Sermon Title: You can run but you cannot hide
Text: Isaiah 2
Date: August 10, 2003
Context of Scripture:
As we have looked at Isaiah the last few weeks we can say that it is a book that deals with choices and the consequences of those choices. It is interesting that if the consequences are in line with our desires then we usually proclaim the system that calls for those consequences as fair. If, however, the consequences go against our desires, we tend to call the system unfair.
Isaiah is proclaiming the message of God, who miraculously delivered His chosen people, and the basis of this message only has their best interest at heart. They defy God’s Word, they ignore His messengers, and they belittle His name and His power. Isaiah is proclaiming that there are consequences for their actions and those consequences will be upon them soon.
In the prophecies of Isaiah are the foretelling of the hope of the future, the birth, the life, the ministry, the death and the resurrection of their awaited Messiah. Just as the people during Isaiah’s time failed to heed the message, so to did many during the earthly ministry of Jesus. Now as we grow closer to the time of His returning, people are failing to hear once again. The consequences will be handed out and the time of this occurring is just around the corner. Although we may not be able to convince all of their need for repentance, we must do all that God has empowered us to do. I have entitled this message, “You can run but you can’t hide”. May we proclaim His Word to the glory of His name!
Let us stand for the reading of God’s Word
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2
1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. 5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. 9 So the common man has been humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them.
10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. 11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12 For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols will completely vanish. 19 Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, 21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?
Sermon Introduction:
I would like to ask a quick question, what is the main reason that we established a relationship with the Lord? I am going to say that for a good portion of us, we began our walk with the Lord in an effort to pull our fat out of the fire. We were looking out for ourselves were we not? We heard about the wonderful things that the Lord had to offer and we chose to grab that for ourselves. We found ourselves in a hopeless situation and in a last ditch effort we looked to God for the answer. Do not be ashamed of the reason for our initial contact with Jesus, the important thing is how we have developed our relationship since then. Problem is, is that many of us take that quick rescue and fail to go deeper into their personal trust in Jesus and as a result loose what they had attained in the beginning, regardless of how selfish the motives might have been. We began hoping there would be Better times will be ahead, but will we be there?
What were some of the reasons that we decided to seek Jesus? I am sure the fear of an eternity in hell might be a motivating factor. Perhaps a certain hope of mercy in regards to our consequences regardless of how guilty we might have been. Perhaps there was a desire of better health or perhaps some blessings that were beforehand unrealized. We begin with High hopes but few of us become actual partakers. Many fall back into the old patterns of behavior and forget that the only true peace is through Jesus.
This is clearly the saddest of endings to a relationship with the Lord. He takes us regardless of how we came to Him. He is responsible for the possibility of forgiveness if we honestly and earnestly repent of our sins. He is serious enough about wanting us to spend an eternity with Him that He bled and died to pay in our place. If we fail to grow in our understanding of God’s desires for each and every one of us, our love for Him grows cold and where we once relied on His direction for our lives we begin to take control of our own destiny and find that the end of self-reliance is self-destruction.
When we fail to do what we ought, then we ought to expect the consequences. I am reminded of a situation that happened when I was a boy, probably not much older then Jeremy. I had done something that was against my mothers wishes. In fact it must have been real bad because she didn’t punish me. She said those dreadful words, “You just wait until your father gets home”.
I tried to be so good after that point in hopes that she might have some mercy and either spank me herself or possibly even forget the incident entirely. Fat chance of that with my mother! I finally heard the sound of my fathers car coming up the drive and my heart began to pound. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he came into the house, did I finally get a break? I then heard my father yell, “Ralf komm hier!” I had myself so worked up over what was going to happen that I convinced myself that I would avoid punishment at all costs.
Now instead of allowing things to happen, I chose to try and outrun my father. As we ran laps around the dining room table I watched as he got redder and redder with each lap. When I was satisfied that I had enough distance, I ran into the hallway that led to the bedrooms and slammed the door shut behind me – right on my fathers stocking feet. I ran into my room, closed the door and quickly hid under the bed. I heard my father in the hallway jumping up and down in pain shouting German words that I had never heard before. He came into my room, reached under the bed and pulled me out – on my way out I hit every support board. My father then proceeded to give me one of the most memorable spankings of my life.
Consequences are a fact, and regardless of what we may think about them, at some point The Hammer falls. The consequences are applied regardless of our feelings about their fairness. Ask a recovered alcoholic what he though about the call of God’s Word not to be a drunkard while he was yet in the midst of his battle and how he feels about it now. Ask a retired gambling addict what he thought about God’s call for Biblical Stewardship in the midst of his gaming days and how he feels about it now.
Just as it was pointless for me to run from my father in an effort to avoid the consequences of my actions it is also even more pointless to run from the will of God It may put off momentarily what we have coming, but oftentimes that delayed consequences are far worse then they might ever have been if just taken as originally prescribed. When we run from God we are engaged in a futile flight.
With all of the wonderful blessings that have been bestowed upon us, why do we always try to look beyond Him and to what man has to offer? God delivered His chosen people from the Egyptian bondage in such a spectacular fashion that not even the Hollywood special effects could do them justice, and yet within a short period of time, while Moses was receiving the Law, they began the process of making an Idol made by the hands of men to worship. Why, when we have the superiority of God do we chose The mediocrity of mankind?
Prayer for Spiritual Enlightenment:
I. Better times will be ahead, but will we be there?
Let us look at the first section of Scripture recorded in verses 1 through
1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Oh the difficulty of interpreting prophecy. According to many scholars that have dealt with this passage, it is seen as an entirely different vision then in the previous chapter. In the first chapter we were dealing with the consequences of Judah and its fallen ness, but now Isaiah is telling about the time when Jesus returns.
Here we are going to need to think about what will become of those that decide to conduct themselves contrary to the Word of God. How hopeless will it seem to those that are left behind when the Lord calls His church home? The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. We are talking about the raptured church, and those nations that are streaming to the house of the Lord are the nations of the Gentile people that have chosen to follow God’s will and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. It does not include those that thought they were good enough. It does not include those that comprised Biblical standards. It does not include those that have interpreted God’s Word in such a way as to see behavior that is contrary to God’s Word is acceptable in the times where we live in now, when it was unacceptable previously. God’s Word does not change and neither do its consequences.
II. High hopes but few takers the only true peace is through Jesus
As we look around us and see the rapidly deteriorating condition of this world, as much as it may depress us, we are never to take our eyes off of the one who bought us from His place upon the cruel cross. For those that remain faithful in the meantime, for those that answer when God calls, for those that share the Gospel with those in need of its hearing, regardless if they heed or not, there are high hopes ahead for each and every one of us. Let us continue on in our reading:
4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. 5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
After the judgment, there will be no more war. People will not kill each other. People will not steal from each other. People will no longer feel the need to be superior to each other. In order to reach this place in eternity, we must walk in the light of the Lord.
IT means that when we read His Word that we also honor His Word. It says nothing about the simple lip service given to His teachings in many places. It means that the messages that come from the pulpits of His houses of worship are based on His Scripture and not some feel good motivational talk that could come straight out of the readers digest.
It means that when we drop to our knees in time of prayer that it is not just a period of gimme-gimme-gimme, it is a time of listening and quieting ourselves for the message that He would share with us. It is a time where we consider the needs of others instead of focusing on the needs of self. It is a time of careful consideration of what He has done in and for our lives and a time of sincere thanksgiving as well.
III. The end of self-reliance is self-destruction
Look at verses 6 through 9 and if we think carefully about what is written and the similarity with our nation today, the chills should be racing up and down our spines.
6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. 9 So the common man has been humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them.
• Influences from the east – Hollywood and the actors and actresses that call that their place of employment seem to be the most notorious. They seek anything to sooth their need for something deeper then themselves as long as it allows them to continue on their merry way. They may continue on their merry way but they are on the wide road that leads to destruction.
• Soothsayers – How much money has the different psychic hotlines gleaned from the pockets of those seeking the answer to their questions in such a way so that they need not seek the face of God.
• Bargaining with foreigners – There are some questionable trade practice that will profit only those who would sell out their fellow countrymen for the sake of a dollar. There are jobs that are leaving this nation that are being taken over by men who enslave others, by men who are abusing the rights of others, by men who reside in nations that would like nothing better then to see a Christian nation, though fading in its relationship with Christ, fall flat on its face.
• Land of material treasures – we have everything that one could reasonably desire and more. In general, most of us do not hunger, and some of us are shaped in a manner that proves that. We have more then one television per household. We usually have money in our pockets. We live in the lap of luxury by most of the worlds standards, and we regularly fail to give thanks to the One who has blessed us so abundantly.
• Idols of worship – we worship rock stars, we worship movie stars, we worship talented financiers, we worship our spouses, our children, our houses and our cars but a majority of those blessed with the most even set foot in the house of the Lord.
• Worshipping our own efforts – we are proud of our efforts, we worship our successes, we look to what we can do and we never seem to consult the one who knows all about all and sees the beginning as well as the end.
IV. The Hammer falls
Time is coming when the consequences shall be fulfilled in their entirety. Reading again verses 10 through 17:
10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. 11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12 For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
There will simply be no place for those outside of the Lord’s will to run. There will be no fortresses deep enough in the hills to shield them from the all powerful wrath of the Lord. Every single item that can be viewed as a symbol of man’s greatness will be reduced to nothing, and finally,when all is said and done, the only remaining target of exaltation will be the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
V. The futile flight
There will be such a tremendous time of cleansing, that the greatness, the glory, the righteousness and the superiority of God will be made known to all men, but for those that have hardened themselves previously who eyes are now opened to the unalterable plan of God, for them it will be to late. Reading verses 18 through 21:
18 But the idols will completely vanish. 19 Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, 21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.
When confronted with the glory and majesty of God, those that have waited to long will not be able to bare His splendor. All of their former objects of worship, though cast aside will make no difference. The Lord will shake the world of those left unrepentant and for them there will be no place far enough to run and no place deep enough to hide. Eternity is set for the unforgiven and they will realize the hopelessness of their eternity.
VI. The mediocrity of mankind
The teaching in the schools of looking out for number one is coming back to haunt us. The attitude of the acceptance of all and all that they believe in an effort to enhance our existence is biting us in the seat of the pants. Our journey to political correctness has taken us to destination hopelessness. Look at verse 22:
22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed? Has any man of his own and on his own ever made even a shred of contribution even remotely close to the ministry of Jesus, only begotten Son of God?
Conclusion:
We are indeed a blessed people. We have been given this church family to pray for us and we are to pray for them. If we have chosen Jesus as our Lord and Savior, if we have earnestly and honestly repented of our sins, and if we strive to live a life that is worthy of the Savior that we have proclaimed as our own, then we indeed have better times ahead, we have that blessed assurance that Jesus is ours and our eternity will be spent worshipping Him face to face.
If that is not the case then it needn’t remain so. Salvation is attainable for anyone, regardless of where they have been or what they have done. As long as the breath remains in them this is indeed the acceptable time of salvation.
It doesn’t matter where we have looked for hope and peace in the past, it won’t be found outside the person of Jesus. It does not matter where we expect to search in the future, all of our efforts will be in vain, outside the person of Jesus.
It does not matter how good we are or expect to become. It does not matter how much we do for whomever, when we begin to rely on ourselves we begin that downward spiral that leads to the destruction of our souls for all eternity. The only thing that we can become in order to establish a glorious eternity is to become a child that is found in Jesus.
If we think we can run in circles ahead of the Lord, we are wrong. If we think we can slip down a corridor to escape His wrath, we are wrong. If we feel that we can shut the door to His judgment, we only shut the door on our salvation. And if we attempt to hide, we may fool ourselves, but only to the point where we find ourselves face to face in the judgment and then all of the realization of the error of our ways will be evident, but unfortunately to late. The consequences will be our for all eternity.
If we feel that the Lord has called, if we feel that the Lord is convicting over anything, if we feel that the Lord is leading us, then for us to try and flee is futile. We either trust and obey or we will fall to decay.
There is no man that we should follow that is worthy of that act as is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us set aside the mediocrity of man and gaze upon and direct our paths toward the glory of God and His kingdom.
Call to Commitment:
• Forgiveness of past transgressions
• Renewal of a call upon our lives
• Strengthening of our resolve to serve
• Reaffirming of His love for us and our resolve to be true to Him.
