Isaiah 47:8-15
Posted by Calvary Chapel Fremont at 11/18/2009 8:12 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Isaiah
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Isaiah
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday November 18, 2009
Isaiah 47:8-15
You don’t discipline your children w/o warning/explanation and God doesn’t bring judgment w/o warning/explanation. This passage explains the reason for the judgment of God on Babylon in 537 BC. The prophets declare that the Lord has a case against the nations and, here, God makes His case against Babylon. In C48, He will make His case against Israel.
Security 8-11
The 1st thing to notice about Babylon is her boast that she is secure. She thinks she’s the top dog/in best place/nothing 2B concerned about. Everyone wants to be in a place of security, a place free from worry/lack – a place where present/future are taken care of: home ownership/steady job/stable family life/adequate income/assured retirement… But so many leave God out of the equation.
But B didn’t leave God out of the equation. God was a big part of her security. Listen to what she says: “I AM – no one besides me.” This is what God says of God. This is what Lucifer lusted after. B has taken on the character of Satan. “I don’t have to bother w/ God. I just consult myself.” (Knowledge of good/evil.) She had a false security/therefore a counterfeit hope.
Widow – w/o provision/protection/status | Loss of children – future security
She thought she was in a place where she could stand, where she was secure – present/future. It was a security apart from the Lord and it failed to provide the protection she desired - she built on the sand. God created U2 long for security/promises one in Him. Ps. 91
B’s security rested upon three shaky foundations -
SENSUALITY 8
Sensual one: focused on bodily pleasures/physical delights. Sensuality runs gamut from fashion/food to sex/style to entertainment/ excitement. See this in Esau/Noah’s generation/last days generation
What is big business today? Food/fashion/sex/style/entertainment/ excitement… We live in Babylon. We are Babylon. So here’s the question: How do I meet the security needs of my soul? B: by keeping the body stimulated and satisfied/excited and energized.
Sensual related to Eden in Hebrew. Sensuality paired w/ security. B has created a garden where she is safe/protected. Many today are seeking security in sensuality. The stimulus of the pleasure centers of the body give a false sense of sanctuary and safety - the frantic addict getting a fix and calming down.
Creation: spirit/soul/body – meet needs thru rel. w/ God
Fall: body/soul/spirit – meet needs thru rel. w/ stuff/people – there are those who seek to meet needs of soul thru soul: intellectual life, relationships…
Redemption: spirit/soul/body – renewal of God’s purpose
B’s kings/royalty were more attuned to meet the needs of their souls thru rel. w/ physical things than through rel. w/ God. That sounds familiar! Their sensuality became the unchanging/non-negotiable reality of their life. Everything was submitted to whether it stimulated/satisfied/excited/energized them. This describes many day. This is why so many are so unhappy – many seek to meet the needs of their souls through the body and not through the spirit. And since the body can’t stay stimulated/energized all the time, the soul remains unfulfilled.
A stimulated/satisfied body gives a false sense of security and a counterfeit hope. But B built upon another foundation, also.
Spirituality 8, 10 I AM, no one beside me
B felt that she had a connection w/ the divine and this connection helped to make her think that she was secure. She coupled sensuality/spirituality. Spirituality + sensuality = crossless religion – no call to holiness and no putting to death ungodly desires/ thoughts/ambitions.
In the 60s/70s the Jesus Movement rolled across the nation affecting millions of lives w/ its preaching of Jesus as Savior/Lord. The preaching of grace/holiness went hand-in-hand. Behind it came a counterfeit religion that preached connection w/ God that didn’t call for a disconnection from an ungodly life.
80s – New Age Movement was/is a crossless religion. We saw the rise of spirituality apart from Jesus Christ. This was in direct opposition to Christianity - a spirituality that embraced spiritual awareness w/o calling for sensual discipline.
Today – New Age Movement 2.1 The emphasis isn’t on angels as much as it is on inner goodness coupled w/ social awareness. It is a spirituality w/o personal holiness.
Man is torn – we are created in the image of God and therein lies the struggle. We are created – we partake of the earth. We are in the image of God – we partake of God - we know that there is something that transcends this creation. Cf. Rom. 1. We are temporal/eternal. We are flesh/ spirit. But carnal man, addicted to sensuality, longs for a union w/ God that doesn’t require abandoning the sensual. Fallen man invents crossless religion that accommodates both flesh/spirit.
The morality of crossless religion is not personal holiness, but social justice. If I am green enough/socially aware enough/hate corporate America enough, I can ignore personal holiness. If I have the right cause, I can ignore the cross. “Pursue holiness w/o which no man will see the Lord.” Someone said of a prominent politician who recently died that he did a lot harm in his personal life, but since he championed the right social issues, he was praised/applauded in his death. B will find no security in her sensuality/spirituality. B thought she touched the divine, when in actuality she touched the demonic.
sorcery 12-13
12 Spells – from a word meaning ‘associations /company’. The main idea of the word is to join or unite two or more things – for strength. This is occultism/magic – binding the spirit world w/ words. ISBE: Underlying all methods of divination there lay the belief that superhuman spiritual beings (gods, spirits) possess the secret knowledge desired by men, and that, on certain conditions, they are willing to impart it.
13 Astrology - one form of divination and it rests upon the ultimate belief that the heavenly bodies are deities controlling the destinies of men and revealing the future to those who have eyes to see.
V12 – trying to control the future/v13 – trying to predict the future. They would read the intestines of animals and the course of the stars. The attraction – security - get control of my life by anticipating what lies around the next corner.
The Babylonian astrologers can’t even see their own destruction. Nor did the Mayans - MOVIE 2012 Dec. 21, 2012, 11:11:11 GMT.
14-15 The idols of occultism/astrology will forsake you. Those who have sold you the idols will forsake you. You will come to a place where you have no answers/power/lovers – nowhere to turn.
Security is not found in sensuality/spirituality/sorcery – but only in the Savior.
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Isaiah 47:8-15
You don’t discipline your children w/o warning/explanation and God doesn’t bring judgment w/o warning/explanation. This passage explains the reason for the judgment of God on Babylon in 537 BC. The prophets declare that the Lord has a case against the nations and, here, God makes His case against Babylon. In C48, He will make His case against Israel.
Security 8-11
The 1st thing to notice about Babylon is her boast that she is secure. She thinks she’s the top dog/in best place/nothing 2B concerned about. Everyone wants to be in a place of security, a place free from worry/lack – a place where present/future are taken care of: home ownership/steady job/stable family life/adequate income/assured retirement… But so many leave God out of the equation.
But B didn’t leave God out of the equation. God was a big part of her security. Listen to what she says: “I AM – no one besides me.” This is what God says of God. This is what Lucifer lusted after. B has taken on the character of Satan. “I don’t have to bother w/ God. I just consult myself.” (Knowledge of good/evil.) She had a false security/therefore a counterfeit hope.
Widow – w/o provision/protection/status | Loss of children – future security
She thought she was in a place where she could stand, where she was secure – present/future. It was a security apart from the Lord and it failed to provide the protection she desired - she built on the sand. God created U2 long for security/promises one in Him. Ps. 91
B’s security rested upon three shaky foundations -
SENSUALITY 8
Sensual one: focused on bodily pleasures/physical delights. Sensuality runs gamut from fashion/food to sex/style to entertainment/ excitement. See this in Esau/Noah’s generation/last days generation
What is big business today? Food/fashion/sex/style/entertainment/ excitement… We live in Babylon. We are Babylon. So here’s the question: How do I meet the security needs of my soul? B: by keeping the body stimulated and satisfied/excited and energized.
Sensual related to Eden in Hebrew. Sensuality paired w/ security. B has created a garden where she is safe/protected. Many today are seeking security in sensuality. The stimulus of the pleasure centers of the body give a false sense of sanctuary and safety - the frantic addict getting a fix and calming down.
Creation: spirit/soul/body – meet needs thru rel. w/ God
Fall: body/soul/spirit – meet needs thru rel. w/ stuff/people – there are those who seek to meet needs of soul thru soul: intellectual life, relationships…
Redemption: spirit/soul/body – renewal of God’s purpose
B’s kings/royalty were more attuned to meet the needs of their souls thru rel. w/ physical things than through rel. w/ God. That sounds familiar! Their sensuality became the unchanging/non-negotiable reality of their life. Everything was submitted to whether it stimulated/satisfied/excited/energized them. This describes many day. This is why so many are so unhappy – many seek to meet the needs of their souls through the body and not through the spirit. And since the body can’t stay stimulated/energized all the time, the soul remains unfulfilled.
A stimulated/satisfied body gives a false sense of security and a counterfeit hope. But B built upon another foundation, also.
Spirituality 8, 10 I AM, no one beside me
B felt that she had a connection w/ the divine and this connection helped to make her think that she was secure. She coupled sensuality/spirituality. Spirituality + sensuality = crossless religion – no call to holiness and no putting to death ungodly desires/ thoughts/ambitions.
In the 60s/70s the Jesus Movement rolled across the nation affecting millions of lives w/ its preaching of Jesus as Savior/Lord. The preaching of grace/holiness went hand-in-hand. Behind it came a counterfeit religion that preached connection w/ God that didn’t call for a disconnection from an ungodly life.
80s – New Age Movement was/is a crossless religion. We saw the rise of spirituality apart from Jesus Christ. This was in direct opposition to Christianity - a spirituality that embraced spiritual awareness w/o calling for sensual discipline.
Today – New Age Movement 2.1 The emphasis isn’t on angels as much as it is on inner goodness coupled w/ social awareness. It is a spirituality w/o personal holiness.
Man is torn – we are created in the image of God and therein lies the struggle. We are created – we partake of the earth. We are in the image of God – we partake of God - we know that there is something that transcends this creation. Cf. Rom. 1. We are temporal/eternal. We are flesh/ spirit. But carnal man, addicted to sensuality, longs for a union w/ God that doesn’t require abandoning the sensual. Fallen man invents crossless religion that accommodates both flesh/spirit.
The morality of crossless religion is not personal holiness, but social justice. If I am green enough/socially aware enough/hate corporate America enough, I can ignore personal holiness. If I have the right cause, I can ignore the cross. “Pursue holiness w/o which no man will see the Lord.” Someone said of a prominent politician who recently died that he did a lot harm in his personal life, but since he championed the right social issues, he was praised/applauded in his death. B will find no security in her sensuality/spirituality. B thought she touched the divine, when in actuality she touched the demonic.
sorcery 12-13
12 Spells – from a word meaning ‘associations /company’. The main idea of the word is to join or unite two or more things – for strength. This is occultism/magic – binding the spirit world w/ words. ISBE: Underlying all methods of divination there lay the belief that superhuman spiritual beings (gods, spirits) possess the secret knowledge desired by men, and that, on certain conditions, they are willing to impart it.
13 Astrology - one form of divination and it rests upon the ultimate belief that the heavenly bodies are deities controlling the destinies of men and revealing the future to those who have eyes to see.
V12 – trying to control the future/v13 – trying to predict the future. They would read the intestines of animals and the course of the stars. The attraction – security - get control of my life by anticipating what lies around the next corner.
The Babylonian astrologers can’t even see their own destruction. Nor did the Mayans - MOVIE 2012 Dec. 21, 2012, 11:11:11 GMT.
14-15 The idols of occultism/astrology will forsake you. Those who have sold you the idols will forsake you. You will come to a place where you have no answers/power/lovers – nowhere to turn.
Security is not found in sensuality/spirituality/sorcery – but only in the Savior.
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