Isaiah Chapter 56 Verses 1 – 2

·    These opening verses of this chapter are really a call to faith. We, (maybe its just me (definitely me)), take the position of once things go a certain way, look a certain way, once she or he acts a certain way, then I will do what I am supposed to do. And that entirely understandable rational perspective keeps me and keeps you from being irrationally blessed by God at times!

·    Matthew 13:58 says, “He did not do many mighty works there (Nazareth) because of their unbelief.” This is a mysterious statement but we know that, “without faith (Hebrews 11:6) it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

·    What’s my whole point? If I wait until I see the reward of the Lord to be faithful on my part then I’m not being faithful at all…, I’m just reacting. And part of God’s work in my life is to teach me to trust Him even when I am not able to see what He is planning or doing! And this is where the MIGHTY works of God truly originate from in my life.

·    Did you catch that in the verse in Matthew we just read? It’s not that God won’t work in your life if your faith is lackluster…, of course He will! God loves me and God loves you with a perfect, covenant, unconditional love through Jesus Christ…, BUT…, AND…, God’s MIGHTY works, which I entirely want in my life, come from and through me being not just a follower or a believer but a disciple. Disciplining my own heart and mind to do exactly what we just read in Isaiah 56!

·    Keep justice. Watch for it, look out for it, be ready and charged up to be a just and a good man…, and do righteousness! That word in the Hebrew is actually judgement…, do what is ordered in heaven, proper in the presence of the perfect…, and its then this incredible promise by God, “My salvation is about to come and My righteousness is about to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it…!”

·    So, we cry out God bless me, God provide for me, God deliver me, God use me, God show me…, and in a way faith answers back, “You first!” Because the question is, what am I going to do if God does none of those things…? And this is really the crux of the matter. If God does nothing more than what He has already done for me through Christ, is it enough? These are those that love the Lord. Not for what He gives them but for who He is and what has already been given. These are the thankful, these are the hopeful, these are the faithful…

·    And we are going to see Isaiah talk about those who keep from defiling the Sabbath… Keeping the Sabbath was commanded to the Jews as a perpetual commandment. Exodus chapter 31 verses 16–17, “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”

·    This is a hot topic of discussion still within many groups and churches today. Should we keep the Sabbath as defined and described in the Old Testament because it is a perpetual commandment? The answer biblically is yes and it is no…

·    Exodus 31:16-17 cannot be more specific that it is specifically for the children of Israel. Is the church the children of Israel? No. We are the children of God. Number one. Second, the Sabbath is a sign between God and the children of Israel forever. Again, not the church. That’s enough for me personally but obviously because of all of the emotion around this topic it requires more investigation.

·    Something happened when Jesus came, died on the cross for the sins of the world, rose from the grave three days later, ascended to the Father and deployed the Holy Spirit into the hearts of humans. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” It’s not that the law expired, or that the Old Covenant was thrown out…, it was satisfied completely, all of the law, all of the prophets, fully completed, established and settled in the Person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

·    We read in Hebrews 8:13, “In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Why? The law was there to require obedience. The New Covenant is now in place to fully reveal something far more powerful than obedience… LOVE. As we read in Galatians 5 of the fruits of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law! Why? It’s stronger than any LAW!

·    So, the rest commanded of the Sabbath is fully satisfied, wrapped up, obedience fulfilled and even original purpose revealed in Jesus Christ. To sabbath means to cease from work… Hebrews Chapter 4 is the definitive chapter to explain that the Sabbath commandment of the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of the rest we are to enter into in the Person of Jesus Christ through the New Covenant. What is the Sabbath? Not what…, who! Jesus Himself is the sabbath of all men… So, there’s the doctrine…

·    AND, do whatever you want! There are folks out there so hung up on things like Sabbath, and communion, and baptism and circumcision and rejecting Easter and recognizing Passover… Check this out, this might blow your mind…

·    Colossians 2:8-23, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

·    OH MAN. So, what does that mean!? YOU DO YOU unto the Lord and I will do ME unto the Lord! If I feel a strong conviction to recognize the Sabbath then that’s totally fine… maybe that’s what the Lord wants ME to do. AND my conviction is MINE. I will never tell you to have my conviction and likewise. The only thing we ought to persuade people towards is growing closer to Jesus. You may disagree with me but my agreement is not with you, it is with the Word of God…

Isaiah Chapter 56 Verses 3 – 7

·    Notice the personal reward for the personal obedience. To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths…, not to the eunuchs who ensure everyone around them keeps the sabbath… exactly what is repeated in verse 6…. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t teach, rebuke, exhort and correct. Obviously, we should, but the desire of our heart should not be first to ensure others are doing what we think they should be doing but rather ourselves. Are we ourselves walking in what God has revealed and asked of us personally? So entirely completely eternally more important!!

Isaiah Chapter 56 Verses 7 – 8

·    The house of the Lord, and this would have been shocking for the Israelite to read, shall be called a house of prayer for ALL nations! What do we see as we survey the religious scene today? You can’t take communion unless you are a part of our church. You can’t worship here unless you have converted to Judaism, Islam, on and on. When the house of the Lord ought to be a place where anyone is welcome to come in and pray…, meet God one on one…

Isaiah Chapter 56 Verses 9 – 12

·    The final verses are a call to get right personally. Peter was rebuked by Jesus because Peter was mindful of the things of men and not of God. Had nothing to do with anyone else but Peter himself… And so, as we set to seek after the Lord ourselves, He straightens everything out in terms of how we are to be in the world and towards others…