Sunday July 15 2018

Sermon :“The Humble and The Wicked”
    Pastor Kim Wenzel
Contrast The Humble And The Wicked
    Return and Resettlement 

Difficulties in the Restoration (Isaiah 56:1 - 59:21) NLT


1. Blessed is the one who does what is right. 
(Isaiah 56:1-8) NLT
2.The humble and wicked contrasted.  
(Isaiah 56:9 - 57:21) NLT
3. The spiritual and ethical dimensions of Faith.  
(Isaiah 58:1-14) NLT
4. Sin, confession, and deliverance  
(Isaiah 59:1-21) NLT

Sinful Leaders Condemned

 Isaiah 56:9-12  NLT

9 Come, wild animals of the field!
    Come, wild animals of the forest!
    Come and devour my people!
¹⁰ For the leaders of my people—
    the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—
    are blind and ignorant.
   They are like silent watchdogs
    that give no warning when danger comes.
    They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.
¹¹ Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied.
   They are ignorant shepherds,
    all following their own path
    and intent on personal gain.
¹² “Come,” they say, “let’s get some wine and have a party.
    Let’s all get drunk.
    Then tomorrow we’ll do it again
    and have an even bigger party!”

Isaiah 57:1-13 NLT

1 Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time.
    But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand
    that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
² For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.

Idolatrous Worship Condemned

3 “But you—come here, you witches’ children,
    you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
⁴ Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues?
    You children of sinners and liars!
⁵ You worship your idols with great passion beneath the oaks and under every green tree.
You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the jagged rocks in the cliffs.
⁶ Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys, You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings. They, not I, are your inheritance. Do you think all this makes me happy?
⁷ You have committed adultery on every high mountain. There you have worshiped idols
    and have been unfaithful to me.
⁸ You have put pagan symbols on your doorposts and behind your doors.
You have left me and climbed into bed with these detestable gods.
You have committed yourselves to them. You love to look at their naked bodies.
⁹ You have gone to Molech^[a]
    with olive oil and many perfumes, sending your agents far and wide,
    even to the world of the dead.^[b]
10 You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up.
Desire gave you renewed strength, and you did not grow weary. 

¹¹ “Are you afraid of these idols?
    Do they terrify you? Is that why you have lied to me
    and forgotten me and my words? Is it because of my long silence
    that you no longer fear me?
¹² Now I will expose your so-called good deeds.
    None of them will help you.
¹³ Let’s see if your idols can save you
    when you cry to them for help. Why, a puff of wind can knock them down!
    If you just breathe on them, they fall over! But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 59a Or to the king.

b. Isaiah 59b Hebrew to Sheol.

Today's Verse

 1 Timothy 6:6-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing
into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if
we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.