Preaching the Whole Counsel of God - Isaiah 66:7-24

Before we start our message today, if you would please indulge me for a few minutes, I’d like to take another look at our call to worship, Psalm 97 and verses 1-5.

[1] The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! [2] Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. [3] Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. [4] His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. [5] The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. (Psalm 97:1-5 ESV)

I’m sorry, please forgive me.  I’m not sure I understand what is going on here.  Hang on a second . . .

[1] The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! [2] Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. [3] Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around????

Kathy, did you pick this passage?  This is very troubling.  Does anyone have the New King James Version?  Could you please read Psalm 97: 1-3 for us?

1 The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! 2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about. (Psalm 97:1-3)

That is so strange.  I mean, it doesn’t even make sense.  It contradicts itself.  This must be some kind of translation error.  How can we rejoice and be glad when fire goes out before the Lord and burns up His enemies?  Does anyone have another translation?

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries round about. (Psalm 97:1-3 NASB)

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. (Psalm 97:1-3 NIV)

1 The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 Fire goes before Him and burns up His foes on every side. (Psalm 97:1-3 HCSB)

I’m sorry about this.  Please forgive me.  You know, the only explanation can come up with to explain this strange passage is that all these different translations must be coming from some faulty manuscript copied by some far-out scribe way back when.  I mean, who would want to worship a God that you’d need to be saved from?  That is what this is saying, you know!  And what kind of warped people would rejoice over God’s burning up His enemies with fire?  Whoever said God had enemies?  Whose idea was it to put such a ridiculous statement in the Bible as this?

Well, apparently, it was the same Person who put Isaiah 66 in the Bible: the Holy Spirit.  Turn with me to our text today and let’s read together.

[7] “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. [8] Who has heard such a thing?  Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day?  Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?  For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. [9] Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the LORD; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God. [10] “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; [11] that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”

[12] For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. [13] As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. [14] You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, (Isaiah 66:7-14a ESV)

OK, stop right there.  I realize we’re stopping in the middle of a verse, but to read on might ruin our idea of who God is.  Well, maybe not our idea.  But it would ruin a lot of people’s ideas of who God is and what God should be like.  So if we stop here, we can avoid a lot of angst and worry, and we can feel good about God being nice to all people everywhere all the time.  Right?

Right.  We have to sacrifice the integrity of the Scriptures to do so . . . , but for many people, that really isn’t a problem.  They would rather butcher the Bible and throw the Scriptures under the bus in order to feel better about God, than accept the Bible for what it is and have to deal with such difficult and politically incorrect and “distasteful” passages as this one.

But if we are concerned for the truth about God and how He operates in the world, we need to continue reading.  Look again at verse 14:

. . . and he shall show his indignation against his enemies. [15] “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. [16] For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many. (Isaiah 66:14b-16 ESV)

In these 10 verses, we see yet again the biblical truth that not everyone has a good personal relationship with Jesus.  Everyone has a personal relationship with Jesus.  But for most, it’s not a very good one at all.  If there is one thing that should be abundantly clear in the Bible it is this: There are those who are God’s people that enjoy their relationship with Him as their Savior, and there are those who don’t.  Here in this text, as in many, many others, God promises peace and comfort and consolation and rest and bounty to His own people.

Jerusalem is seen here as the gathering of all God’s chosen and redeemed people who inherit all the blessings and promises God made to Abraham and his descendants.  The culmination of those promises will be seen in the future when He collects His people and brings them together and nurtures them like a loving mother who nurses her child at her breast.  There is no more comforting picture in the world than a mother caring for her infant child in such a way.  It is the very essence of peace and safety and love.

At that same time, while God is ushering the Bride of Christ, the Church, all the redeemed of God, into their eternal home, God will also deal once and for all with His enemies.  Yes, God really does have enemies.  It says so right here in verse 14.  We, us here in this room, used to be among His enemies.  Even we used to be haters of God.  But He has been merciful and gracious towards us in taking out our hearts of stone and giving us hearts of flesh, even while we were dead in our sins and rebellious toward our Savior.

But the Scriptures tell us a final day of judgment is coming.  Notice the words Isaiah uses in this passage: indignation, enemies, fire, anger, fury, rebuke, flames, fire (again), judgment, sword, slain, and in conjunction with the word “slain” is the word “many”.  The God spoken of in verses 14b, 15, and 16 is a holy, righteous, angry, vengeful, furious God who will once and for all put of His enemies under His feet--all those who spurn His grace and trample under foot the blood of His Son.

And, as we have said on many occasions before, this Old Testament God that we read of here in Isaiah is the exact same, unchanging God we see in the New Testament.  Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 1.

[3] We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. [4] Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

[5] This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—[6] since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, [7] and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels [8] in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. [9] They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, [10] when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 ESV)

This flies in the face of much of evangelicalism today.  As we have said here many times in the past, the gospel that is heard today seldom has any mention of anything that could be construed as negative.  In today’s “gospel” it is not necessary to even say the word “sin”.  “Repentance” and “judgment” and “hell” are words that have disappeared from the evangelical vocabulary because of their negative overtones, and they have been replaced with things like “finding meaning and purpose in your life”.  Or “filling the God-shaped hole in your heart”.

I decided to do a little experiment.  I typed the two words “know Jesus” into Google.  The first result in the list of 246 million hits was from Campus Crusade.  Here’s what they said about knowing Jesus:

“What does it take to begin a relationship with God?  Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?  You may be surprised that none of those things will work.  But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.  The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ...”

Principle 1 - God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

Principle 2 - All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God.

Principle 3 - Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.

Principle 4 - We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. 1

And then this prayer is offered as one which can be prayed in order to know and eperience God’s plan for our lives:

"Lord Jesus, I need You.  Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins.  I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord.  Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.  Take control of the throne of my life.  Make me the kind of person You want me to be." 2

Now is it just me, or does that sound like asking Jesus into your heart is a good idea that we ought to consider in our spare time if there’s no football game on TV?  There just doesn’t seem to be much urgency in this message.  It may be good news, but it’s not really all that good.  Yeah, I’m a sinner, and yeah, I should probably ask Jesus or God to forgive me for being bad.  But if I don’t, how much does it matter?  And if I ask Him or Them to forgive me, does that mean I have to stop sinning?

There’s more to it than that.  I don’t want you to think that is the sum total of Campus Crusade’s gospel message.  But that is where they begin and where they have begun in their gospel preaching and teaching for 50 years.

And they are not alone.  Campus Crusade’s non-confrontational approach to sharing the gospel is very typical.  The second hit in my Google search list for “know Jesus” was the Southern Baptist Convention web site.  Listen to what they say on their page entitled, “How to Become A Christian”  (Are you ready for this?) :

“Have you ever wondered what it means to become a Christian?  Maybe there are things in your life that don't seem to be going very well, and you've tried lots of solutions, but none seems to work.  Everyone has questions about their own lives.  If you haven't found answers that work for you, why not listen to what God has to say?  God's Word has the answers that are grounded in truth and love.  Jesus has answers to problems just like the ones you face every day.  See what God's Word has to say about these questions and issues...”

• • Have you made plans for your future security?
• • Are you lonely?  Do you need a friend?
• • Are you looking for real joy in your life?
• • Do you want to know how to become a Christian? 3

How pitiful is that?  “Do you need a friend?  Then become a Christian!”  “Jesus has answers to problems just like the ones you face every day.  He is our great High Therapist.”  It is little wonder that our evangelistic efforts produce such poor results.  Is this the best Southern Baptists can do?

Then I looked at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association web site.  Surely they present a biblical gospel message:

1. GOD’S PURPOSE: PEACE AND LIFE - God is the Master Artist.  He created the universe and everything in it, and He made us so we could have fellowship with Him.  God loves us and wants us to experience his peace and life—abundant and eternal.

2. THE PROBLEM: OUR SEPARATION - God created us in his own image to have everlasting life.  When we choose to disobey God and go our own way instead of his, this is sin, and results in separation from God.

3. GOD’S BRIDGE: THE CROSS - Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave.  He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

4. OUR RESPONSE: RECEIVE CHRIST - We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and invite him into our life. 4

Once again, I ask the question, “What happens if I just don’t feel like inviting Jesus into my life?  What if I don’t really mind being separated from God?  So far, it hasn’t been all that bad.  I’m not really convinced I need Jesus in my life, and as far as sin goes, I kinda like it.”

The main reason people are not convinced of their need for Christ is because the problem that Christ supposedly solves for us just isn’t that big of a deal: Separation from God.  “So what?  I’ve been separated from Him all my life.  But if I get reunited with Him, then I won’t be lonely?  My future will be secure?  I’ll have a forever friend?  And I’ll find the real joy I’ve been looking for??  That’s what happens if I decide to become a Christian??  Well, if I become like most of the Christians I know, I think I’ll pass.”

What is it that must be included in the gospel message that these HUGE evangelical entities avoid like the plague?  The fact that Heaven and Hell are at stake.  The problem is not that men don’t have a "relationship with God".  All people everywhere do have a relationship with God.  A very bad relationship, unless they have been born again.

The problem Jesus came into the world to fix is not that all men are "separated from God" and Jesus is the bridge that reunites them.  The problem is that men stand condemned before the Judge of all the earth.

The main point is not "God loves us all".  The main point is God is absolutely not pleased with unrepentant sinners.  Genuine, heartfelt repentance from sin is absolutely necessary in order to secure the saving mercies of God, and even that repentance is a gift from God.  God is a holy God to be feared by those who have sinned and rebelled and broken His law incessantly all their lives.

The gospel is not "God offers a wonderful plan for our lives", and we can either take it or leave it.  The gospel is God commands all men everywhere to repent now, today, and trust in the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, and to trust in His work ALONE to save us from the wrath of God which we all so obviously deserve.

This is the truth of the matter.  This is the necessary information people need to hear in order to understand the seriousness of their own sinful state.  The wages of sin is not simply that you don’t get invited to the eternal party in the sky and you don’t meet your forever friend and you miss out on getting all that true joy Christians talk about but seldom exemplify.

Look with me once again at Isaiah 66, and let’s read the final verses:

[17] “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.

[18] “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, [19] and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. [20] And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. [21] And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.

[22] “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make

shall remain before me, says the LORD,

so shall your offspring and your name remain.

[23] From new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD.

[24] “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:17-24 ESV)

It never has been, and it never will be popular to tell the truth of the gospel message to sinful men.  No one who preaches the whole counsel of God will ever be voted “Most Popular” in the community.  The truth of the biblical message always falls initially on hostile ears.  But softening the message to make it more acceptable to the unconverted defeats the whole purpose of evangelism.

Avoiding the hard truths of the message--like sin and condemnation and judgment and hell and passages like “their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched”--avoiding these terms specifically because they are hard truths to hear--is to not preach a saving gospel.  In fact, avoiding these truths often makes a bad situation even worse by causing unsaved people to feel that their lost condition really isn’t so bad after all.  I mean, how bad can it really be to be “separated from God”?

What has happened in our churches could be described as a centuries-long game of Bible Telephone.  Way back in the first century, the apostles began whispering the biblical gospel into the ears of men.  They whispered it into into other ears, and it was passed along over and over, again and again.  But somewhere along the various telephone lines, it started to change from the original message and no one caught it.  Or they just didn’t fix it.  Now, what is commonly understood to be the gospel message here in America is unrecognizable by those who first began to hand it down and pass it along.

Beloved, Christ did not go to the cross to merely make our lives better and fix our problems.  He suffered the full extent of the righteously indignant and burning wrath of God against us for our sin.  The Lord Jesus endured the vengeance of God against us and our sin, so that we might be forgiven and delivered from the fiery furnace of His holy anger against us.  It is no small thing when we say Jesus died as our substitute upon the cross.  What God did to the Lord Jesus in the crucifixion was what He would have done to us, had Christ not given Himself to His Father as an acceptable sacrifice in our stead.

The day is coming when the redeemed of the Lord will see God’s judgment upon His enemies.  And we will agree with Him that His terrible, unending, punishing judgment against them is right just.  But we will also rejoice that because of His grace alone, we have been saved by Him from that same fate.

We have the most important message in the world which the Lord Jesus has commanded us to take to all the world and preach it everywhere.  We must be very careful that the gospel we take out beyond these walls is actually the gospel that is true to the scriptures, the gospel that actually has the power to move people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.  Be careful that you are actually sharing the Gospel of Christ.

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1. http://www.ccci.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally/index.htm

2. Ibid.

3. http://www.sbc.net/knowjesus/

4. http://www.billygraham.org/specialsections/steps-to-peace/steps-to-peace.asp