What Keeps Us From God?

What Keeps Us From God?

By Pastor Matt Black

01 July 2007
Lord's Day Evening
Isaiah 15:1-5 to 16:6

Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of Isaiah 15. The title of tonight’s message is “What Keeps Us From God?”

Outline:

I. The Reaping of a Life without God (Isaiah 15:6-8).

II. The Remedy for a Life without God (Isaiah 15:9-16:1-5).

III. The Reasons for a Life without God (Isaiah 16:6)

Outline:

I. The Reaping of a Life without God (Isaiah 15:6-8).

A. The first principle of the harvest: You reap what you sow. There is a Law of Harvest that plays out here in Moab.

Galatians 6:7-9, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Good or bad, you reap what you sow. If you live a life controlled by the Spirit of God, you will have a harvest of eternal life! We here at this church want to please God with all our heart and soul—we want to live under the Law of Christ, under His rulership. The government of our lives is upon His shoulders. But there’s a whole world out there that is trusting in temporary riches. Moab is just like the rest of the lost world. Not much has changed. Look at verse 6 of Isaiah 15, “For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.”

1. Context. Nimrim was a beautiful place. It would be like saying the Mississippi River is going to dry up, and your land is going to dry up! The beautiful clear water springs of Nimrim that supplied water through Moab were going to be destroyed by the Assyrians. Because of this, the beautiful meadows of this once plush land God says will wither away! Think of going to the Mississippi or Lake Michigan and finding it dry! Think of the grassy meadows of the in the Southern US dried up. Think of all the crops of the Midwest dried up! This is what these people were experiencing. Imagine today, you go to the supermarket, and the vegetable section is closed down! No clean water is available. Massive crisis has arrived.

2. Get to the real problem. The problem that you see is not the real problem. As they say, “it’s just the tip of the ice burg”. Moab’s problem was not the power thirsty Assyrians, it was the rebellion of their own hearts. When a person forsakes God, they make all kinds of horrible decisions, and the surface problem looks like the real problem. But here’s a word of wisdom. Don’t look at the fruit—look at the root.

· The root of a bad marriage is not that she doesn’t respect you or that he doesn’t love you. It is a bad heart. The problem is that you sow to your flesh. The problem is not with the other person, it is with you.

· The root of a bad job situation is not your boss. It is that you have not yet submitted to doing the will of God even if it hurts. You sow to your flesh with frustration, anger, worry, bitterness, when you should be allowing the pressure of work drive you to prayer, hope, perseverance, witnessing, and joy even when the journey is tough. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

· The root of a bad attitude is a heart that is not searched daily. Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. If you let wicked ways stick around, you’ll reap a bad attitude.

So everything is messed up. God gave the Moabites the springs of Nimrim, and they took them for granted, and did not give thanks to God, so Assyria took them away from Moab and decimated the beautiful springs of Nimrim.

3. Teaching. Man is all about taking something that is perfectly fine, and messing it up. God gives Adam a perfectly fine Garden and a body and a mind and a wife and a beautiful world. Adam goes his own way and messes it up! But we have a Saviour who says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Listen, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We serve a God that can take all the sowing that you’ve done, and reap destruction for you on the cross. Do you realize the indestructible promise in the Word of God is that you will reap what you sow? Yet, we serve a God who in Christ can take the harvest of destruction and reap hell for us and give us heaven!

So we are talking about the reaping of a life without God. Without God, you will reap destruction, just like the Moabites. Here’s the second

B. Here’s the second principle of the harvest: Fleshly fruit perishes. It is all rotting away. Don’t put your hope in the pleasures of a body that’s rotting. Don’t put your trust in an earth that’s rotting and judgment is soon to fall. Look at verse 7: “Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.” Here all the Moabites plans are dashed! They have to take all their belongings that they have stored up and carry away to other places where they flee for safety. Listen, no amount of riches can buy you safety. “An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength” (Psalm 33:17). Neither can riches protect you. Did all the riches of Egypt protect Pharoah from God’s judgment? Did all the riches of Babylon protect that King from judgment? Riches are nothing. We need to trust in the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). Whether you have abudance or just a little bit, say with Job in Job 1:21. “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD [giveth], and the LORD [taketh] away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Turn over to Luke 12. Most of this world have great plans for tomorrow. They’re building bigger barns. They store up their riches as if they will last forever. Look at Luke 12:15-21, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Application: Do you place a great value on having the latest things? Do you have to have the latest clothing? Are you trying to keep with the fads and fashions of this world? What you need is not more stuff. You need contentment. There’s a gem of a verse in 1 Timothy 6:6, “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The Bible instructs us to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:2). Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” You put your heart on earthly things, your heart will break when those earthly things break.

Let’s take a test: How do you react when a major appliance breaks down? Is it God’s will for you to be filled with the Spirit in good times and bad? It’s easy to be filled with the Spirit when everything is going smoothly, but the real test is when your life is a disaster, how do you act?

1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Psalm 100:2, “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”

C. Here’s the third principle of the harvest: No amount of sorrow will bring the lost harvest back. A couple years ago we had a problem with the lettuce crop. People were bummed they didn’t have lettuce. You can cry, but in the end, no matter if you cried or just accepted it, nobody had the lettuce they wanted. Look at verse 8, “For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim.” Eglaim and Beerelim were places on the far east and west of Moab, so he is saying, the crying is going to happen throughout the land. But no matter how hard, or how loud, or how much we cry, what is done is done!

Humanity will never atone for sin no matter how long they cry. That is why Purgatory is a cruel doctrine. No amount of human suffering can atone for offences against an infinite God. The Psalmist says it plainly in Psalm 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

David says in Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Your only hope is a substitution. You can cry all you want, but that will not take away your sin. You can suffer and beat yourself up, but that will not take away your sin.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

You cannot atone for your sin!

Nothing but the Blood (#252 in Majesty Hymnal)

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

So here’s the Law: You reap what you sow! Fleshly fruit leads to destruction! No amount of sorrow will bring the lost harvest back. Finally we see it clearly

D. Here’s the A life without God reaps destruction. That’s exactly what verse 9 says, “For the waters of Dimon will be full of blood; Because I will bring more upon Dimon, Lions upon him who escapes from Moab, And on the remnant of the land." How sad this ending is. The waters of Dimon which were once rivers of life, and now filled with the blood of brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles.

The Dimon River was one of three main rivers running through Moab. God says beyond the Assyrians, I will send lions. Even if you think you’ve gotten out of something, there is no escape. Even if you make it through the Assyrian army, there is “more” to come!

Application: So many people think the hardships of this life are the true punishment for our sins. They say they will not go to hell because they say that hell is on earth right now. Can I say something? The worst day of your life is paradise compared to the best day in hell.

Earlier Isaiah referred to this eternal destruction. He described it in chapter 13 as “pangs and sorrow taking hold of them”. There is something worse than the Assyrian army. Worse than the lions that God would send. Friend, there is something worse than a broken heart on this earth. Worse than a broken marriage. There is something worse than the worst despair and sorrow on this earth, and that is an eternity without God.

“It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). You don’t want to face eternity without God. If you do, this is what it will be like. One second after you die, the soul will begin a frightful journey into the fiery bottomless pit. The body immediately will begin to experience indescribable and unimaginable pain. In complete horror, those who descend into hell will begin to cry out in fear and anguish and horror and terror. … But no one will hear them. Ever. Panic will begin to envelope the heart and soul. All of the self deceit and pride will be vividly clear.

So many live a life of blind comfort, unconcerned about the eternal torment that will very soon fall on them. If you are living a life without God, then you are living a life without any hope. Like Esau, the entire world is willing to sell their souls for a mess of pottage. They are finishing their popsicles before they enter hell instead of fleeing from the wrath to come.

This is the message Isaiah is bringing to the Moabites. You may win the lottery, have a good job, a beautiful family, but in the end it is all destruction and death. Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Now let us look at our second point. Let us ask what is the remedy for a life without God? Here we go to verse 9 through the beginning of chapter 16.

II. The Remedy for a Life without God (Isaiah 16:1-5).

A. A plea for mercy. Verse 1, “Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.” Moab here begins to show that they want the house of David to rule over them. They begin to pay taxes to Judah. The “mount of the daughter of Zion”
is referring to Jerusalem. “Sela” is the capital of Moab. It was a long way between Sela (also called “Petra”) and Jerusalem, but they knew that the Temple was there and the God of David was to be found there. Sending the Lamb means that Judah is sovereign over Moab.

We’ll find out later that Moab was known for their pride, but when God draws people to Himself, He sometimes has to bring us down from our high ideas of our self. “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

B. An Understanding of Their Own Condition. Verse 2, “For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.” The daughters of Moab—representing all that was good and right, their precious daughters—had lost their way! The women of Moab are compared to a bird that has gone astray, fluttering here and there, not knowing where the nest is, because the nest, i.e. the land of Moab, had been destroyed. Arnon was one of the three Rivers of Moab. So not only the lambs are sent, but the women of the land begin crossing the river to get to Jerusalem for safety!

Application: There’s a saying that you can’t get someone saved before they know their lost. Isaiah’s response to seeing the Lord is found in chapter 6 and verse 5. Isaiah 6:5. “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Whether you are a prophet or a peasant, the way to the Cross is the same! Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

C. A Personal Confession. Verse 3, “Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth”.

This is beautiful. The people agree with one another that this is what they should do. They say that they want to be protected by the shadow of Judah, that will be such a shadow it will protect them even in broad daylight, the noonday sun! It will hide them and not bewray, that is expose them to danger. I’m reminded of Psalm 91:1. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” So the reference here is to a spiritual conversion of the Moabites. Moab will not be utterly wiped out. As many as come to repent and believe will be saved! The God who split the Red Sea will protect Moab. They could say with Korah in Psalm 46—turn there. Psalm 46:1-5, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.”

The message of the entire Bible can be summed up like this: there is a refuge in Jesus! Flee to Jesus!

D. The next part of the Remedy is that if you flee to Christ, nothing can hurt you. Look at verses 4 and 5, “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.” There is safety in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Who could protect Moab from the face of the spoiler? Who could cease the oppressors and guard them from all harm? Who is it that holds the wind and the waves in His hand? Who is it that raises up Kings and puts them down, and the nations are a drop in the bucket to Him? The message to Moab is the same message to you tonight: Flee to the Lord. What ever you are going through the answer is to flee to Jesus. All things happen after the counsel of His own will. Man deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps. God makes no mistakes! Let Jesus be your shelter from the storm.

E. The final part of the remedy is Abundant Mercy! Verse 5, “And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness”.

He who was once our enemy, the God of David, the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob can be your God. The only response is one of faith and submission: Trust and Obey!

Yet even with abundant mercy offered, many will still not flee to Jesus. Why?

III. The Reason for a Life without God (Isaiah 16:6) pride! Verse 6, “We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.” Pride and lies keep a person without God. Jesus says come unto me—whosoever will may come. Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Conclusion: If you are a believer, preach the Gospel to every creature. Ask God to save the hardest of sinners. Never harden your heart to the lost, realize they are blind and deaf and dead!

If you are lost, this message is for you. You cannot save yourself. You’ll never be good enough for God to accept you outside of Christ. Christ has paid your debt! Let His throne be established in your heart!