Series: Isaiah
Title: Sons of the Sorceress & Sons of God
Text: Isaiah 57: 3-5
Date: January 22, 2015
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
We preach
the gospel in a positive way: declaring the gracious, successful works of our
triune God for his people. But occasionally we come across passages where God
describes false religion. God has nothing good to say about false religion.
As we
hear this negative description of false religion, remember, this is God’s
description. He is speaking directly of the religious rebels in Israel. God
gave Israel his law, his prophets, his priesthood, and his temple. But they followed false
prophets into gross idolatry and gross iniquity. Yet, all the while they kept the
name of Jehovah, claiming to worship God,
claiming to look for Christ to come. The same is true of those in false
religion in our day or any generation.
Isaiah 57: 3: But draw near hither, ye sons
of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. 4: Against whom do
ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the
tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, 5:
Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in
the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
In
these three verses, God declares that those in false religion are exactly what
they preach against.
SONS OF THE SORCERESS
First,
God says will-workers are children of the sorceress, “But draw near hither, ye
sons of the sorceress.” (Is 57: 3)
It means
they are children of disobedience to God. Disobedience to God is the same as sorcery,
witchcraft, devil worship. God declared that through Samuel when he sent Samuel
to rebuke king Saul. God sent king Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites, with
all their sheep and oxen. But king Saul came back with the fattest sheep which
he intended to sacrifice to God.
1
Samuel 15: 22: And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23: For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft,…
Rebellion is as sorcery, witchcraft.
1
Samuel 15: 23…and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
To disobey God is idolatry, to worship the work of your
own hands, your own sacrifices rather than rest in Christ from all your works.
1
Samuel 15: 23: Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also
rejected thee from being king.
God is
pleased with one offering and one sacrifice, his Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is how Israel disobeyed the word of God?
That is how will-workers in our day reject and disobey the word of God? By
rejecting Christ!
OBEDIENCE IN PREACHING
God
gives his preachers one charge. God’s prophets of old and God’s preachers today
are sent by God with one means—preaching; and with one message—Christ and him
crucified.
Speaking
of old testament scriptures given by true prophets of God, Christ said “…they
are they which testify of me.” (Jn 5: 39) That means every old testament
prophet was sent of God to testify of Christ.
On the
road to Emmaus, Christ declared what Moses and all true prophets were sent to
prophesy of “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Lu 24: 27) That shows us
that Moses and the old testament prophets were not sons of disobedience. They
obeyed God by prophesying of Christ.
Paul
began his epistle to the Romans speaking of “Jesus Christ and the gospel of God”—“(Which
he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” (Ro
1:1-3) It means the whole old testament is concerning Christ and that message
was delivered by God’s obedient prophets doing what God commanded them to do
with the one message.
The
apostle Peter said all true prophets preached Christ—“Of which salvation the
prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which
are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”
(1Pe 1:10-12)
Likewise, in this gospel age, Christ’s preachers are sent
with the same means and message—the preaching of Christ and him crucified—“For
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God…For after that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe.” (1 Cor 1: 17-18, 21)
OBEDIENCE IN HEARING
Furthermore,
all those who hear—then and now—are given one command from God—“Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent.” (Joh 6:29) John said, “And this is his commandment, That we should
believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment.” (1Jo 3:23)
Old
testament saints were saved the same way as new testament saints—through faith
in Christ. Of Abel we read, “By faith Abel.” He came to God in the blood of a
lamb. “And obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts”
(Heb 11: 4) Abel was made the righteousness of God generations before the law
was given at Mt. Sinai. How? By faith in Christ the Lamb.
Of Noah
we read, “By faith Noah,…became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
(Heb 11: 7) “The righteousness which is by faith” is the righteousness of
Christ given us through faith in Christ.
Of Abraham
we read, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out…obeyed;” (Heb 11: 8) Christ
said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and
was glad.” (Joh 8:56)] Four hundred and thirty years before the law was given
at Mt. Sinai, Abraham obtained the righteousness of God. How? He established
the law through faith in Christ, “Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid: yea, we establish the law…What shall we say then that
Abraham…found. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof
to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” (Rom 3: 31-4:2-3)
Moses had the law but how was he made the righteousness
of God?—“By faith Moses,…esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures in Egypt:…” (Heb 11:25-26) Moses was made righteous not by his
own obedience to the law but through faith in Christ.
Every sinner saved under old testament were saved by the everlasting
covenant of grace—“These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth…” (Heb 11: 13)
“All the promises of God in Christ are yes, and in Christ amen, unto the glory
of God by us.” (2 Cor 1: 20) David said, “The Lord hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation, and all my desire…” (2 Sam
23: 5)
They all heard the gospel of Christ preached, all
believed on Christ and all were saved by Christ, like every sinner saved in our
day. For that reason he says to believer in our day, “Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
So this
is obedience. This is what it is not to be a son of the sorceress. God sends
his preacher with one means: preaching; with one message: Christ and him
crucified. Those who hear obey God by believing on Christ whom he hath sent and
continuing together with his people, under Christ’s gospel, with our hearts
knit together in love.
OTHER MEANS, OTHER MESSAGES
So God
says in our text the false prophets, like false preachers today, were the
sorceress because they used other means and brought a false message other than
Christ and him crucified:
Will-workers disobey by preaching another gospel, which
is not another. They declare man is not spiritually dead, not helpless in his
sins but has a free-will. At some point, they say we are saved in part by our
works and obedience to the law. God says natural man is “dead in trespasses and
in sins” (Eph 2: 1)
Brethren, it is impossible to preach Christ crucified
while declaring sinners have a little life and a little goodness in us; impossible
to preach Christ while preaching sinners can obey the law of God; impossible to
preach Christ while preaching that sinners can bring themselves to Christ when
they will; impossible to preach Christ as the successful Redeemer, while
preaching Christ died for all men without exception. The very reason God sent
his Son is to do for his people what we can in no way do for ourselves: Christ
came to uphold, magnify and honor the law of God for his people.
Will-workers disobey God by using other means such as entertainment,
music, and programs. They advertise their alms-giving to attract, advertise missions
and church-planting. These are things Christ commands his people not to do. Christ
said they do these things, “to be seen of men”, “that they may have glory of
men.” And Christ said when they get it, “They have their reward.” (Mt 6: 2, 5,
16) He says the same thing in Isaiah 57 verse 6, “Among
the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot.”
Therefore, because they are sorceresses using another
means and another message, God says their
converts are “sons of the sorceress.” Rather than obeying God by believing and resting
from their works in Christ, they trust in their law-keeping, their sacrifices, their
offerings, joining with works religion in their orgy of religious disobedience
to God. We will see this more as we go through the next several chapters of
Isaiah.
Sinner, hear the word of God delivered by the faithful
prophet Samuel, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected
the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee.” Turn from your vain works
and believe on Christ.
ILLIGITIMATE SONS
Secondly,
God says will-workers are not sons of God but illegitimate sons, “the seed of
the adulterer and the whore.” (Is 57: 3)
For
those truly saved by grace, believers are Christ’s church, his bride and Christ
is our faithful Husband. Paul said, “I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ.” (2 Cor 11: 2) But spiritual adulterers are those who reject
our Husband, betraying the marriage union to Christ our Husband by looking to
another, even their own works.
Spiritual
whores prostitute themselves to others. All freewill, works religion is the religion of the great whore. It only produces
is illegitimate children.
Revelation
17: 1: And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2: With whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication…4: And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication: 5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6: And
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus:…
Revelation
17: 15: And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore
sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Revelation
18: 3: For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5: For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities. 6: Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according
to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7: How much she
hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so, much torment and sorrow give
her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see
no sorrow. 8: Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning,
and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord
God who judgeth her.
Sinner,
God says, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
THE SAME AS THOSE THEY CONDEMN
Thirdly,
false religion boasts against those they condemn. Yet, God says they are
exactly the same as those they condemn.
Will-works
religion boasts and mock God when they condemn poor sinners—“Against whom do ye
sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the
tongue?” (Is 57: 4)
God says of those who condemn
disobedience and think they are righteous by their obedience to the law, “are ye not children of transgression?” (Is 57: 4) It is
because they refuse to obey and rest in Christ from their vain works
God says of those who preach against adultery, whoredom
and idolatry, “[Are ye not] a seed of falsehood, Enflaming yourselves with
idols under every green tree.” (Is 57: 4-5) He is saying, “Are you not the seed
of the adulterer and the whore? Are ye not as passionate and zealous over the
works of your hands, as literal adulterers and whores are full of lusts.”
God says of the will-worker who preaches against murder,
boasting of their children, their converts, “[are ye not] slaying the children
in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?” (Isa 57:4-5) They were the same
as the religious multitude in Christ’s day. Christ said, “Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than
yourselves.” (Mt 23: 15) Jude said they and their converts are “twice dead,
plucked up by the roots.” (Jude 12) It is because they are children dead in
sins by their first birth but now dead with a false hope—twice dead, two-fold more
the children of hell.
CONDEMNING THYSELF
God’s word in our text is like Paul’s word to the scribes
and Pharisee’s. In Romans 1, the apostle gave that list of immoral sins. They
thought they were righteous and holy because they never did those things outwardly,
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for
wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest
doest the same things.” (Ro 2:1)
They condemned
stealing but by thinking they were righteous because they did not steal, they
were stealing the glory that belongs to Christ for making his people righteous,
“Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that
preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” (Rom 2: 21)
They condemned
adultery, but by thinking they were righteous thereby they committed spiritual
adultery, “Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit
adultery?” (Rom 2: 22) God says in our text, “Are ye not the seed of the
adulterer and the whore.”
They condemn physical idols but by teaching righteousness
by man’s obedience to the letter of the law, rather than setting forth the
truth of Christ our Righteousness, they commit sacrilege, “thou that abhorrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?” (Rom 2: 22)
Be sure
to understand. Everything forbidden in the ten commandments is wrong. But if we
think we are righteous and holy because we do not physically do those things
then spiritually we are guilty of all. The
preaching of touch not, taste not, handle not makes man worship and glory in
the works of his own hands rather than Christ our Righteousness—idolatry. (Col
2: 20-23)
TRUE SALVATION
How
does God save his people from vain religion? Be sure we do not exalt ourselves.
By nature, we are sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer and the
whore. We come forth self-righteous by
nature, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive
me.” (Ps 51: 5)
But
Christ sends his faithful preacher preaching the gospel of Christ crucified, of
God’s Son, God’s elect, God’s delight. God’s preachers declare the sinless,
holy, express image of God, the fullness of the godhead bodily, who will not
share his glory with another.
They preach that God chose his Son to establish his law
and make it honorable for his chosen people. Christ came forth made of a woman,
made under the law. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us. He fulfilled the law on our behalf and satisfied divine
justice for his particular people . Now, each one is Christ’s purchased
possession, bought with the price of his precious blood.
We are not sons of the sorceress, the adulterer and the
whore because Christ is our faithful Husband. Through his faithful bride, his
church, through the incorruptible seed, his gospel word we preach, he births his child by his Spirit. He
circumcises us in the heart in spirit making us hear the law declare us guilty.
Christ receives the glory for making us cry out to Christ in faith. God receives the glory for making us behold
Christ, the end of our weary labor under the law. Christ our righteousness makes
us the very righteousness of God in him.
Then God says, “Draw near hither, ye sons of MINE! Are ye
not sons of my Son! Are ye not children of my Righteousness! Are ye not the seed
of THE TRUTH! These are my true worshippers, the planting of the Lord, who give
God all the glory and all the praise! “For he is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But
he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of
the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is
not of men, but of God.” (Ro 2:28-29)
Amen!