Wednesday, August 25, 2010

WHAT MORE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE?- -ISAIAH 5:1-30

WHAT MORE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE?
ISAIAH 5:1-30

Key verse: v. 4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?”

Introduction:

In this chapter, under the parable of a vineyard and its ruins, the Jews and their destruction are presented to us. The reason presented is their manifold sins and transgressions. God deals with them and His anger is manifested and yet He still extends His hand to them if they will come by faith to Him. The Lord never gives up and continues even to this very hour to present His Son, Jesus Christ, as the only Hope of mankind.

I. THE GREAT FAVORS GOD HAD BESTOWED UPON HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL

A. He acknowledged them as his own, Psalms 80:8, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.”

B. The soil they were planted in was extraordinary; it was a very fruitful hill, Isaiah 27:3, “I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”

1. It was furnished with abundance of good things, Psalms 103:5, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

2. He fenced it, took it under his special protection, kept it night and day under his own eye, lest any should hurt it, v. 2; Isaiah 27:2, 3, “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. 3- I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”

II. GOD LISTED THE SINS OF ISRAEL

A. God appeals to them, Isaiah 1:18,“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

B. God looked for judgment in Israel, Zechariah 7:9-10, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10- And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.”

C. Man is inflamed by the desire of gain, v. 8; Micah 2:2, “And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.”

D. God reproves their confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, v. 20; Proverbs 17:15, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”

1. They are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge, v. 13; Isaiah 1:3, “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.”

2. Today the multitude of young people are dried up with thirst for lack of the truth, Amos 8:13, “In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.”

III. HELL HAS ENLARGED HERSELF

A. Death had opened its mouth widely, v. 14; Habakkuk 2:5, “Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:”

1. The glory, i.e., the nobles, Psalms 55:15, “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.”

2. The multitude, i.e., the common people, Psalms 49:14, “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.”

3. Their pomp, i.e., the rich, Luke 12:19-20, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20- But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

B. Not just death but HELL was receiving those unbelievers, Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

III. BUT HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL

A. Though His anger was kindled against them, God did not forsake Israel, v. 25; Deuteronomy 31:17, “Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?”

1. God hides His face for a while, Deuteronomy 32:20, “And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.”

2. He caused them to question their lack of faith, Isaiah 63:17, “O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.”

B. His hand is still stretched out to them, Isaiah 9:17, “Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.”

1. God has not abandoned Israel, 1 Samuel 12:22, “For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.”

2. Nor has He abandoned America, Psalms 89:31-34, “If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; 32- Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33- Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. 34- My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”

CONCLUSION

Even though the times look bleak and trouble is everywhere, the Lord is still near. His hand of love and grace is extended to those who will trust His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior.

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