride brought for them.
[7:59] They got all the luxury that they could want, but they got no satisfaction from it. Isn't it amazing? Hollywood actors, so good looking and so much money, they make more money in one movie than a normal human could make in 10 lifetimes, and they're never satisfied.
[8:16] Isn't it amazing that the millionaires and the multimillionaires of our country can never be satisfied? And the reason is they don't know God. The reason is they're lifted up in their pride, but I can be lifted up that way.
[8:28] Isaiah chapter 29 in verse 8 says, It shall be as when a hungry man dreams, and while he's dreaming he eats, but he wakes up he's still hungry.
[8:39] He's empty. Or when a thirsty man dreams and he drinks, but when he wakes up he's faint, and his soul has appetite. You see, they dream that if I just have enough money, if I just get enough trophies, if I just get enough retirement, if I just get this, and even in their sleep they're dreaming about their abundance, and they're being lifted up, but when they wake up they find out it's not true.
[9:06] In Isaiah chapter 29 in verse 10, they act like drunk men without being drunk, because the Lord's judging them. Look at Isaiah 29 10. The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep.
[9:19] He hath closed your eyes. The prophets and your rulers and the seers has he covered. The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that's sealed. They say, do you read it and understand it?
[9:33] And you say, I cannot, for it is sealed. And I am not learned. In verse 12, the book is delivered to him, and he said, I'm not learned. The reason they couldn't understand was their hypocrisy.
[9:46] There came a point in time when God said to Israel, you're so high and powerful and mighty, and you think you're God's people, and you think you're so big that I'm closing a book. I'm not letting you understand.
[9:57] I'm closing your eyes. I'm closing your ears, and you're not going to be able to understand. And the reason was, Isaiah 29 13, you draw near me with your mouth, and with your lips you honor me, but your heart's a long ways from me.
[10:13] And the only reason you fear me at all, and the only reason you worship me at all, is somebody taught you what to do. You do it outside, you do it from the externals, but your heart's not in love with me.
[10:25] And so God took their understanding. Chapter 29 and verse 14, I will proceed to do a marvelous work, a marvelous work and a wonder.
[10:37] The wisdom of your wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men, prudent men, wise men, smart men shall be hid. Now let me explain to you what's going on.
[10:48] That's really what's going to happen in the New Testament. These are the people of God. If anybody knows God, it's the guys God used to write 39 books in the Bible. But instead of drawing closer to God, they act like God because they were taught how to do it, and it's become external.
[11:06] It's become what they do and not who they are. And so they are religious, and they obey the Ten Commandments, and they don't even read the Bible, by the way. They don't even read the Bible.
[11:16] They read the commentaries about the Bible. They read the commentaries about the Bible. They don't read the Bible itself. And by the time Jesus comes along to be born, when they should be going, glory to God, he's here.
[11:28] Glory to God, Jesus is here. God has sent them aside. They are dumb, and their wisdom is gone, and the books are sealed, and they can't even understand what's going on. And that's what God says is going to happen.
[11:41] They reject Jesus, by the way. You'll remember as you read the New Testament, their hearts were blinded. Their minds were blinded. It's a prophecy from right here. In fact, it's when that happens in the New Testament, he will say, your mouths are close to me, but your hearts aren't.
[11:55] You ought to know right there. I can go back to Isaiah. That's where he got that. So now the Jewish people will reject Jesus Christ, and the church will rise up. But in this text, you need to know pride will not stand.
[12:10] God seeks a humble people. God seeks a needy people. So when he gets to the New Testament, Jesus even turns to the Jews and says, the whole have no need of a doctor.
[12:26] If you're so well, and you're in such good shape, you don't need me. You don't need a Savior. Do you realize that he's talking to Israel, and this is about Israel, and I'm going to see this fulfilled when I get to the New Testament.
[12:38] Do you realize, though, that as Christians we get that way? We no longer need God. There was a time we prayed just to get bread to eat. There was a time we prayed just to get God to help us financially.
[12:50] There was a time we prayed to get God to help us take care of our children. But now we have so much, and we are religious, and we do all the external stuff, but our heart long ago quit being dry and thirsty.
[13:04] We long ago quit hungering and thirsting after righteousness, because now we're too proud to hunger and thirst. Now we're too proud to come to God and say, I need you. We're on our way.
[13:16] We're on our way to where these Jews got to when God decided to put them to one side and bring in another group of people to use. Well, their pride keeps marching down the road. Chapter 29 and verse 15, their pride turns everything upside down.
[13:31] In Isaiah chapter 29 and verse 15, he said, Woe unto them that seek to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. And they say, Oh, who sees us and who knows us?
[13:44] You see, what ends up happening is they get so wise and so smart and so spiritual that they realize that it isn't God that made them.
[13:55] It's them that made God. And just like their neighbor who's lost has a God he made, they, like Jews, begin to think, Well, we made our God. They begin to think, Maybe we're like Aaron, or maybe we're like the guys and Dan and Beersheba with two golden calves.
[14:09] And they begin to say, You know what? We're so big and so mighty, God doesn't even know what we're doing. We can get away with it. They turned the whole thing upside down. Chapter 29, verse 16, they begin to dictate to God.
[14:23] Surely, you're turning of things upside down. I wish you'd underline that. That's what they did. They turned them upside down. Shall be esteemed as the potter's clay. For shall the work say of him that made it, He didn't make me?
[14:38] You get what it's saying here? He's saying, You guys are so messed up that he that made you, and he's sitting right here with that little pot he made, and a little pot turns around and looks up at God and said, You didn't make me.
[14:51] You didn't make me. See, that's where pride gets you. Pride gets us. He made me not. Or shall the thing frame, say of him that framed it, Oh, he doesn't understand anything.
[15:03] So the little pot of clay looks up at God and goes, You don't know anything. I am a teapot. I know you might have think you made me, but you didn't make me.
[15:14] I'm a teapot. And I know what you don't know. That's where pride's gotten him. You say, Well, that's ridiculous. You're just being funny. Am I? That your evolutionists believe that?
[15:26] Hey, and some of us believe that because all of a sudden we live like I could go in this room and I can look at porn and I can do things I'll not do while I'm looking at porn because nobody sees me. I can lie and I can cheat and I can steal because nobody knows I'm a teapot.
[15:44] And I know. Read it. Am I saying it? Or is it what's in the book? Come on, help me. Huh? He has no understanding.
[15:55] He thinks he made me. He did not make me. So God says, All right. I ain't gonna use you. I'm gonna move you aside and I'm gonna pick up weak people.
[16:10] Read with me Isaiah chapter 29 and verse 10. See, God's in this little people business. If I get you to understand anything, God's in the little people business. God's in the needy people business.
[16:21] All of a sudden, there's arrogance that says, You didn't make me and you don't even know what you're talking about. He says, Okay. In that day shall the deaf hear the words out of the book and the blind shall see out of the obscurity and out of darkness and the meek shall increase and their joy and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One.
[16:41] That's exactly what happens when you get to the New Testament. That's exactly what happens when you get to the New Testament. Jesus is walking among the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they're all walking around like, Who are you?
[16:54] Who are you? You think you know something? You think you can teach us? We are masters of the law. What'd you do? Come here and try to heal us? We're not sick. What'd you do? Come here and try to teach us?
[17:05] We already know. He looks at them and says, I'm the one who made you. Okay. You're not sick. I won't help you. He turns to a blind guy. So story after story in the New Testament is him going to somebody needy.
[17:19] Somebody hurting. And here we are as Christians and somewhere along the way we get to acting like those Pharisees. Isaiah chapter 29 verse 24.
[17:36] Some of them are going to come back to understanding. They that erred in spirit shall come understanding. They that murmured shall learn doctrine. I'll just be honest with you. I kind of think Paul's name ought to be written right there.
[17:49] Old Paul was over there saying, I don't believe any of this. I don't follow you. And all of a sudden he got knocked off his horse. He got knocked off his high horse. He found out he wasn't on such a big horse.
[17:59] And when he looked up he saw who made him. It's a picture of where God brings in the church due to the rebellion of God's people. But I have a question for you. Have you turned things upside down?
[18:11] In your life? In your relationship to God? Making your position bigger than God? Do you honestly sometimes think that maybe God's blessed to have you?
[18:24] And think you've done something? And think you are somebody? You ever look at God and say, God, boy, you're lucky you got me. You didn't do too good when you got that one and that one. But you did get me, glory to God.
[18:36] You picked a pretty good team. Me and, well, well, you at least picked me. Huh? And now as a Christian you say, I determine what's best. It's not very often that you open the book to find out what God determines.
[18:50] It's not very often that you seek your will and not his. In fact, as you decide what you want to do without the input of the word of God and the Holy Spirit.
[19:02] How many of us Christians live our lives like he's not there? We don't need this. We may say, I hope it's God's will he lets me have this house and what we mean by that is I hope the loan officer will give me a loan.
[19:19] Just be honest. But we don't come in and say, God, I need you. I need you, God. I need you, God. Direct my path. Do with me what you want to do. Teach me from your word because I want to know you.
[19:32] I don't have to have things but I need to know you. No, we're like lost people. Lost people are like, I ain't even got one of these. We got one, we just don't open it. And if we do, we do it at church.
[19:44] If you're mad, say amen. But I think that's what's going on in the passage. Read it. I challenge you to spend the time I spend in it and see what you think is going on. So in pride, in Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 1, they will never admit they need God.
[20:01] These Israelite people are so hard headed. They turn to philosophy. They turn to anything but God. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1. Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, that cover with a covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
[20:25] They walk to go down into Egypt. They didn't ask me to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.
[20:38] You see, God's teaching us about Israel. This isn't about you. You can just relax. We're just watching a movie. We're just looking at the story of Israel. But here's Israel and God's like, I'm your God.
[20:50] I made you and if you'll trust me and humble yourselves, I'll do a work in you. And they look up and say, you didn't make us, we made you. You don't know anything. Hold on one minute, buddy.
[21:02] We're going down to Egypt to find out what we need. They got gods. They got gods down there and they are rich. In fact, the name of their main street is Wall Street.
[21:14] Huh, you. A cross or Wall Street? Let's go to Egypt. They go down to Egypt and they say to Egypt, teach us, strengthen us.
[21:26] I know I'm having trouble raising my kids. Let me go get some lost man to teach me how to do it. I'm not going to read the book. Not this book. I know I don't know how to handle my money. I know there's got to be somebody out there on Wall Street that can teach me how to do it.
[21:38] Come on. I'm dealing with some issues in my anger and all my stuff. I need a psychiatrist, somebody who studied Freud and Rogers and they know some stuff. Boy, they know.
[21:49] They studied in Egypt. What do you know? What do you know? Just read the passage. Just read the passage. We should have stayed out of Isaiah because I'm feeling real uncomfortable right now.
[22:10] Some will come back. Excuse me. Go with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 30 verse 3. There's no help in Egypt. The lost world and philosophy can never give you what God can give you.
[22:25] In Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 3, Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and the trust and the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Go on down to Egypt.
[22:36] Go on down to the lost people. Go on down to the world. But I'll tell you what's going to happen. I'm the God who could hear you and answer your prayer. Go on down.
[22:48] And you'll get embarrassed. There's no profit in the world. There's no money in the world. There's no bettering yourself in the world. In Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 5.
[23:00] We're just reading the Bible by the way. In Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 5. They were all ashamed of a people. It's Egypt. That could not profit them. Nor can be any help be a help nor profit.
[23:14] Fact is, Egypt is a shame and a reproach. Because to be honest with you, when you go to Egypt, what you're doing is saying, I don't believe the word.
[23:27] Too many of you say you believe the word but you haven't spent any time in the word. You believe a book you don't read. You believe a book you don't memorize. You believe a book you don't search to find out what you're supposed to do.
[23:39] It's our book. It's the word of God. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 12. That's why the Holy One of Israel says you despise this word.
[23:53] Underline that. You despise this word. You'd say, I don't despise the word of God. I mean, sometimes I just think it's a little antiquated but I don't despise it. Sometimes I think it was written a long time ago and it's not very practical but I don't despise it.
[24:08] And God would say, well, that is despising it. I can make it ten minutes. Nine minutes, we'll all get out of here alive.
[24:21] Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18. With all that, all this bad stuff, God's still sweet. Oh, He's sweet. He says, therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious.
[24:35] God's up there saying, go on down to Egypt. Go on down and figure out they don't know what they're talking about. When everything blows up in your face and everything's falling apart and your life's all messed up because you wouldn't pay attention to me because you despise my word, I'll be here waiting on you.
[24:51] Read the verse. That's a good verse. Be rebellious. Be proud if you want to. I'm right. You'll be back and I'll have mercy. Verse 19.
[25:03] If they'll just cry out, He'll have mercy. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry, He will hear. You ought to underline that.
[25:14] And He will answer thee. Sometimes, the best thing we got going for us is the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.
[25:27] It'll make us thirst after God. Isaiah 30, 20. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore.
[25:40] Your eyes shall see your teachers. So like, you're over here in Egypt down at the pigpen. While you're down at the pigpen spending all your money on riotous living, you've rejected your father and rejected his word.
[25:58] You've done all that's wrong and you're down to drinking water of affliction. And you're down to eating that bread of adversity. He said, your teacher's still standing there. Your teacher's still standing there.
[26:11] And the prodigal son looked up and said, people work for my dad. He got it better than I got it. I'm figuring out something. Pigpens aren't the answer. Egypt doesn't have what it claimed to have.
[26:24] I think I'll go home. I think I'll go home. God stands ready to work in your life. Will you seek him instead of the world? Will you trust God and not your culture or old wives' tales?
[26:38] Turn to the word of God. Turn to worship and not what the world offers. And stay out of Egypt. Stay out of Egypt. Well, we got one more.
[26:50] It's been rough, hasn't it? I mean, I'm sorry. We could skip certain books of the Bible if y'all want to vote too. We could rewrite the Bible down to Psalm 23. Reader's Digest condensed version.
[27:02] Vision, Baptist condensed version. I think we'll just take it all. Isaiah 31.1 says, when you trust in men, you're not obeying God.
[27:12] You're admitting you don't need him. Verse 31.1, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. See, they went down first to get advice. Now they're going down to get money. Now they're going down to get armies.
[27:24] They go down to Egypt for help and they stay on horses. That doesn't mean they sit on their back and don't get off. It means they trust horses. It's like if you just got enough airplanes, if you just got enough tanks, if you just got enough guns, you can trust in chariots.
[27:39] They got a lot of them. You can trust in horsemen because they are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel and neither seek the Lord.
[27:55] We turn to logic, science, and philosophy and only turn to God if everything else fails. You do realize you're trusting in men and not God, right?
[28:15] Isaiah 31.3 says, Now the Egyptians are men and not God. God has.
[28:27] I mean, I can't wait until we get to sit around and talk to Him. He got the craziest sense of humor in the world. He says, Y'all been down to Egypt? They got horses, but they're just meat and bones.
[28:40] I'm spirit. Look at it. Look at it. It's funny. Egyptians are men. They ain't God. Look at that. They're men. They ain't God.
[28:51] They got horse flesh, but they ain't got spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out His hand, He just stretches out His hand, He just reaches out His hand.
[29:01] Both he that helps shall fall, and he that's helped shall fall, and they shall all fall. All God needs to do is go. Done. He's God. Y'all don't like that?
[29:15] I guess I got a warped sense of humor. I just love it. It's like God looking down and saying, Y'all think Egypt, y'all think Egypt, you think the American military might something, and God goes, I can take care of that just about like that.
[29:27] I'm God. Isaiah 31.7. It's time to throw away things that can't help. For in that day, every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
[29:48] They're getting ready to get some things right. So all of a sudden, they wake up, and they realize, I made this idol of gold. I made this idol of silver, but they sure aren't helping me any.
[30:00] Throwing them away. I end with this. Isn't it time you turned from Egypt back to the God that made you?
[30:12] Isn't it time you decided to spend time in the Word of God and find out what He had to say? Will you admit you need God? Will you become a student of the Word of God?
[30:26] You kill me saying you believe this book if you don't spend time in this book. You kill me saying I believe God, but you never let God talk because He talks out of this book.
[30:38] You kill me that you know more about what they say in Egypt. Or you're like a Jewish person in the Old Testament who had no idea what God wrote, but they read books that people wrote about what God wrote and they were all messed up.
[30:53] Will you submit to what you know God says instead of doing what the world teaches? We make our decisions based on what you will never admit this, but Oprah can have more influence than Moses and Dr. Phil can have more influence than Paul in our lives.
[31:17] I understand if the world wants to run to them people. Oh, they look so smart. They're not smart. You can't be smart until you trust God for His salvation.
[31:27] Lord, after the stand può and the future the African people and God will coincide in how long would cycle to the nation. In Sky.Д