Beware of Misplaced Confidence

Beware of Misplaced Confidence Isaiah 32:9–20 (NIV84) 9 You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! 10 In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come. 11 Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your clothes, put sackcloth around your waists. 12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines 13 and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry. 14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, 15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. 19 Though hail flattens the forest and the city is levelled completely, 20 how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free. Friends, often in life things happen that cause people to forge allegiances. For instance: Businesses merger to secure a bigger slice of market share. Countries form allegiances when they believe that they are under threat. Usually weaker countries seek the allegiance of a stronger one. In Isaiah’s time Israel was under threat of the Assyrians and their mighty king Sennacherib – who ruled the areas that included modern day northern Iraq, south-eastern Turkey, north-western Iran and north-eastern Syria. They were the most powerful nation on earth from about 900 to about 600BC. God’s people were tempted to look to Egypt for political security and stability instead of trusting in the Lord. Isaiah challenged his people that their trust on Egypt was based on a misplaced confidence. What’s wrong with going down to Egypt for help? Why is God offended? After all the Assyrian army under the leadership of mighty Sennacherib was threatening little Judah. Why not form an alliance with Egypt? We need to stop for a moment ask a deeper question: What was real to them? Friends, if you look closely, you’ll see that their real faith was in human power “Egypt” and not God… From a spiritual perspective Judah’s problem was that they weren’t living by faith in God. Judah was not looking to their Holy One or consulting the Lord. They believed in Him, in their way; but they weren’t looking to Him. They didn’t acknowledge that “the battle is the LORD’s” (1 Samuel 17:47). The problem with Judah’s alliance with Egypt is the flip side. They were trusting in chariots “because they are many” and in horsemen “because they are very strong” (Isaiah 31:1). In other words, they were impressed with what human minds and human skills can control, manage, and understand. “Egypt,” here, is a cipher for anything we think we need outside the promises of God. And that’s why Judah was wrong to go down to Egypt for help. God had declared His commitment to them, but they thought that they need more than what God promised them. So, Isaiah challenged his people to trust in God’s promise of deliverance for those who wait upon him. Isaiah ministered in a day when his people needed the courage of hope, just as we do today. But they had only a theoretical knowledge of God to get them through the threat of Assyrian invasion. Their beliefs hadn’t penetrated their hearts. In our first reading Isaiah called the complacent women of Judah to mourn. They felt secure. They thought that the allegiances their men forged with Egypt would safeguard them against the Assyrians. Isaiah deflated their bubble: “within a year, hard times would come,” he prophesied. This prophecy dates just prior to Sennacherib’s invasion during the reign of Hezekiah, when war brought difficult conditions. Complacency is a perennial problem, and it is the way of perverse humanity to indulge in it even when disaster is staring them in the face. It is a way of avoiding the necessity of coming to terms with reality. We tend to think of Scripture as a book ‘of precious promises’; and in one sense, of course, it is. But there is a sense, too, in which the Bible is God’s written charge against the unrepentant. One of the reasons why Isaiah wrote his prophecy was to provide a witness against the people for ever (30:8; see also Deuteronomy 31:19 and 26). In this sense, the book of Isaiah is like a written charge-sheet presented in a court of law, indicating the nature of the charges against the accused. So, Isaiah’s message was full of condemnation: there were covenant curses as well as blessings to be reckoned with (Deuteronomy 27–28). As far as Isaiah was concerned, a wayward people needed a message that underlined their sinfulness and their guilt: ‘For the Lord is a God of justice’ (30:18; see also 34:2, 8). Hard times were indeed coming, and the women would mourn the loss of crops and harvest (Isaiah 32:10–13), for the land’s growth would either fail or be taken by an advancing enemy. Cities would disappear, and everything would seem lost. Isaiah 30:9–11 (NIV84) 9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” The problem with Judah’s thinking was its total lack of faith. Assyria was God’s instrument of discipline. The way to avoid defeat at her hands was to repent and seek the Lord’s mercy. Worldly alliances only added to their guilt. Isaiah’s words, like those of the other Old Testament prophets, are God’s words. To reject them was to invite certain destruction by God. When Saul disobeyed Samuel’s command to wait seven days at Gilgal ‘until I come to you and tell you what you are to do’ (1 Samuel 10:8), Samuel rebuked him: ‘ “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you … now your kingdom will not endure … because you have not kept the Lord’s command” ’ (1 Samuel 13:13–14). Similarly, to disobey a command of one of ‘the sons of the prophets’ who was speaking ‘by the word of the Lord’ (1 Kings 20:35) was to disobey ‘the Lord,’ and could lead to sudden death (1 Kings 20:36). To disbelieve, or disobey, anything a prophet says in God’s name is to disbelieve or disobey God. Judah desired to hear ‘pleasant things’ (Isaiah 30:10). Isaiah, like all good evangelical preachers, had begun his message by calling for repentance (30:15; 31:6). The people of Isaiah’s day were guilty of looking to men and not to God to save them from their troubles: ‘Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help …’ (31:1). The power of man is not to be compared to that of God. All Egypt’s ‘chariots’ and ‘horses’ were ‘flesh and not spirit’ (31:3). Anyone who finds no gospel in the Old Testament—and there are many who do not—are not reading it correctly. Despite Judah’s sinful condition, God longs to be gracious: Isaiah 30:18 (NIV84) 18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah insists constantly that salvation cannot be achieved at the expense of justice. Sin has to be dealt with; later on, Isaiah makes very plain that God’s own Son will bear the guilt and punishment of the sins of his people (Isaiah 52:13–53:12). Those who are truly the Lord’s will experience his protection: like hovering birds he will shield Jerusalem (31:5). In language that reminds us of the exodus from Egypt, he will ‘pass over’ them (31:5). The same word is used when the Lord ‘passed over’ every house in Egypt that had the blood of sacrifice sprinkled on the doorposts, thus saving those within from the destroying angel (Exodus 12:13, 23). God shielded the Israelites in Egypt like a hovering bird protecting its little ones! The unrepentant, however, cannot look forward to anything but destruction and woe. As the prophet began his message, by warning that ‘Those who forsake the Lord will perish’ (Isaiah 1:28) Friends, it is texts like these that cause me to believe that it is irresponsible to merely tell people ‘to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour’. Apart from the fact that this is not a biblical expression, it says nothing about repentance. In addition Jesus began his public ministry with this message: ‘ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” ’ (Mark 1:15). As he encountered the woman at the well, he urged her to turn from her adultery (John 4:16–18). Zacchaeus was warned to turn away from stealing (Luke 19:2–9). The rich young ruler was allowed to go away, despite Jesus’ great love for him, because he loved his riches more than God (Mark 10:17–22). Paul went from house, declaring ‘to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus’ (Acts 20:21). Old and New Testaments concur: ‘He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy’ (Proverbs 28:13); ‘Without holiness no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). The Bible gives this consolation again and again: ‘The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them’ (Psalm 34:7). ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty’ (Psalm 91:1). ‘I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand’ (John 10:28). ‘For l am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38–39). There is no happiness to be compared with taking shelter from the storms of life—and the storm that is to come on Judgement Day—in Jesus Christ. One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is complacency. Contentment in Christ is to be sought after and celebrated. Complacency in Christ, however, is very different. Christian contentment means that no matter what happens, you are fully satisfied in Jesus. Christian complacency means that no matter what happens, you are fully self-satisfied with your current personal effort in pursuing Christ. Complacency is Dangerous for Christians Because It Means You Are Not Growing. Webster’s definition of the word “complacency” is: “a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better: self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” This sound like a very dangerous place to be if you are a Christian. No matter who you are, no matter what God has done through you, no matter what amazing ministry you have been a part of, you are only as powerful and useful as your current prayer life. For example, King David did amazing things before his sin with Bathsheba. He was anointed by God, won many victories, and had been a great king to Israel, but none of that prevented him from committing adultery. If you’ve been going to church for more than a few years, eventually you will hear about a Christian leader of some prestige having a moral failure or even renouncing the faith. The confusing thing about such situations is that even though these Christian leaders turned, they were also used in great ways by God to bring glory to himself. Does a personal failure by a pastor negate all the good God did through him in the past? No, it does not. It does, however, prove that past pursuit of God will not sustain us through the present and future. Odds are, before this pastor’s moral failure, he first had a prayer failure due to his complacency in Christ. The Bible makes clear that Christians are never standing still. They are either growing or backsliding. After listing some of the qualities every Christian should have, Peter then states, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). In other words, if you are a Christian who is complacent with your growth in God, you are in danger. The Danger of Complacency Is that It Causes Us to Live Off Our Past Victories. Christians are to seek Christ, and when we do he causes us to have victories. The danger comes when we begin to rely on our past victories rather than Christ. Complacency tempts us to remember our past laurels while we should be looking ahead to the next battle God wants us to win. So often we can experience the power of God in our lives and then assume because he acted like that in the past he will always do the same in the future. We begin to become comfortable in our faith in a bad way (complacent) when we think of the past and then no longer seek God in the present and future. We must seek God always, continually, praying about everything at all times – even after the prayers in our past were answered or after we experience some great move of God through us. To avoid running the race in vain, we must remember that we are only as useful to God as our last meaningful time of pursuing him. Distant pursuit of God during one magical season in life is not going to cut it. We must seek him new every day if we are to finish the race strong. Sincere clichés are not enough. We need God. If we factor him out of the equation, we strip ourselves bare before the blast of life’s cruelties. But if we factor God in as our hope, we can face anything. God has made commitments to us. “I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8). “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). “Do not be afraid … I am your shield; your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1). What makes us into world-beaters is a sense of God’s love for us, a sense on the heart of his promised power on our behalf. That awakening in the heart is what empowers us to face life not with resignation but with expectancy. We all feel vulnerable. But Christ means it when he says, “Do not let not your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). He means it when he says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). What do we need to understand to experience his serenity? We need to understand that the “Assyria” threatening us is not our real crisis. Our real crisis is our own unbelief in God. Our real danger is not when we’re exposed to the brutalities of life; our real danger is when our hearts are not filled with a sense of God. What we most need is not to find a way to cope with our distress. What we most need is reality with God, so that we can live out of the inner fullness he gives, whatever life may bring. Friends, it is when we live in this reality that the words of Isaiah start to have real meaning for us as well: “14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, 15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.” As people who live after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 21st Century Christians can indeed experience true Contentment in Christ. Complacency, however, should never be part of our being for it continues to be truly dangerous for the Christian. Let’s pray the Holy Spirit will protect us from the dangers of living in the past while forgetting God in the present. The only cure to complacency is a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ.