The sermon, titled 'Who Is the God of Your Worship?' by Mike Davenport, explores the themes of true worship and the nature of God as described in Isaiah 66. The speaker emphasizes that God is all-sufficient and does not need human-made temples or sacrifices; rather, God looks upon those with a humble and contrite spirit who tremble at His word. The sermon warns against relying on external religious practices and structures, urging instead a focus on genuine heart devotion and humility. It highlights the importance of listening carefully to God’s word and the dangers of creating a version of God that aligns with personal desires rather than biblical truth. The preacher also underscores God's care for His true servants and His judgment upon those who engage in superficial worship. The message concludes with a call for individuals to reflect on who truly is the God of their worship, encouraging repentance and a sincere relationship with God.

Verse 1 to 6. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me and where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made and all those things exist says the Lord. But on this one will I look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word.

He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man. He who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck. He who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood. He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, so will I choose their delusions and bring their fears on them.

Because when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, they did not hear, but they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I do not delight. Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy, but they shall be ashamed. The sound of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord who fully repays his enemies.

Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for giving us another Sabbath day, another day of rest. I pray that you would soften our hearts now as we hear your word preached that you would show us more of our sin and grant us repentance in those areas and that you would teach us more who you are that you would give us a closer walk with you in Christ's name amen. It's hard to believe I'm standing here saying turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 66, the last chapter of Isaiah. I have entitled my message today, Who is the God of Your Worship?

Who is the God of Your Worship? We have dealt in recent weeks with the unveiling of the new covenant, which was established by the shedding of the blood of Christ. God brings an end to His ceaseless dealings with those called by His name and makes Himself known to a people who were not seeking Him. He makes them His servants. He gives them a new name.

He begins an act of recreating all things starting with the very hearts of these, his servants. Then there are distinctions that are given. Two servants deal with him in a way that then did those who were first called by his name. And God blesses them and gives them this new name, the name which Christ gave to them that are His true servants. It is a fact as we gather today in a crowd this size, outwardly going through the same mounds of singing, of praying, of hearing, of giving, and of speaking to one another it is that That we are not all bringing the same worship It is a fact that God does not look upon all of us in the same way And that is just true because of the size that we are This many people gathered and that is what is teaching us and may we consider it with a heart of humility.

My first point this morning is God, the one who is all sufficient. God, the One who is all sufficient. The opening words of our passage today, Isaiah 66, 1, Thus says the LORD. Thus says the LORD. Our passage opens with a self-declaration straight from the mouth of Almighty God.

God through His Word takes it upon Himself to speak directly to us. He reveals all that is necessary for life and for godliness, for right Orthodoxy and right orthopraxy. Do those words. Thus says the Lord come to you with a measure of power, with a level of weightiness, with a sense of urgency. The psalmist marveled at the fact that God would be even mindful or give attention to man.

He says, what is man that you are mindful of him and the Son of man that you visit him? And if that is such a marvel, then how much more that God should condescend to us in order to give us his very word to speak to us to manifest himself to us to show us his glory and to declare what pleases him you Him? We just sang a song that said, Speak, O Lord. Speak, O Lord. Are we ready to listen?

Our family, we have a pastor friend in the UK. And I remember a particular series that he preached at a family conference on the book of Jonah. And as he read through the book of Jonah, He was preaching to a reformed congregation. We had heard the book of Jonah. We were familiar with the book of Jonah.

And he opened up that message by talking about a family of his back in the UK that began attending church. This was a family who had grown up not knowing God, not knowing the Bible. And in their latter years, God came and saved this man and this woman. They didn't even have a Bible in the house. So they went to an antique store, and they bought one of those big family Bibles.

You've seen those kind. And this is what they brought to church, carrying this big Bible. They didn't know the difference. And as this pastor began to minister to them, he came into their home some month or two later and was visiting with them. And he got there and they were so excited to have him in their home.

And as they sat down they were like, we just need to share with you. We've been reading this story about this man swallowed by a great fish. Have you ever heard that story? Yes, yes, I'm familiar with that story. Well, we've read somewhere else about these three men that were thrown into the fire and they didn't burn in the fire.

God rescued them. Are you familiar with that story?" And he had to shake his head, yes I'm familiar with that story. And then as he was talking to us there in that audience he said, you know what? They knew that story and the God of that story far more than I had. The story of Jonah, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

I had become so familiar with them that I lost sight of the glory of God. Have we come to a point in our life where the Word of God is like any other book? Has familiarity with it given way to apathy, if not full-blown contempt, man can have true life only by hanging upon every word, every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that from the beginning, God spoke through the fathers and through the prophets, and in these last days has spoken to us through His Son Jesus Christ. And our required response to this divine revelation is shown to us in Hebrews 2 to give all the more careful attention to the things spoken to us that we do not drift away.

The vision of the Great Commission has as its end goal the teaching of all things that the Lord has said in order that His people may receive these all things and observe these all things. And observe these all things. Thus says the Lord. Eight times through the book of Isaiah, God gives the command, listen to me. Eight times.

Now, God uses the word listen and hear. This people have not heard. These people will not listen. There are other times. But eight times alone in Isaiah, it is an imperative.

Listen to me. No fewer than 17 times in this book, God gives the command to hear another imperative. And the very words that we have at the start of this chapter, thus says the Lord are found 36 other times in the book of Isaiah alone. As I prepared this message, I had to stop and to confess to God my own failure to come to the Scriptures with an eagerness and with a hunger to hear from Him. Have you also lost a measure of that hunger?

Have you lost a measure of that eagerness? Do you desire the words of God more than gold? Yes, more than fine gold. Are These words found in this book sweeter than honey to your taste. And lest you for whatever reason think that these imperatives here in Isaiah to listen only apply to the original hearers, the Jews of Isaiah's day.

I ask you to consider the words of Christ to the seven churches who were in Asia. He spoke a letter to each church based on his knowledge of the state of their hearts before him. Each letter was unique. But there are two things that are common throughout all seven letters. Number one was a promise to those who would overcome.

But the second, these following words, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. It is written to every single church, regardless of their spiritual status, before the all-seeing eye of Jesus Christ. It is written without variation. It's repeated word for word in every letter. Brothers and sisters, God is speaking today to us.

If you have an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to you. God goes on in this verse. Thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest?

For all those things my hand has made and all those things exist, says the Lord." The text seems to suggest that there was no temple at the time God spoke these words, or that it was spoken for a time to come when there would be no temple. Now some have supposed therefore that this text was written for those Jews who would be returning from the exile in Babylon, who would take up the rebuilding of the temple. Others have suggested that this verse is looking even further out to the new heavens and the new earth that we read about in the previous chapter, where we see the recreating work that was started with Jesus Christ and sees its fulfillment when Christ comes again. Jesus himself in John chapter 4, the passage that Paul alluded to earlier, Jesus told the woman at the well that the time was coming and now is when the worshipers of God would no longer gather on that holy mountain or even in Jerusalem at the temple to worship. John tells us in Revelation 21 that when the final acts of this recreating work are complete, there will be no temple for the Lord God Almighty and God the Son will be that temple.

Yet verse 3 seems to give us a context where sacrificing, old covenant sacrificing, was still going on. So though these things are realities and can produce the most wonderful applications to us, I'm not convinced that either of these is the specific message here intended. So if you would please allow me to present the case for my present understanding. Look with me at the context here. God is here addressing a religious people.

I think that much we can agree on. God is addressing here a religious people, a people eager to build God a house. Yet their eagerness does not seem to flow from a desire for the glory of God, but for a means of obtaining his favor for themselves. And I think This is indicated by the opening words of the next phrase in verse 2, but on this one will I look. The conjunction used here, but, is a conjunction of contrast.

It's a word of contrast. So in the opening verses, God is addressing a people who think they know how to gain the favor of God. They think that He will look upon them because they desire to build Him a house. And have we not seen this in Isaiah already? Isaiah 48, 1 and 2.

This is a people who swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel. They call themselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel. Isaiah 58, two and three. God describes these people as those who seek me daily and delight to know my ways and ask of me the ordinances of justice and take delight in approaching God. Why have we fasted they say and you have not seen?

Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice?" God also through the prophet Malachi describes these same people this way in chapter 3 and verse 14. God says, you have said it is useless to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts. Where's the prophet in it they said? Why should we do this?

Where is the favor of God? Why have we fasted and you have not seen? We've afflicted our souls and you've taken no notice. God is speaking to a people who think They can manipulate God. They have come to believe that God needs them, that He stands in need of their erecting a building, that he stands in desperate need of that lamb in their stall and that bull grazing in their pasture.

They ask for the ways of God as if they had a heart to righteously keep them and not actually forsake his ordinance. Calvin in his commentary on this passage says they grossly mock God who endeavor to serve and appease him by outward ceremonies. Please hold your place here in Isaiah 66 and turn with me to Psalm chapter 50. Psalm chapter 50. I want your eyes to to fall on these words of Asaph for us in Psalm 50.

Psalm 50 beginning with verse 3. Our God shall come and shall not keep silent. A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around him. He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Let the heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you. I am God, your God. I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings which are continually before me. I will not take a bull from your sacrifice, from your house, nor goats out of your folds, for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God Thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble.

I will deliver you and you shall glorify me." God has no need for our sacrifices. God has no need for us to build a building for Him. Now in seeking to understand this passage more clearly here in Isaiah 66, consider also the context of the quotations of it that are found in the New Testament. Stephen uses this passage in speaking to the religious leaders, and note that, to the religious leaders of the nation of Israel in his last sermon before his stoning. And he says this in Acts 7, 44 through 51.

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God, and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me says the Lord or what is the place of my rest has my hand not made all these things then he turns to the religious leaders and says this you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.

As your fathers did, so do you. As your fathers did, The very same fathers who received these words from Isaiah, they resisted the Holy Spirit. They thought much of this tabernacle and then of this temple, and they put their hopes and confidence in it, and yet resisted the Holy Spirit. Stephen puts his finger on the very sin of these religious people. They desire the outward trappings of their external religion but resist the Spirit of God.

Exists the Spirit of God. These are the very men who condemned the Son of God, Lord of heaven and earth, and considered him worthy of death. Why? Because two witnesses came and said, this is what this man said regarding our temple. And they condemned to death the Son of God because they thought that He dared to speak of their beloved temple.

The Apostle Paul also referred to this passage as he stood on Mars Hill and addressed the religious Gentiles of that place regarding an altar they had made to appease the God whom they knew not. In Acts 17, 24 and 25, Paul addresses them in the following manner. Therefore the one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you, God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things." Calvin made the following observation, "'Yet as the minds of men are prone to superstition. The Jews converted into obstacles to themselves, those things which were intended to be aids. And when they ought to have risen by faith to heaven, they believed God was bound to them and worshiped him only in a careless manner, or rather made sport of worshiping him at their own pleasure.

Dear brothers and sisters, do not think that this is only a propensity or an inclination of those who have many externals in their worship. Our mind quickly can run to the Jews or to the Catholics, but are we not susceptible to such sinful thinking? Have you ever found yourself suddenly busier in the means of grace as a result of a desire to have God's benediction in some area of your life. How can I ask God for help in this issue when I haven't been reading? And we turn to his word in our studies.

Have you ever looked at the lives of other Christians and judged yourself more favorable to God simply because of the presence of external practices in your life that do not seem to be so obvious in theirs. The parable Jesus spoke of the Pharisee and the tax collector reveals such a spirit in that Pharisee. The Pharisee put his hope in the fact that he fasted twice a week and gave tithes of all that he possessed. The tax collector's hope was in the free offer of the sin-forgiving, grace-enriching mercy of a holy God. And in that alone, Let us be careful to understand that God stands in need of nothing.

He is able to raise up children to Abraham from the stones on the ground. Let us not put great stock in the things that we do. Let us not put all of our stock in the things that Christ did instead. Let us not put confidence in the ways of our religion. Let us put our confidence in the God of our religion, the God who is all sufficient.

Secondly, the God, God the one who condescends to the lowly, God the one who condescends to the lowly. He says, but on this one will I look, on Him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word. God who has declared Heaven as His throne, the earth His footstool, here declares the condition or posture of the heart of the one to whom He is willing to condescend. God says that he will look upon him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at his word. If we ever hope to be one upon whom God looks, we need to better understand what He is saying here in these verses.

So let's look briefly at a meaning of these words in the original. But on this one will I look? Will I look? The word look in the original means regard, to pay attention to, to consider. This one who is poor, this does not mean a lack of wealth or resources.

It means to be afflicted, to be wretched, to be humble, to be lowly. On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit. The word contrite has the idea of being stricken or smitten and one who trembles at my word. The idea is to be anxiously careful. Anxiously careful.

So it can be stated like this, But these are the characteristics of the one to whom I will show regard and pay attention to. One who is humble and lowly. One whose soul is stricken and smitten because he receives my words with an anxious carefulness." Allow me to read the considerations of a few commentators. First, Kyle and Delich. God needs no temple, for Heaven is his throne and the earth his footstool.

He is the being who filleth all, the Creator, and therefore the possessor of the universe. And if men think to do him a service by building him a temple and forget his infinite majesty in their concern for their own contemptible fabric. He wants no temple at all. In this, his exaltation, he is not concerned about a temple, but his gracious look is fixed upon the man who is as follows, upon the mourner, the man of broken heart who is filled with reverential awe at the word of his revelation. The second commentator is Matthew Henry And this is what Paul shared with us just a little earlier.

It amazes me sometimes how the Spirit works in reading this lengthy portion. He picked the very phrase that I wanted to share. So hear it again afresh. God has a heaven and earth of his own making and a temple of man's making, but he overlooks them all that he may look with favor to him that is poor in spirit, humble and serious, self-abasing and self-denying, whose heart is truly contrite for sin, penitent for it, and in pain to get it pardoned. Remember the self-introduction given in the previous statement of the one who speaks these words.

This is the God of whom Solomon said at the dedication of the temple, the dedication of the temple, This is what Solomon said, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple which I have built. Yet here in these verses, this same God promises to condescend, to regard, to pay attention to even one individual who deals with him in such integrity. Remember that tax collector from the parable of Christ? Christ said that that man went down to his house justified.

God regarded the prayer of that humble man. Dear brothers and sisters, how often do we judge wrongly in regards to who It is that God's gaze falls so sweetly upon. Had we been sitting with Christ as He watched the people who were putting their money into the box in front of the temple, how wrong would our judgment have been? Which one of us, Which one of us would have taken up that offering of the widow as our demonstration of what true heart religion looks like? Which one of us would have turned and said, look, Christ, did you see that?

That widow just put in a quarter of a cent, a fourth of a penny. Did you see that, Lord? The Bible says many who were rich put in much. Yet Christ thought it necessary to gather his disciples to him in order to point out what she had done because He thought her act worthy of all attention. In Christ's eyes, she gave more than all the others combined.

Read the text for yourself. More than all combined. How can he judge this More? Because as He has already made known to us in this passage, all of heaven, all of earth is His. He created it all.

What need does He have? Please note this. The measure of the worth of any gift to God is not based on His need of it. He has need of nothing we can bring. The measure of the worth of the gift is found in the condition of the heart that offers it, no matter how small it may be.

God does not regard a man because he holds a position in his church. God does not regard a man based on his theological acumen. God does not base his regard of a man upon the works of his hands as though he had need of any of those works. He has need of nothing. And if he had a need, he wouldn't tell you.

What do we have that we could give him? What? All the cedars of Lebanon are insufficient for the kindling of a God-sufficient fire. All of the beasts of the forest are insufficient for the satisfaction of a God satisfying sacrifice. We saw that in Isaiah 40.

Behold your God. God looks upon those who are poor and contrite of heart and who tremble at His words. You young children, you young children who are here today, may I speak a few words directly to you? There was a time in Jesus' ministry where parents brought their children to Christ. Those disciples do not the heart of Jesus that we have before us in these verses.

That he pays attention to those who are humble and receive his words with carefulness and humility. Children, it says in Mark chapter 10 that when Jesus saw these children turned away, He was greatly displeased. Greatly displeased when he saw the children being turned away. This is the rebuke that he gave his disciples. Let the little children come to me.

Let them come. And do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. Children, do you understand the significance of what Christ was saying?

He was saying this, there is no one more naturally fit, naturally fit. There's a spiritual fitness of the blowing of the Spirit like a wind where He wills. But there is no greater natural fitness and readiness to receive the loving gaze of Jesus than you. There is such a humility and a simplicity in the receiving of instruction found in you, children, that must be found in all that would enter the kingdom of God. So I plead with you children, I plead with you while you are young, cast your souls on Christ, repent of your sin, trust fully in Him, believe with all your heart that Jesus' sacrifice is enough to make you right with God.

Thirdly, God, the one who considers our ways. God, the one who considers our ways. God the one who considers our ways. Verse 3, He who kills a bull as if he slays a man, he who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck, he who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood. He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol, just as they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations." Now, as we consider this passage together in our Men's Tuesday Bible study, it was evident that these verses were difficult to understand.

As different men shared their thoughts, there were no less than three, maybe even four different yet legitimate considerations of the meanings of these words stated here in this verse. And alas, the end of that study, that morning came quickly, and I was left alone to grapple with these verses. I did so with an open Bible and with pleas to God for help. So I ask you please to bear with me as I seek to explain these to the best of my abilities. So in terms of the actual text itself, Please note the following two things.

First, I prefer the reading of the King James version for the latter part of verse 3. Our new King James version ties the last part of this verse with the next verse by means of the use of the word just to begin the phrase and ending this phrase with a comma, thereby tying it to the flow of the verse that follows. So that you read it, it says, just as they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations, so will I choose. There seems to be a connection that direction. The old King Jang's version reads this way, yay, they have chosen their own ways and their soul delighteth in their abominations, period.

This way of Translating it ties the thought more with that which was said previously in this verse rather than tying it to the next. Secondly, please note in this verse the use of italicized words as well as punctuation marks. Italicized words are not in the original. They are put there as best the translators could understand to help the flow of thought and for us to better understand it. So now moving on to the meaning behind the text.

Note first that the text seems to indicate that there really is an occurrence of the killings of a bull, of the sacrifice of a lamb, of the offerings of the grain offering, and of the burning of incense." The verb tense seems to indicate a present occurrence of these sacrifices. We should also note that these sacrifices mentioned are of the nature of what was acceptable to God and what He commanded. These are good things. They are right things. Things.

Note with me secondly that God describes these people as ones who have chosen their own ways and whose soul delights in abominations. Right? We see that later on in this verse. They have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations. This is true of this people.

Now what abominations is he referring to? Well he just finished mentioning four abominations. Slaying a man, breaking the neck of a dog, which was an unclean animal, Offering the blood of swine, again another unclean animal, and obviously blessing an idol. And their souls delighted in these abominations. And the fact that they have chosen their own ways makes me believe that they are actually participating in the very abominations their soul delights in.

Reasoning this way allows me to pass over the italicized words, which again are not in the original text, and with inserting the context of the verses before makes me to read the passage like this. Having said, this is the one on whom I will look, will I look on him who kills a bull? As a question mark, He slays a man. Will I look on Him who sacrifices a lamb? He breaks a dog's neck.

Will I look on Him who offers a grain offering? He offers swine's blood. How about him who burns incense? He blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations.

The third thing that I would bring to your attention is God's own testimony of these people in the book of Isaiah, a testimony that reveals their participation in many of these very same abominations and even more. I give you just a few examples among many given by Isaiah. Chapter 1 verse 21, he says, righteousness had lodged in Jerusalem. But now what lodges in Jerusalem? Murderers.

Murderers. How about chapter 2 and verse 8? We are told that the land is full of idols. It's full of idols. Isaiah 8, 19.

This was a people who sought out mediums and wizards. Chapter 27, verse 9. Their land was filled with altars of stones and wooden images. Chapter 28, verse 7, all the people from the lowest to the highest were given to drunkenness. To drunkenness.

57-5, they engaged in the sacrifice of children. 57-7-9, they engaged in the fornication that was part and parcel of the worship of idols. 65-4, they were infatuated with death and with the graveyard. And in 65, 4 also, they ate the flesh of swine and drank the broth of abominable things. The fourth point of reference I would give for this interpretation actually takes us into the next verse.

So look with me now at verse four, and I would draw your attention, especially at this time, to the latter portion of that verse. So will I choose their delusions and bring their fears on them because when I called no one answered when I spoke they did not hear but they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I do not delight." So I push ahead into this verse and draw your attention to this second part at this time. We'll come back to the first part a little later because these two verses read together paint a complete picture of those whose worship is unacceptable to God. Yes, they are a people who fulfill the duties of the sacrificial system. They dot the I's and cross the T's.

But they are also a people whom God describes in four ways, as choosing their own way, as delighting in abominations, as refusing to hear Him, and as doing evil before His very eyes. So notice here also the activity of God. He called. He spoke. He gave to them instruction regarding the things that do bring him delight.

He stretched out his hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good according to their own thoughts." And the fifth and final thing I would point to is another description of this very people by God through the prophet of Jeremiah. And in holding your place here once again I would like for you to turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 7. I'm going to read a lengthy passage here, and I would love for your eyes to follow on this passage. Jeremiah chapter 7. In this passage we see so many things that are here before us in Isaiah 66 and Jeremiah seems to bring them in HD.

High definition. So as we go through this passage, let your mind go back to what's before us here in Isaiah 66. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these." Seems they're a little infatuated with the temple, huh?

For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Those lying words are it's all about the temple. Come as you are. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to bail, and walk after other gods whom you do not know?

And then Come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say we are delivered to do all these abominations. That's why I see the connectivity of these people who offered a bull and then go and slay a man. Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I have seen it, says the Lord. He considers our ways.

But go now to my place which is in Shiloh where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking but you did not hear and I called you but you did not answer therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers as I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole posterity of Ephraim. Therefore, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to me, for I will not hear you." Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood. The fathers kindle the fire.

And the women need dough. This is a family enterprise. To make cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger, says the Lord? Do they not provoke themselves to the shame of their own faces?

Why is it not a provocation of anger? Because he has no need of these things. So they give them to another. The earth is his. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, my anger and my fury will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground.

And it will burn and not be quenched. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat." Now listen to this, for I did not speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices." What? I thought that's what the book of Exodus and Leviticus were all about. I thought that was about God saying, these are the sacrifices and things that I want. And he did say those things.

But here, God, very God said, I did not speak concerning It wasn't all about these sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, obey my voice and I will be your God and you shall be my people and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you." Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts and went backward and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day I have even sent to you all my servants the prophets daily rising up early and sending them yet they did not obey me or incline their ear but stiffened their necks they did worse than their fathers This was a people whose hands were full of abominations and yet didn't blink an eye when they appeared at the gate of the temple. Dear brothers and sisters, this is a terrifying possibility that we can be engaged in the externals of religion and yet be guilty of choosing our own ways of delighting in things that do not honor God, of failing to truly listen to what he is saying and of actually committing sin in his sight, and all the while expecting that God will look down with favor upon us.

Remember the terrifying words of Christ in Matthew 7, 22, and 23. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye who practice lawlessness. Where is your heart?

What are you delighting in, engaging in when no one else is around? Are you approaching the commands of God, the ways of God that He has chosen as a buffet line at a restaurant? Picking and choosing only the commands that are easy to perform and can be done in the presence of others. The choosing of commands that you think will pacify the God of heaven while you ignore His commands that come only by spiritual sweat and energy, things like loving your brother, loving your neighbor, seeking justice or relief for those who cannot repay, mortifying the deeds of the flesh, guarding the heart with all diligence. May God grant us an understanding of the reason for the externals of our worship.

The reason for the externals of our worship. The reason for the externals of our worship. God wants our hearts. Fourthly, God the one who cares for his people. God the one who cares for his people.

Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His Word. Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy, but they shall be ashamed." Once again, we are commanded to hear carefully. We are commanded to hear carefully what God has to say. His word here is directed to the very ones who attend that word with anxious carefulness as we saw earlier. And God promises to not overlook the suffering and the shame experienced by those who tremble at this Word.

When one truly trembles at the Word of God, Who takes it seriously in all aspects of his life and chooses that word above any and all other ways, he will become hated, and often by those who are called brethren. Brethren, Peter reminds us that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Christ told those of His day to expect it. It was the same response, He said, that was given to the prophets. They were hated.

They were maligned. They were persecuted. They hated the prophets. They hated Christ. And I believe Isaiah is here using the word brethren to refer to fellow Jews in the flesh.

Remember God in the previous chapter drew a hard, clear, indistinguishable line between those who thought themselves servants of God and those who truly were His servants. There was a remnant of servants, the true Israel, the circumcised of heart, found within the broader scope of Israel who were but mere descendants of Abraham. And so from the very loins of believing Abraham arose a people who forsook the Lord and their hatred of the remnant grew greater as the day of Messiah's revealing drew near. They hated the remnant And in the name of Christ and for the supposed glory of God, They sought to persecute them. Christ came to His own, His brethren, and they received Him not.

He came to His own hometown and preached the gospel as found in this very book of Isaiah. What was the response? The people arose from their seats. They cast him out of the synagogue. They cast him out of the synagogue.

They cast him out of the city and pushed him to the edge of a hill where there was a great cliff in order to kill him. And Christ said that it would be no different for his disciples. This is what he tells them in John 16 too. They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service." So here in this verse I again find reason to lean upon the translation of the Old King James Version rather than the New King James.

The New King James connects the two phrases here, let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy. And thus, connecting them, they make it as a statement from these people who hated them. That the statement from these people is, let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy. I simply cannot make sense out of this translation of connecting these two. So I'll be the first to admit that it may be simply my own ignorance or inability to bring meaning from the way the New King James has it.

But listen to the way again that the old King James has it. The old King James says this, hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word, your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said Let the Lord be glorified. End of that statement. But he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. So the King James limits the quote of the hateful brethren to, let the Lord be glorified.

And we saw that just in the passage that I quoted from John 16. They think they'll be doing service to God by casting you out and by killing you. So I can see how they're saying, let the Lord be glorified. So to me, it brings clarity by connecting this bringing of joy to the opposite of what will happen to those who hated them. Let the Lord be glorified, they said, by your death, by casting you out.

But here's the word of the Lord to those who tremble at heart. God shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." And it also coincides, I believe, with the text we considered a few weeks ago from chapter 65, verse 13 and 14. Look back over at that. Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty.

Hear this. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart and wail for grief of spirit." God's already made this distinction of joy and rejoicing compared to shame and to grief. And so I believe that the way the old King James renders it here coincides even with that. These are precious promises from the mouth of our God.

God will not forget His servants, those who are humble and afflicted in their souls because they handle with anxious care the words of their Father. He wants us to be assured of it. It is as though he is saying, oh, oh, you who tremble at my word, I do not want you to miss what I am about to say. Yes, you suffer at the hands of those who hate you, but fear not. We've heard that before in Isaiah, haven't we?

Fear not when he shall appear. It will be for your joy, but for their shame. Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget the precious promise of God we saw back in chapter 40. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him.

And how will his church experience this strong hand and arm? He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with young. Fifthly and finally, God the one who fully repays his enemies. God the one who fully repays His enemies.

Verse 6, the sound of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord who fully repays His enemies. The God who considers our ways and the ways of His enemies is the one who will fully repay His enemies. And I believe the enemies, in keeping with how we've walked through the text, I believe the enemies he is referring to in this particular section of the chapter are the unbelieving Jews, these brethren who have cast them out. Now the scope of God's judgment grows, I believe, as the chapter progresses, but here I believe it is referring to those whom He has already addressed in this chapter of Isaiah and in the previous chapter. Starting back in 65 verse 6, he declares what he will do to his called people who refuse to respond to his outstretched arms.

Behold, it is written before me, 65, 6, I will not keep silence, but will repay, even repay into their bosom, your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, " says the Lord. Then in 65-12, he addresses this same group as those who forsake the Lord. They were once true, but they have forsaken the Lord and they forget his holy mountain. This is what he says he will do to them 65 12 therefore I will number you for the sword and you shall all bow down to the slaughter Because when I called you did not answer when I spoke you did not hear, but did evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight." Same verses, same ideas here that are in our text. And God said, I'm numbering you for the sword and for the slaughter.

Again, these enemies are addressed in the following manner in verse 15 of chapter 65. You shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen, for the Lord God will slay you and call his servants by another name. And this now brings us back to verse 4 of chapter 66, the first part, which I said we would return to. So the very beginning of verse 4 here in chapter 66, so will I choose their delusions and bring their fears on them Matthew Henry states the following They chose they chose their own way Therefore says God I also will choose their delusions. They have made their choice and now I will make mine.

They have taken what course they pleased with me and I will take what course I please with them. They shall be deceived by those vain confidences with which they have deceived themselves. God will make their sin their punishment. They shall be hurried into ruin by their own delusions. Thus, their greatest fears happen.

The sound of noise and the sound of judgment are heard in their fine city and their glorious temple. Assyria had already come to Judah and had come up to the neck of the head, Jerusalem. But Soon, if it had not already happened, Babylon would come and destroy Jerusalem and the temple of God. In Isaiah's prayer, back In chapter 64, verses 10 and 11, refer to that destruction. Your holy cities, O God, are a wilderness.

Zion is a wilderness. Jerusalem, a desolation. Our holy and beautiful temple where our fathers praised you is burned up with fire and all our pleasant things are laid waste. But there would come yet another such time when the Lord's voice of judgment would be sounded again in Jerusalem and in the glorious temple, the destruction at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD. This would be the crushing blow to those who had for so long put their confidence in a building and in a system.

Where is your confidence placed this morning? Is your confidence placed in a decision you made some time ago to follow Christ? Is your confidence in the forms of religion that you have placed in your life? Is your confidence in how well you have kept the law of God? How much further along in grace you are than that person or that person?

How about you, young person? Is your confidence in the fact that you are in a Reformed church? Is your confidence in the fact that you are in a home-schooled family, a family which teaches you the Word of God? Is that where your confidence is? Listen to me.

If your confidence is placed in anything else than in the blood of Jesus Christ, then You are an enemy of God. You are a stranger to the covenant. You are without hope and without God in this world. You have not heeded His Word. You have not trembled before His Word.

Your soul has not been smitten with the deep humility and lowliness that would drive you to the cross of Christ saying, Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Nothing, nothing In my hand I bring. Why? Because it's all His. He needs nothing.

Simply to Thy cross I cling, naked, come to Thee for dress. How can I build a temple for you to dwell in where I have no clothing of my own to clothe myself? Helpless. Look to thee for grace. Me the builder?

No, me helpless. Thou, thou, I to the fountain fly, wash me Savior or I die. So I close, thank you for your patience this morning, I close with one burning question and it brings us back to the title of the sermon. Who is the God of your worship? Who?

We have come face to face in this passage with the God who is all-sufficient, with the God who condescends to the lowly, the God who considers all of our ways, the God who cares for His people, and the God who fully repays His enemies. Is this your God? Is this the one whom you have come to worship this day? Or have you created your own version of the God of this Bible. That is to make a graven image.

That is no different than having a statue in your living room to make a God in your mind of your own liking. One who will approve of your ways, as long as you acknowledge him in some of the ways he has chosen. This is really to place yourself as the God of your worship. Who is the God of your worship? Seek the Lord while He may be found.

Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way. And the unrighteous man, His thoughts, let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts he who has an ear let him hear with a trembling heart what the Spirit is saying to us in this place today through this passage that He has said before us.

Let's pray. Oh God, help us to have true dealings with You. Oh God, as you have revealed yourself to be, as you have revealed to us what is acceptable in your sight. Oh give us grace to repent, to fall down on our knees, oh God, to tremble at Your Word and to cast ourselves on Jesus Christ, the All-Sufficient One. In His name we pray, Amen.