Sermons

Who Can Escape God’s Judgment?
Isaiah 32-35

I recently had to reapply for a life insurance policy, and as always happens, a nurse came to my house and took a lot of blood samples for testing.  Then a few weeks later I received in the mail a detailed report about my blood’s health – cholesterol levels, protein levels, sugar levels.

And when you think about it, this is pretty amazing.  Decades ago there were no tests which could show you the health of your blood – you could have serious problems without knowing about it.  But now there’s a simple test which can show us the health of our blood – so we can take steps to avoid any problems.

What God wants to tell us this morning is that there’s a simple test which can show us the health of our spiritual lives.  There’s a simple diagnostic test which we can take right here this morning – which will help you see whether your spiritual life is healthy or not – so that you can take steps to avoid any problems.

Let’s turn to Isaiah 32.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring a Bible to you.  Isaiah 32 is on page 592 in the Bibles we are passing out. 

We are going through a series on the book of Isaiah, and this morning we are going to cover chapters 32 through 35.  Here’s a brief overview of these chapters:

In ch.32 vv.1-8 Isaiah says that in Israel’s distant future God will raise up the Messiah whose saving work will bring Israel back to God.  But before that, as described in ch.32 v.9 – ch.33 v.12, God will bring Assyria upon Israel to punish her for her sinfulness, and then punish Assyria for her sinfulness.  Then in ch.33 vv.13-24 he calls Israel to have the reality of God’s judgment for sin raise a crucial question.  We’ll come back to that in a moment.  Then in ch.34 he says that God’s judgment will cause the fruitful land to be turned into a desert, and in ch.35 that God’s mercy will then take that desert and turn it into a garden.

So that’s an overview of this section.  But this morning I want to focus on this crucial question that Isaiah wants Israel to raise.  What is this crucial question?  Look at what God says in ch.33 vv.13-14 –

13            Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

14            The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"

God says to Israel: think about how I have punished you for your sin and punished Assyria for her sin.  That is just a foretaste of the judgment I will bring against the whole world for its sin at the end of history.  So God wants Israel to raise a crucial question – at the end of v.14 --

 "Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"

In other words – who can escape God’s final judgment?  That is the crucial question – not just for Israel – but for all of us.

The reason is because there is a God.  Deep down inside, we all know that there is a God, an all-powerful, infinitely good God who has created us and loves us and cares about us.  And if we are honest, we will all admit that we have not responded to God appropriately.

We have not walked righteously: we have not loved God above all else, we have not humbled ourselves before His majesty, we have not obeyed God, we have not loved others.  We have not spoken uprightly: we have distorted the truth by lying, we have exalted ourselves by boasting, we have hurt others by slandering.

Every one of us in this room has knowingly turned our backs on God and gone our own way – time and time again.

And deep down inside we know that while God is love, God is also just and must punish our sin.  And at the end of history God will judge the world.  We know this deep inside, and this was taught by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus Himself and by all His apostles.  At the end of history God will judge the world.

So there is one question that is infinitely important to ask – a question that will affect your existence forever.  It’s the question right there at the end of v.14 --

"Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"

Think of it – you will stand before a God who must bring consuming and everlasting burning upon all sin.  And we all have sinned. 

So who can escape God’s judgment?  Look at v.15 –

“He who walks righteously” – he who trusts God, loves God, obeys God, loves others;

“…and speaks uprightly” – who speaks with love and kindness, who speaks the truth, who does not gossip or slander, who speaks of God and His Word;

“… who despises the gain of oppressions” – who does not take advantage of the poor, who cares for the needy, who gives to those in want;

“… who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe” – who will not let personal gain make him act unjustly or with partiality;

“who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil” – that means he has no involvement in plans to commit bloodshed or evil against others.  He walks toward others in love.

That’s who will avoid God’s everlasting burnings.

Now if you have read your Bible then you might be shocked.  Because here God is saying that the only people who will avoid God’s eternal judgment are those who have a certain level of obedience, a certain level of moral transformation.

But this might shock you because you have read other passages which teach that the only way to avoid God’s judgment is not by your obedience but by faith in Jesus Christ through His grace alone.  Can anyone think of a passage that teaches that?  Ephesians 2:8-9 is one.

Let’s turn there – page 976.  This is what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus at around the year AD 58.

8              For by grace you have been saved [from God’s future judgment] through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9              not a result of works [not a result of your obedience], so that no one may boast.

And yet Isaiah says that it’s only those who have a certain level of obedience who avoid God’s judgment.

So maybe it’s that the Old Testament has a different message than the New Testament.  But when you read the New Testament, you will see that the same message is there. 

Let me just give you one example.  Look at what Jesus taught in the parable of the sheep and the goats – Matthew 25:31-46 (page 831).

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' ⁴¹ "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

So who will receive eternal punishment?  Those who did not feed and clothe and visit in prison the least of Jesus’ brothers.  And who will receive eternal life?  Those who did feed and clothe and visit in prison the least of Jesus’ brothers.  So those who avoid punishment are those with a certain level of obedience and moral transformation – just like Isaiah said.

So both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that the only ones who avoid God’s judgment are those who have a certain level of obedience and moral transformation.  But what about Ephesians 2:8-9?  Let’s turn back there (page 976).

8              For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9              not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So how do these verses all fit together?  They do fit.  Beautifully.  Here’s how. 

First of all, we are not saved from judgment by our works.  That is, you can never obey enough to earn or deserve heaven, because of all your past sin, and even your obedience now is still tainted with remaining sin.  So get this straight: you are not saved by your works.  Don’t leave here saying – OK, to avoid God’s everlasting burnings, I’m going to try real hard to speak uprightly and walk in righteousness and care for the poor.  No matter how hard you try – you will never be able to obey enough to deserve heaven.  No human being gets heaven because of his or her obedience.  So how are we saved?

Second, we are saved from judgment by trusting Jesus – by faith alone – by trusting His perfect obedience and His death on the Cross which pays for all of our sins.  No matter how sinful you are, the moment you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Lord, your Treasure – at that moment you are completely forgiven for all of your sins past, present, and future – you are clothed with Jesus’ perfect moral righteousness and accepted by God as perfectly righteous – and your eternity in heaven is absolutely secured.

And third, saving faith always results in a changed heart and growing obedience.  The moment you trust Jesus Christ, God brings His power upon you, changes your heart, and starts a moral reformation project which by His unstoppable power will continue your entire life until he welcomes you into heaven.  Where did I get that?  From v.10 –

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Let’s go through this one phrase at a time.  “We are his workmanship” – we who are trusting Christ are God’s own workmanship; He has gone to work in us.  “Created in Christ Jesus for good works” -- when God saved you he created a new heart in you, a heart that loves God supremely and trusts Jesus deeply and loves others fully.  You still have indwelling sin – you are not perfect -- but you also have this new heart which God strengthens and grows throughout your life.  “Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” – before the foundation of the world God planned the obedience He would cause you to walk in.

So saving faith always results in a changed heart and growing obedience.

I think I used this illustration before, but I find it helpful.  At Costco you can’t buy just one thing.  So you have to buy two cans of Comet cleanser.  You can’t buy just one.  If you buy this one, you get this one.

Same with being saved.  Genuine faith in Jesus Christ always comes with a changed heart and growing obedience.  There’s no such thing as genuine faith in Jesus Christ that doesn’t produce changed heart and a growing obedience.

Why?  Because when you see Jesus Christ as the Son of God who loved you so much that He laid aside His equality with God the Father and humbled himself by becoming a man who was crucified on the Cross – when You see that love, that goodness, that faithfulness, that mercy – and trust Him genuinely from the heart – you will want to honor Him at your workplace.  You will want to obey Him by being sexually pure.  You will love glorifying Him by giving to the poor.  You will hate sinning against Him by gossiping or lying.  Not that you will do any of these perfectly.  But when you sin, you will be heart-broken because you have dishonored Him, you will repent and confess this before Him, and you will do all you can to overcome that sin and grow in obedience.

But now I want to be absolutely sure we get this.  So two crucial questions.  Will anyone go to heaven because he or she has obeyed so much that they deserve heaven?  No.  Even our obedience is tainted with sin.  We go to heaven because by faith we are connected to Jesus’ perfectly righteous life and to Jesus’ sacrificial death.  Second question: will anyone go to heaven without a heart change and growing obedience?  No.  Because if we are genuinely trusting Jesus – we will have a changed heart and growing obedience.

So no one goes to heaven because of their obedience; but not one goes to heaven without obedience.

Now with that in mind let’s turn back to Isaiah 33.  Isaiah has one more question he wants to answer: what will the redeemed enjoy forever?  That is – what will we are who trusting Jesus Christ – and because we are trusting Him we have changed hearts and growing obedience – what will we enjoy forever?

This is a crucial question – because it’s costly to have a changed heart and growing obedience.  It’s costly to love your enemies.  It’s costly to resist sexual temptation.  It’s costly to give to the poor.  It’s costly to make time to read God’s Word and pray.  It’s costly to forgive.  It’s costly to bear witness of Jesus in your neighborhood and at work.  It’s costly.

So Isaiah ends this section by telling us what will we enjoy?  Start with v.16 --

16            he will dwell on the heights [with God; v.5]; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17            Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty [that’s God; v.22]; they will see a land that stretches afar [heaven].

18            Your heart will muse on the terror: "Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?"  [In the past Assyria demanded tribute and taxes from Assyria, and counting towers was part of adding up the tribute owed.  But the point is – where are all your past trials and difficulties and costs?  They are all in the past – never to be experienced again!]

19            You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.

20            Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.

21            But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.

22            For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Some of you see by your lack of a changed heart and a lack of growing obedience that the faith you thought you had is not genuine.  I have good news for you – turn from your sin to Jesus Christ, trust Him as Savior and Lord and Treasure – and He will change your heart. 

Some of you see an area of growing disobedience in your life – and you want to bring it before the Lord Jesus, trust Him in a new and deeper way, and experience His power changing you.

Some of you have not been sure that the cost is worth it – and you have become lazy.  But look at what Isaiah describes – your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; you will see a land that stretches afar.  Turn to Jesus Christ, trust Him afresh, ask Him to change your heart so you see that He will be worth it all.