Yesterday here at Joy we had a day of Fasting and Prayer. My heart was full of Joy to see so many people come and out participate in unity together fasting and praying for our Church Body here at Joy, for the City of Hopewell, for our youth. It was a truly anointed time of prayer, fasting, worship, and sharing from our hearts. It was around the time that we finished fasting and praying that on the other side of the world came reports of increased warfare, attacks, responses. These attacked may be news worthy but they are a continuation of a conflict that has been raging for a long time and will continue until Jesus returns and sets everything in order.
I went to bed last night unsure of what the Lord would have me to share with the Body of Christ at Joy Fellowship this morning but God is faithful and it was around 6am this morning that I had a dream in which the Lord had me preaching from the book of Isaiah Chapter 30. But in my dream I could not find Isaiah 30 in the bible I was using because it had so many commentaries, and pictures in it. In my dream I was standing in a doorway between two rooms with people in each room with a bible that was not mine, looking left and right at the two groups of people. I told them, open your bibles to Isaiah chapter 30……I began to look in the bible I was holding first from the back toward the front, I came to Isaiah, 39,38, 37,36,35,34,33,……and then it was just pictures, and commentary. I flipped page after page and became nervous about the delay so I flipped more and ended up before Isaiah 30…..at chapter 27 I flipped forward page after page after page of pictures and commentary but could not get to Isaiah 30. I then woke up from my dream without ever finding the passage of scripture in my bible because God’s word had replaced by pictures and commentary of man.
****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
There is a purpose for those called by God to minister to help people understand the word of God but not to replace it with their own commentary.
Turn with me in your bibles to the Book of Nehemiah, Chapter 8. God’s people had just completed the reconstruction of the walls around Jerusalem. The gates have been set in place and people assigned to open and close for the protection of the City.
Nehemiah 8
1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.
12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
***This is a beautiful representation of God’s leadership reading God’s word and causing the people to understand and see the people’s response to the Truth of God’s word.
John 8:30-36
King James Version
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
***Listen to how Paul describes it to Timothy about the proper use of the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
*****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
***So let’s go together to Isaiah Chapter 30 to see what the Lord wants to speak to us today. And lets do as Paul told Timothy to do study to shew ourselves approved.
2 Timothy 2:15-16
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
***I want to pause here as we have opened up this passage of Scripture with a warning from the Lord. Whenever you see the word WOE, there is a warning coming from God.
God begins with identifying the audience of his warning as children, dependents, he does not disown them but he does associate them with their attitude as rebellious. They are God’s children but their attitude is to rebel against him:
*Hold your finger here and turn with me to Hebrews 12:5-8
Hebrews 12:5-8
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
*****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: God’s correction of your rebellion is confirmation of his love, and you as his child.
**Back to Isaiah 30:1
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
***God says my children, the ones I love, they are rebellious but I still love them….They are seeking counsel but they are not asking me……They are looking for a spiritual covering but it is not of my Spirit.
My friends I wonder how we must grieve the Heart of the Father God when he see us running here and there looking for advice, looking for answers, looking for direction and protection from the wisdom of man, or from “spiritual leaders”….God says you are seeking counsel but it is not from me. You are looking for spiritual covering but not from my spirit……and why? Why are they doing this? God says his children are doing this so they can keep on sinning. So they can add sin to sin.
Let me bring this home to you today: God’s children struggling with financial management run seeking wisdom of man for investments when all the time ignoring the principles of God’s word for sowing and reaping. God’s children not tithing to the Lord because they do not trust the very words of their savior who said you are a far more valuable than the sparrows and your heavenly father will take care of you.
Haggai 1:2-9
2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
***But I do not want you to think I am speaking about Money today. It matters who your friends are. This phrase cover with a covering means to make and alliance
Proverbs 22:24-25
24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
***But we are not just taking about Money today; We are not just talking about alliances and friendships today. There are millions of Christians who are suffering physically and emotionally today seeking physical healing from physicians and mental healing through the philosophies of man rather than following God’s word which brings health and wholeness to the Body, Soul, Spirit!
Listen to the words of Paul to the Church at Corinth:
1 Corinthians 3:16-21
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's;
1 Corinthians 6:15-20
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
*****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: God’s correction of your rebellion is confirmation of his love, and you as his child.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God’s word is the only source of wisdom, counsel and direction you need for your life.
***The answer to the question you are seeking is found in God’s word.
Lets look at the last part of Isaiah Chapter 30 verse 1….as God answers the question, why do my children do this? Why do my children look for council from someone other than me? Why do they have the alliances and friendships that are not of my spirit? The last part of verse tells us….So they can keep on sinning…So they can add sin to sin…God does not mix words here. He is very direct. He says the reason my children do what they do is because they enjoy sinning and they want to keep on doing it..
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 Corinthians 6:11-18
New King James Version
Be Holy
11 O Corinthians! [a]We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what [b]fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what [c]communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you[d] are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”
*****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: God’s correction of your rebellion is confirmation of his love, and you as his child.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God’s word is the only source of wisdom, counsel and direction you need for your life.
*** The 4th point of the Message today: Do not gamble your eternal life with Christ for temporary pleasure of sin for a season.
Hebrews 11:24-26
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Back to our Key Verse:
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
***For the next few verses God speaks about the failures that will come to his children as a result of their actions and alliances with the Egyptians but I want you to look at verse 8-13 and this is where we are going to close for today:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
*****The 1st point of the message today: Do not replace the word of God with the interpretation and commentary of man.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: God’s correction of your rebellion is confirmation of his love, and you as his child.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God’s word is the only source of wisdom, counsel and direction you need for your life.
*** The 4th point of the Message today: Do not gamble your eternal life with Christ for temporary pleasure of sin for a season.
***The 5th and Closing Point of the Message today: Christ is coming soon, we have to be faithful, serving him and ready for our reunion with him.
2 Timothy 4
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Luke 18 Jesus asked very sobering question about the condition of mankind when he returns:
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?