Practical Righteousness - Isaiah (Part 27)

Isaiah 56:1a (ESV) Thus says the LORD: Keep justice and do righteousness . . . Isaiah 53:11 (ESV) Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the Righteous One, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 55:1 (ESV) “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Relational change in status brings real change in practice. Imputed righteousness results in practiced righteousness. Practical righteousness is logical (within the flow of the book of Isaiah). Isaiah 54:14 (ESV) In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Isaiah 55:7 (ESV) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 56:1 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. 2. Practical righteousness is natural (to the relational change in status). Isaiah 56:1 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. Isaiah 62:11 (ESV) Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” Isaiah 51:5 (ESV) My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for Me, and for my arm they wait. Isaiah 53:11 (ESV) Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the Righteous One, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Key truth: new status + new presence leads to new activities & new desires Isaiah 45:21c (ESV) And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Isaiah 56:3 (ESV) Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say . . . Isaiah 56:6 (ESV) “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD . . . 3. Practical righteousness is blessed. 3. Practical righteousness is blessed. Isaiah 56:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” What is blessed? Keeping/guarding certain things “guarding justice” (v.1) “guarding the Sabbath” (v. 2) “guarding his hand from doing evil” (v. 2) What is blessed? Keeping/guarding certain things “guarding justice” (v.1) “guarding the Sabbath” (v. 2) “guarding his hand from doing evil” (v. 2) Doing certain things “righteousness” (v. 1) “this” (v. 2) referring to the righteousness in v. 1 Isaiah 56:4 (ESV) For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, Isaiah 56:6 (ESV) “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant Romans 6:16 (ESV) Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Isaiah 56:4–5 (ESV) For thus says the LORD: “To 5 the eunuchs. . . I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 7 Isaiah 56:6–8 (ESV) “And the foreigners . . . these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer 8 for all peoples.” The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.” 4. Practical righteousness is revealing (by way of contrast). Isaiah 1:11–14 (ESV) “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings . . . I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. . . . 13Bring no more vain offerings . . . 14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. ... 1) Follow disinterested spiritual leadership (56:9-12) “blind” and “without knowledge” (v. 10); and “shepherds” with “no understanding” (v. 11) don’t warn people of spiritual dangers (“silent dogs” v. 10) spiritually complacent (“love to sleep” v. 10) interested in filling their own appetites (v. 10) and increasing their own gain (v. 11) given to preserving the status quo for the fulfilment of bodily pleasures (“fill ourselves with strong drink” v. 12) 2) Unconcerned about the well-being of righteous people (57:1) Isaiah 57:1a (ESV) The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. 3) Follow in their parents’ sins (57:3) Isaiah 57:3 (ESV) But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. 4) Mock the Righteous One and righteous living (57:4) Isaiah 57:4 (ESV) Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, 5) Marked by sexual lust (57:5a) Isaiah 57:5 (ESV) you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree. . . 6) Willing to kill the helpless to either cover over or to facilitate immorality and idolatry (57:5b) Isaiah 57:5 (ESV) you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 7) Run an alternate worship system on “the smooth stones of the valley” (vv. 6-7) Isaiah 57:6–7 (ESV) Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they, are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a grain offering. Shall I relent 7 for these things? On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifice. 8) Hide the sexual elements and covenant of pagan worship behind closed doors (v. 8) Isaiah 57:8 (ESV) Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial; for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness 9) Invigorated when running to other saviours (vv. 9-10) Isaiah 57:9–10 (ESV) You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far off, and sent down even to 10 Sheol. You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. 10) Self-righteous (v. 12) Isaiah 57:12 (ESV) I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. 11) Trust idols to deliver (v. 13) Isaiah 57:13a (ESV) When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. 5. Practical righteousness is humbling (57:14-21). Isaiah 57:15 (ESV) For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. contrite: feeling very sorry and guilty for something bad that you have done https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/contrite Isaiah 57:16–18 (ESV) For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. 17Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own 18 heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, Isaiah 57:1–2 (ESV) The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the 2 righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. Isaiah 57:19 (ESV) creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him. Isaiah 57:19–21 (ESV) creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says 20 the LORD, “and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, 21 and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”