Raising the Standard

Old Testament Reading – Hosea 4:1-10
New Testament Reading – 2 Corinthians 6:11-18 

Raising the Standard
“A Pastor’s Plea for a Return to Righteousness”
Isaiah 59:1-21

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

   Fifty years ago, in the name of “church growth,” a new generation of church leaders abandoned the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, which were, as Jude said, “Once delivered to the saints,” and replaced them with a benevolent gospel which seems to be more concerned about not hurting the feelings of those who are dying in their sins than in facing them with the truth that will set them free from an eternity in hell. This deliberate lowering of the standards of righteousness has resulted in two major problems for today’s church.

• Biblical illiteracy and doctrinal deficiency – According to a study by Ligonier Ministries, today’s generation of evangelicals are ignorant of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, and, therefore, hold contradictory beliefs regarding significant theological issues such as the sin nature of man, God’s Triune nature, and the only worship God accepts.
• An increase in lawlessness, wickedness, and brazen expressions of evil – By every measure, the American culture is becoming like the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the days of Noah.

“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8

• Many who claim to be devoted disciples of Christ are following after a god of their own imagination, and the tragedy of it is that they think they are worshipping the one true God.
• However, having rejected the God described in the Scriptures, they are left with the god who represents the spirit of the age; an idol with religious wrappings; a false god whom Satan uses to distract us from the one, true God.

   Throughout the Old Testament, the pattern of Israel’s spiritual infidelity, followed by God’s judgment, is clearly evident, and such is the case in Isaiah 59.

• In their rebellion against God, righteousness had been turned around: truth was called evil and evil, was called truth; light was called darkness, and darkness light; sweet was called bitter and bitter sweet.
• The culture was about to collapse, as God’s holy standards had been replaced with those designed by man, and God’s holy name was being dishonored.
• King Nebuchadnezzar’s armies were camped nearby, ready to carry out God’s final judgment by removing them from the land.

1. God’s Rebuke of Israel’s Sins – Isaiah 59:1–8 – Vs, 1-2 –

• It was not God’s Fault – “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear”
• It was their own fault – Your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you.”
• While our sins do not separate us from the presence of God, nor from the love of God, our sins separate us from our fellowship with God and the daily blessings of God.
• Ruth Bell Graham was quoted as having said, “If God doesn’t do something about the lack of morality in America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
• However, God did something about the level of immorality in our culture, but by lowering the standard of righteousness, today’s churches have negated the power of the gospel to deliver the people from their bondage to sin.

   In verses 3-8, God identified Israel’s sins as:

• Violence and bloodshed: “For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.” (Isaiah 59:3)
• Deception: “Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.” (Isaiah 59:3)
• Injustice: “No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity.” (Isaiah 59:4)
• Wicked thoughts and actions: “They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web.” (Isaiah 59:5) The imagery of venomous snakes and cobwebs symbolizes the entrapping nature of sin.
• Lack of peace and righteousness: “The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.” (Isaiah 59:8)

2. Israel’s Repentance unto God – Isaiah 59:9-15 – Vs. 9 –“Therefore, justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us. We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness.”

• In verse 9, light is a metaphor for truth and righteousness, but wherever they looked for it, they only found more darkness.
• In verse 9, groping in the darkness like a blind person describes their search for justice and fairness, but it could not be found anywhere.
  • Christians look to the government, to Law enforcement, to the Courts, and to today’s churches for answers to the evil culture in which we live, but all they find is more darkness.
• In verses 12-15, the people finally begin to acknowledge their sins, their offenses, their iniquities, and their rebellion against God – they realized they had turned their backs upon their God.
• However, if they shunned the evil activity they once embraced, and dared to uphold a moral standard they had once rejected, they would be attacked by those with whom they had participated in those evil activities.

3. God’s Restoration of His People – Isaish 59:15b-21 – Vs. 15b – 16 – “Then it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore, His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.”

• God wondered why there was no intercessor for the nation’s sins; no one to lead the people to raise the standard of righteousness in their lives. And seeing no one, God decided to do it Himself.
• God dressed Himself in the armor of a warrior and clothed Himself in the garments of vengeance and zeal, ready to pour out His wrath on His enemies and His retribution to His foes.

• That is what it means to raise the standard of righteousness against the flood of evil that has engulfed our culture. That is what it means to walk with the Lord in the light of His Word; to be a reflection of His glory to everyone we meet, and to be witnesses of His power to transform our lives wherever we are.
• God wants to reveal His power to an unbelieving world through those He has ransomed and redeemed. God wants us to be living witnesses of His power to save; living billboards of His amazing power to transform our lives.
• However, if we shave off the edges of the gospel to be liked by or to fit in with the unbelievers, not only will our witness to them be nullified, but the name of our Lord will not be glorified. While we will not be held accountable for their eternal salvation, we will be held accountable for our witness unto them.
• For every numerical gain in church attendance that was made by some manipulative method:
  • There was a loss of doctrinal and theological truth, as the essential doctrines of the Christian faith were compromised by the very method itself.
  • There was a lack of spiritual understanding on the part of the new believer, and that lack of discipleship resulted in a lack of true spiritual growth, and therefore the understanding of the Holy Scriptures, and the loss of true, biblical worship.
  • However, and more importantly, the glory that rightfully belonged to Jesus Christ for drawing men to be saved, was diverted to man.