A (0:00)

Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.

B (0:10)

Isaiah, chapter one and verse one, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz. Charles Spurgeon, the great pastor and theologian from England, he made this statement. He said, we are all, at one time or another, unconscious prophets. And a prophet is any person God allows to look behind the veil of the material universe into the spiritual world to get a glimpse of God's heart. And then the responsibility of that person is to accurately show, share what he or she has seen. So, you know, seeing with your eyes is easy. As I get older, it's a little harder. But seeing with your eyes is easy, but seeing with your heart takes faith, it takes courage. So the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw, and when you let God make your vision clear, strategies become easy and fear becomes irrelevant. And this was the condition of the prophet. And he wrote concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, the kings of Judah. So what we see here is that Isaiah was not some mythical individual. This was a man that lived in a real time, a real land, faced real problems, but he also had a very real vision from God. Proverbs 29 and 18 tells us where there is no vision, the people what perish. That word perish, literally in the Hebrew, means to run wild. And what we're discovering here, what we see in that verse, is whenever we abandon the vision that God has given us, it strips us of our purpose, but it also causes us to forfeit the protection that only God can bring. And then after that first verse, Isaiah makes a shift. And since we are not people from the first century, we might not get it right off the bat, but the readers, the original readers of this book, understood what was happening here, that this language was borrowed from court cases in the ancient world. And typically, before you went before the judge or the elders of the council, you would swear before the gods before you testify. Now, today we lay our hands on the Bible, and what we're about to see is the relationship between God and Judah became so dysfunctional that God had to bring a lawsuit against his own people. So this is why he has this language here. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Now, he had to use the heavens and the earth as a witness because there was no higher power that God could appeal to outside of himself. So what he did is he appealed to his vast Creation, the heavens and the earth. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Again, this is an oath that solemnizes what's about to be said. Again, it's like going into a courtroom, putting your hand on the Bible and saying, I swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. I guess I haven't been in court enough. I think I said that wrong. But you know. You know what that means, What I meant to say, it said, hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Now, Scripture says that God only chastises those he loves. How many of you sometimes feel really loved by God? Really, really loved? But what I need to say even before we get started today is that God's sharpest rebukes are only designed to help us, to bless us. You know, it's been said, and the old saints would say this. They would say, when God's about to bless you, he first reveals your enemies. But the problem with that statement is often your enemies live within. Yeah. So God in His mercy, when he's trying to bless you. And it might not feel like it in the moment, but when he's trying to bless you, he gets on your case to expose the enemy within. Not because he's trying to be vindictive or petty or what have you, but because he wants us to succeed. So Isaiah says, for the Lord has spoken. The Lord was about to present his case. And the case that he presented in this first chapter of Isaiah applied to people then and it applies to us now. Now, a lot of folks think that there's a different God in the Old Testament and the New Testament, but God's character did not change between testaments. Malachi3.6 says, For I am the Lord, I do not change. Covenants may change. The way God relates to us may change. This is a little license here. But when my wife and I were dating, you know, let's just imagine there's a covenant of dating. I don't know. When you're dating, you know, nowadays it's a little different, but you're supposed to. It's supposed to just be the two of you. You're not supposed to be dating other people and all the rest. And y' all about to start something in this room. So the point is, when our relationship was based on, it's not really a covenant. But you know what I'm trying to say, when it's based on the covenant of dating, our intimacy was on one level. The requirements and the demands are on one level. We related to each other on one level. But when we stepped into the covenant of marriage. We were the same people, but there was a greater level of intimacy. Right. There was a greater level of relationship, but also a greater level accountability. So, yeah, covenants may change, but God's pain over us going astray remains the same. So whether it's the God in Isaiah or the God in Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John and the rest, it's the same God. And he hurts the same way when we get confused on the way to Grandma's house. So Isaiah here is speaking for the Lord, and he peeks into God's heart and he says, I have nourished. You can almost hear weeping in the father's voice. I have nourished and brought up children. I took them to soccer practice, dance class, volleyball, football practice. I helped with their homework, tucked them into bed, talked with them over dinner, bandaged their scrapes, hugged them when they cried. I even protected them when they were wrong. How many ever been protected when you were wrong? Yeah. You know, my greatest fear when my kids were young and I would travel to dangerous parts of the world was really not death. It was the possibility of leaving my children in this world without a father to protect them. And God's concern for us is far more intense than anything a natural dad could feel. So he said, I've nourished my. And brought up my children and watch this. But they have rebelled against me. This is important, parents. Your children's rebellion is not always your fault. How many know that God's a perfect father? Yeah. And you know, he put our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents in a perfect environment called Eden. But Adam and Eve, I mean, they were built perfect. They were in a perfect environment, had a perfect God, but they still tripped. So don't be surprised if your kids trip sometimes. So God kind of begins to dig in, and he's lamenting. He says the ox knows its owner itself, its master. As dumb as an ox can be. It knows what side of the bread the butter's on. And even in the heat of the day, the hot sun and plowing line and row after row, this ox would cooperate with his master all day long. So the ox knows its owner. And the donkey, it's master's crib. As stubborn as an ass can be. Keep looking straight. Don't look at a neighbor. When lost, the animal always seems to find its way home. But here's the contrast when it comes to the most intelligent. I mean, we've gone to the moon, we sent stuff to Mars. I mean, we got computers moving so quickly, doing Things that we never imagined. But when it comes to the most intelligent species on Earth, at times God's like, this is like watching Dumb and Dumber. I mean, guys, guys. You know, the tone of prophetic writing can at times be sharp because somebody said, the truth will set you free, but at first it will make you mad. So God's leaning in here. So the ox knows, the donkey knows, but Israel does not know. How do these domesticated animals instinctively know their home, their master? But God's people don't seem to have a clue. So God, in his mercy, has to show up. And prophets like Isaiah and kind of show up as Captain Obvious. It's like, you know, the things I'm saying to you, you don't need a degree to understand. And this is basic common sense. So God continues, my people do not consider. So how is it that these animals never read any of the classics? They never memorized one verse of scripture, but somehow they seem to have more sense than people that can recite Shakespeare. So God says, alas, which is not a good word. Sinful nation. God loved them enough to call their problem what it was, sin. Then he said, a people, not just with some laden, heavy laden with iniquity. Jesus put it this way, a brood of vipers. But he said, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters. Now, this tone upsets modern readers because in our sensibilities, we are just really wonderful. And we haven't discovered how wonderful we are yet. And God must not understand how wonderful we are to say such things. But first, God's not intimidated by us. Secondly, sometimes you gotta talk to people in a way that they can understand. Everybody doesn't understand gentle and nice. So sometimes you gotta speak in a way that they can comprehend. You see, God first speaks to us through conscience. But like I just said, the problem is he speaks gently through conscience. But the problem is we don't always understand gentle. So, yes, I am. So God loves us enough to go there. You see, a friend tells us the truth, even if we don't want to hear it. So the prophet here is speaking. He said they have forsaken the Lord and they have provoked him to anger. Now, a lot of folks get upset with the fact that God gets angry. But I'll tell you, if you really love, you will get angry if someone's trying to hurt my child. Now I got to think in terms of grandchildren. But she's not there yet. So don't start rumors. But I will fight you. I will bite you. I will cut you I'll pray with you afterwards. But. Anger can be a righteous emotion. And if some things don't make you angry, there's something wrong. They have forsaken the Lord and they have provoked to anger. One thing I left out about vision a little bit earlier in this message is godly vision also produces godly passion. Now, did God create us in his image? Yeah. Giving us the ability to feel emotion. Right. But wouldn't that mean he felt emotion himself? What a heartbreak it would be to live an almost Christian life and almost get into heaven. God wants us to love him with passion, with zeal, with vigor, and according to knowledge. They provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel. Watch this. They've turned away backward. Now, Isaiah goes on like this for 10 more verses. And if I continued, you'd be bleeding and bloody. And you'll wonder after a while if you're in the right room. But what the prophet is doing is he's graciously pointing out Judah's wrong, but also God's heartbreak. And those verses you should read, and you should read them on your own. It's just I'd be here all day. Here's the thing. If I were God and I knew how people would hurt me, I would not have created even one of us. Matter of fact, if I knew they were gonna put my son on a cross, there'd be no trees. There'd be shrubs all across the earth. No trees. But my Bible says. But my God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Whoever believes him should not want. Yeah. Despite all we would do, God felt we were worth it. In fact, look at your neighbor and say, you're worth it. And say this about yourself. I'm worth it. All right. Skip to verse 15. And he kind of ends his lean in here. He said, when you spread out your hands, watch this. I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make the ritual a prayer. How many have ever just formulaically prayed? And you know you didn't get anywhere? God's looking at the heart. He said, I've hid my eyes from you. Matter of fact, I don't even want to look at you. That's really what he's saying. But it sounds so much nicer here. Even though you make many prayers, I will. What? Not hear nothing is right until our hearts are right before God. Then God leans in even harder. Like I said, you'd be bleeding if I read it all. Your hands are full of blood. But watch the next verse. Despite how bad it was, we can always come clean. He said, wash yourselves. Watch this. Make yourselves clean. Get into an environment where you can immerse yourself into the cleansing power of God's word and the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. And he continues, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. And what he's saying, if he's asking them to do it, they could do it, and God would help. And then he went on. He said, cease to do evil. He said, change can come. And then he said, learn to do good. Stop trying to change God's word to mean what you want it to mean. Instead, let the Holy Spirit change you so you can be what God wants you to be. And then he says, rebuke the oppressors. Speak against evil when you see it, even if sometimes it makes people mad. Y' all love me. A boy is a boy. A girl is a girl. A baby is a human. Not a choice. Y' all might think I'm getting political. That's not my intention. My oldest boy, the doctor advised us to terminate. Yeah. Terminate. They said he'd be born with spina bifida, brain outside his head. Now, we have found that he might have some brain damage, but it's a different type of anger. But my wife had a courage not to. That boy has graduated college with honors. He's been in advanced classes. A baby's a human. Not a choice. But I still want to warn you, though, there's the other side of this. Don't look down on people just because they sin differently than you do. My Bible says all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. All of us. I don't care who you is, who you think you is, we've all fallen short, man. I started preaching good all of a sudden. Yeah. And Isaiah went on. He said, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Fairness in society matters. And then after that final statement, it was as if the prosecution rested. The Bible doesn't say this, but this is the way I see it in my mind. Then Jesus stood up as the second person of the Godhead, as our advocate, and he told Judah like he's telling you, and I would you please stop trying to defend yourself before holy God. What you need to do is simply appeal to the mercy of the court. You see, of all of God's great attributes, wisdom, power, righteousness, justice, holiness, truth, none could help us without him having mercy. Mercy for me is one of the most important attributes. Now, for all y' all that got everything perfect, maybe y' all don't need it. But for me, mercy is one of the most important attributes of our God. So the advocate, the attorney stands up. He says, listen, Judah, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. And basically, Jesus said, listen, I just talked to the judge in his chambers, and I negotiated a deal only a fool would reject. And here's the deal. The deal is, the attorney himself will pay a debt he didn't owe because we owe the debt we couldn't pay. It's the boy who was in a small town. I don't remember if it was North Carolina, South Carolina, little tiny town. Everybody knew everybody. And a little boy. It wasn't a little boy. A teenage boy was caught speeding. And, you know, he was doing some things wrong in his car, and policemen pulled him over, wrote him a ticket, and he had to stand. He actually got arrested because he did some things and he had to stand before the judge. It was a small town, and the town only had one judge, but the judge happened to be the boy's father. So this small town, when everyone found out what was going on, they all showed up at the courthouse to see what the father, what the judge was going to do. So the officer presented the facts, presented the case, and the honest father, the honest judge, slammed the gavel down and declared his child guilty. But then what he did is he got off the bench, took off his robes and paid the boy's fine. Jesus came down from glory, took off the robes of glory, came down to be one of us, hung on a cross and paid for our crimes. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. So he said, let us reason together, says the Lord. Only God could do something like this. Watch what he says. Though your sins are like scarlet. You see, today, you can't always tell how much money people make by the cars they drive and the clothes they wear. Cause a lot of us, you know, we perpetrate, you know. Matter of fact, some of y' all need to get a used car so you can pay for what's important, okay? And save up, you know, for, you know, a little later in life, too. That was free. Y' all messing on my message. Though your sins are like what? Scarlet. Back in that time, you could tell a person's class by the clothes they wore. And only the wealthy wore scarlet. And you'd see it instantly in their robes. And once a garment was dyed in scarlet. Watch this. There was no going back to the original color. Though your sins are like scarlet. Though you think you've gone too far. Though you think there's no going back, though you think it's impossible to get that stain out of your soul. God says that's why he had to begin with. Thus saith the Lord. They shall be white as snow. Don't tell me what the Lord can't do to a soul that turns back to the living God. I've seen it with my own eyes. I seen it in my own life. Though they are red like crimson, when the Bible repeats itself, it's like putting an exclamation point. They didn't have exclamation points at this point in history. So the way you said it, if you said it, Moses, Moses, you know, saw Saul that put an exclamation point or added intensity to the statement. So here he's kind of being poetic. He mentioned it first as scarlet, but then he goes on and mentions crimson, which is just another word for the same color. And he's saying the same thing twice because it's important. He wants to put an exclamation point on the statement. Though they are red like crimson. Watch this. They shall be as wool. When God fixes a problem, he'll do it so well. Folks won't even believe what you once were. There won't even be a trace. Sometimes when I tell my story, I try. I don't even want to tell it because people don't believe me. Because they don't see there's barely a trace of some of that anymore. And the point here, there's nothing we can break that God can't fix. Sound like a few people in this room know about that. There's nothing you can break that God can't fix. No stain you can receive, no dirt, no filth that can get on you that God can't wash off you. But God had one condition, which is really two sides of the same coin. Here's the coin, here's the condition. If you are willing. The question is not can God fix it. The question is, do you really want a God sized change in your life? God is not a tyrant. He doesn't just impose his will, his creatures. And because of that, our willingness is the first step to God releasing power in our lives on his behalf. So if God promised it and you really want it, according to scripture, you can have it. But you gotta want it. And some of you would say, I want it. But the issue is you don't want it enough. Sometimes you gotta want it enough to move away from some things, to shift some things, to change some things. I mean, you kind of casually want it but what God has for you, sometimes you got to go after it to really take hold of it. If you are willing, if you have the desire and the fire in your heart, if you're willing and obedient, if you have the courage not just to faith, feel it in your heart, but to do it with your hands and your feet. Now, a lot of folks say to me, I hear it all the time, Pastor, God knows my heart. And I'm like, well, that's part of the problem. Because if it was really in your heart, it would show up in your hands and in your feet. It will show up in your life and your living and your choices. I'm not gonna get a lot of help there. If you. If there's a condition, it's up to you. It's not up to God. God already has a plan for you to give you hope of the future. Christ already died 2000 years ago on the cross. He's not trying to decide whether or not he's going to die. It's already done. It's up to us to become willing. If you're willing and obedient, watch this. You shall eat the good of the land. And what he's saying is, the things that the devil has stolen from you, he'll have to return. Things that didn't work out for you before, God will make work out now. That's the type of God he is. Psalms 34 and 5. We're going to come back and we're going to end it right there. It says this. Those who look to him, David is writing, speaking of Yahweh, Jehovah, are radiant. What David was saying here, this reason he said, those instead of me or I was, that this was not just true for David, it's true for anyone. The more we look to the Lord and not ourselves, the happier we become. The more we stop trying to do it in our own strength and yield to God's plan and do it in his strength, the happier we become. Sometimes the reason we're so exhausted and miserable, because we're trying to do it in our own strength, we haven't humbled ourselves and say, you know what, God? I'm not as smart as I thought I was. I can't fix it the way I thought I could fix it. Lord, I yield to youo. I give it to youo. Oh, God, would you'd work in that person's heart the willing to do of youf good pleasure. Those who look to him are sad and beat up every Sunday. Yeah. The thing about Crisis and trial, you know, it tests us. What happens is we don't really realize how much we're depending on our own strength and wisdom until we can't anymore. And we get to the place we don't know what to do. And it feels like the bottom has fallen out of our world. But God's like, well, you don't know what to do. That don't mean I don't know what to do. Look to the one. Listen, I knew the end from the beginning. Boy, your problem, not a new problem. I've been dealing with people for centuries. I know how to handle this stuff. Matter of fact, even if God wasn't smart after so many years of being God, don't you think he'd know how to handle your situation? Okay, that was free. Those who look to him are radiant. Watch this. Their faces are never covered with shame. And what he's saying is, in the end, those who laughed at you will end up trying to copy you. Let people doubt, let people scheme, but also let them watch you prove them wrong. We're almost there. Back to Isaiah 1:19. Here's the prophet. The promise. If you are willing. God did not ask Peter to figure out all the laws of gravity and all that come up with some equation before he stepped out of the boat to walk on the water. God doesn't require you to figure everything out before you take that step of faith. All God requires is. Is willingness. And at times, I know in my life I'm not going to say this about you, but it's probably true about you, too. But I don't want you to get mad at me. One of my problems, I thought I was so smart. I'm like, well, the Bible said this, but you know what I think God's like, where were you when I created the sun, moon and the stars? Where were you when I created the hippopotamus in them? You can't even name all the nations on the globe, much less give me advice. If you are willing and obedient, here's the promise. If you're just willing and you have the courage to get out the boat and take the step, here's the promise. You shall not be ashamed. You shall eat the good of the land. The Amplified Bible says, the best of the land. This is one of the great promises of scripture. God not only has a blessing and a reward for you when you get to glory, when you get to the other side, when you get to heaven, but according to scripture, God wants to bless us right here and right now. So we can be blessings to others. Listen, I have education I'm not talking about. But God doesn't need my education. He don't need your education. Jesus didn't get an education. Apostle Paul was incredible, but not Jesus. God chooses different paths for different people. God's not looking for gold or silver vessels. Kathryn Kuhlman said he's only looking for willing vessels this morning. Are there any willing vessels in this room? Is there anyone saying, listen, God, I'm your guy, I'm your gal? If you could use anybody, Lord, would you use me, Lord? You know, you don't have to explain it to me, Lord. Yeah, you know, yeah, I do want to understand God, because my brain messes with me sometimes. But listen, you don't owe me an explanation, Lord. I'm willing to be whoever you want me to be, go wherever you want me to go, do what you want me to do. Lord, I come to you with a willing, humble heart saying, yes, and Jesus was the most talented, gifted man that ever walked the planet. But guess what he said right before he went to the cross of Gethsemane, not my will, but thine be done. He had a willingness that stretched him out like this. And God is looking for willingness more than even talent in each of our lives. Did you get anything out of that today? Hallelujah.