Message of Isaiah 58 for Personal Transformation

The Final 14 Chapters Chapters 53-66 Isaiah Chapter 58 Sunday, February 13, 2022

Isaiah 58 1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 58:1-14 (NIV)

CAUSE The Cause And Effects of Isaiah 58 EFFECT Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers and expect your voice to be heard on high only for bowing one's head Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer seem eager to know my ways You cannot fast as you do today Is this the kind of fast I have chosen - "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen - to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 - to share your food with the hungry - to provide the poor to clothe the naked, to turn away from your own flesh "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well- watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day

The Prophetic Pathways of Isaiah 58 Prophetic Tense or Trajectory A NOW WORD to a current King who was alive during Isaiah s ministry. A Future word for a future leader in the earth A FUTURE WORD predicting the coming of Jesus the Messiah A future word of the type of ministry Jesus was going to operate in and accomplish A NOW WORD calling Israel and her Kings and people to repentance and obedience A FUTURE WORD of the Gospel calling future generations into repentance obedience and spiritual victory A FUTURE PROPHETIC WORD concerning the Church impacting the world A FUTURE PROPHETIC WORD concerning the LAST DAYS A FUTURE PROPHETIC WORD concerning the Millennium (Thousand year reign of Christ) FUTURE PROPHETIC WORD concerning eternity with God or eternity in hell

Isaiah Was Writing To A People That Were Going To Go Into Exile And Then Going To Come Out Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:13 (NIV) EXILE - Dry worn out away from the Lord s preferred will of God compromised burned out By warfare and exile you contend with her-- with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows. Isaiah 27:8 (NIV) So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 12 For you shall go out from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil back into the homeland with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing. Isaiah 55:11-12 (AMP)DL

What Brings Gods People Into Exile? Everything they did in Isaiah Chapter 57 Being good a faking it to everyone but GOD that they were spiritual going through the motions. (Isaiah 58)

A Powerful Promise As We Align With The Lord We Can Be An Example in The Midst of Coming Back From Exile And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11 (AMP)

God Is Causing Everyone To Wonder What Is Going On What Is The Purpose To All of This?

We Are To Enter Into His Sabbath Rest Now we who have believed enter that rest, Hebrews 4:3a (NIV) We live in Sabbath rest by faith in Christ - He is our delight- We do what He pleases We go HIS WAY not our way

At Some Point We Have To Live Out - Our Mission We all go through a process to prepare us for things God intends to accomplish in and through our lives. This process takes place as we live life and walk with the Lord. However, our lives are not meant to be a perpetual preparation process. When we cross over into the timing of God our such a time as this moment there is a thrust from Him that accelerates us into position. Then the revealing and release of the purposes of God through us can occur. We can never come to the place where we stop growing and learning, but we do eventually come to those moments, as did Esther, which launch us into the position of (effectual spiritual impact)! Gina Gholston

Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 True and False Religion Travis Tymoczko February 13, 2022 11

Religion vs. Relationship Religion vs. Relationship Isaiah like other old testament prophets is WARNING the people of their hypocritical worship. 3 parts of the passage 1) Rebuke 2) Warning 3) Promise 12

Old Testament Worship Old Testament Worship Sacrificial practices that were God appointed and authorized. Sacrificial practices = Intended to foster true piety among God s people which would move them to humble purity of heart and selfless living. Parallel to New Testament doctrine. 13

Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 Similar to other old testament prophets Isaiah is denouncing the way people have divorced the practices from their purposes. The people tried to treat worship as a way of manipulating God, not as a genuine desire to draw closer to God and to know God for who he is. They are treating God as a means to an end, as opposed to the end itself. 14

Famous Libertarian Quote Famous Libertarian Quote The Problem with Government is that it empowers the worst type of people. Similarly, religion empowers the worst parts of human nature. 15

Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 Verses 3-4: The people are fasting (religion) as an emotional mechanism for pressuring God into compliance with human wishes. Job: Satan talking to God. Verse 5: True religion is not what is visible to man, but what is only visible to God. Rebellion and Sin wrapped in a cloak of hypocrisy 16

Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 Verses 6-7: God tells us the worship he does bless. Verses 8-9: And how he honors that worship. Verses 10-11: Who is on the throne in all areas of your life and who is on the cross? 17

Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 Verse 12: The ruins of Jerusalem in the 6th century BC symbolized deeper spiritual ruins of the people/nation. Parallels to today s late stage empire attack on truth. Verses 13-14: How do you want to be remembered? You are people made specifically for a time and place. 18

New Testament New Testament Matthew 15: 7-9 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said. These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. 19

New Covenant New Covenant Luke 5:33-39 The Pharisees rejected the arrival of the kingdom and the new covenant that it brought. The New Covenant will require repentance, regeneration, and new forms of worship. Luke 6: 1-5 The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath Luke 9: 23-27 Take up your cross daily and follow Jesus 20

Mercy Not Sacrifice Mercy Not Sacrifice Matthew 9:9-17 Jesus calls us away from religion and to himself Religion is bad for the human heart. Religion divides the world into two types of people. Good people (little sins) Bad people (big sins) Religion justifies the thinking that God owes me 21

Jesus smashes religion Jesus smashes religion You have to see yourself as a sinner/moral failure Mercy > Sacrifice Humble > Pride John the Baptist I must decrease so you can increase 22

Stress Tests Stress Tests Has the gospel broken your heart enough that you have moved from religion to relationship? Are you anxious, upset, prideful because you think God owes you? Means to an End or the End itself? How do you treat people who stumble/fail? Hope or Condemnation? People inside/outside of the church Outside Hypocrites Inside Happy to see people brought low? 23

Stress Tests Stress Tests How do you treat your own moral failure? Peter s reaction to Jesus pre-cross Get away, I am a sinner. Peter s reaction to Jesus post-cross Jumps off a boat to get to him as quickly as possible. 24

Conclusion/Application Conclusion/Application How do we humble ourselves daily, decrease so he can increase, and take up our cross? Prayer/Reading the Word Worship 25