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Enough with the Idols! (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
The Truth Network Radio
October 28, 2024 6:00 am

Enough with the Idols! (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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October 28, 2024 6:00 am

The Lord again laments Israel’s turning to dead idols and away from Him the Living God. Babylon’s false gods will not save them from the Lord’s servant Cyrus. God states it clearly “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I […]

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All shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. Well, you know, as the title of that old play, your arms are too short to box with God.

You're going to lose. And that's if you're incensed against Him. Listen, a bitter root goes a long way, causes a lot of problems, not only to others around that person who's so bitter, but to the person themselves. And so Paul writes about that in Hebrews saying that a bitter root is causing many to fall. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 45 with today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. In Genesis, in the sixth chapter, before the flood of Noah, we read about how things were a little bit. In verse 5, perfect in his generations, Noah walked with God. So you have one group that walking according to their own imagination about life, creation, everything else, and then you have Noah walking with God.

Nothing has changed in all of these thousands of years. We still have people who walk according to the imagination of their own hearts, and then we have those who walk with God. It's interesting that in Luke, Mary, you know, her mini-Psalm in Luke chapter 1 is just very doctrinally sound, very beautiful. She says, What does that say to people who imagine they can worship her?

She would never tolerate such a thing. So that's what Isaiah is dealing with. These are covenant people who are apostate, they've fallen away from the faith, whether full-blown apostates or not, you know, flying beneath the radar in those days, but in their heart, or trying to mingle in idolatry into the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Of course, it was always the righteous remnant at the least, but he's continuing to address this insanity of man making God. So, verse 20, Because he's not there, as Elijah was mocking this imaginary God there on Mount Carmel centuries earlier. Well, Isaiah is just saying it like it is. Even today, if you saw it calling people out on their idea of what deity is, you know, you catch a lot of them trying to defend themselves, instead of just coming to the simple understanding that a man cannot imagine what God looks like and get away with it, or how he behaves.

There's something in these things for every generation. Proverbs 1, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Well, it's not enough to be instructed, it's not enough to have knowledge, you've got to know what to do with that information. This is what wisdom is. And so when he says, Assemble and come, draw near together you who have escaped from the nations, they have no knowledge who carry woods. He makes that contrast that they're ignorant, most of the time by choice, turning his people.

Those who have escaped the nations would be looking to the future, Babylonian captivity. So, I can take a lot more time with all these things, so much information, you know what takes my time up in preparing is cutting things out so I can finish within an hour. Because there's so much to God's word. And, of course, I'm just one person scratching the surface from one perspective.

There's so much more. Anyway, he says here in verse 20, And pray to a God that cannot save. This is what they were doing. Again, the Mary worshipers refused to see that she cannot save souls. Praying to her is equal to praying to the dead.

And then they get in the huff when you point it out as though you're picking on them. If we wanted to harm them, we would encourage them to continue in the sin. Even she declared her need for a Savior. Luke 1, verse 47, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Well, if you were sinless, you wouldn't need a Savior.

Christ needed no Savior. So much more to Mary and the story concerning her. One of the young ones asked me about Mary at the wedding of Cana.

Here's an interesting point about that. He said, woman, what does that have to do with me? Why didn't he say mom or mother?

Well, because he was not under her parental authority. She was a subject in need of a Savior. The last words of Mary we have in the scripture are, do what he says. That speaks volumes. Well, moving on, verse 21, Tell and bring forth your case.

Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, Yahweh, and there is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior, there is none besides me. Look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. What is not clear about that? Enough with the idols.

Why are you still making up stuff? The Bible tells us this one Savior and it makes it clear. Jesus is the Yahweh of the Old Testament.

We're coming to that in just a moment. And it's, you know, the prophet Hosea said, my people perish for lack of knowledge. You know, the beginning of knowledge is vital. And that's why we, early on, we tried to attack the enemy by raising up our kids to see the word of God and his truth.

So a simple truth made complicated by separated hearts, hearts that are separated from God because of sin. He says to the ends of the earth, well, I do not believe there's life in outer space unless there's an astronaut up there that's launched from earth. And, you know, it's quite presumptuous of people to think that they've got all this technology playing hide and seek. Well, anyway, maybe some of you believe in, you know, Martians and things like that. Well, what if I'm right, which I am, but just what if you were right if you disagree with my position, which you wouldn't be? That's really not an issue. Well, it can be. It can be a big issue theologically because you have to account for death and sin.

I don't believe a lot of this stuff that's coming out about them. Anyway, one of these days, maybe I've got so much information ready to preach on that to justify these things from scripture. But for now, we are here in Isaiah. Now, in verse 22 here, look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other.

This is a repeated statement by God through the prophet. This verse brought the light of salvation to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who lived from 1834 to 1892. And he is one of the greatest preachers after the apostles and when he was 15 years old.

Well, just before I get to his experience of salvation as a preacher is one of my favorite quotes. He said, Whitfield and Wesley. Now, these were two great preachers that preceded him and they preached in England and they preached in the United States. Wesley was in the States, but he didn't really launch into a deep relationship with God until he went back to England. But anyway, Whitfield and Wesley, said Spurgeon, might preach the gospel better than I do, but they could not preach a better gospel. Such a simple statement and so profound. Incidentally, he preached just as good as them. Wesley wrote better, but Spurgeon was just a dynamo. And so powerful were his sermons that they would, stenographers would write down his sermons and they would go out throughout the world, the penny sermons. 3500 of them still exist. And you can buy the 64-set volume of Spurgeon's sermons, the Metropolitan Pulpit Tabernacle.

Nowadays you can get it on your phone. But me, I've got the real stuff too, the books. And it was a gift from God. And I think I've read about 200 of those sermons, but I ain't got no time for that. So anyway, just to give you an idea of just how rich this man was in being gifted by the Lord. Well anyway, at 15 years old, despite a Christian upbringing, infant christening, which is not really scriptural, raised in a congregational church, they loved the Lord. He read his Bible daily, he prayed every day, and yet he still lacked this personal relationship with the risen Savior. So one January, Sunday morning in 1850, he's on his way to church with a deep sense of need for God. And it happened to be in the midst of a snowstorm. And on his way to the church, he was diverted because of the storm, and he turned down a side street, and he ducked into a primitive Methodist church.

That's what they call themselves, it's not an insult. So anyway, he ducks into the church, and there was an unknown lay preacher that stepped into the pulpit, and he read this verse, look to me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Well Spurgeon writes this about this conversion of his. He said, he had not much to say, thank God.

It's funny right, but he really actually, a little twisty here. He says, for that compelled him to keep on repeating the text, and there was nothing needed by me at any rate except this text. Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, it's the balcony, under the balcony, and he said, that young man there looks very miserable.

May I do that right now and point to one of the young men? He shouted, as I think only a primitive Methodist can, look, look young man, look now. Then I had this vision, not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what the Savior Christ was.

Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe, I understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in that moment. Look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. You know, when a pastor starts repeating himself, he's as bad as he is. He wants to get out of there, but God uses it.

I have a recurring nightmare, probably once a year, I've had it once a year for about ten years, that I come up here and I'm not prepared. And I just wake up and I say, man, I get right to work and they're going to get me. Anyway, verse 23, not wanting to lose the power of verse 22, now we come to verse 23 and Isaiah continues to tell what God told him. I have shown by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. And that oath is a confession, in case you get tripped up how it moves into the New Testament. Where he says I have sworn by myself, he's saying this is divine law.

Now, of course, this event in its ultimate fulfillment is still future. However, it happens on an individual level when someone comes to Christ. There is no apology from God about who he is. He changes not, divine perfection needs no alterations or improvement, be like painting gold.

Why would you do that? The New Testament applies this verse directly to Jesus Christ, and that's what I mean. The New Testament comes along and says, hey, Christ is the Yahweh of the Old Testament. He lived, when he said before Abraham was, I am, he was saying I'm self-existent, I've always been there. He did not begin to live at the virgin birth.

He just, that was the beginning of his humanity, phase two. So, Philippians 2, Paul writing to that church in Philippi, a very positive letter, only a few rebukes. He says that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and those in heaven, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So, he retains the Godhead, which is taught in the Old Testament, just using the plural nouns. For example, in Deuteronomy, listen, O Israel, the Lord your God is one.

You start opening that up in the Hebrew, and it is quite impressive how God has arranged his word for us. Then, Romans 14, Paul writes, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Well, I thought we were standing before the judgment seat of God.

Well, we are. It's synonymous. Christ, the Savior, is the manifestation of God. He continues, for it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Now, remember, Paul was an Old Testament scholar before he became a Christian.

He understood these verses, and he knew Christ. And so, we have this, you know, there are no other gods. I am the Savior. There are no other saviors. Jesus Christ is it, and this offends someone who wants to follow the imagination of men, whether it be themselves or someone else.

And, of course, universities become indoctrination centers, as we know, not only for the hatred of America and its freedoms, but against God, against the God of the Bible. Anyway, verse 24, He shall say, Surely in Yahweh I have righteousness and strength to Him. Men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.

Well, that's a real application. He's talking about the Christ, but in the future, but in the present, Yahweh. There's a verse in Luke that I have often repeated to myself to help keep myself in check when I don't care for the methods of God. And everybody gets to a place where they don't really care how God is doing something.

We're submitted to it. He's God. But we wish He did it a little differently.

And, you know, Paul, to get to Rome, wouldn't it have been nice to just catch a direct flight and land in Rome, but no. So, Jesus, knowing that life is just more complicated than He could explain to us, defaults to faith. And He says in Luke 7, 23, Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. It's a beatitude. The one that is in rhythm with Me, no matter what, is the one that's going to be better off.

The one who gets out of rhythm with Me is going to have a bumpier ride. So, here, He shall say, Surely in Yahweh I have righteousness and strength, verse 24, to Him. Men shall come and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. Well, you know, as the title of that old play, your arms are too short to box with God.

You're going to lose. And that's, if you're incensed against Him, listen, a bitter root goes a long way, causes a lot of problems, not only to others around that person who's so bitter, but to the person themselves. And so, Paul writes about that in Hebrews, saying that a bitter root has caused many to fall. Verse 25, In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified and shall glory. Well, all those walking with the Lord, as we say, in Christ, in Yahweh, always a remnant.

God always has somebody that believes in Him. We found Noah and his family, and then there was Enoch, there's always a remnant. Romans 11, So all Israel will be saved as it is written. The Deliverer will come out of Zion and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And so there's Paul saying, all Israel's going to be saved, and I'm going to back it up with what God promised, because I believe in the Bible. And that's why he references Isaiah.

We'll get to that later in latter chapters. Isaiah, chapter 46. Isaiah 46 has to do with God's determination to destroy Babylon, which is infested with idolatry. Some would call it the cradle of idolatry, of formalized idolatry. Isaiah 47 gets into the destruction, the fulfillment of God's plan to deal with Babylon. It was so bad, it was almost like God would be wrong if He didn't deal with Babylon, if you can express it that way without insulting God, which I certainly am not willing to do.

So one writer, one commentator said, Isaiah's polemic, that is his attack on the foolish doctrines of Babylon, or idolatry, Isaiah's polemic against foreign idols reaches a dramatic climax as he satirizes Babylonian gods, ridiculing the powerlessness of the man-made statues. Well, amen. I only did that quote.

I wanted to steal that dramatic climax. I like that line, but that would have been a little plagiaristic, so I had to read the whole thing. Anyhow, singling out a belief in another religion that is, or practice in Christianity, that is clearly forbidden by God, and I should say Christendom, not Christianity, whether it is Romanism or Islam, we say, hey, our scripture rebukes that, condemns that. That does not mean we're trying to pick a fight with the people per se, but it does mean we side with God, the God of the Bible, and if He condemns such behavior as we view it to be false, then we're going to stick to that point. Well, that has caused the deaths of many Christians. That's what Christian martyrs are made out of. And today, it's, you know, if you get your right to have your beliefs, then I got my right to have mine, and we're living in, of course, a culture that is, you can't disagree with me, we'll destroy your character, we'll destroy your ability to make a living, we'll fire you. Well, you know, we're going to have to learn how to deal with that. That's not the first rodeo Christians have been on.

I've never been to a rodeo, but I like that phrase. Anyhow, verse one, bowels down, Nebo's stoops, their idols were on the beast and on the cattle, your carriages were heavily loaded, a burden to the weary beast. Well, he's now satirizing, he's lampooning, putting it in writing, these foreign religions. And, you know, Christians are getting, you know, why are you picking on them? Because they're wrong, and you are too, for coming to their defense.

You better choose what side you're on. The Levites said, we're over here with you and Yahweh, Moses, and God never forgot their allegiance to him. God wanted all his people to be Levites, or at least the office of the Levite, but they forfeited that, and the Levites, of course, it went to them. And long before what we know as Greek and then Roman theology, there was Mesopotamian mythology and theology.

Theology is the study of God, mythology, of course, is things that never happened, bottom line, belief in lies. In pagan thought, the gods inhabited the very idol. So when you made, you fashioned an idol out of some material, the god would then come live in that one. And, you know, the whole neighborhood had these statues and they believed this.

They believed they were inseparable. The New Testament, of course, we believe that God inhabits person, the living person, the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The body is a temple that houses the Holy Spirit. For the Jews, the presence of God was manifested in the Shekinah, and his presence was not guaranteed.

If they pushed him to the point of departure, he departed, and Ezekiel talks about the Shekinah departing the temple because of the sins of the people. I don't know if there's another religion that owns their disobedience to their god and the punishment they receive for it. They may blame somebody else, but the Jews, you know, when they suffered, it was because they had disobeyed their scripture and therefore their god. Well, Bel, another name for Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonians and their hierarchy of God, their totem poles, they said he was the creator. Well, of course, Isaiah is countering that, so no, Yahweh is the creator, and he scoffs at their myths.

Now, when I first started studying the Bible, I'd get the reference materials and I'd try to learn about these foreign gods, and I realized, what am I doing? These things are made up. I don't care.

I don't care what they thought. They're false. So, does it ever matter?

Yes, it does matter sometimes. And I'm glad we have those men and women who have put together reference material for us to look at these things when we need it. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-10-28 08:14:29 / 2024-10-28 08:23:36 / 9

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