Lesson 368 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9).
Cross References
I The Vanity of Hypocrisy
1. The prophet was instructed to cry out against sin, [ISA:58:1]; [EZE:3:18]; [EZE:33:9].
2.The people made a great pretence of righteousness, [ISA:58:2-3]; [ISA:1:11-15]; [MAL:1:6-8]; [MAT:6:1-6]; [MAT:15:7-8]; [MAT:15:23]:23.
II The Lord's Expectations
1. The Lord showed that a false profession was not sufficient, [ISA:58:4-5]; [MAT:7:21-23]; [MAK:7:6]; [TIT:1:16]; [REV:2:1-5]; [REV:3:1-3], [REV:3:14-19].
2. The mode of true worship was outlined for the people, [ISA:58:6-7]; [DEU:10:12-14]; [MAL:3:10], [MAL:3:16-17]; [MAK:12:33]; [ROM:13:10]; [JAM:1:27].
III The Rewards of True Righteousness
1. The guarantee of God's blessing followed the doing of God's will, [ISA:58:8-12]; [2CH:26:5]; [2CH:31:21]; [PS:1:1-3]; [MAT:7:21]; [JHN:13:17]; [JAM:1:22-25].
2. Those who honour God and His Law are honoured of God, [ISA:58:13-14]; [MAT:5:19]; [MAT:10:32-33]; [JHN:12:26]; [JHN:14:23]; [ROM:2:6-7], [ROM:2:10-11].
Notes
Most Valuable
Have you ever meditated upon the thought: What is the most valuable possession that a person may secure in this life? Without doubt the gift of God's love -" the salvation of man's soul through the redeeming merits of Jesus' Blood, shed on Calvary "- is the greatest treasure obtainable by mankind. One can receive this possession only by repenting of and forsaking all sin believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour, obeying His commandments, entering into a covenant with God and living godly in this present life. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" [1TM:4:8]).
On the other hand, the most worthless thing that mankind can possess is an empty profession of religion. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" [MAT:7:22-23]).
God's Indictment
The two above conditions of religion -- the right kind and the wrong kind -" evident in our time, were in force also throughout much of the history of Israel. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet," the Spirit of God directed the Prophet to write and proclaim. What was the purpose of the message? It was to show the people their transgressions, and "the house of Jacob their sins." God has always blessed the man who is true to Him; but God has always had controversy with sinners, those especially who call themselves God's children in spite of the sins in their heart.
Guilty or Not?
Before spiritual wealth can be realised, a man must have sin removed from his heart. It was a surprise to Israel to hear the indictment of God that sin was present, and they answered the arraignment of the Prophet with a question, "Wherefore?" Had not the people sought God daily? Had they not delighted in knowing His ways? The people had supposedly asked God regarding the ordinances of justice, and they took delight in approaching God. They had fasted; they had afflicted their souls! Why, then, would the Lord charge them with sin?
The Prophet was faithful to his calling. He denounced a religion, which has the form of godliness without its power. All the while these people were trying diligently to observe the letter of their religion, they were openly engaged in the sinful pleasures of life. They had no consideration for the comforts of their fellow beings. Strifes, debates, and fightings marred their days of religious observances. Their acts of worship were merely outward performing. Jesus cried out against a similar type of religion in His day: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward" [MAT:6:16]).
True Worship
God would not accept Israel's surface religion; and God's expectation of those who would truly serve Him are no less exacting in these days. The words that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus are applicable to all men: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" [JHN:3:3]). True worship is not just talk and ritual, but true worship is obedience to every word of God. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. . . . whose looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" [JAM:1:22-25]). Faith and works grow together in the heart and life of the true Christian -" they are inseparable.
One student of the Bible likened faith and works in the Christian's life to the evergreen pine and fir trees of the western hemisphere. Faith was likened to the roots of the tree, works likened to the trunk, branches, and needles of the tree. The life of the trunk, branches, and needles above the ground depends upon the root of the tree below the ground; likewise the life of the root below the ground depends upon the trunk, branches and needles of the tree above the ground. If the tree should be cut off, both the tree and the root perish, for the one cannot live without the other. So also is faith and works in the life of the Christian. Both must be present, for one cannot live independently of the other.
God's Love
The love of God for the people of Israel can be felt as His instructions and expectations are read. God proclaimed His promise that if the people would perform their acts of religion from the heart, observing the spirit as well as the letter of the Law, God would receive them. There would be no end to the blessings God would pour out. The Children of Israel would know spiritual wealth, indeed. The Lord showed the people their acts with which He was displeased, then He outlined the manner of worship that He would bless.
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness" -" depart from wickedness by sincere repentance, and worship God in spirit and in truth, rather than by the cold form and ceremony that had been practiced.
"To undo the heavy burdens." The burdens of life sometimes become very heavy, but we can help undo rather than add to the burdens of others. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" [GAL:6:2]).
"To let the oppressed go free." The Children of Israel were guilty at times of oppressing the strangers and the poor who lived in the land. God condemned this practice. Men have at times oppressed Christians by persecution, by slander and evil talk; or gossip has been listened to and passed on to others. These are things with which God is displeased; and the one who worships God in truth must be free from these things.
"That ye break every yoke." Perhaps the Lord included the oppressed servants of the Israelites of Isaiah's day, but He surely was thinking of the servants of Satan today, also. A Christian life lived before sinners, a word of Christian testimony, or a song of Christian hope and gladness are often used of the Lord to cause sinners to take hope and action toward God's proffered salvation, thereby finding freedom from the oppression and yoke of the devil. "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" [1PE:3:15]).
Yesterday or Today?
The Lord God is the same today; He changes not. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition" [1CO:10:11]). God's love is manifest to men in greater measures now than it was to the Children of Israel during Isaiah's prophecy. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" [JHN:3:16]).
Has God given promise that He will answer prayer today? The New Testament, as well as the Old Testament, abounds with such promises. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" [MAT:6:33]). "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" [LUK:11:9]). "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" [JHN:15:7]). "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" [JAM:5:16]). "This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" ([1JN:5:14-15]). Could anyone ask for greater spiritual wealth than these promises assure? God's chequebook of faith is open to all who believe, and that account will never be overdrawn.
The Sabbath
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it" -" true spiritual wealth.
Christians observe Sunday, the first day of the week, as the Lord's Day. The first day of the week was the day on which Jesus rose; it was the day on which he made His several appearances before His disciples after His resurrection; it was the day on which the power fell [ACT:2:1-47]), at which time Christ's Church was founded; it was the day on which the disciples met to break bread in commemoration of the Lord's Supper, and it was the day on which they brought their offerings to the Lord. True Christians throughout the centuries since Jesus' resurrection have felt that the first day of the week is God's chosen day in the new dispensation, and they have added to their true spiritual wealth as they have observed that day in the spirit of the above instructions of God to Israel. Those who refuse to observe the Lord's Day have robbed themselves of spiritual riches that they otherwise would have obtained.
Questions
1. By what method was the Prophet to warn the people of their sins?
2. What was the spiritual condition of Israel at this time?
3. Why was the Lord not pleased with Israel's religious observances?
4. What did the Lord require before His blessing would visit the people?
5. Name at least five blessings that Israel would enjoy when they obeyed the Lord.
6. What did the Lord say about Israel's observance of the Sabbath?
7. What day of the week does the Christian keep? Why?
8. What is the most valuable possession that a person may have?
9. What would you consider to be true spiritual wealth?