WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.000 Good morning. Today reading will be in the book of Isaiah chapter 5 and then we're going to read all the book. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:17.000 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.000 He dug it up and cleared it of stone and planted it with the choicest wine. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:44.000 He built a watchtower in it and cut out a wine press as well. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:51.000 Then he looked for a crop of good grape, but it yelled only bad fruit. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:59.000 Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:04.000 What more could I have done for my vineyard than I have done for it? 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.000 When I look for good grape, why did I yield only bad? 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.000 Now I will tell you what I'm going to do to my vineyard. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:18.000 I will take away its edge and it will be destroyed. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:24.000 I will break down its roll and it will be trampled. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:34.000 I will make it wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and brayer and thorn will grow there. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.000 I will command the clouds not to rain on it. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:47.000 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vine he held, he delight in. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:55.000 And he looked for justice, but so bloodshed, for righteousness, but he a cries of distress. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Who to you who adds house to house and join field to field, till no space is left and you live alone in the land. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:14.000 The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing, surely the great houses will become desolated, the fine mansion left without occupant. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:26.000 And a ten acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine, a homer of seed will yield only a half of grain. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Who to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:50.000 They have art and layer at their banquet, pipe and tambourine and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:56.000 Therefore, my people will go into exile for lack of understanding. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Those of high rank will die of hunger, and the common people will be part with firsts. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.000 Therefore, death expands its show, opening wide its mouth. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Into it will descend their noble and messies, with all their brawler and revelers. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.000 So people will be brought low, and everyone humbled. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.000 The eyes of the arrogant humbled. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:34.000 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the Holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Lamb will feed among the rain of the rich. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:56.000 Who to those who draw sin along with cause of deceit, and wickedness as with card rope, to those who say, 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.000 Let God hurry. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Let him hires on his word, so that we may see it. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.000 The plan of the Holy One of Israel. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:10.000 Let it approach, let it come into view, so that we may know it. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:40.000 may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:54.019 Therefore, as the tongue of fire licks up through, and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust. 00:04:54.680 --> 00:05:01.839 For they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spun the word of the Holy One of Israel. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:15.839 Therefore, the Lord's anger burns against his people. His hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake and the dead bodies alike refuse in the streets. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:30.699 Yet for all this, his hunger is no turn away. His hand still appraised. He lift up banner for the distant nation. He whistle for those at the end of the earth. 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:50.319 Here they come, swiftly and speedily. Not one of them grow tired of strumble. Not one stumbles or slips. Not a belt is loosened at the waist. Not a sandal strap is broken. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:06:03.240 Their arrows are sharp. All their bow and trunk. Their horses all seem like flint. Their chariot wheels like a whirlwind. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:17.439 Their roar is like that of a lion. They roar like a young lion. They growl and they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:31.540 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one look at the land, there is only darkness and distress. Even the sun will be darkened by clouds. Amen. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.540 Thank you for reading for us, Alexandra. Let's pray as we come to God's word. Let's pray. 00:06:37.540 --> 00:06:49.600 Heavenly Father, as we come to look at your word and to listen to it together, we want to ask for your help and for your blessing. 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:55.160 Lord, we know just how difficult we find it. 00:06:55.160 --> 00:07:07.160 It's not simply just to understand what it is that you're saying, but perhaps even more to listen to it with open hearts that change, that are moulded by your spirit. 00:07:07.380 --> 00:07:13.460 So please be at work this morning. Help me. Help all of us, we ask, for the glory of your name and to do us good. 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:16.080 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:07:16.080 --> 00:07:16.280 Amen. 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:16.839 Amen. 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:27.419 I think one of the things that it will help you to know as we come to Isaiah 5, and have you got a handout? 00:07:27.739 --> 00:07:31.000 Have you got the... have you got the... brilliant... that's great, I'm just checking you've got the worksheet. 00:07:31.479 --> 00:07:31.779 Great. 00:07:32.159 --> 00:07:39.500 What will help you to know as we come to Isaiah 5 is that really the first five chapters of Isaiah's book are an introduction. 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:44.639 Now, I think that helps because Isaiah, as you read it, is an unusual book. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.959 You might have thought that. It's not a history book. It's not a story book. 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:54.819 It's not really even a poetry book. It contains history. It contains stories. It has poems in it. 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.600 But it's kind of more than just that. 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:07.040 I think, really, as a reader, the best way to think of the book of Isaiah is to think that it is Isaiah as a preacher. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.000 Isaiah is preaching to us. 00:08:10.460 --> 00:08:14.660 He is a prophetic preacher who is preaching God's word as it is revealed to him. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:16.420 But he's a preacher all the same. 00:08:17.340 --> 00:08:23.800 And in one sense, what you've got in the book of Isaiah is the kind of compilation of Isaiah's sermons. 00:08:23.960 --> 00:08:30.040 So Isaiah has, for us, put together the sermons that he has been preaching to Israel down the years. 00:08:30.700 --> 00:08:34.980 And he's not done it as in, like, this is the text of this sermon. 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:36.700 This is the text of the next sermon. 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:38.300 He's not done it like that. 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:40.280 What he's done, he's gone, a bit from this one. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.440 I'm going to take a bit from this one. 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:42.600 I'm going to take a bit from that one. 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:43.660 I'm going to take a bit from the other one. 00:08:43.680 --> 00:08:46.379 And he's arranged them for us. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.500 So parts of his book are historical. 00:08:49.740 --> 00:08:52.340 And they will work their way through a progress of history. 00:08:52.560 --> 00:08:57.759 Other parts, like these first five chapters, he is pulling the themes from his ministry 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.940 and putting them together so that you have an idea about what's going on and what it's about. 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:09.040 But then next week we'll arrive at chapter six, which is really the beginning of his prophecy 00:09:09.040 --> 00:09:14.560 and his book, where he tells you that in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord 00:09:14.560 --> 00:09:16.180 high and lifted up. 00:09:16.260 --> 00:09:16.740 He'll tell you. 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:23.879 Now, it is a bit confusing, I grant you, and it is quite long, like most preachers, right? 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:25.659 So he goes on for 66 chapters. 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:30.659 But Isaiah 5 is really helpful for us this morning because what you've got from the beginning 00:09:30.659 --> 00:09:35.759 to the end of Isaiah 5 is the full sweep of Israel's history, right? 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:41.439 So it starts at the very beginning of the life of Israel and it ends with the exile at 00:09:41.439 --> 00:09:45.360 the end of the life of Israel or Judah and Jerusalem. 00:09:46.419 --> 00:09:49.399 And of course, Isaiah isn't going to kind of make this easy for us. 00:09:49.439 --> 00:09:51.600 He's not going to go, right, this happened, then this happened, then this happened, then 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:52.399 this happened, then this happened. 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:56.740 Instead, he's going to tell you a story, a story about a vineyard first. 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:00.580 And then, because he's a preacher, he's going to give you some bullet points. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.100 Six woes he's going to give you and four therefores. 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:09.360 And so what we're going to do as we look through chapter 5 is just notice those two sections 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.680 together and then come and try and work out its implications for us. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:14.080 So we're going to start with a story. 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:18.100 The story, verses 1 to 7, is the story of the vineyard. 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:21.580 1 to 7, the story of the vineyard. 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:26.620 The point of the story, really, is to show us that beyond a shadow of a doubt, 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:32.240 all the way through Israel's history, God is innocent of all that they have done wrong. 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:39.340 God is not to blame for the mess and the mistakes that Judah find themselves in. 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:44.480 Jerusalem, the people of God, you and I, we cannot look and say, 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:50.600 listen, the reason that I am in this mess of my own making is God's fault. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:58.259 You know, the sin that I commit, the wickedness of my heart is God's fault, not mine. 00:10:58.340 --> 00:10:59.519 We can't say that. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:01.740 And that's what this story is all about. 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:04.560 Sin comes from the inside, not from the outside. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:05.540 God is not to blame. 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:06.659 Look down at verse 1. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:07.480 This is where it all starts. 00:11:07.540 --> 00:11:10.540 It starts with Isaiah singing the story of the vineyard. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.379 He sings it as a love song to God. 00:11:12.379 --> 00:11:19.519 In other words, Isaiah sings of God's innocence, which we might call God's holiness, out of love for him. 00:11:20.179 --> 00:11:22.460 Isaiah is not scared by God's holiness. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:25.120 He's in awe of it and loves him for it. 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:32.720 And so he starts, my loved one, that is God, has a vineyard, that is his people, on a fertile hillside. 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:37.120 And God did everything that could be reasonably expected for this vineyard. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.279 Verse 2, he dug it up. 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:40.620 He cleared it of stones. 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:42.679 He planted it with the choicest vines. 00:11:42.779 --> 00:11:45.580 He brought a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:54.179 But then, when God goes to look for fruit from these vines that he has planted and cared for and given everything that they needed, 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:56.399 he finds it to be very disappointing. 00:11:56.620 --> 00:12:02.000 End of verse 2, then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.700 That seems as though the song ends there, right? 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:07.980 Verse 3, the speaker changes. 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:14.919 And in verse 3, the people of Judah are invited by God, it seems, to judge between the owner of the vineyard and the vineyard. 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:18.019 Now, you've heard the song, people, he says. 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:19.840 So listen, verse 4. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.779 What more could I have done for my vineyard, people? 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:24.980 What could I have done? 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.419 Why, when I looked for good grapes, did I find only bad? 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:30.919 Of course, the answer is supposed to be obvious. 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:33.719 Could I have done more for my vineyard, says God. 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:35.019 No, of course you couldn't. 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:41.500 And that means that the reason for the bad fruit is not about what God did or what God did not do, but what the people are like. 00:12:42.099 --> 00:12:44.959 Bad fruit is a vine problem, not a farmer problem. 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:53.139 And that means that the judgment of verses 5 and 6 and the rest of the chapter is supposed to be seen by us as being inevitable. 00:12:53.819 --> 00:12:53.939 Right? 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:58.959 If you are the owner of a vineyard who has done everything for his vineyard and you find only bad grapes, 00:12:59.419 --> 00:13:00.500 judgment is inevitable. 00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:03.320 It is inevitable that those vines will be destroyed. 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:06.080 But it's not just inevitable, is it? 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:07.700 It is also right. 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.139 It's just, it's what should be done. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.039 In fact, if the owner of a vineyard who had planted it and done everything for it went to look for good grapes, found only bad, 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:25.399 if that farmer did nothing, you would assume, wouldn't you rightly, that the farmer had something wrong with it. 00:13:27.079 --> 00:13:28.620 Perhaps he expected bad fruit. 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:31.299 Perhaps he knows really, actually, I did leave some stones in the soil. 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:33.199 I'd failed to protect it. 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:35.059 But of course he didn't. 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:39.779 In case we're in any doubt, the meaning is explained by Isaiah in verse 7. 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:46.259 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:52.299 He looked for justice but saw bloodshed, for righteousness but heard cries of distress. 00:13:52.299 --> 00:14:01.000 A friend of mine who is the pastor of a church a long way from here tells the story of how he became a Christian. 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:03.679 The story is on YouTube. 00:14:03.859 --> 00:14:05.819 I can share it with you if you'd like to watch it. 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:16.900 He was abandoned as a child by his alcoholic mother and he grew up in and out of care, abused by most of the adults who were meant to be looking after him. 00:14:18.180 --> 00:14:24.660 He was a bright kid but he left school with very little to show for it and started living on the streets at the age of 16. 00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:28.080 He got in with a crowd of older boys. 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:33.560 He ended up using drugs, stealing and selling drugs and getting involved in violence. 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:43.399 He had a list of offences which were just growing and growing over the years and he eventually was put in prison after stabbing a couple of guys in a fight. 00:14:44.319 --> 00:14:50.519 While he was in prison, some Christians who he'd met through a kind of community project came and visited him. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:52.819 He was surprised they were there. 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:54.719 He thought they were probably crazy. 00:14:56.019 --> 00:15:01.699 But they were kind to him and one of them provided him with a home to live in when he was released on parole. 00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:05.620 You can't be released on parole unless you've got somewhere to go to. 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:25.580 Now the story has lots of twists and turns and in the end what really got to my friend was reading the Bible and reading a different story about his struggles and violence than the one that he'd been told by his social worker and parole officer. 00:15:25.580 --> 00:15:31.080 Until that point he believed that basically he was the victim of his circumstances, right? 00:15:31.900 --> 00:15:41.220 His violence and his drug addictions and dealing could be explained to him by the circumstances into which he'd been brought up. 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:48.720 And he read the book of Romans and he heard something quite different. 00:15:49.940 --> 00:16:01.660 He was confronted the fact that despite all the horrors of his childhood and the abuse that he'd faced, his big trouble was not coming at him from the outside but from him on the inside. 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:10.139 The big trouble was the sin in his heart, not the sins of others that were committed against him. 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:14.199 He was under God's wrath and his judgment for his own sin. 00:16:16.019 --> 00:16:21.000 And if anything was going to change, he had to take responsibility for that. 00:16:21.459 --> 00:16:23.439 He could not blame God. 00:16:23.839 --> 00:16:25.339 He could not blame his abusers. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:26.959 God would deal with them. 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:29.100 But he would also deal with him. 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:33.920 Now, Israel's story is like that, isn't it? 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:39.180 God says, listen, it might be really difficult for you. 00:16:39.680 --> 00:16:41.100 And things might be really hard. 00:16:41.180 --> 00:16:47.420 But what you need to understand, Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, is I have richly provided for you everything that you need. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.720 Your problem is you, not me, says God. 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:55.940 And maybe your story is like that too. 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:59.120 Or maybe it's not as stark as that. 00:16:59.180 --> 00:17:00.980 Perhaps you've been given many good things. 00:17:01.420 --> 00:17:03.340 But perhaps you do have a story like my friend's. 00:17:03.760 --> 00:17:06.360 And Isaiah's point stands for all of us, doesn't it? 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:09.580 God is innocent of our sin. 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:11.059 God is holy. 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:15.160 The bad fruit is the fault of the vine, not the vineyard owner. 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:21.640 And so God in his goodness has every right to look to his people and look for justice and look for righteousness. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:29.500 And when he finds bloodshed and distress, judgment is not only inevitable, it's right. 00:17:30.340 --> 00:17:31.600 It must come. 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:33.920 It must come to Jerusalem. 00:17:34.080 --> 00:17:34.940 It must come to Judah. 00:17:35.080 --> 00:17:36.060 It must come to London. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:39.140 It must come to me and you. 00:17:39.140 --> 00:17:43.080 Because the owner of the world, the owner of you and me, is God. 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:45.080 And God is holy. 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:47.280 And he chases away sin. 00:17:48.860 --> 00:17:49.780 That's the story. 00:17:50.580 --> 00:17:53.700 Next comes six woes in the second part of the chapter. 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:54.820 Six woes. 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.640 Now if the point of the first half of the story is that God is innocent of our sin, 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:02.440 the point of the woes is that we are guilty for our sin, right? 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:03.560 God is innocent. 00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:04.840 We are guilty. 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:11.419 And more than just that, he also wants us to notice that there are consequences or therefores for their sins. 00:18:11.919 --> 00:18:14.519 So six woes and four therefores. 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:16.859 Now listen to me because this is important, right? 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.519 This is going to take a little bit of time, but I want us to go through all the six woes 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.500 and we'll pick up the four therefores on the way through. 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:28.099 It's really going to help you to have a Bible in front of you before I do this, 00:18:28.139 --> 00:18:28.959 otherwise you'll get lost. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:30.859 So if you've lost Isaiah 5, find it again. 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:32.500 And let's work through these woes. 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:33.759 We'll go through them reasonably quickly. 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:36.419 The first woe, verse 8. 00:18:36.959 --> 00:18:43.879 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.839 This is woe number one and it's about materialism, right? 00:18:47.899 --> 00:18:54.879 It's about the idea that safety in life is about the accumulation of stuff, especially property. 00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:59.539 Now we saw last week that some people in Jerusalem are very, very rich. 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:08.240 And it seems as though the very rich are now buying up land and property and that the buying up of land and property has become for them the whole purpose of life. 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.500 This is what life is about, the accumulation of stuff. 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:20.900 And so Isaiah says that the city is full, not because of a large population, but because it's squeezed together by big houses and huge farms. 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:28.120 The accumulation of homes and businesses has taken over the city, driven by the desire of the rich to own land and property. 00:19:28.820 --> 00:19:31.120 They want to guarantee themselves a future. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.460 And it's an intoxicating lie, isn't it? 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:37.400 Oh, if only I have this, I will be safe. 00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:45.000 And God exposes the lie because in verses 9 and 10, he promises that the houses will be empty and the farms unfruitful. 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:48.180 Now, we just need to be careful here, don't we? 00:19:48.220 --> 00:19:51.960 Because the problem is not that people own property and land. 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:55.740 The land is meant to be given to the people and they are meant to own it, right? 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.460 Rather, the problem seems to be the injustice behind it. 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:08.319 So they are squeezing others out, notice, so the rich are buying up the property, knocking the houses together, and they live, notice, alone in the land. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.100 That's because they have organized a system of ownership which pushes the poor people out. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.440 That's part of the problem. 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:19.640 The other problem is that they assume that the accumulation of those assets gives them all that they need. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:21.720 And that is the mistake. 00:20:22.340 --> 00:20:27.059 Pushing out the poor people, the accumulation of wealth at the expense of the poor, 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:31.179 and assuming that wealth is the place in which to put your trust. 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:32.519 That's the problem. 00:20:35.679 --> 00:20:41.460 It's funny, isn't it, that despite that big problem, despite property being a bad saviour, 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:46.500 you do not need me to tell you that this is a contemporary issue, right? 00:20:46.919 --> 00:20:48.919 This could be London, couldn't it? 00:20:49.879 --> 00:20:53.940 You know, where the rich are buying up the property and squeezing the poor out? 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:54.779 Don't you feel that? 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:55.799 Don't you know that? 00:20:57.059 --> 00:21:00.119 But it doesn't mean, does it, that it's only the rich who fall for this lie. 00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:05.679 In fact, you don't have to own a home to think that you would be better off if you did own a home. 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:11.179 It can be, can't it, for those who don't have these things, that they still believe the lie, 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.059 that they would be safer and more secure and better if they did. 00:21:14.379 --> 00:21:17.200 And God looks at that and says, that's bad fruit. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:23.539 And the therefore, in verse 13, tells them that they will lose their property and they will end up in exile. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:29.380 The people of high rank who owned houses and farms will die of hunger and thirst. 00:21:29.580 --> 00:21:30.480 That's the first woe. 00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:34.340 The second woe, we'll get more brief, is verse 11. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:35.100 Look at verse 11. 00:21:35.099 --> 00:21:41.500 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:49.000 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:54.759 Woe number two is basically about living to party, isn't it? 00:21:55.539 --> 00:21:57.659 It's about life being all about pleasure. 00:21:57.660 --> 00:21:58.800 It's hedonism. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:03.060 This is Jerusalem two and a half thousand years plus ago, right? 00:22:03.420 --> 00:22:06.540 And they're doing what I believe students do this, right? 00:22:06.580 --> 00:22:10.480 They have what they call prees, which is the drinks that you have before you go out drinking. 00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:16.120 So that when you get out to buy the drinks, which are more expensive, you've already had enough for them to take effect. 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:19.440 Well, these guys, they're not just having prees a few hours before they go out. 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:20.600 They're starting in the morning. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.920 So by the evening, they are truly well lubricated. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:28.779 And in verse 12, the popular bands of the day are playing in the clubs of Jerusalem. 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:31.519 And in the clubs of Jerusalem, God is forgotten about. 00:22:31.840 --> 00:22:32.660 He's not there. 00:22:33.740 --> 00:22:38.779 And the impression that Isaiah is giving here is that these people have become senseless to the kind of world they live in. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:43.320 They are party animals who are hedonists, who ignore the God they're made for. 00:22:44.840 --> 00:22:47.120 Now, it's not, is it, that God is a killjoy. 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:51.820 Psalm 104 tells you that God invents wine, but not to be used like this. 00:22:51.819 --> 00:23:00.200 Interestingly, in verse 14, in the second of the therefores, God sees the grave as the party crusher, right? 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:05.119 The grave has an appetite that is never quenched, and it swallows the revelers down. 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:11.099 You know, it's like, it's all fun and games at the party until someone dies. 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:14.179 Drowned in the pool when they fell in drunk. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.019 And that's what's going on in chapter 5, in the second word. 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:19.579 The third word, verse 18. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:24.379 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit and wickedness as with cart ropes. 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:27.039 To those who say, let God hurry. 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:29.059 Let him hasten his work so that we may see it. 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:30.319 The plan of the Holy One of Israel. 00:23:30.619 --> 00:23:31.279 Let it approach. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:33.079 Let it come into view so we may know it. 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:35.519 This is the idea that God is slow. 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:38.319 God needs a bit of help to get on with it. 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:39.700 Yeah, God won't punish sin. 00:23:39.879 --> 00:23:42.599 You can drag your sin around with you. 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:45.480 You can just pull it along and nothing's going to happen. 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.160 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:49.880 Jerusalem are not completely ignorant of God. 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:52.559 It's just that they think he needs a bit of encouragement to speed up. 00:23:53.299 --> 00:23:55.000 They see no evidence of him working. 00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:56.839 And it's a lie, isn't it? 00:23:57.180 --> 00:23:59.720 Verse 24 is the third therefore. 00:24:00.360 --> 00:24:03.960 And it tells you that God's judgment will come like fire on dry grass. 00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:09.360 Now, you know, don't you, from this summer, that fire on dry grass spreads really quickly. 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:11.059 You cannot outrun a grass fire. 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:13.899 The fourth woe is in verse 20. 00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:16.700 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:19.379 You put darkness for light and light for darkness. 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:21.940 You put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:24.619 Here the idea is that morality doesn't matter. 00:24:24.919 --> 00:24:25.579 Fourth woe. 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:27.019 Morality doesn't matter. 00:24:27.919 --> 00:24:29.039 Notice the detail here. 00:24:29.159 --> 00:24:30.759 Light and darkness, bitter and sweet. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.079 Light and dark is public morality. 00:24:33.639 --> 00:24:36.059 That light and dark, that's what we all see, right? 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.539 And the moral code is switched out in the public sphere. 00:24:39.539 --> 00:24:45.619 So in the public sphere, immorality is celebrated and morality is squashed. 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:48.339 Sin becomes the acceptable way to live. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.299 Even the church blesses it. 00:24:51.619 --> 00:24:55.180 They will march in its favour or stay silent in the face of its abuse. 00:24:55.899 --> 00:24:58.159 But it's also personal morality, right? 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.680 The bittersweet, that is your own taste. 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:02.099 It is personal. 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:05.859 As we give ourselves a free pass on our own sin. 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:10.339 Oh, I know it's not that great, but it doesn't really matter that much, we say. 00:25:12.179 --> 00:25:14.039 Again, it's undone by the third. 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:18.519 Therefore, in verse 24, where the judgment comes on the rejecters of God's law. 00:25:19.339 --> 00:25:21.279 God's law will stand. 00:25:21.639 --> 00:25:24.199 What God says is right will stay as right. 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:31.100 Fifth woe in verse 21 is to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:34.500 Here's the lie that we all have the answers. 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:35.700 We have all the answers. 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:36.660 Woe number five. 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:38.100 Self-sufficiency. 00:25:39.100 --> 00:25:40.480 I've got enough on my own. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:42.580 God is for the weak. 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:45.660 God is for those who don't think they're enough in themselves. 00:25:46.460 --> 00:25:47.480 I'm not like that. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:49.519 I know what I need to know. 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:50.880 I'm all-sufficient. 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:53.420 Cleverness here is discernment. 00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:58.200 It's not just the idea that you're smart, but the idea that you know enough to know what the future will hold. 00:25:58.540 --> 00:25:59.960 That you can tell what will happen. 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:02.100 That we can secure the future. 00:26:03.060 --> 00:26:05.740 And it goes hand in hand with the final woe. 00:26:06.120 --> 00:26:07.640 In verses 22 and 23. 00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:11.120 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks. 00:26:11.540 --> 00:26:14.400 Who acquit the guilty for a bribe but deny justice to the innocent. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:21.320 Here it's not so much just about self-sufficient intellect, but about physical strength and prowess. 00:26:22.100 --> 00:26:23.640 I am strong enough. 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:28.060 That I am all that I need because I can do all that I want. 00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:31.460 I can get what I want at the bar and it will not affect me. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.380 And I can deal with people as I want because they can't get to me either. 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:43.280 Now these last two woes are met by the fourth, therefore, in verse 25, where the Lord's anger burns down and strikes them. 00:26:43.560 --> 00:26:48.420 And the wise and the strong are defeated in a moment and their bodies are in the streets. 00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:52.000 The rest of chapter 5 expands on this. 00:26:52.100 --> 00:26:56.720 Isaiah tells them about the exile when Jerusalem will be defeated and the people killed and taken away. 00:26:57.120 --> 00:27:00.400 You've gone from the beginning now to the end of Jerusalem's history. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:05.019 In verse 26, God whistles for the enemy to come and conquer the city. 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:07.980 An enemy who is swift in verse 26. 00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:10.720 Untiring in verse 27. 00:27:11.120 --> 00:27:13.500 Full of modern weaponry in verse 28. 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:16.040 Roaring like a lion in verse 29. 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.880 And the destruction is total in verse 30. 00:27:20.120 --> 00:27:22.800 And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress. 00:27:23.080 --> 00:27:24.960 Even the sun will be darkened by the clouds. 00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:29.800 This is a brutal takedown for Jerusalem and Judah by the nation of Babylon. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:31.660 Who are swift. 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:33.940 Equipped with modern weaponry. 00:27:34.259 --> 00:27:35.920 And destroy them in a moment. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:40.860 Now we've moved quite quickly through these verses. 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:47.400 But I hope what is really clear to you is that Jerusalem's problem is not simply wicked actions. 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:49.860 But misplaced trust. 00:27:50.580 --> 00:27:53.640 The problem is not God. 00:27:53.740 --> 00:27:54.360 God is innocent. 00:27:55.220 --> 00:27:56.680 It's not imposed from the outside. 00:27:57.480 --> 00:27:59.380 And it's not just their behaviour. 00:27:59.580 --> 00:28:01.460 But it is their trust, isn't it? 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:03.259 That they're not trusting in God. 00:28:03.340 --> 00:28:04.440 They're trusting in their wealth. 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:05.160 Their wisdom. 00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:05.819 Their strength. 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:07.160 Their ability to buy property. 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:10.079 Their ability to party and ignore the great realities. 00:28:10.620 --> 00:28:13.640 They're not trusting in God because they're distracting themselves. 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:15.460 Drinking to forget. 00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:17.019 And God. 00:28:17.360 --> 00:28:18.880 And this is what we were looking at with the children. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.600 Because of who God is. 00:28:22.040 --> 00:28:23.100 Cannot tolerate that. 00:28:23.760 --> 00:28:28.140 The godness of God means that when it meets the sinfulness of sin. 00:28:28.320 --> 00:28:31.060 It says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.380 Therefore, therefore, therefore, therefore. 00:28:35.560 --> 00:28:36.720 It's summarised. 00:28:36.740 --> 00:28:37.540 If you're a bit lost. 00:28:37.800 --> 00:28:39.640 It's summarised in verses 15 and 16. 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:42.460 So people will be brought low. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:43.840 Everyone humbled. 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:46.220 The eyes of the arrogant humbled. 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:49.440 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice. 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:54.259 And the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts. 00:28:55.300 --> 00:28:56.120 Sin defeated. 00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:59.840 And God's holiness, his godness, proved by his judgment. 00:29:02.320 --> 00:29:04.060 Now, I just want to ask you as we finish. 00:29:04.140 --> 00:29:05.340 What do you make of all of this, right? 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:08.580 As you listen to that, what are you thinking? 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:11.159 What are you thinking this has got to do with you or me? 00:29:12.019 --> 00:29:15.419 I hope at one level you are challenged by some of those woes. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.779 You know, I see myself in them. 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:21.960 The idea that material possessions will secure my future. 00:29:23.179 --> 00:29:26.319 I mean, if you're like me, it's material possessions that I don't have. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.079 Which I think will secure my future. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:31.579 And so I spend a lot of time thinking about how I might acquire them. 00:29:33.199 --> 00:29:37.099 It's the time that we spend distracting ourselves from the big questions or troubles in life. 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:42.339 Maybe you don't drink in the morning to party in the evening. 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:45.779 Perhaps you just distract yourself by scrolling your mobile phone. 00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:47.299 It's the same idea. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:51.959 It's good, isn't it, to be warned about those things. 00:29:52.659 --> 00:29:56.339 There is a safety in being warned about those kind of sins. 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:01.519 But as we close, I want you to see that there is something else here, right? 00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:05.759 There's not just two points in Isaiah chapter 5. 00:30:05.879 --> 00:30:07.819 It's not just about the wickedness of our sin. 00:30:07.899 --> 00:30:08.959 It is about that, right? 00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:11.119 It's not just about the holiness of God. 00:30:11.199 --> 00:30:11.919 It is about that. 00:30:12.179 --> 00:30:14.939 The third thing is about the combination of those two things. 00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:16.919 What happens when they come together? 00:30:16.920 --> 00:30:22.019 The meeting of God's holiness and our sin means punishment, doesn't it? 00:30:22.660 --> 00:30:24.060 Wrath, justice. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:29.160 The blood on the streets is what happens when God's holiness meets people's sin. 00:30:29.600 --> 00:30:30.840 This is the godness of God. 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:33.259 God is not a liar, is he? 00:30:33.259 --> 00:30:42.240 God will not lie about who he is or what his world is for or what you and your life are about and for. 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:50.359 And so because it's about the meeting of my sin and God's holiness and the wrath and the judgment and the justice that comes, 00:30:50.879 --> 00:30:55.119 that the most terrifying part of Isaiah 5 is the end of verse 25. 00:30:55.779 --> 00:30:57.140 Look at the end of verse 25. 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:01.579 This invasion by the Babylonians and the conquest of Jerusalem is inevitable, isn't it? 00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:03.799 It's the meeting of God's holiness and their sin. 00:31:03.899 --> 00:31:04.919 But notice what happens. 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:05.919 End of verse 25. 00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:10.619 Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:12.779 His hand is still upraised. 00:31:13.679 --> 00:31:21.419 This is the terrible news of Isaiah 5, is that God not only punishes his people, Jerusalem and Judah, 00:31:21.859 --> 00:31:26.859 even though they're conquered and defeated, still his justice is not satisfied. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:30.819 Wrath is not dealt with in Isaiah 5. 00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:35.539 Sin has not been dealt with by the day of the conquest. 00:31:36.859 --> 00:31:40.240 The day of judgment is not the day of the Babylonian invasion. 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:42.700 It is, says Isaiah, still a day to come. 00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:44.879 Still more wrath to see. 00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:50.779 God's holiness has more to say about human sin than you see in Isaiah 5. 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:57.539 Now, if that's right, if God's holiness is not satisfied fully and finally in Isaiah 5, 00:31:57.740 --> 00:32:02.940 if the problem is not solved here, then there is a mystery in Isaiah 5. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:13.799 And the mystery is in verse 1, which is that Isaiah sings in the context of God's holiness and right justice. 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:16.460 He says, I love you, God. 00:32:17.399 --> 00:32:17.799 What? 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:20.359 I love you, God. 00:32:20.919 --> 00:32:24.480 I will sing of your loveliness. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.019 How can he do that? 00:32:27.620 --> 00:32:32.980 Why is Isaiah not running in terror or bulking at the consequences, but instead singing, I love you, Lord? 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:36.099 And in a way, Isaiah 5 leaves that question hanging. 00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:36.700 Right? 00:32:36.819 --> 00:32:41.299 He's a great preacher and he's trying, I'm just going to leave that for next week. 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:42.839 He says, and off he goes. 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:45.620 But let's try and unpick it a bit more. 00:32:46.460 --> 00:32:49.519 Let me try and give you an illustration to try and bring this together. 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:53.019 Imagine that God's holiness is like a challenger tank. 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:55.180 A challenger tank is bulletproof. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:56.900 It has massive firepower. 00:32:57.259 --> 00:32:59.339 It has great terror to all its enemies. 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:05.420 Obviously, a challenger tank is bad news for everybody on the outside of the tank. 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:15.319 And on the outside of the tank of God's holiness stands Israel, Judah, Jerusalem. 00:33:15.900 --> 00:33:17.559 They are doomed, aren't they? 00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:22.859 The tank of God's relentless holiness is driving towards them and there is nowhere to hide. 00:33:23.899 --> 00:33:28.619 But Isaiah sees exactly the same tank, the same challenger tank, and he says, 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.599 no, that's not bad news, that's good news for me. 00:33:30.879 --> 00:33:32.139 That's really good news for me. 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:34.579 What does that mean about Isaiah? 00:33:35.539 --> 00:33:39.379 Why can the tank of God's relentless holiness be good news for Isaiah? 00:33:39.819 --> 00:33:40.899 Here it is. 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:45.359 Because Isaiah is on the inside of the tank and not on the outside. 00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:46.279 That's why. 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:55.399 Somehow, in a way that is not explained in chapter 5, Isaiah has found a way for God's holiness to be his protection and not his terror. 00:33:56.180 --> 00:34:00.779 For God not to destroy him, but protect him, to fight for him and not against him. 00:34:01.619 --> 00:34:04.599 Now, in the rest of Isaiah's book, you're going to get hints at that answer. 00:34:05.099 --> 00:34:08.460 But we don't have to wait for that because we're New Testament Bible readers, aren't we? 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:10.240 So we know John 15. 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:17.679 And in John 15, Jesus, who is on the cusp of the cross, he says to his disciples this, it will come up on the screen, 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:21.039 I am the vine, you are the branches. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:24.679 If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. 00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:26.340 Apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:28.400 This is incredible. 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:29.940 We're going to skirt over some of the detail. 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:34.539 But Jesus takes this picture of a vine and a vineyard from Isaiah 5 and all over the Old Testament. 00:34:35.099 --> 00:34:39.460 And he says, listen, there's a new vine in town and it's me. 00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:45.860 This old vine that bears bad fruit is gone. 00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:50.079 There is a new vine that bears good fruit and it's me. 00:34:50.860 --> 00:34:53.139 I am God's people, says Jesus in effect. 00:34:53.500 --> 00:34:55.000 God's people are in me. 00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:58.559 The bad fruit and vine have come and gone. 00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:00.280 I am the true vine. 00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:06.099 The vine that if you are in it will bear good fruit through you. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:08.860 Now, why can Jesus say such a thing? 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:11.440 Well, it's because he's on his way to the cross. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:15.300 The cross is really the final fulfillment of Isaiah 5. 00:35:15.680 --> 00:35:21.380 In Isaiah 5, there is blood on the streets, but there is no final solution to the holiness and sin problem. 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:27.660 But on the cross, there is blood on the cross and a final solution for God's holiness and his judgments. 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:31.940 Let me just try and put it as simply as I can. 00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:35.460 The tank of God's holiness is rolling through history. 00:35:35.460 --> 00:35:39.159 And it is bearing down on a final day. 00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:42.240 And all of us will stand in front of it. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:50.519 And the only place of safety in the relentless role of the tank of God's holiness is inside it. 00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:56.599 And the only way inside the tank is through the cross of the Lord Jesus. 00:35:56.599 --> 00:36:00.279 Because he will rid you of your sin. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:02.699 He will bring you into himself. 00:36:03.380 --> 00:36:10.119 He will plant you as a vine in him, grafted into him, that you might bear good grapes, not bad. 00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:13.219 And then it becomes great news, doesn't it? 00:36:13.699 --> 00:36:18.699 Because God's holiness is his commitment to rid you of all your sin. 00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:20.179 Isn't that great? 00:36:20.579 --> 00:36:22.480 I long to be rid of all my sin. 00:36:22.839 --> 00:36:23.159 Don't you? 00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:28.279 God's holiness is his commitment to rid this world of all of its sin. 00:36:28.859 --> 00:36:30.619 Don't you long for that day too? 00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:32.759 No more injustice. 00:36:33.460 --> 00:36:34.819 No more wicked abusers. 00:36:35.239 --> 00:36:36.500 No more vicious dictators. 00:36:36.980 --> 00:36:38.460 No more hostile nations. 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:42.339 No more self-righteous, self-sufficient religious people. 00:36:42.779 --> 00:36:43.739 None of that. 00:36:44.460 --> 00:36:47.719 Because God has come in his holiness and judgment. 00:36:48.019 --> 00:36:50.079 And we are safe in Jesus Christ. 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:51.880 Let me pray. 00:36:52.659 --> 00:36:53.199 As I pray. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:53.339 Amen. 00:36:53.339 --> 00:36:53.440 Amen. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:53.440 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:53.440 00:37:00.619 --> 00:37:12.000 Heavenly Father, if we are really honest with you, 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:20.279 we take both our sin rather lightly and your holiness rather lightly, 00:37:20.579 --> 00:37:25.259 so this problem of when they meet one another doesn't seem such a big issue to us. 00:37:25.260 --> 00:37:31.700 And so we thank you that Isaiah 5 has told us a lot more about your holiness 00:37:31.700 --> 00:37:33.840 and a lot more about our sinfulness. 00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:39.340 So this problem of them coming together is much bigger than we'd like to think. 00:37:40.340 --> 00:37:45.800 And so we thank you that the solution in Jesus Christ and his cross 00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:48.000 is even greater than we imagined. 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:50.160 Even more wonderful. 00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:51.920 Even more precious. 00:37:52.640 --> 00:37:54.400 Even more beautiful than we thought. 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:57.139 So that we, with Isaiah, can sing, 00:37:57.340 --> 00:37:58.760 I love you, Lord. 00:38:00.059 --> 00:38:04.480 Because your holiness is fighting for me and not against me. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:09.500 That you will rid me, rid us as we trust in you of all sin. 00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:14.599 And you will remake this world by your power for your glory forever and ever. 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:17.480 And there will be no more abusers, 00:38:18.220 --> 00:38:18.800 hardships, 00:38:19.780 --> 00:38:20.420 injustice, 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:24.300 because Christ has come in his glory and his wonder. 00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:26.160 So help us, we pray, 00:38:26.720 --> 00:38:31.559 to find our safety and security in the victory of Jesus Christ at his cross. 00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:32.980 In his name we pray. 00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:33.820 Amen. 00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:33.960 Amen. 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:33.960 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:33.960 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:33.960 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:33.960 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:34.960 Amen. 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:34.960 00:38:34.960 --> 00:39:04.940 Thank you.