Series:
Questions
Title:
What Mean Ye to Oppress my People?
Text:
Isaiah 3: 15
Date:
March 15, 2018
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 3: 15: What mean ye that ye
beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD
of hosts.
God is
speaking to the religious leaders of Judah in Jerusalem and their
self-righteous followers. The high priests, the priest, the Sanhedrin, the
scribes and Pharisees, as well as their self-righteous followers.
The LORD
asked this in defense of those he calls “my
people.” God’s people are his elect—chosen by God in Christ before the world was
made—but they are from every tribe, tongue, kindred and people on earth.
Most people think everyone in Israel
are God’s elect. But God was speaking to the majority in Israel, defending a
remnant he calls “my people”. This
shows that God’s people are not all the children of Israel, nor are they the
children of any particular nation, they are God’s elect called in Christ Jesus.
Romans 9: 6:
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not
all Israel, which are of Israel: 7:
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:
but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8:
That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
God
divides the whole world into two kinds of people: the wicked and the righteous.
Isaiah 3: 10: Say ye to the righteous, that
it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11:
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands
shall be given him.
The
wicked are the devil’s children. The
righteous is Christ himself and all God’s elect in him. After the fall of all men in Adam, God said
to the devil:
Genesis 3: 15: And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel.
As Cain
persecuted Abel, Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and in our text the wicked persecute
the righteous, we are reminded what Paul taught in Galatians 4.
Galatians 4: 29: But as then he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
When it
comes to the wicked in will-works religion, Christ said,
Matthew 23: 4: They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be
borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them
with one of their fingers.
Proposition: The good news: it shall be well with the righteous because the LORD stands up to plead
and to judge the people on our behalf.
Divisions: 1)
The wicked 2) The righteous 3) God’s declaration concerning each
THE WICKED
Isaiah 3: 8: For
Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings
are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. 9: The shew of their countenance doth witness
against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe
unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves…12: As for
my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my
people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of
thy paths.
The wicked are
against the LORD—“For Jerusalem is
ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the
eyes of his glory.” God’s judgment fell upon Israel—including Judah and
Jerusalem—because their religious
words and works were against the LORD God
because they were against his Christ. They
provoked God to his face—before eyes—by commending their own works and by rejecting
God’s very glory, his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The
wicked are proud of their works—“The shew
of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as
Sodom, they hide it not.” Their
sin are their religious works whereby they attempt to make themselves righteous
and holy.
God says their pride shows in their countenance. Christ said, “All their works they do for to be seen of
men.” (Mt 23: 5) But God says their countenance is a
witness against them. Their proud works bears witness of this: “The wicked, through the pride of his
countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (Ps
10: 4)
Christ is the Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption
of the righteous. Therefore, God calls
all self-teaching, self-justifying, self-sanctifying, self-redeeming works the sin of Sodom. Remember, sodomy typifies
will-works religion because neither is capable of bearing fruit.
The
wicked oppress the righteous with a false gospel—“As for my people,
children are their oppressors,
and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of
thy paths.” The men who teach will-works religion are children in understanding: they do not know and preach Christ. The
Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not
these things?” (Jn 3: 10) Christ called them “blind leaders of the
blind.” (Mt 15: 14) They are women,
weak and effeminate, unwilling to suffer persecution for the cause of
Christ. Paul said,
Galatians 6:12: As many as
desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised;
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
So the
wicked “cause [God’s people] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.”—destroying
the truth of Christ. He said,
Luke 11:52: Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away
the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering
in ye hindered.
They
major on minor things, and by that, totally omit the weightier matters of the
gospel. Mingling a little works totally does away with the gospel of God’s
grace. Christ said,
Matthew 23: 23:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith: [the gift of God, apart from our works, whereby we
establish the whole law of God in Christ] these ought ye to have done, and not
to leave the other undone. 24: Ye
blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25: Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26: Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that
which is within the cup and platter, [trusting the Holy Spirit as you preach
the faith of Christ our Sanctification] that the outside of them may be clean
also.
But instead
of using the law to give a knowledge of sin and declare all guilty, the wicked
break the law teaching men they can keep it by teaching only outward obedience is
required. Christ declares:
Matthew 5: 17: Think not that I am come to destroy the
law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18: For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19: Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20: For I say unto you,
That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22: But I say unto you, That whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
The
wicked even invent their own laws by which they disannul God’s law.
Matthew 15: 1:
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2: Why do thy disciples transgress the
tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3: But he answered and said unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4: For God commanded, saying, Honour
thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the
death. 5: But ye say, Whosoever
shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by
whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6: And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7: Ye hypocrites, well did
Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8:
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their
lips; but their heart is far from me. 9:
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.
This is
the way of the wicked in our day in churches everywhere. Much more could be
said, but this is the way of all men by nature. And this is the mind and sinfulness of God’s people as we come into
this world. So all God’s people come
into the world under this same oppression.
In Isaiah’s day, the same will-works salvation in Jerusalem, the heathen
believed outside Israel. Today, natural
men believe and teach the same whether religious or not. So all God’s elect people must be saved from this
oppression. How then shall it be well with the righteous? Who makes the
difference?
THE RIGHTEOUS
Isaiah 3: 13: The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the
people. 14: The LORD will enter
into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye
have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
In the
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, God stood up to both plead for his people and
to judge—he is the advocate pleading the cause of his people and he is the judge
judging his people.
Christ
Jesus, the Righteous, presented himself to God to be made sin for us. Doing so,
he laid down his life the just for the unjust.
The Lord having laid on him the iniquity of all his people—“the spoil of the poor was in his house.” So God stood and judged Christ in the room and
stead of his people.
“God shall enter into judgement with the
ancients of his people and the princes thereof”—Christ is the Ancient of
days, the Prince of his people. So when
he bore the sin of his people God entered into judgment with him. Since all his
people were in Christ, all God’s elect ancients and all his elect princes we
were judged once for all time when God judged Christ in our room and stead.
“What mean ye that ye beat my people to
pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.”—when
God judged our Substitute he gave his back and his face to the smitters for us.
Our old man of sin was crucified and destroyed. Oh, don’t just read over that statement! When Christ was crucified on the cross, our
old man of sin—our sin past, present and future—was judged. We were crucified and destroyed. And in Christ, we arose to newness of life. Therefore, Christ will not allow his people
to be smitten
Therefore,
in time, when Christ found us under the oppression of the wicked, dead in sins,
Christ our King and Savior pleaded for us with God. Due to Christ’s righteousness, God judged it
just to send the gospel to his lost child. Christ established us in
righteousness on the cross. It is a must, therefore, that he establish
righteousness in our hearts. So God send
the Holy Spirit and gave us life and faith in Christ. God brought us out from the oppressor by
making Christ all unto us. Now, we are no more children tossed to and fro by
every wind of doctrine, now we say,
Galatians 2: 19:
I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me. 21: I do not frustrate
the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain.
Be sure
to get this brethren! As he did on the cross, as he did in our hearts, as he
did for his elect in Israel, when we are oppressed by the wicked in this life, Christ
beholds his believing people. And “The
LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.” Oh, what comfort to know that Christ
beholds your every need, believer! Are you oppressed? Christ knows and in his time, he says,
Psalm 12: 5: For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in
safety from him that puffeth at him.
Proverbs 22: 23: For the LORD will plead their cause, and
spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
To the
oppressor who would attempt to bring us back under the law or under a false
gospel, the Holy Spirit says,
Proverbs 23: 10:
Remove not the old landmark;
Rmove not
the ‘no trespassing sign’ that Christ
put around his people when he purchased us with his own blood.
Proverbs 23: 10:….and enter not into the fields of the
fatherless:
Though my
people appear helpless as an orphan, do not tread into the field Christ purchased
for him.
Proverbs 23: 11:
For their Redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
When
Christ beheld what the wicked were doing in Israel to his people, he said,
Isaiah 5: 5:…I
will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge
thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and
it shall be trodden down: 6: And
I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come
up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain
upon it. 7: For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of
Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment,
but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Christ
gave the same parable to the wicked oppressors when he walked this earth:
Matthew 21: 34: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his
servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35: And the husbandmen took his
servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36: Again, he sent other servants more
than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37: But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will
reverence my son. 38: But when
the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come,
let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39: And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard,
and slew him. 40: When
the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those
husbandmen? 41: They say unto
him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his
vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their
seasons. 42: Jesus saith unto
them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43:
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44: And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
So after
Christ called out his elect remnant from Israel, in 70AD he destroyed Israel as
he promised. In that, we behold what the Lord shall do with this whole world
after he has called out his last elect child.
GOD’S DECLARATION
Isaiah 3: 9: Woe unto their soul! for they
have rewarded evil unto themselves…11:
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of
his hands shall be given him
God
declares all men shall receive the just reward for their works.
To the
wicked who attempt to save themselves by their works, God says all their words
and works are sin.
Therefore,
God shall give them the just wage they earned, “the reward of his hands shall be given him.” “For the wages of sin is
death.” (Rom 6: 23) Oh, may God
prove you to be one of the righteous right now by bringing you to believe on
Christ our Righteousness!
To the
righteous, God says “Say ye to the
righteous, that it shall be
well with him: for they shall
eat the fruit of their doings.” The
doings of Christ Jesus, are our doings because we were in Christ when he obeyed
God unto death. So God says, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the
fruit of their doings.” “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6: 23)
Psalm 128:1: « A Song of degrees. » Blessed is
every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. 2: For thou shalt
eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt
thou be, and it shall be well with
thee.
Amen!