unrighteousness

Deuteronomy 28, Isaiah 55

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Deuteronomy 28 and Isaiah 55.

This devotional is about Isaiah 55:6-8.

This chapter in Isaiah issues an invitation to people who are thirsting for more than life has yielded to them (v. 1a-b). They want something better even though they have nothing to give (v. 1c-d). When they do get some money, they spend it on things that promise but do not deliver nourishment or satisfaction (v. 2). To those people, God said, “Come to me” (v. 3a). Instead of seeking all the unsatisfying things of this world, God said, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near” (v. 6).

But seeking the Lord looks different from God’s perspective than it does form ours. That’s because “‘…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (v. 8). So what does it look like to God when someone is truly seeking him? Verse 7 provides the answer which is, repentance: “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.”

We understand the wicked forsaking their ways. The ways of wicked people are wicked. They are dishonest, violent, selfish, and designed to satisfy their own lusts. Every command of God involving human action–from the command not to worship idols to the one not to kill–is a prohibition against wickedness. Those who break these commands are wicked; when people do one or more of these habitually, they show themselves to have wicked ways. These are the actions that do not satisfy (vv. 1-2); God invites the wicked to change his mind and seek the Lord instead of these wicked ways.

But notice that verse 7b goes further than calling people to forsake wicked ways. It says in that verse, “and [let] the unrighteous [forsake] their thoughts.” This command addresses a couple of human problems that keep us from God.

The first is hypocrisy. Sometimes people act righteously but think wickedly. They do what is right but want what is wrong. Their reasons for doing right may be many: social expectations, respect or religious status, or even a desire to earn favor with God. Regardless of how they act, though, their thoughts are unrighteous when judged by God. This is what Jesus called hypocrisy. It is obedience to God’s word on the outside while craving evil on the inside. God tells this kind of sinner that he will be unsatisfied and calls on him to repent about his thoughts and to seek God from the heart.

The second human problem that is addressed by the command to to forsake one’s unrighteous thoughts is the motivation that causes people to act wickedly. In other words, there are some who act righteous but are masking unrighteous thoughts but there are also those who act wickedly because they have unrighteous thoughts. Actions that are sinful start with thoughts that are wicked. Those who act wickedly have shown us what is in their hearts; their hearts, therefore, need to be changed before they can forsake their wicked ways.

Who you are on the inside and what you desire in your heart will eventually be exposed. You can’t desire sin but act righteously forever. Like a full bottle of water placed in the freezer, the water within freezes and expands and eventually the ice comes out. People, similarly, cannot contain their wicked thoughts forever; eventually what you desire will be expressed in actions. They might be actions that you do secretly in order to try to maintain the appearance of righteousness but they will become actions in the real world.

The point of all of this is that God wants us to turn our thoughts and our actions away from wickedness and seek him instead. We seek him in repentance and faith. Only the supernatural work of the Spirit of God can accomplish this work and he does that through the power of God’s word (v. 11). If you want the satisfaction that God promised, then, you need to beg for his transforming power through repentance then allow the Spirit to change you by the power of his Word. That means learning God’s word but also being obedient to it in your life.

What is the state of your heart before God? Are you seeking him from the heart, turning from your wicked thoughts and actions? God promised true satisfaction for those who seek him from the heart. Let’s believe that promise and turn to him.

Deuteronomy 19, Isaiah 46

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Deuteronomy 19 and Isaiah 46.

This devotional is about Isaiah 46.

This section of Isaiah was written before the Babylonians conquered Israel yet it prophesied the restoration of Israel from that Babylonian exile (vv. 1-2). That exile happened because of Judah’s unbelief and idolatry. As in other chapters of Isaiah that we’ve read, God reminded his people of his provision for them (vv. 3-4) and his superiority over other so-called “gods” (vv. 5-13). The purpose for this revelation was (1) to warn the people of Judah of coming judgment (v. 12), (2) to teach those who would read this later during that judgment not to follow the gods of the Babylonians (v. 1), and (3) to encourage God’s people with the promise of his restoration so that they would worship him instead of those false gods (v. 13).

In verse 12 Isaiah wrote, “Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness….” This rebuke was for the people who were worshipping false gods. Whatever “piety” they thought they had was being measured by the wrong stick because they were, in fact, “far away from my righteousness.”

As Christians, we do not worship idols in complete unbelief as the people of Israel and Judah did; however, our wayward hearts are still charmed by idols despite our new birth and allegiance to Christ. When we are enamored with materialism, or the desire for recognition and status from others, or by a life of ease or of pleasure, or by countless other idols, we trade genuine worship of the true Creator God (v. 9) for man-made objects (vv. 6-7) that cannot help us when we need it (v. 7d-e). Idolatry is like trading in a genuine army officer for one of those little green plastic army men that kids play with. Idols don’t ask us to seek and desire holiness but they also are a cheap, impotent substitute for the true God.

What idols are you tempted by? Money? Materialism? Sex-appeal? Positions of power in this world’s corporate or government structures? Don’t let these cheap imitations turn your heart from the true God.

Numbers 9, Song of Songs 7, Psalm 119:73-96

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Numbers 9, Song of Songs 7, Psalm 119:73-96.

This devotional is about Psalm 119:73-96.

This Psalm is a long acrostic poem. Each stanza begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetical order. It is also a love poem for God’s word. The Psalmist writes in every stanza words of praise and thanks to God for giving his law to Israel. He also claims throughout to love and live by God’s laws.

Like most Psalms, this songwriter had problems in life. Some of those problems, he felt, were afflictions from God (v. 75b). Others were persecutions (v. 84b) brought on by others. Or, perhaps, he had one major problem which he saw from two perspectives–(1) the persecutions of men (2) allowed by God’s sovereignty to afflict him for his own discipline and growth. Regardless, the Psalmist never claimed that his love for God’s word or his obedience to it gave him a trouble-free life. Instead, he found through his delight in God’s laws encouragement (v. 81b), comfort (v. 76) a basis for companionship with other godly people (v. 74, 79), guidance on how to live (v. 89, 93), and understanding about what is righteous and unrighteous in God’s sight (v. 85). Having benefited in all these ways from God’s word, he pleaded with God to rescue him according to the promises he’d read in God’s word (vv. 76b, 94) and to keep his heart faithful to obey God’s word (v. 80).

Scripture and prayer are God’s primary ways to minister grace to us while we live in this world and wait to be with Christ. We stray into sin when we stop looking for God’s help through prayer or stop looking to his word for our growth, guidance, and hope. It is possible–I know because I’ve done it–to be in God’s word each day and still have one’s heart grow cold to God’s word. This is why we should follow the Psalmist’s example and pray for God’s help to have insight to apply God’s word (v. 73), to think about God’s word (v. 95b), and to be tender to our own sinfulness so that we can be corrected by God’s word (v. 80).

I would encourage you to pray before reading these devotionals, before we worship together on Sunday, and anytime you are going to hear God’s word. Ask God to convict you, to give you insight into yourself, to give you understanding about what to do with his word once you understand it, and to give you courage to believe and obey it. This will help you keep from growing cold to the Lord and his truth.

Exodus 23, Job 41, Psalm 71

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Exodus 23, Job 41, and Psalm 71.

This devotional is about Exodus 23.

We all desire acceptance and approval. When we feel like the majority of people around us disagree with us on something, each of us feels a strong psychological pull to fall instep with the opinions of the majority.

Exodus 23:2-3 warn us about allowing social power to control us. Three types of situations were addressed in these verses:

  1. justifying a sinful action with the rationalization that “everyone is doing it” (v. 2a).
  2. testifying falsely in court because there are more people on one side of the dispute than on the other (v. 2b).
  3. letting your sympathy for a poor person cause you to hand down a verdict in court in their favor even though the facts prove that the other party in court is in the right.

Let’s focus on the first of these situations. In verse 2a, God’s command to Israel was, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” When groups use their power–either social power or the power of sheer numbers–to overrule what is morally right, that is sinful in the sight of God. Although we may feel a desire to do the sinful thing that they are doing or to do it just to fit in with them, God’s word calls us to stand apart even if that means standing alone.

These days, social pressure is being applied to us on a host of moral issues such as cohabitation, abortion, easy divorce, affirming homosexuality or transgenderism. Political correctness mandates that we say only what is societally accepted on these and other issues. Dissent from the prevailing opinion is not allowed. Our options often feel like either to keep quiet or repeat the politically correct position as if we agree with it. Some Christians and churches have come out and affirmed the unbiblical position on these things. They follow the crowd and make it stronger. Already the Christian faith as we practice it is being labeled as bigoted and hateful. Someday–not too far off–there may be calls to censor our doctrine and prosecute our teachers and preachers for hate speech when we teach what the Bible says on these subjects.

Truth is not a matter of public opinion and that is what the laws in the early verses of Exodus 23 are designed to protect. As the Lord’s people, we need to be reminded periodically to be truth-driven, not pressure-driven or personality-driven. Next time you feel pressured to join in or go along with something unbiblical that lots of people are doing, remember what God told Israel in Exodus 23:2: “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”