Rev. David Holwick ZL Book of Isaiah series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 14, 1993
Isaiah 5:8-24
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I. The fires of California.
A. Phone call to my "Super Pastor" friend outside Los Angeles.
1) Just bought a new starter home - $280,000.
a) Many call, worried he has been burned out.
b) They can see pillars of smoke, but they are safe.
2) Burnt-out areas in California rebuilt with huge mansions.
a) Monstrosities go to edge of property line.
b) Insurance allows them to build bigger and better.
c) Their fast pace has not slowed down at all.
B. Israel in Isaiah's day was a lot like California - and N.J.
1) Those at the top were very prosperous.
2) But society oozed with violence, corruption and cynicism.
3) It was not the kind of community Isaiah wanted to live in.
II. The isolation of wealth. 5:8-9
A. Prosperity brought a building spree.
1) Rich were buying up poor people's land and building mansions.
a) Lust for land contradicts principle that God owns land.
2) Their houses were huge, but they were isolated.
a) People are not meant to live alone. We need community.
b) Problem in Roxbury is we may soon have too much community.
1> Even swamps and mountains being filled in.
2> Similar sin - building for sake of building, with
little regard for consequences.
B. God's judgment is magnification of situation. 5:9-10
1) Isolation becomes desolation - no one around. 5:9
2) Others will endure frustration of more work for less results.
III. Party animals. 5:11-15
A. A sure sign of decay in society is the pursuit of intoxication.
1) Pleasure has a place in life, but shouldn't be the totality.
2) Timing is everything - if you seek a drink first thing in
the morning, you are in its grip.
3) Illustration on coca addiction in Peru.
"They'd rather have coca than food." #2319
4) Movement to legalize drugs would backfire due to
wide range of deadly drugs available. #1078
B. There is nothing glamorous about addiction. 5:22
1) Booze and drugs may help us feel powerful, but the results
are the opposite.
The recent death of River Phoenix is instructive.
The young actor was noted for clean living and sensitivity.
Yet a deadly mixture of heroin and cocaine was in his blood.
2) Irony: many Christians are becoming soft on alcohol, while
others are becoming Christians through A.A.
C. It matters what kind of heroes we have.
Back in January, Peter Gibbon wrote a guest editorial in
Newsweek magazine.
Gibbon is the headmaster at Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y.
He noted that in the past, education focused on exemplary
lives - heroes.
But modern society does all it can to debunk heroes.
Biographies always find dirt on their subjects.
He says our children are being raised by an enemy culture
interested only in amusement, titillation and consumerism.
Irreverence, skepticism and mockery permeate our scholarship
and culture.
Sir Richard Livingstone, a 20th century teacher, said,
"True education is the habitual vision of greatness."
Gibbon's suggestions to correct the problem:
1. Portray old heroes as human beings, but let them remain
heroic.
2. For a shabby age, find new heroes and heroines.
3. Give moral and ethical education the same importance as
the presentation of reality.
4. Be less mocking and disdainful of those in authority.
5. Hollywood and popular culture must be fought.
It glorifies violence, excitment and aberration.
6. Parents must try to make their lives examples for their
children.
#2413
D. Once again, God's punishment for addiction is isolation. 5:13
1) The exile Isaiah speaks of was for the nation.
2) Addiction can also lead to a form of exile.
a) You are cut off from normal relationships.
b) You are cut off from feeling normal about yourself.
c) Both the rich and the underclass receive the same
judgment. 5:13
3) Bible teaches that Sin carries something of its judgment
within itself.
Thomas Costain's history, "The Three Edwards," describes the
life of Raynald III, a 14th century duke in Belgium.
Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin
nickname, Crassus, which means "fat."
After a violent quarrel, Raynald's younger brother Edward
led a successful revolt against him.
Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him.
Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk
castle.
He promised him he could regain his title and property as
soon as he was able to leave the room.
This would not have been difficult for most people since the
room has several windows and a door of near normal size,
and none was locked or barred.
The problem was Raynald's size.
To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a
variety of delicious foods.
Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter.
When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready
answer:
"My brother is not a prisoner.
He may leave when he so wills."
Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn't released
until after Edward died in battle.
By then his health was so ruined he died within a year... a
prisoner of his own appetite.
#1863
IV. Cynicism about God. 5:18-19
A. The true nature of their sin is a cynical rejection of the
living God and all his ways.
1) God is not fast enough for them.
2) God's holiness (a key emphasis in prophets) is mocked.
3) God is still mocked today.
B. Skepticism leads to a total reversal of values. 5:20
1) There is no doubt that America's values are changing rapidly.
2) Scholars call it the "post-Christian" era.
3) We desperately want to have values, but are not satisfied
with the ones that are proposed.
4) God is the source of all values; if we are wrong about him,
we are wrong about everything.
V. How to get your values rightside up. 5:20
A. We must train ourselves to think morally.
A while back Jeff Bridges wrote an article in DISCIPLESHIP
JOURNAL entitled "Formula: How to Know Right from Wrong."
Modern schools would call it "values clarification."
The formula asks four questions based on three verses in
1 Corinthians:
1. "'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is
beneficial." (1 Cor 6:12)
Question #1: Is it helpful - physically, spiritually, and
mentally?
2. "'Everything is permissible for me' - but I will not be
mastered by anything." (1 Cor 6:12)
Question #2: Does it bring me under its power?
3. "If what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never
eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall."
(1 Cor 8:13)
Question #3: Does it hurt others?
4. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all
for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31)
Question #4: Does it glorify God? #2465
B. Holiness must be a total way of life.
VI. You don't want to cross God. 5:24
A. God can burn up the wicked faster than a California grass fire.
1) Illustration of grass fire I set in Salina, Kansas.
The·news·had·been·filled·with·reports·of·prairie·wildfires.¶
A·house·next·door·had·tall·grass·next·to·it.¶
Grass·fires·can't·be·that·"wild",·could·they?¶
My·friends·and·I·decided·to·find·out.¶
A·single·match·thrown·in·a·tuft·of·grass·gave·an·¶
immediate·answer.¶
The·flames·soon·reached·up·to·the·side·of·the·house.¶
We·stamped·it·out·furiously,·then·skeedadled·to·our¶
own·homes,·scared·to·death.¶
B. We are free to reject God's law, but there will be consequences.
C. Where do you stand with God's standards?
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