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Rotten Apples (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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December 20, 2024 6:00 am

Rotten Apples (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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December 20, 2024 6:00 am

Injustice and oppression will be dealt with. The sinful think that they are getting away with it, but Isaiah states that God is in control and that He has a plan to deal with it. Unfortunately the righteous remnant will have to suffer thru the existence of “Rotten Apples” living amongst them.

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He's transitioned now to the future and the messianic age.

But the Old Testament doesn't tell us, okay, this is His first coming, this is His time on earth, okay, now this is His death and this is His second. It's there. But you've got to put the puzzle together.

And once it comes together, you say, man, you can't miss this. How did they miss this? How did the Jews not see this?

So the next time you think, I don't like this puzzle thing, then ask yourself, then how come you see things and you can't believe others can't see them? So it works. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Isaiah.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Isaiah chapter 54 is where Pastor Rick will be teaching from today on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Verse 13, in transgressing and lying against Yahweh and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Man, he's got them. He knows who these guys are. And God forsakes those who are determined to forsake Him.

And it's not easy. So go back to David. When he committed his egregious crimes, God did not forsake him. He gave David space. He would have if David not eventually responded. Well, how much time does it take? Well, that's between God and the sinner.

And for David, again, the best we can calculate is probably almost a year. And, you know, he tells us about that process of sin unto mercy. Verse 14, justice has turned back. The righteous stands afar off, for truth has fallen in the street and iniquity cannot enter. Imagine that. It's a black hole.

A black hole is said to have so much gravity that even light cannot escape from it. There are people like that. There are countries like that. There are a bunch of countries on my do not go to. There are a bunch of cities on my do not go to list. I mean, look what they've done with San Francisco. San Francisco is a beautiful piece of property. But who wants to go there?

I mean, what they've done with it is horrible. But that's just one place. Verse 15, so truth fails and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then Yahweh saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice. Well, if you're ignorant of Yahweh, maybe you grew up in a society that talks about Yahweh, but you still know nothing about him.

Is that possible? Well, absolutely. How many people grow up in a church and know nothing about the Bible and they go to a Bible-teaching church and everything just starts percolating and turning on for them and, oh, can I be baptized as a kid?

I didn't know what that was. Yeah, well, it's the same in Israel. Yahweh's name was thrown around but there was no witness for him, not much of it. And so in such a culture as this that's run by rotten apples, that is upheld by rotten apples, the first casualty is truth. That's where the rot begins when truth is slain. In Isaiah chapter 3, he covers this right there in Isaiah chapter 3. Without truth, society, the goodness of society collapses.

It may look okay on the surface, but it's not. And he who departs from evil here in verse 15 makes himself a prey. This is a powerful statement. Good people punish for pursuing good.

He who departs from evil makes himself a target. You know, many drinkers are insulted if you don't drink with them. Well, we're going to the bar. I don't drink. I don't want to go. Oh, you got to hear that. But if they said, well, I'm going to get coffee. I don't want one.

Okay, see you later. How come it's like that? Why can't they be that way?

We're going to get Twizzlers. I don't want it. Oh, you're evil. Well, that one might make sense. But Peter talks about this in Revelation.

I'm sorry. He does not. Testing one, too. First Peter chapter 4 verse 4. In regard to these, they think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. You don't run off to sin. They're going to badmouth you. Bring it on is your response. You younger Christians, it's an honor.

It's a combat ribbon to say that, yeah, they tempted me and I did not take it. I got away from them. They corrupt morals. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Amos the prophet who wrote in the earlier days of Isaiah, but to the north, he says, the prudent keeps silent at that time, for it is an evil time. The evil had to wise up.

Wise as serpent, harmless as doves. So not only had public justice warped, but public opinion warped with it. And the individuals are accountable. The sins they did two by two, they're going to answer one by one.

They're going to answer for. And I will add, especially to you youth and for us all, if you have convictions, you will have critics. I don't mean opinions. I mean convictions.

You know this is it. You know this is right or wrong, whatever your view is, you're going to make enemies. And if you need more information on that, you come because sometimes I feel like I wrote the book on it.

People don't want you to stand your ground when it is your place to stand your ground. Well, anyway, then the Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice. What a wonderful segue into the next verse because what did they honestly think? God saw these things and he chuckled. Look at that. They're stealing from each other. Look at that. The righteous are terrified at being righteous.

Of course not. Verse 16, here comes the segue. He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore, his own arm brought salvation for him and his own righteousness.

It sustained him. So this segue is radical and it is anthropomorphic. It is prophetic proper. In other words, he's speaking about a future event as though it already happened. And they do this, these prophets, they do it quite a bit. The past tense to them is in the present tense.

They're that sure of it. He was wounded for our transgressions and by his stripes, we are made whole. He's speaking 700 years before the event as though it happened already. And that's, of course, taking that from Isaiah 53. And so now he is talking about the Messiah. He's going to move Messiah, the people, the wicked.

He's going to float around with this. And giving us the scripture in a puzzle seems to us disappointing, but it shouldn't. And I believe the reason why it's like this is because scripture interprets scripture and the scripture has to speak to every generation and every culture and every language over the millennium. And it does that. And it does it through imagery and symbols and the puzzles that can be put together and you come up with this full picture. So don't be, you know, it's not like reading a novel where, you know, you can just, oh, that makes perfect sense. It does make perfect sense, but it's not always on the surface.

And this is one of them. So the translators have properly marked the pronouns and capital casing in verse 16 to signify that it is a divine character. And we know this to be Messiah. So what he's saying is God noticed the amount of men who had succumbed to irrational and rottenness of sin.

And it's startling from our perspective. Here's the anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is that they're saying, okay, let me kind of, like the prophet or goddess saying, let me act like I'm a human just for a moment so you can understand what I'm seeing. I'll put it in your language. So if God were to say, I'm guessing, he's not guessing. He doesn't have to ever guess, but he's putting it in a language we might understand. And so here we have this, these irrational rotten characters in the kingdom of Judah.

This is crazy. I can't find a righteous man. Well, of course it's not an absolute statement because he has Isaiah and Isaiah is making the statement and he's an intercessor as were the other prophets.

And that's how the puzzle goes. Those courageous enough to intervene were not strong enough. They were marginalized. And as I mentioned from Amos 5, 13 and verse four and verse 10 and verse 14 of this Isaiah 59. So this has to do with higher events and over the ages, finding those who will stand against evil in an evil society. Are there any good apples left in this barrel?

This is a kind of approach. I'm surprised there are none concerning the wicked that he is addressing. And if you're listening to this and Isaiah's day, you're either that remnant that's going, amen, I wish I could preach this at my job.

Or you're one of the wicked and you're either getting offended or you're you're being blessed and convicted. So the Lord Yahweh saw none amongst the sinners who could undo or reverse the offenses that they had committed, the damage of sin. No one could reverse the damage that Manasseh had committed. It went into Josiah's reign and then beyond and it led up to the Babylonian captivity. And God tells us that.

And so where are the intercessors? Well, let's fast forward because you're going to repeat this in Isaiah 63 verse five. I looked, but there was no one to help. And I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore, my own arm brought salvation for me and my own fury.

It sustained me. And so there's a scripture interpreting scripture and telling us that this 16th verse is now Yahweh. And he is addressing not only the evil of the time, but all sinners through all the ages.

He is the solution. And that's where this is going. The anthropomorphism is to point out the magnitude of mankind's plight. We have another picture of how awful things are. Revelation 5, this is John writing about the scene in heaven.

So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. And so this, we come back to this. Therefore, my own arm brought salvation. And so no go-between champion unless God gets involved. There's no solution for the rottenness of man without God. And he is the savior, the all-seeing eye of God.

He rested on what was going on and said, huh, look at that. No intercessor among these rotten apples. And they've silenced my people.

I'm going to have to do this. So no human arm could uplift sin and the fallen state of the race and its spiritual insanity. Therefore, my own arm brought salvation for him. And this is, of course, the Godhead at work and not fulfilled in Isaiah's day, which is part of putting the puzzle together. There were reformers who could reform like King Josiah, but Redeemer, there was none.

And that would have to wait the hopeless condition of the human race under the long tyranny of sin, not only amongst the Jews, but all people. And so his own and his own righteousness, it sustained him. It is the strength of God. It is God looking at the end result when he says he shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. In other words, he's telling us, I know what I'm doing and I'm going to do it.

And he has. God has every right to fill eternity with those who love him. It's just going to take a long time to do it.

From our perspective, it has taken, you know, since Adam, till now, God is still populating eternity with souls that are saved under these conditions. Because you look at this life and you say, boy, this thing is rigged. It's all messed up. I mean, you just can't, you just can't be left alone. At some point, no matter what you do, you're going to be miserable. Guaranteed.

Who's doing this? Well, the wicked will get bitter at God and blame him. But the righteous will say, God knows what he's doing. I have faith. I trust in his character. If this is allowed, he's got a better reason and to him it's worth it. And therefore, because he is worthy to me, it's worthy. It's worth it.

I'll do it. I don't like it. I hate it at times. But when the smoke clears, I'll be standing by the strength of the Lord. And that's what the whole Bible is really about. And so verse 17, for he, again, this is Messiah, for he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

Man, you're going to love this. This is, this is the Messiah. And, and he is, he's, he's clad for war. Paul twice borrowed from this imagery of Isaiah to stir up believers, to do the same thing in service with first, we know of Ephesians 6, but how many are mindful of 1 Thessalonians 5, 8, let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope of salvation. And so here's this picture of, of God with body armor on and the saints are supposed to put the kit on also in mental gear to carry out the king's business in a fallen world.

You stay on this verse a long time, but we got to get rolling. So this is a striking image. Daniel saw the striking image, but you know, with the white hair and the just, you know, the bronze and just the striking image of the Lord is God speaking to us in this imagery, depending on what is going on at the time. Well, verse 18, according to their deeds, according, accordingly, he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, to coast lands.

He will fully repay. And so those that were doing all this evil, Isaiah is saying to you, look, don't say you've not been warned. This is foreboding language, repay, fury, adversaries, recompense, enemies. This is retaliation. It bristles with retaliation. Retribution and fullness. He will fully repay. Romans 12, verse 19, beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath for it is written, vengeance is mine.

I will repay says the Lord. They know that's a hard one, right? We, we want, because it's only difficult for us Christians.

We want to see it instantly. It's like, it's like a, like if we could just activate the vengeance of the Lord, like we, we, we do a click pen like click click over you. And so put that, you know, how many people would not get saved?

All of them by that, by that tactic. Well, the coast lands here, that means the Gentiles to every ball, far reaching, but God's going to, he's going to straighten it all right. He's going to clear the way on earth for kingdom converts. Verse 19, that's where we're going with this. So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun, which would be the east. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of Yahweh will lift up a standard against him.

Well, this hasn't happened yet. And so there's, you know, as I mentioned, he's transitioned now to the future and the messianic age and, but the old Testament doesn't tell us, okay, this is his first coming. This is his time on earth.

Okay, now this is his death and this is his second. It's there, but you've got to put the puzzle together. And once it comes together, you say, man, you can't miss this. How did they miss this? How did the Jews not see this? So the next time you think, I don't like this puzzle thing, then ask yourself, then how come you see things and you can't believe others can't see them?

So it works. Well, back to verse 19, this kingdom age is what he's talking about. His glory, the Messiah's visible presence. I saw the glory of the Lord sitting on the throne from six three, Isaiah six three, but there are two alternate renderings of this, this verse 19.

And I like both of them. You can read is where you put the comma. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. So it's the enemy coming in and the Lord like a flood coming against the enemy. Or you can see the enemy coming in like a flood. The second rendering, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. They both work and they're both true. Uh, it's like just one of the verses that God says, have it your way.

Cause they both apply. Now the second coming of the Lord coming against an enemy coming in like a flood and then the Lord responding like a flood, a counter flood. Ezekiel 39, Ezekiel 39 is Armageddon.

We've had Ezekiel 33 and the world going crazy and I believe we have then the period of Antichrist and then Antichrist goes nuts and Isaiah 39 says, well this, I'm going to shut him down. Now arguing over end times is not necessary. You just agree with me and you won't have to argue. One thing I'm going to love about heaven is I won't have to debate any theology. I'll just seem like, told you. I plan to visit every Calvinist I know in heaven.

Gotcha. Anyway, you know why I was right? Cause it was foreordained from the foundations of the world that I'd be right and not you. Anyway, the Ezekiel 39 verse four, you shall fall upon the mountains of Israel. Speaking about the enemy, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you.

I will give you to the birds of prey of every sort and to beast of the field to be devoured. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift his standard. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift his standard.

Either way, it works. Zechariah 14 nine and Yahweh shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be Yahweh is one and his name one.

He's King over all the earth. There's no more enemies. And when they flash up again after Satan is let loose that second time, that will be done in a blink. Verse 20, the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob says Yahweh. Well out of Zion comes Jesus of Nazareth, our Redeemer. This is why one of the reasons why the promised land is so special to us. And remember to pray for the Jews, to beat the snot out of the enemy. We can kind of do that on this one because they're going to do it.

So until, until we're out of here and then it's going to be different. And, but that's what's needed. That would justice would prevail. Certainly not promoting violence. We're promoting what is necessary to stop the evil. And in this case, violence is what's going to get it done. What are you, you're not going to, you're not going to take them out to subway sandwiches and make a peace deal.

I sure hope they purge that place. Okay. The King of the Jews, the God of creation, the Holy One of Israel, that's this Redeemer that will come out of Zion. We know him as Jesus, the Messiah. God is ever ready to receive penitent sinners.

That's where this is going. Paul identifies this character because he quotes this verse in Romans 11 and he says it's Jesus. You have to take it with Romans 11 26 with Romans 11 32. I'll take verse 26 and so all Israel will be saved as it is written. The Deliverer will come out of Zion.

He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. So today the Jewish people, they're still God's people, but they're not a cleansed people and that's going to happen. Anyway, they will receive a new covenant and with that a new heart. Verse 21 for as for me says Yahweh, this is my covenant with them. My spirit who's upon them, my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your descendants nor from the mouth of your descendants. Descendants says Yahweh from this time forevermore. Well, the descendants here are the descendants of this Redeemer and who might that be? Well, Isaiah 53 talked about that to us.

53 10. There is the spiritual offspring of Christ. We're it.

We're not the only ones. I mean, all the believers that have come, the apostles. And so to overcome the ages, this prophecy, again, kind of, you know, I was the word I'm looking for, cryptic, but I guess Spirit Scripture is its own interpreter. Well, Jeremiah 31 31 says, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And that covenant has been made.

It just not received it. They will. Ezekiel 36. Yeah, 36 verse 26. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and their heart as a people is stone against the Christ at this present time.

Almost done. These descendants that are spoken of here in verse 21 and their descendants descendants is the disciples again of Christ. And this links it to Genesis 31. Sorry, Genesis 3 15, the seed of the woman, which is then brought up again in Genesis 22 19.

I'll leave it for you to look at. And then Isaiah 53 10. So if you want to see where I'm getting these parts of the puzzle, there you go. So again, Jesus will rid the earth of rotten apples in the end. And he will use his church to make converts as we move forward. Well, let's pray. Now, Father, just never can get enough of your word.

We who believe we just always want more. And this is your doing in our hearts. You have lit the candle and the lamp and we are very, very grateful. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We trust that what you've heard today has been something to remember. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series, go to crossreferenceradio.com. Once more, that's crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. You can also connect with us through YouTube. We hope you'll tune in again next time as we continue spending time reading God's word and learning together. Make a note in your calendar to join Pastor Rick again right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-20 08:10:51 / 2024-12-20 08:20:25 / 10

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