Correct Theology and the Power of Repentance (Isaiah 65:1-7)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
1 I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name. 2 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts; 3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; 4 Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; 5 Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. 6 ‘Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom— 7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,’ Says the Lord, “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.
Introduction
In South Korea, there is a denomination built under Pastor Dong-won Lee. He built a huge church that has about 30,000 church members. Those who know of this pastor, they respect him and know him to be renowned. He gives good sermons and many people look up to him. But this renowned pastor, this pastor suffers from a suffering that no one suffers from. This suffering that this pastor has is, this pastor had two sons and his eldest son has a mental illness. So, last time, this pastor received a lot of grace from God so he started attending seminary school. I think this pastor’s wife was a nonbeliever and she was against him going to seminary school so she left him. Since this pastor’s eldest son had a mental illness, he entered a mental institute but the hospital said that his eldest son’s mental illness was incurable. His second son graduated from a good school as a valedictorian and is now working as a lawyer in America. But his second son deteriorated so he went to the hospital and the hospital told him that he had stage four colon cancer. He went to go get treated but in 8 months, he passed away. This pastor was in complete sorrow and he held his son’s funeral in America. One of his sons has a mental illness and his second son was very smart but ended up dying of cancer. Why did all of this happen? You may ask why life is like this? During that time period, it was during COVID. This pastor ended up having to isolate in his room for two years and during that time, he prayed to and repented before God. During this time, God gave him grace and he was able to discover 10 things of thanksgiving. His first son is in hardship because of mental illness and his second son died of cancer. But during that time, he still gave thanksgiving to God. When I read the 10 things of thanksgiving of this pastor, I was very moved. Because of his repentance and thanksgiving to God, I think God was really moved by this pastor. But something astounding happened. His first son, who has a mental illness, listened to his father’s sermons and translated his father’s sermon into seven volumes in English. The translation entered America and people in America gave him an award. When I heard this, I realized how important repentance is. So, the sermon title is what it is today, “Correct Theology and the Power of Repentance.” Last week we spoke about Isaiah’s prayers and Isaiah crying out to God. When we pray, God will absolutely answer us. To Isaiah, God gave him an answer. That is what today’s Biblical scripture is about.
1. God's Grief
1) God takes pity on us
Verses 1-2 - If you look at another translation of this verse, it speaks about Isaiah’s pleas to God why God is not answering to their prayers. But God responded that He had reached out to Gentiles and answered them. So, God is saying why Isaiah and His people can’t see His answers and works of miracles.
Verse 2 - God said that He has always been stretching out His hand to give them answers. He has always reached out to them but it was the Israelites who rejected God. God said that He stretched out His hand all day long to rebellious people. He was calling out to His people all day long and telling them to pray to Him so that He can answer them. But it was the Israelites who rejected God and went towards their own ways instead. The people of this world only want answers according to what they want. They don’t care about what God wants. God wants to give us greater answers and blessings but we are only looking at small things and the worldly things. We chose to turn our backs towards God. You think that God is not answering you because you are not getting what you want.
2) People who provoke His wrath
Verse 3 - God wanted to answer them and was constantly telling them He wanted to answer them but the Israelites continued to reject God. Instead of turning towards God, they were making God more angry. They were busy building idols and worshiping them. What kind of life did they live?
Verse 4 - Their lives were full of abominable things and they were searching other things instead of God. They were seeking out graves to speak to dead spirits instead. They would sit in front of tombs and pray to other things instead of God. They would do that so they can gain the strength of the spirits. They would eat the pig’s flesh meaning that they were eating and feasting on food for the idol worship. This is talking about the Israelites, the chosen people of God. They left God, the word of God, and worship. They left God and ended up worshiping idols instead. This is the same thing for us. If we leave God and worship, then you have no choice but to become slaves to the things of this world. If you look at people who live like this, their faces look different from ours. If you look on TV regarding a famous shaman, you can see their eyes look so dark and black. This is what happens when you become captivated by Satan, your face has no choice but to become darkened. Even if you attend church but you stop receiving grace, then your face will darken. Not only that but your heart will start to harden.
2. Incorrect Faith
1) Incorrect theology
What is more scary is written in verse 5 - This is talking about the Israelites. They were chosen by God but they ended up worshiping idols. But God was telling them to stop and Isaiah was warning them of God’s wrath. But instead of listening to Isaiah and God, they became angry. They became arrogant and said that they were better than everyone else. They were completely engulfed by the wrong theology and mindset. There are so many people who are going towards the wrong paths because they are bound by the wrong theology. Let me give you an example. If you look at the salvation sect, they are believing in the wrong things.
You can see as you look at Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” - If you become saved, then your past, future, and present sins are all solved and ended. The problem is that people think that they don’t need to repent anymore. They are saying that if you become saved, then you have become righteous because of Jesus and they don’t need to repent anymore. I don’t know what you think about this. Have your past, present, and future sins been forgiven? There are people who are not even Christians who love this theology formulation. People think that they can live however they want since they have been saved and their sins have been forgiven. They have received the wrong theology teaching. Then, what do we believe in? God has made us alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. We have been freed from the law of sin and death.
We have been moved from death to life when Jesus resurrected as seen in John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” - We have been freed from our sins. We need to look from this perspective. We had to go to hell but now we can go to heaven. Through the cross and death of Jesus, we have been saved and we have been freed from death.
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - No matter what happens, we will never go to hell. We have gained life. We have been moved from death to life. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, Jesus shed His blood and we have become a new creation.
What is important is Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” - I mentioned this during Friday worship service. We are under grace and not under law, this means that we are no longer under the damnation of hell. If we become saved, then we will never go to hell. What is important is that we are under God’s grace. We are in the midst of God’s grace so we have been saved and our sins have been forgiven. There is something more important. We have been freed from death and condemnation of sins because Jesus died for us. But what is important is that we no longer have to go to hell but we still possess the fruits of sins that are still rooted in us. We know that we continue to sin even though we have accepted Christ. This is the problem that we must solve. How do we solve this? It is solved through repentance. Through the name of Jesus Christ, we repent in His name so we can be cleansed of the residue of sins that are still rooted in us. If we repent, then we can experience God’s grace and we can hear God’s words. We can see the sins that we have committed and we receive God’s grace to repent. At that time, the Holy Spirit will work when we repent. There are people who con other people and go to prison but when this person is in prison, he ends up accepting Christ. This con artist met Christ in prison and he ended up repenting before God. But after he was released from prison, he met up with one of the people that he conned. He told the person that he accepted Christ in prison so all of his sins and debts are paid off. This is the wrong theology and mindset. The fruits that are bore because of your sins and wrongdoings, we need to be cleansed of them during our time of repentance. When we repent then the Holy Spirit works. Then, what happens?
Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” - Within our hearts, the darkness that has built a house within us departs. There is darkness that is within us, we may proclaim constantly for this darkness to depart from you but it doesn’t go away. But you need to uproot the sin and darkness within yourself first. Then that house of darkness will demolish within you. This is the sanctification process. When we earnestly repent before God, then the Holy Spirit will work and you will experience peace in your heart. If you find no remorse or need to repent, then God will become angry and pour His wrath onto you. When God becomes really angry, then you can see fumes coming out of His nose. This is because you live however you want. You go around and call yourself righteous but this is what makes God angry.
2) God's retribution
Verses 6-7 - All our thoughts and judgments, God sees all of that and records it. When we go before God, God will present to you everything that you have done in your life. There is nothing you can hide from God. God sees everything so what do you think you can hide from Him? The gospel that you are holding onto, all of that will be revealed before God. When we go before God in heaven, there will be rewards. But if you do something wrong, there will be the wrath of God presented before Him as well.
Isaiah 1:18 “ 'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.' ” - This is the power of repentance. If you truly come before God and repent, then God said that He will cleanse your sins and become white as snow. You need to start anew. This is the importance of repentance.
3. True Answers
1) The answer of the Passover
Acts 9:15 “But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” - When we meet and have a prayer time, we need to pray to raise up the remnants who can save this generation. We have been chosen as God’s chosen vessel.
2) The answer of the Pentecost
Philippians 3:7, 12 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” - We need to go towards God’s happiness and joy. I am sure we have bore many fruits to please and glorify God. But we need to fold all of that up and look towards Christ. We need to become people of God who can run towards the race that God has presented before you. This is the answer of the Pentecost.
3) The answer of Ingathering
Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” - We need to enjoy our identity and authority as children of God on this earth.
Conclusion
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - When we become people of God who repent before God, then God will open all doors to you. Then, all of the darkness that has seized within us and our family lines, may all of that be broken down in the name of Jesus Christ.
Comments