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Choices Count (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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January 15, 2025 6:00 am

Choices Count (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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January 15, 2025 6:00 am

The LORD states that the heavens and the earth are His. He rebukes those that do not honor Him and points out their hypocrisy. But to the humble He will show mercy and He will lift them up. Jerusalem will be exalted in the last days.

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The amount of churchgoers in this country alone cannot be numbered as to how many attend church, but God knows the ones that tremble at his word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and that trembling implies reverence and the will to obey.

So, before we can stand brave against the world and its devil, we have to first tremble in God's Word. 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. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 66 as he begins his message, Choices Count. Isaiah 66, we close out the book.

That's the plan. Choices Count, that's the title. The prophet's prophecies, Isaiah's prophecies, fierce rebukes as we've been going through this, against empty religion. You would think after all the Bible has to say about empty religion that empty religion would have died out, but that's never been the case. Of course, his judgments are balanced by God's love, and this chapter continues where the last one left off, warnings, judgments, distinctions, which are critical.

They're not just random judgments or judgments against everyone, that God makes distinctions, and then there are blessings. So we look at the first verse. Thus says Yahweh, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest? Well, Isaiah, of course, saw the throne of God.

Chapter 6, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne high and lifted up. And what gift do you get the person that's got everything? What do you give to God? He needs no dwelling place built by men, but some people don't believe that. You look at some of the cathedrals, especially in Europe, and you get the feeling not only in Europe, of course, other religions too have some outlandish temples for worship, and God doesn't need any of that. He looks to dwell with the person who is sincere, who is genuine, those who have the spirit of contrition, godly fear.

And these types are less likely to be kooky, to be out of their minds spiritually. And so where he says, and where is the place of my rest? Well, Solomon made an amazing comment about this.

Stephen refers to this also. Second Chronicles, when Solomon dedicated the first Jewish temple, he makes this very wise comment, who is able to build him a temple since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. Who am I then that I should build him a temple except to burn sacrifice before him?

Good that he put that last part in there. Solomon says this really doesn't make God bigger, but we do need a place to worship. We could use a point of contact, and the temple was it. But really, God, of course, looks beyond the temple into the people attending. He looks to dwell in the heart of the people who take his word seriously.

That has never changed. Jesus, in John's gospel, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. You would think with all the emphasis the Bible puts on the Bible that more Christians would be more interested in the Bible. Verse 2, for all those things my hand has made and all those things exist, says Yahweh, but on this one will I look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit who trembles at my word. Well, that's what God delights in. People who are down to earth about themselves in God's presence, yes, but everywhere else, too.

I mean, we all have, you know, sometimes we kind of put on the spot, feel like, you know, I don't want to look like the dummy in the room, and, you know, we work to guard against that. But overall, I think most born-again Christians down to earth, well, I don't know, I never counted, but I know a lot of born-again Christians, and the ones that I know mostly, not all of them are, down to earth people on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit. The Hebrew word contrite is smitten, which adds to the, doesn't add to the meaning, but it certainly enhances its impression on us.

It's smitten spirit, blessed are the poor in spirit. There's the kingdom of heaven. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was being pushed by the multitudes almost into the Lake of Galilee, and it is a lake, it's not a sea, not that big. Well, anyway, he goes in one of the fishermen's boats that was empty. The fishermen were there mending their nets, and he goes into their boat to use it as a pulpit, and Luke points out the people wanted to hear the word of God, and so he gives it to them. And then after, Jesus said, well, how about we go out and do some fishing? And Peter, typical, like, we've been up all night fishing.

There's no fish to fish, and but at your word, you know, Peter condescending, at your word we'll go out, and so they go out fishing, and of course they get more fish than they can handle. And Peter, who was listening to the sermon, probably saying, yeah, I agree with that, well, that one's a little questionable, you know, seeing him probably making his opinions as people in the pew tend to do. And then he sees, not only had he heard the Lord preach, but then he sees the Lord work.

He was smitten. And he says this, it said, Luke writes this, Luke 5 verse 8, when Simon Peter saw it, all those fish, he fell down at Jesus, sneezed, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. There is an illustration of a contrite spirit, of a smitten man. But it doesn't end there, and we spend most of our time on this verse, because I think we can move quickly through the remainder. But again, Luke's gospel, I don't know, do some people miss these things?

I hope I don't miss them in my behavior as a Christian. Luke's gospel chapter 19, 18, this is the parable that he spoke to some who trusted in themselves, that would be the unsmitten, those who are really kind of impressed with themselves. And when they pray, they try to impress you with their prayers, or teach you a lesson. Somehow they want to get the attention on themselves, and they don't even think they try sometimes. It just turns out that way, because they haven't been checking themselves. Anyway, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.

They looked down on everybody who wasn't in their group. Two men, Jesus said, went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed, thus with himself, God, thank you that I am not like other men. Extortion is unjust, adulterous, or even this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Later, Jesus would say, these you should have done without leaving the others undone. Love. Anyway, he continues, Luke does with the parable, and the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Well, there's a smitten heart. We all know this story, and I hope we are mindful enough of it to apply it to ourselves. I tell you this, Jesus went on to say, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

Justified to who? Well, to God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so, here in Isaiah, there it is. This is the same teaching. Down to earth people.

The state of the heart. That impresses God, because that is where he wants to dwell. And how can God stay in the heart of somebody who says, wow, look at me, aren't you impressed?

I tithe, I fast, I really have my act together. Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So, again, building souls, ruined by sin, more than building temples is what God is about. Isaiah 57, 15, he covered this, for thus says the high and lofty one.

That's why I kept this in there. I like reading this verse. I like that my God is high and lofty and nobody else is. The high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. You see, there's an emphasis there. And so, again, not the building of buildings, but building souls that have been ruined by sin.

That should be our business. Cathedrals could never replace a contrite heart. And so, you know, but humans, they tend to look at what you've accomplished before you can earn their respect many times. He continues, and who trembles at my word. Now, once more, how many churchgoers have little interest in all of God's word? They feel like they've got enough of it. They're content with just enough to feel saved and to argue about secondary things.

It's not a good thing to be in that camp. The amount of churchgoers in this country alone cannot be numbered as to how many attend church. But God knows the ones that tremble at his word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And that trembling implies reverence and the will to obey. So, before we can stand brave against the world and its devil, we have to first tremble in God's word with a contrite heart. If we're going to be useful, it's going to take a lot of hard work. I think that sometimes when you read the Gospels, particularly the things that Jesus says, you can say, boy, it's so simple.

Why didn't I think of that? Or you just receive it so quickly. It's like, this is just perfect. This is how it should be. But it's still hard work to get what the Bible has to give. And when you know that, early on, I think we're better equipped to do better with what we have. And be careful not to shape the verses to fit our doctrine, but to have the verses shape the doctrine.

And again, I think there's a lot of failure in that area. That verse can't mean that because that's not what my doctrine is. The verse means this, and we better get that doctrine lined up to it, whether we like it or not. And we come to now verse 3. He who kills a bull as if he slays a man, he who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck, he who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood, he who burns incense as if he blesses an idol, just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.

Now we've got to go to verse 4, we'll come back up. He continues, so will I choose their delusions and bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, they did not hear, but they did evil before my eyes, and chose that which I do not delight. So maybe now the reason why the title is Choices Count is a little bit more clear, because God is saying the choice is yours.

Now this is what I meant. There are some that have a doctrine, I can't mean that. My doctrine says you don't have a choice, but that's not what it says, and this ain't the only place.

So in contrast to those who have a contrite heart, who tremble at the word, who've chosen to follow the Lord, here we have those who have bad religious attitudes, and they are moral and spiritual brutes. Now everyone is religious in this sense of the word. Religion is that which binds us. If you're an atheist, then that's your religion. You're bound to that.

You're committed to that. Well, this group of their religious people, incidentally, because they presented as offering sacrifices, they have attitudes of violence, disobedience as part of their religion, their religious reprobates in the eyes of God. Not enough to be religious. Cain was religious, Balaam was religious, Korah was religious, and we know those guys did not go to the place that they intended to go, according to Jude. So those who skip what God says so that they can pick and choose and live like savages, if they please, will learn that their choice mattered. And the role of the church, the role of the Christian is to, of course, always draw near to God, to try to remain as fresh as possible in the faith, and to be useful to God, and the salvation of souls. Make Christians strong, reach the loss.

What else is left? That covers everything to me, because it's so much in just those two endeavors. There's so many ways the person can contribute to those two things. So even right rituals, bringing a sacrifice of lamb to the Lord in the Jewish system. If it's done with the wrong attitude, it is blasphemy, and it's sacrilege, it's idol worship.

I don't want to know anyone that would behave this way, that has religion like this, but there are people that are very religious and they behave this way. In Isaiah's day, there are many of God's people, even the majority, and he ministered a long time, who did not tremble at the word of God. Instead, they were mean-spirited and they were defiant, as this verse depicts them. Those who were sacrificing animals on the outside, they weren't really sacrificing the animals, they were murdering them.

It's a big difference. Because their hearts played host to things that were contrary to the only true God, and it is the heart of the worshiper that determines the genuineness of the offering. God sets the value, the genuineness now has to be established. If it's fraudulent, well, God's going to see that. And so these are spiritual brutes, and we have to be reminded of this, displaying extreme cruelty and savagery and sensitivity in church. These indictments are charges against their heart being not contrite. And God saw the outward actions, but the inward darkness, the inward darkness that went along with it. Just look now at verse 18 of Isaiah 66, and there we read, For I know their works and their thoughts.

That's all we need to take for the moment. God knows the thoughts, no getting away from that. And the intention of the heart.

So he who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a door, well, let's go back up to the first one. He who kills a bull as if he slays a man, treating people like animals in his heart. Slavery, abortion, communism, the Nazis, of course, were socialistic. The Nazi means socialist.

Imperial Japan, and so many others, abortion workers, I should specify that. These and others, they see some people as less than human, evidently, because they treat them like animals. And that's the sentiment that's coming out here in this verse. There's an inner darkness unto hatred, and it is an abomination to God. It's a good study to look into the all the times that God says he hates something.

It is a helpful lesson for each individual. He who suffers from lesson for each individual. He who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck. Heartless, barbaric, indiscriminate religion, that's what's being called out. He who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood. His outside actions are hiding his inward passions, what's in his heart. He's offering the grain offering.

That's okay, but not the swine's blood. And so Isaiah, again, is just challenging the motives of the religious people of his day, existing long before he came along and long after he went along. He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol. In other words, they're loving their lies, not the truth. And you know, Second Thessalonians, because they did not have a love for the truth, they will be turned over to delusion. And anyway, he says, just as they have chosen their own ways. That's clear enough. See, we're created in the image of God.

And even though that image is marred, there are parts of it that have remained. And the part that has remained is free will. We have free will. It's beyond instinct. There's a choice involved.

The animal kingdom is more instinctive. Anyway, damaged by sin, yes, but we still have the ability to choose God. Proverbs 18, verse two, a fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart. Well, that would characterize these chaps here in verse three. And their soul delights in their abominations. They are passionate about their religious way.

And you better not object, by the way. Matthew 8, behold the city. The whole city came out to meet Jesus. This is after he cast out those demons into the 2,000 swine. Behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region.

You know, people at the university have done that a long time ago. So here are the hateful Hamas type or style religions through the lens of today. The killing of an ox, slaying a man, no difference to them whether you kill a man or you kill an animal. Barbaric and indiscriminate offerings, the thrill of violence in their offerings. It's a peaceful religion. If you look at their behavior, you have to say it's barbaric and indiscriminate, forbidden religious offerings.

This is of course the grain offering held up, but really in their heart it was the swine's blood in defiance of God. When you drill down into what their motives are, people need to hear these things because people do these things. And we see them because we're Christians and God has touched us. Those that burn incense as to idols. There are those that have chosen their idols and the facts mean nothing. If you were to say to somebody, can you tell me why you believe in an idol?

Why you pray to a statue of Buddha or something like that? The best they can do is give you hearsay. They have no facts to back these things up. And now one of the beauties of the Judeo-Christian world is that we have an unbroken witness in writing from Adam today and all the way through to the Lord returns. And not only is it in print, but the prophecies are in print. And so again, one of the best defenses when Satan knocks on your door and starts to say, you know, the Bible is not all that.

He said, well then how come it called Israel out to be a nation that it is, to be so peculiar, so extraordinary? If the Bible weren't true, I wouldn't be seeing these things with my eyes, but I do see them. And to add to that, there were many a Christian before me who died long before Israel was put back in her land and they believed the scriptures by faith. And they could do it. I can do it because it makes sense. And so verse four, so I will choose their delusions, this barbaric group. And there are those that have a refined devil too, but the ones called out are rather extreme. So I will choose their delusions and bring their fears on them.

Now pause there. Why? Why is God choosing their delusions? Because of their choices. That's why.

Not random. I will bring fears on them because when I called no one answered. When I spoke, they did not hear, but they did evil before my eyes and chose that which I do not delight.

Well, these are intelligent human beings. They can choose, right? Or they can choose wrong. And it would be a little weird for God to say, I called out to you knowing that you couldn't choose, but you could choose.

So your defense is taken away. And so God will in scripture confuse the enemy. No mistake about that. He's not the author of confusion for his people, but he will author it for his enemies. Genesis 17, come let us go down, says of course, this is the Trinity in the Old Testament.

Let us go down there and confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. Well, that's what the Bible says. Well, Deuteronomy 28, 28. Yahweh will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart if you depart from the law of the Lord. Psalm 81, verse 12, God speaking through the psalmist. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart to walk in their own counsels.

And then there's Zechariah 12, four if you want another one. So God controls the wicked. He doesn't control their choices, but he controls the outcome.

That's called sovereignty. If he weren't sovereign, then their choices could overthrow him. So the basic rule is where God cannot rule, he will overrule. And so God will overrule whether they know it or not or like it or not. Ezekiel talks about these false prophets and, you know, they had to grate on his spirit. He says, then God speaking through Ezekiel about these false prophets. And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet. That is God interfering.

I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people, Israel. 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 / 2025-01-15 08:48:17 / 2025-01-15 08:57:35 / 9

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