God Hidden in Plain Sight: The Great Separation

Text: Isaiah 59:1-8 (with Isaiah 55:6-9)

Introduction: The Mall and the Masterpiece

• The Hook: Recall that walk through the Upstate New York mall. You see the neon signs, the frantic shoppers, the "External." But then, you see a "Magic Eye" poster or a hidden image. To see it, you have to lose focus on the surface.

• The Problem: Most people live their whole lives looking at the surface of the "mall"—the stuff, the stress, the self. They think God is absent.

• The Truth: God isn't missing; He is hidden in plain sight by a screen we built ourselves. Isaiah 59:1 tells us the problem isn't God’s Ability (His hand) or His Awareness (His ear). The problem is our Accessibility.

Isaiah 55:6–9 NASB95

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

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I. The Wall We Built (A Plea to the Lost)

Transition: Verse 2 says, "But your iniquities have separated you." You aren't just "unlucky" or "uninformed"; you are separated.

• The Nature of the Barrier

Use Vss. 3-8 to show the "bricks" in the wall.

o The Hands: Defiled (Action).

Only persons can be really defiled; and what defiles people are their own actions, which are the product of their own hearts.

William Barclay (New Testament Scholar)

o The Lips: Lies (Integrity).

Many pray with their lips for that for which their hearts have no desire.

Jonathan Edwards (American Evangelical Preacher)

Unclean lips are caused by an unclean heart (Matt. 12:34–35)

Warren W. Wiersbe

Matthew 12:34–35 LSB

34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

o The Feet: Running to evil (Direction).

• The Illustration (Vs. 5-6): We are "weaving spider webs" and "hatching adder's eggs."

Romans 3:10–20 LSB

10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

• The Plea

You think you are building a life, but you’re weaving a web that can’t clothe you. You think you’re nurturing a dream, but you’re hatching a viper that will bite you. Stop trying to "fix" the wall. Stop trying to clothe yourself in "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).

Isaiah 64:6 KJV 1900

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

• The Urgency (Isa. 55:6)

"Seek ye the LORD while He may be found." The wall is getting thicker every day you wait.

Seek not an experience, but seek Him, seek to know Him, seek to realise His presence, seek to love Him. Seek to die to yourself and everything else, that you may live entirely in Him and for Him and give yourself entirely to Him. If He is at the centre, you will be safe.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

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II. The Fog We Follow (A Challenge to the Saved)

Transition: Some of you have been saved for years, yet you are walking "crooked paths" (Vs. 8) and wonder why you have no peace.

• The Refocus

You can be a child of God and still live like the world. If your "Yea" isn't "Yea" (James 5:12) and your thoughts aren't "stayed on Him" (Isa. 26:3), you have allowed a "vapor" of sin to hide His face from your daily walk.

James 5:12 LSB

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

Isaiah 26:3 LSB

3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace Because he trusts in You.

• The Character Challenge

Look at Vs. 3—"muttered perverseness." Is your tongue a fountain of life or a source of gossip?

• The Intellectual Challenge

You are "double-minded" (James 1:8). You want God’s peace on Sunday but follow "crooked paths" on Monday. You cannot know peace while walking in a direction God didn't pave.

James 1:8 NASB95

8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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III. The Great Breakthrough (An Invitation)

• The Gospel Solution

Look back at Verse 1. The Lord’s hand is not shortened. He is reaching over the wall you built.

• To the Lost

You can't climb over the wall of your iniquity. You can't weave a garment out of your own works. You must "return unto the LORD" (Isa. 55:7) and let Him "abundantly pardon."

Isaiah 55:7 LSB

7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

• To the Saved

If you have lost your peace, it’s because you’ve lost your focus. Get your mind off the "External" of the world and "stay" it on Him.

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Closing Appeal:

"God is not a distant, deaf deity. He is right here. But sin is a separator.

Will you stay behind the wall you've built, or will you let the God whose hand is not shortened reach down and pull you out today?"

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways..."

Stop walking blindly through the mall. Start walking the Way.

Conclusion: The Choice of Two Paths

We have walked through the mall of this world today. We have seen the "External"—the busy hands, the lying lips, the crooked paths, and the hollow works that Isaiah 59 warns us about.

Isaiah 59:20 LSB

20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.

Romans 3:21–23 LSB

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

But there is a second picture hidden right in front of you.

To the Lost

You are exhausted. You’ve been weaving a web to cover your shame, but it’s transparent. You’ve been hatching eggs you thought would bring life, but they’ve only brought poison. You feel the Separation (Vs. 2).

To the Saved

You are restless. You have the promise of peace, but you’ve been walking "crooked paths" (Vs. 8). You’ve let your mind become "double-minded" (James 1:8), and you’ve lost the view of the Master because you’re too focused on the Mall.

The Call to Action

1. For the One who is Separated (The Lost)

Action: Stop Weaving and Start Seeking.

Isaiah 55 says, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found." You don't have to tear down the wall of sin—you can't. You don't have to shorten the distance—He already did. The Lord’s hand is stretched out right now.

Your Step: Admit that your "garments" are filthy rags. Step out of the "crooked path" and into His "abundant pardon." Come to the altar (or pray right where you are) and trade your iniquity for His righteousness.

2. For the One who is Distracted (The Saved)

Action: Refocus the Mind.

Isaiah 26:3 is your mandate: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee." If you have no peace today, check your focus. Are you more concerned with the "External" of your New York mall life than you are with the "Internal" presence of JC?

Your Step: Repent of the "muttered perverseness" or the "vanity" you’ve let slip back into your life. Commit this week to a "Stayed Mind." When the world gets loud, look through the external and see the King.

The Final Word

"Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened."

He is reaching. He is listening. The only question is: Will you turn? Will you stop looking at the distractions and finally see the God who has been there all along, hidden only by the things you chose to put in His way?