Pleasing God

Isaiah chapter 58 verse 1, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as the nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice.

They take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted say they and now see us not. Wherefore have we afflicted our soul and now take us no knowledge.

Behold in the day of your fast ye find pleasure and exact all your labors or exploit all your laborers. Behold you fast for strife and debate and to smite with a fist of wickedness. You shall not fast as you do this day to make your voice to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thine health or thine healing shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.

Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity and if thou drought thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday.

And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honorable and shalt honor him not doing thine own ways nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord and I will cause thee to write upon the high places of the earth and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. You know there's tremendous variety in the Word of God and we've been hearing a variety of ministry today just for example the encouragement from Joshua that likely many of us have enjoyed that it's given a lift to us and then the very practical ministry we've just heard. Brothers we all face this this is not some isolated thing and that verse in Job may it be the counsel of our hearts making a covenant with our eyes.

This chapter in Isaiah you know if there was encouragement in Joshua and other places that we've been considering today. Isaiah this chapter for me hits me like an arrow right here. What's the problem? Well in verse 1 God is telling Isaiah to you know sound forth like a trumpet and show the people of Israel their sins but yet in verse 2 it sounds like they're okay.

I mean they seek me daily they delight to know my ways and so on. What's the problem? Well there was a problem in Isaiah's day. There was a problem when Jesus was here on earth and there's a problem today it's a problem of human nature and it's we can look good on the outside go through the externals and yet our hearts not be toward the Lord.

Brother sister the Lord wants our hearts and in Isaiah 58 he uses the example of fasting and the Sabbath down in verse 13. The people were going through these things. They were keeping the externals but they're missing out on what's really important to God.

Our hearts, our heart attitude. Listen in any relationship those of us that are married do we want our wives you know cooking our meals and maybe doing the laundry clean the house just because they have to? The Lord Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments. You know verse 3 the people react and they say you know what's what's the problem here? Lord we fasted and you don't seem to pay any attention.

Maybe they felt their prayers weren't being answered. We've afflicted our soul and you don't take knowledge. You know there's only one day of the year that the Jews were to fast and even that's not explicit.

The Day of Atonement it said they were to afflict their souls and that could involve fasting but it's not spelled out like that. But what was taking place 700 years after this when the Pharisees were around in the days of the Lord Jesus? Remember that prayer the Pharisee went into the temple he was telling the Lord I fast twice in the week never mind one day a year twice twice a week now. But what's the Lord say? At the day of your fast you find pleasure.

You're doing what you want. You're not just trying to please me. And he says you exact all your labors you exploit your workers.

Verse 4 you fast you you fast but you know you're quarreling with people you're fighting with people and he says then despite with a fist of wickedness you're hurting people. Now I don't think this is too remote from us today. I mean we can come to meetings and that's proper I believe we should.

Lord says forsake not the assemblings of yourselves together but it's a possible that I can come to meeting maybe even take part and then when I'm home act like a beast or people who work for me or that I work with maybe say things that are hurtful. The Lord is looking for reality. He's not impressed just by the externals.

Now the Pharisees you know I mean fasting twice in the week they were substituting lack of heart attitude the Lord or the Lord by going beyond the Word of God. They were great at that. Is it wrong to go beyond the Word of God? Absolutely.

Is it wrong to come short of it? Absolutely. It seems so difficult for us we somebody said we are creatures of extremes you know I mean some things we probably go beyond the Word of God other things we come short of it just to just bow to what it says no more no less. At the end of verse 4 the Lord basically says you know fasting like this like the externals but without that heart attitude and this behavior that is hurtful to people you think this is going to cause me to hear your voice? We were hearing about prayer this morning.

It was a good word. God hears our prayer but I'll tell you something that hinders prayer when there isn't reality in our lives. If we're just about externals going through the what looks good maybe to other people does the Lord have our hearts? Now maybe I should have said this at the beginning what's before me here is pleasing God.

What pleases God? What doesn't? Now I doubt if you'd be here today if you didn't want to please the Lord. We want to please Him. But you know our hearts are so deceitful.

We can think you know we can compare ourselves with others and think well because I don't do this or I do that then I'm good with God. Well I don't know about you but a chapter like Isaiah 58 is a mirror alright and it's not something I particularly like to see. Why? Because I see the Pharisee in me and as we go down here there's some difficult things.

I don't know just how to respond. I don't know about you. In verse 5 verses 5, 6, and 7 the Lord tells us what pleases Him.

He says in 5 do you think this is what I'm looking for? A day for a man to afflict his soul, to bow down his head as a bulrush, to spread sackcloth and ashes unto him. Here's somebody and they're just being severe with themselves, punishing themselves and I know a little bit about this because before I was saved I was involved in Eastern religions and the ones that I were involved with it's a lot about punishing yourself. I'm glad we have Isaiah 53.

It talks about the punishment was on the Lord Jesus. I'm not saying that we don't have to live with discipline but we don't have to punish ourselves to please God. Verse 6 he says this is what I'm looking for.

Not afflicting yourself but helping other people that are afflicted that have burdens. He says it's not this the fast I've chosen to loose the bands of the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. People that are in bondage to sin and Satan and I was once there but you know there was a time in my life when I came to a farmhouse to work for a lady.

I was a hippie, long hair, beard, living in sin, drugs. She was an older woman. Older.

I was 25 at the time. She was probably in her 50s but to me she was a old lady. Things are relative.

That lady could have told me hit the road jack. She could have but she could see that I had a great need beyond a shave and a haircut. Nothing against beards by the way.

That lady had compassion upon me. She helped to loose the bonds of wickedness that had a hold of me. The heavy burden of sin and guilt.

She was kind to me. She fed me. She put up with all my arguing for Eastern religions and she lived the gospel before me.

I often say she wore me down with her kindness. She tried to get me to go to her church. She was with a Baptist but she was a real believer.

I wasn't ready for that but little by little she won me to the Lord. I know it was the spirit of God but my point is this. There was a lady that wasn't just about the externals of religion.

She saw somebody that had a great need and she took the time and I don't know what the people in her church would have thought about, you know, she was a widow. How about this hippie coming and you know she'd bring me into her kitchen and give me something to eat after I did the work around her house. She was real and you know I often think if she wasn't where would I be today and it makes me think are there people that God brings across my life.

Am I real or am I just going through the motions? Now verse 6 talks about perhaps helping people with their spiritual need. Verse 7 helping them with their physical needs. He says, he's still talking about what pleases him to deal your bread to the hungry, bring the poor that are cast out to your house when you see the naked that you cover them.

He's talking about the basic necessities of life, food, clothing and shelter. I'm not sure just what to do about this. Now in the Chicago area a lot of times when you come, a lot of times, often when you come to an intersection sometimes under an overpass or something there'll be people there with some sign.

They want this, they want the other and you know for three years we rented a storefront in downtown right in the middle of downtown Joliet to help feed the homeless and preach the gospel. And we learned from that, we didn't know it before, that just because somebody asked you for something doesn't mean you should give it. I mean if they want ten dollars you give it to them and they go out and buy a bottle of wine or some drugs or something.

But what do you do when there's somebody there you know you at the stop sign and somebody holds up a sign and a tail of wool and they want this or that or the other? I don't know what to do. I mean I don't want to give them money because they might, you might just be enabling them. But not to do anything doesn't seem right either.

My wife and I were in a certain place not too long ago and there was a woman there that to me had a perhaps an answer to this. She says what she does, she prepares these bags of I don't know some supplies, there's probably some food, maybe toothpaste. I don't know everything she puts in it.

But she has some kind of bag prepared that she keeps in her vehicle and when one of these people approach her you know at a stoplight or something, instead of giving him two dollars or something she'll just give him one of these bags. And there's gospel literature in there too. I sound like a good workaround to me.

How are we doing here? Is this what pleases the Lord? Is it just punishing ourselves by going to meetings? Or are we willing to help others with their spiritual needs? You say yeah we try to get the gospel of, good. But how about this, the physical needs? I feel I don't do too good a job on this to be honest. But the Lord says in verse 8, you know, if we do what he's saying in verse 6 and 7, he says your light shall break forth in the morning.

You know sometimes life can be dark. You ever go through times that are dark? There's times in my life when I've hardly known which way is up. But you know your darkness will turn to light.

There'll be spiritual healing, maybe restoration. But notice the end of verse 8, your righteousness shall go before thee. Now I take this to be practical and moral righteousness by good works.

Now we're not talking about salvation here, but does the Lord want good works? And then it says that the glory of the Lord shall follow. It makes me think of the Lord Jesus. We read about the multitudes, they marveled at some of the things he did, some of the miracles, and they glorified God.

In Matthew chapter 5, the Lord says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Is the Lord telling us something here? I think a lot of us are burdened. How can we reach people? I was talking to a brother just before the meeting here, you know, about reaching people with the gospel.

Is the Lord telling us something here? Some time ago I was talking with a brother about Isaiah 58 and he said to me, you know, I know it's the Word of God, but I don't know what to do. This is a brother who has a lot of responsibility in an assembly. He's a good brother.

He has a family, he has tremendous responsibility at work, and he's just maxed out time-wise. He says, I don't know what to do. I said, I know what you mean.

But if the Lord wants us to do something, will he not do it? I guess first of all, we have to realize there's a problem. Look at verse 9. See, the Lord's saying, you know, if there's reality in their lives, yes, they're the externals, according to the Word of God, but there's that hard attitude out of love for the Lord. He's saying what things are going to happen, verse 8. Verse 9, then you shall call and the Lord shall answer.

Prayer. Who doesn't want answers to prayer? He says, you shall cry and you shall say, here I am. A sense of the Lord's presence.

Can anything equal that? There are times in my life when the Lord has made himself very real to me, and I'm not sure there are very few things in life that can equal that. But then he, the Lord, he gives some qualifications. Now in the midst of all these things that will be the result of pleasing him, some qualifications.

He says, if you take, I'm in the middle of verse 9, if you take away from the midst of you the yoke, that is, stop oppressing people. Do we do that? Do we give people a hard time? The putting forth of the finger, maybe accusing or condemning people, speaking vanity, maybe slandering. Listen, the flesh is the flesh, whether it's Isaiah's day, the Pharisees in Christ's time, or today.

We're capable of these things. Verse 10, if you draw out your soul to the hungry, now they were fasting, they were going out food. Lord says, help those that satisfy the afflicted soul.

Not so much afflicting yourself, but again, trying to meet the needs of those who are afflicted. Then your light will turn into darkness. But verse 11, and the Lord shall guide you continually.

The guidance, the same Lord that guided the Israelites by the pillar cloud and fire. I mean, unmistakable guidance. I'm so glad that the Lord wants to guide you and me.

Who doesn't need guidance? The living God, the one who has saved us and brought us to himself, one who is our father, wants to guide us. And satisfy your soul in drought. And even when times are barren and dry, there'll be satisfaction.

Make your fat, make fat thy bones. He'll strengthen us. You'll be like a watered garden.

There'll be fruitfulness like a spring of water. The Holy Spirit satisfying our needs as well as ministering to others. But let me just touch on the last couple of verses here.

Then he mentions about the Sabbath, verse 13. He's basically telling them, yeah, keep the Sabbath, but do it for the right reasons. You know, the Pharisees got after the Lord Jesus and his disciples for, they thought, not keeping the Sabbath.

Remember, they were walking through the field of grain, and they were just eating some of it. And how many times did they get after the Lord Jesus for healing somebody on the Sabbath? They were big on the rules. And, you know, we were speaking about fasting earlier.

They got after the Lord Jesus and his disciples. They say, how come you don't fast? He had the externals, but they missed the heart. And what they were missing, the heart attitude toward the Lord.

They tried to substitute that by going beyond the word of God. May the Lord deliver us. But then in verse 14, he says, then shall you delight yourself in the Lord.

Brother, sister, this is what the Lord is looking for. He wants us to enjoy him, to love him. Again, the Lord said, if you love me, he might command us.

Are you enjoying the Lord these days? I say, are you enjoying the Lord these days? The joy of the Lord really is our strength. The Lord wants, it's a relationship. The Lord wants us to enjoy him, to love him, because he loves us.

And he says, delight yourself in the Lord. Verse 14, I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth. He'll bring us to a place of honor.

I know the world may despise us and give us the worst place, but sooner or later, the Lord will lift us up and he'll satisfy us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So I don't know about you, but I've read through Isaiah many times since I've been a believer, but reading it this pastime, I just started over again. I read through it, I was studying it, and I wanted to read it again.

Verse 58 is hard for me. It's hard for me because I think if we're really saved, we want to please the Lord. And the question is, what really pleases him? May the Lord help us to find out.

And by his grace, to really do what pleases him.