No matter how many times God may have disciplined the Israelites, they did not return to the Lord. But God still had good memory of the Israelites. God had a blessed memory of the Israelites’ nature and also when they had been devoted to Him. But because the Israelites did not live according to the Word of God, in the book of Isaiah chapter one, God had greatly lamented. The emotions of God was vividly shown in the first chapter of Isaiah. There is virtue for the flesh and it is the same with our faith. There is virtue for faith. People who believe in Jesus must keep this virtue.
At one time, when the whole world had become corrupted like Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem was the safest city to live. There was no discrimination among the people toward one another. People were able to trust one another. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah. But as time passed, the city had become unreliable and untrustable. In today’s scripture, the Prophet Isaiah was inspired by God and therefore his spiritual eyes were opened. Prophet Isaiah saw how the Israelites worshiped God. God was in great heartache. Prophet Isaiah felt the holy anger within him and he also felt the heart of God. He possessed God’s heart to judge God’s people. From their outer appearance, God’s people were always worshipping, keeping the Sabbath day holy, giving tithes and was thankful.
God said in the book of Isaiah chapter 1:2-3, “Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth [witnesses of the covenant], because the Lord is speaking: “I raised my children [or sons; the nation Israel] and helped them grow [brought them] up, but they have turned [rebelled]against me. 3 An ox knows its master [owner], and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it [ the feeding trough/crib of its owner/master], but the people of Israel do not know me; my people do not understand.”
From the outside, the Israelis looked peaceful and graceful. But when they were viewed spiritually, it was utter nonsense. Prophet Isaiah was the person who had delivered the heart of God. He even had seen the identity of Satan with his spiritual eyes. Prophet Isaiah received the heart of God and literally proclaimed it. He powerfully delivered the message of God.
But the Israelis said, “Our nation is rich, powerful and peaceful. Why would the prophet say such things?”
When we are in a comfortable situation, there will be pride in which we will not see. This is why the Prophet Isaiah had to powerfully deliver a message of rebuke regarding the unseen pride. He told them they had to fight against corruption and for them not to become corrupted. An enormous power had come upon the Prophet Isaiah and he was able to deliver the magnificent word of God because he was abidingly devoting himself before God. The devotion of Prophet Isaiah’s heart resulted the ability to become such a servant of God. Even within the Lord’s Church, if any of you would always and continue to worship, faithfully attending the services, praying, and being devoted, you will possibly become a servant of God. Your children as well. Your children will receive the power and finances to serve others. Since we know this fact, we must be loyal and faithful without changing. We must be devoted!
When some people devote themselves to God, others rather than devoting will sin more. The more you sin and the more you try to hide your sins, the more your sins will be exposed.
In the book of Isaiah, God is basically telling His people through the Prophet Isaiah, “Only when you listen to the Word of God, you will live.”
Receiving the power and blessings of God are not the most important things.. The most important thing is that you have to have a sense of shame when it comes to sinning. You need to posses a sense of shame when you commit sin. It is only then true repentance will occur. If you do not feel a sense of shame when you sin, you will repeatedly sin. If you do not feel a sense of shame when you sin, it is because your conscience has become corrupted. In order to have become like this, there had to been a cause and a problem. What is the cause? For what reason do we need to hear the word of rebuke by the Prophet Isaiah? The problem begins when a person neglects his/her relationship with God. We must not neglect our relationship with God. There are things that the people of God must always think about. God’s people generally do not think about their relationship with God but instead, they will only think about the relationship with other people around them. You must think about the relationship with God first. How the relationship has gone astray? You must repent in order to restore the relationship between God and you. The people of God has a hard time experiencing restoration with God’s relationship because all they think about is their relationship with the people around them. No matter how much they may try, they repeatedly collide with the others around them. People need to repent and restore their relationship with God first. Only then, God will let them know what they have done wrong to the people around them and how to resolve it. You will obtain wisdom.
When you confess, “God, I have done wrong. I repent of it.” Then God will either reveal through impressions, signs, your dreams, and visions as HE reminds you with His Word. He will restore you.
God used a parable describing Him as a parent who raises His children. All of the parent’s desire for their children is for it to go well. God has nurtured and raised Israel, Judah, Jerusalem to become a great nation. But they had left the will of God and gone to the other place.
Isaiah chapter 1 “Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. 3 Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.” 4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are— loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.”
The Israelis had forgotten how much God values and loves them. They had forgotten God had chosen them as a special people. God’s heart aches because of this reason. You must remember that God has a purpose for each one of you who are His people. God has His will and purpose when it comes to gathering the saints and His churches. God had a special will for His chosen people, Israel. But since the people of Israel did not possess the spiritual knowledge, they did not understand. Even when God disciplined and trained them, they did and could not understand. God sent the prophet to give them understanding but still, they could not come to realization.
Because they did not understand and realize, they began to complain, “Look at the nations around us! Look at the Ammonite, Moabites and Jericho! They all have kings! But we do not have a king! For how long do we need to listen to the prophet’s nagging!”
The people of God lifted up their voice to raise a king for themselves. Their action had just degraded themselves to a lower level worse than an ox or a donkey. At least, an ox and a donkey knows their master the Israelis did not know their master. Moreover, the people of God had severed their relationship with God. This became the root cause of being forsaken by God and being cast away into war.
There is one most important thing when it comes to the people of God. What could it be? “You must be able to change yourselves according to the Word of God” What is the most important thing to the people of God? When the Word and grace of God comes upon us, we must be able to transform gracefully. This is obedience. When you change yourselves before God, you will become His masterpiece. You will become a husband/wife of masterpiece. When it comes to your pride, temper, nature, and style, if you say that you are the people of God, you will need to change if God says to change. If it is God’s will, we must change our attitudes. We must be able to change. No matter how much or how many times you may pray, you may not know your problems.You may cling onto the Word of God, even hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and one who is on your knees but still you may not see your problems. No matter how much you pray and possess many holy gifts, the Lord always speaks as though there is still the possibility of us becoming a corrupted people. No matter how many holy gifts you may have received, you may still not know the will of God. When we seek the will of God, ask for forgiveness and blessings as we cry out like a child. Some kind of new event of blessing will be awaiting. In today’s scripture, it shows the lamenting heart of God but God also says, “It's still not too late but I will not receive your worship, prayer, praise, offering, and many sheeps and lambs because you have blood on your hands.” Nonetheless, only if we seek God’s will and forgiveness, God will grant new blessings. This is how much God loves us. If God works and if He desires, we must be able to change in all things.
In order to prevent corruption, what should we do? You must exam and check your spiritual state and position. No matter how much holy gifts you may possess, no matter how much grace God has granted to you, you must always check and exam yourselves. You must exam and check your spiritual state and position.
“God please help us not become corrupted. Which direction am I going now? Can I do this in this way? How about that way?”
No matter where you are, no matter what kind of grace you are receiving, it is very important to have a sense of direction. If you realize that you are in the wrong direction, you must fix the direction and resolve it. When we live with faith and receive the power, we will cast out the evil spirits. But the evil spirits who have been cast out will not just leave peacefully.
The evil spirits that were cast out will gather together and have a meeting. “What kind of attack should we utilize? Let us first find people who possess twisted and shaky minds like ours!”
If you talk too much, complain, grumble, blame others, and are jealous, the evil spirits will spot you and say, “Hey! I found one! Let us attack!”
We must carry out our faith lives precisely. What was the problem of Judah, Israel? In order for you to survive, we must know what we must give up for God. This means, you must have determination. In verse 4, it shows the disappointment of God. There is one thing God desires. “A holy nation without blemish.” God desires them to remain as His own people. God has a special will and plan for His people. God’s people possess a special quality. We must find it. We must receive the grace of God and realize that we are sinners. God’s grace must enter deeply into our spirit, mind, and flesh. The more we receive the grace of God, the more grace we will receive.
“God, I am a sinner. I feel like my spirit has received grace. But my mental state and flesh are confused. Please let Your power penetrate my spirit, soul, and flesh!”
God desires us to change our thinking in a certain way. Whether you are a wheat or chaff, whether you are a sheep or a goat, God sees all of you as His people and HE grants opportunity to change. God will not sort out the chaff among the wheat right now. He will leave the chaff along until the end. You may think you are a wheat but if you are going in direction of a chaff or if you show the tendency to show the characteristics of a chaff, God will begin discipline to spank you. When you quickly realize at the beginning of the discipline, and if you realize what kind of sin you were committing, you will become a wheat. We must realize that we can become a wheat or a chaff at any moment.
Judah had become wounded. But despite of it, they were not willing to return to God. When we become just as stubborn, God will say, “IF you continue in that way, you will be disciplined and spanked more.” We must realize that our mission is precious and valuable. Our mission is to fight against sin, take care of the weaks, feed the poor, recognize what kind of days we are living in and receive more precious grace from God. We must carry out our mission properly.
Amen
Pastor Kim Yong Doo
