Conviction
Series: Biblical Self Awareness
The 1st Step toward Godliness - Conviction
January 11, 2009
Isaiah 1:2-9
Introduction
A couple of weeks back, Brother Jerry brought a message about the Return of Christ…..and last week we followed with a message from Acts 1 that emphasized the need…..in fact the command to be ready for His return…..BUT also to be about the mission of the church – to go and make disciples of all the nations! I ended that message with this verse from 2 Peter 3:8-10 -
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
But look at the question the Apostle Peter asks next……
2 Pe 3:11-12a
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, …….
This is the most basic of questions for every Believer! How are we to live as God’s people? We are to live as holy, righteous, godly people…we are to live the gospel that has saved us!
Paul adds to this thought in his challenge to Timothy… “….train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
1 Tim.4: 7b-8
· What sort of people ought we to be? Godly
· How do we train ourselves for godliness?
How are we to live as holy people? [new mini-series – The Way to Godliness!]
So….let’s pursue, over these three weeks – holiness and train for godliness! Where do we begin? Well, the best place to begin is with the truth of who we are? We need to be self-aware! We need to be aware of sin and our need to be rid of it before we can accept God’s best for us! In other words…..God’s gracious gift of conviction of our sins is the first step towards in the gospel AND it’s the first step in training yourself for godliness.
Turn with me to the Book of Isaiah chapter 1 where we will explore this morning, the gift of God in the conviction of sin! Read 1.1-9
Conviction
The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote: “O, what some Power the gift he give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” That certainly wouldn’t do any of us harm….to be able to see ourselves as others do! But of even greater and more importance….is to view ourselves as God sees us! This is what we get in the first chapter of Isaiah! God shows us what we are really like! (REALLY REAL YOU!) Illustration = Have you seen all of those diet commercials on TV? NutriSystem….Weight Watchers….they all include the side x side pics. - - -the BEFORE and AFTER pics. “Look at how successful our diet is….fat – thin!”
Isaiah 1 gives us the “BEFORE” Picture. BC (Befor. Christ). God uses the lance of conviction to pierce our infected souls.
Conviction of sin is:
Ø the severe love of God overruling our sin; overpowering our selfish and self-centered hearts.
Ø The violent sweetness of God opposing the sins lying comfortably dormant (undisturbed) in our lives!
Ø It is the merciful love of God declaring war on the false peace we settle for.
In His grace, God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to shine the light of Christ into our hearts - - confronting the darkness of sin with light / / bringing truth to bear against lies and self-deception / / and even using shame to shock us into the realization of our sin as it’s exposed before the holiness and moral purity of God!
John Calvin said we need to things to really understand reality: We need to know God and to know ourselves. In other words….we need to see ourselves FOR REAL….as we really are. To deny the truth about ourselves impedes us from knowing the truth about God. We don’t need a self-esteem booster…we need a new Self-Awareness! Isaiah 1 begins with this – conviction – AND this is our first step in training ourselves for godliness. In our passage this morning, we will see God’s Broken Heart (1:2-3); Our broken strength (4-8); and God’s unbroken grace (9).
God’s Broken Heart
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
I wonder….have you ever been betrayed by a close friend? Had someone you love turn on you? Toward the end of 2008, the nation learned that former Vice Presidential candidate and candidate for President, John Edwards…..committed adultery which is the greatest act of betrayal against a spouse…..but even a nation that has come to do little more than wince over marital infidelity, was shocked…since his wife courageously agreed to continue with him on the campaign trail even after being diagnosed with a return of cancer!
Tie-in – But it would take heaven and earth….the entire cosmos to witness the greatness of our offence to God! We trivialize our choices and forget our selfish and rebellious attitudes towards God….but He doesn’t trivialize our choices. To God, there is no greater tragedy than the rebellion of His children against Him!
Perhaps one reason we see so little repentance in the world is because the world sees so little repentance in the church! We long for a revival to sweep through our church….our community…..our whole country – Yet revival ALWAYS starts with the brokenness that comes from conviction of sin - - a realization of our rebellion against our Holy God.
Some might be thinking right now….. “I’m not rebellious! I’m a pretty good person! Times are really hard right now…..what does he expect from me?” But wait….if you examine that thought…you find that it is a defiant thought! Whenever we resist His claims upon us and settle for mediocrity – we are rebelling against our Father!
None of us should ever be comfortable with where we are spiritually! But often, God shows us areas of our lives that He desires to change….but we close Him out….because it’s hard work….because it requires our surrender to His Lordship over our lives. And so we settle for staying the same – and that settling – for a watered-down experience of God / / / settling for our present understanding of Christ…not really wanting to grow-up spiritually ///We want to remain the same! We are resisting the convicting / transforming work of the Holy Spirit – we are living in rebellion!
Hear God’s cry from vv.1 &2 – the cry of our Heavenly Father who grieves over our rebellion even as He continues to bless us!
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
God’s children make animals look intelligent! Oxen and donkeys are stupid – even for animals. I might add Ronie’s dog, Paddy, to this list! After all, even Paddy knows who feeds him! Even I get love from Paddy when I feed him and care for him! But we are often unmoved by God’s love! The name “Israel” = means “prince with God” showing that God still wants to bless…..His using “My children” declaring we belong to him in an intimate way! He is our Father! And yet we often ignore Him – at best – or consider His ways an inconvenience! And it breaks God’s heart!
Our Broken Strength
Is 1:4a Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
The prophet’s use of “Ah” – indicates he is lamenting. Isaiah isn’t nagging, he’s weeping!! It’s difficult to see God’s children called to greatness and joy…..and yet to see them dissolving into the opposite!
But how does this happen? Isaiah sees beyond the surface sins….down to the root.
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
But…..do we really forsake the LORD and despise the Holy One? From God’s vantage point….yes! In God’s eyes, to treat Him as the last resort rather than as the wellspring…..to despise God is to value other people or things more highly than Him! To hunger and thirst for anything more than we hunger for Him! The outward sins…murder, lust, terrorism…these are nothing compared to the mega-sin of forsaking and despising God! Tragically, this sin is common even within the churches today. Listen to what Pastor-Theologian John Piper says:
For many, Christianity has become the grinding out of general
doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts. But childlike
wonder and awe have died. The scenery and poetry and
majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach in the
back of the refrigerator.
We need to understand that the Christian faith is not something that binds….but it is a faith that sets free! It’s not a faith that says, “I’ll try my best to be good”….but it is a faith that recognizes our own brokenness…our inability to do right on our own! Our faith is one that finds God’s greatest strength and majestic glory in our weaknesses!
But more than being wrong…..the kind of faith that binds…the faith that sees Christianity as having to grind it out through life – this is offensive to God…and it hurts us!
Isaiah uses 2 images to help us see how blind / / how clueless we can be!
(1) See VV.5-6 = This is the image of a battered and beaten man who doesn’t know it. He’s been beaten to a pulp but he keeps going back for more….because he doesn’t feel anything! Illustration – My theater fight = Strong guy…..4.5 months of bed and crutches (busted hip)…..got beat silly. But I just kept coming and getting it worse!! Because I didn’t feel wounded! I was oblivious to the awful shape I was in!
Isaiah is saying…. “This is you – never comprehending why or even that life with God could be…..is meant to be…. so much better!” The tragedy is that we believe we’re healthy…..because we have such a low view of God! The prophet is saying to us…. “Don’t you want to start to heal and live the life God has for you!”
(2) The second image representing our need for God is that of an invaded country (vv.7-8) = Read. This is not the image of the church we see in the NT….a chosen race….a royal priesthood….saints of God….adopted sons and daughters! Isaiah sees God’s people in his day as something like a shack in the middle of a field being raided and robbed by invaders! The church….weak and isolated…..being plundered…her influence diminished! But God’s will for His Redeemed people is not helplessness!
God’s Unbroken Grace READ V.9
It is only by God’s grace that the church….that’s us!.....that the church will survive at all! But the church survives because God saves sinners! Often times we act like a fish on a hook dangling over dry land, yet squirming with all he has to escape the hook….only to die painfully on dry land. But as His children, God reaches out his hand in mercy and grips us and refuses to let go! Apart from God’s preserving grace, we would be as Sodom and Gomorrah….we deserve their fate…we are what they were!
But in Is. 1:2-9, God awakens us to His broken heart….to our broken strength….and to His unbroken grace! God is saying: Deut. 32:39
39 “ ‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
This is the God we must come to grips with! He can wound and He can heal. But He would rather heal! He came and took the form of many, being wounded for our sins….beaten for our rebellion! Isaiah wants to wake us up! He desires we be convicted of our sins. - - - -
But the one sin that God most wants to address is our low view of who He really is….of how great and mighty and beautiful and majestic He is. God’s heart is that His children will come to live in obedience……out of relationship not rules! No longer despising and forsaking Him….He cannot be a priority among different ones ….He must be THE Priority!
Conviction of our sin of rebellion is grace…..and the realization of defiant living towards God is the first step towards godliness!
So…..the question is…..are you willing to risk it? Can you trust God enough to open your whole self to Him….to His grace! Once you do – He will start healing your brokenness…..and the sores and battle wounds will slowly heal and fade away! Recognize the sin….open yourself to God this day…..and allow the healing waters to flow within your soul!
Pray
Most Holy Father……thank you for reminding us in your Word……that we have not matured….and that we won’t until we yield all of our life to you! Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your conviction of our sins….for showing the light of Christ into the dark places of our heart! Help us to train ourselves in godliness….provide to us your power to live holy lives – beginning with a truthful, knowledgeable understanding of Who you are!