Watchman Radio Hour

Alex Dodson: God calls his people to live holy lives. He calls us to live lives worthy of the calling we have received. Today, holy living though is lacking in our nation. Sin abounds everywhere. People are worshiping all kinds of idols. People are neglecting God or leaving him completely out of their lives. Christians go to church on Sunday and then live like everyone else the rest of the week. This is not right. One of the greatest sins of the nation is how we treat the Sabbath day. Once upon a time, the nation honored the Christian Sabbath. Stores closed on Sunday.

It was a day of rest from regular work days. But today, that's all in the past. We hold great commercial events on Sunday thinking nothing of it. And the Super Bowl is the prime example. We are living in the 24/7 age. The Sabbath day is something done in the past. This generation has totally abandoned it. We have turned sports into idol worship. Multitudes bow down to fashion where it's sexy clothing or mutilating our bodies with tattoos. Young people worship music idols raising hands in praise to them. The whole society has become saturated in sexual immorality of all kinds.

Just compare the Hollywood movies of long ago with what is put out today. Things that were considered wrong by our forefathers are promoted today as if nothing was ever wrong with it. Can't we do even realize we don't even realize the depth of our depravity as a society. In the midst of all of this though, God calls us to holy living. Our text today is Isaiah 56:1 and 2. This is what the Lord says, maintain justice and do what is right for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Bible that you have given to us. We thank you that it's your infallible word and that we can put our full confidence in all that it says. And now, oh Father, as we come to study your word, we pray that you will send your holy spirit and great convicting power. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Holy living is greatly lacking in this nation as we day after day trample on the law of God under our feet and refuse to obey God's commands. Such nations have been greatly judged in the past and this nation can be no exception.

God calls us to repentance this very hour. He calls you to repentance at this very moment. Repent of your great sins and turn to Christ as your Lord and trust in him as your savior. Hard not your hearts. Turn to the Lord before it's too late. Now, let us see in the first place today a great event is coming. In verse 1, it says, this is what the Lord says, maintain justice and do what is right for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. They were going to return from exile.

The next great event is that they would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. God raised up Cyrus to deliver his people. In Ezra 1:1 through 4, it says in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing. And this is what Cyrus, king of Persia, says, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Anyone of his people among you, may his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem and the people of any place where survivors may now be living or to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with free will offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem. This event would really happen. The people would return to Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt. And they would return to await the coming of the Messiah.

But the coming of Christ or the coming of the Messiah is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise here in Isaiah. They would return to the land of Israel and the Messiah would come. It would be a few years before he came came, but he was going to come. God's salvation and righteousness would be revealed ultimately in the coming of Christ. Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator, wrote my salvation is near to come. The great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ, for that was the salvation of which the prophets inquired and searched diligently, for it says in 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 10 concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you. When they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven, even angels long to look into these things. Matthew Henry goes on to say in that salvation, God's righteousness is revealed, which is so much the beauty of the gospel that Saint Paul makes this the ground of his glorifying in it in Romans 1:17. Because therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The Old Testament saints saw this salvation coming and drawing near to them long before it came and they had noticed by the prophets of its approach.

Matthew Poole writes my salvation, that imminent salvation by the Messiah so largely promised and insisted upon in the foregoing chapters. And then we have the prophecy of Simeon recorded in Luke chapter 2. We read in Luke chapter 2 beginning in verse 25. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the holy spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the spirit, he went into the temple courts.

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God and said this, sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation of the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. Jesus came. He was God's salvation and the revelation of God's righteousness. He came as the savior of the world and a fulfillment of all the prophecies made to Israel.

It was to this Jesus that Isaiah's prophecy ultimately pointed. Do you know him? Have you trusted in him? Have you come to him in faith and repentance? Now is the time to come. Don't wait another day. Come to Jesus now. Now, let us see in the second place that they were to wait with holy lives. Verse 7 says verse 1 says this is what the Lord says, maintain justice and do what is right. For my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. God calls us to wait in holy living. A great event was coming.

God called them to wait in holiness. He calls us today who are his people to wait in holiness for his coming, whether his coming at the end of the world or coming for us at death. Romans 13:11 and says it says and do this understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer than when we first believe. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. So, let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Our whole life is a time of waiting for the Lord's coming, whether at the end of our lives or at the end of the world. Let us wait on him in holy living. E. J. Young writes men are to do righteousness not in order that God's salvation may come, but because it is already near. Matthew Poole says this from the consideration of God's promises made to them, he moved them to perform their duty to him.

And Calvin writes keep ye judgment and do righteousness. Under the names judgment and righteousness, he includes all the duties which men owe to each other and which consists not only in abstaining from doing wrong, but also in rendering assistance to our neighbors. And this is the sum of the second table of the law in keeping which we give proof of our piety if we have any Calvin writes for my salvation is near and my righteousness. We must therefore attend to this exhortation which instructs us the nearer we are to God, so much the more powerfully ought we to be excited to the practice of godliness.

In the grace and truth study Bible, it says on this text the people of God are in waiting. Through Isaiah, the Lord explains that until his salvation and righteousness are revealed, his people should maintain justice. Those who pursue righteousness are blessed now and later. Holy living is our calling as Christians. We live in the midst of a society that has for the most part abandoned God and his word. We must not be sucked into this worldly society that we live in. Instead, we must stand apart and live our lives for God. Instead of bowing down to worldly idols, we must worship God and follow his precepts.

Instead of sinking with so many into sexual immorality of all kinds, we must maintain lives of purity and marriages of faithfulness to each other and to God. Instead of filling our minds with wicked and evil thoughts, we must fill our minds with God's word and apply his word in our lives. Instead of yielding to the latest fashion, we must dress and conduct ourselves with modesty and not do what everybody else is doing. Instead of copying the people who appear in Hollywood movies and use profanity and curse words in our speech, we must watch what we say and how we talk.

Our speech should be pure and should glorify God in all that we say. Dirty jokes should never come from our lips nor should we listen to such things. God calls us to holiness. In Colossians 3 verses 5 through 8, it says put to death therefore what belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips.

As Christians, our bodies are the temple of the holy spirit. So, what we do with our bodies is important. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, it says I do do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit within you whom you have from God, you're not your own. How we dress is important. We should dress for the glory of God. We should dress modestly no matter how the world of fashion dictates. What about putting tattoos all over our bodies? Is that glorifying God who made our bodies or is that following the latest fashions of the world?

If you read Leviticus 19:28, it says this, do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. These kinds of practices were done in the pagan nations, but God's people were to avoid such practices. God calls us to holiness. And then let us see in the third place the maintaining of the Sabbath. Verse 2 says this, blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Keeping the Sabbath showed their allegiance to God.

It was an indication that they were the people of God. In the Geneva Bible note uh two on note one on verse two says under the Sabbath, he comprehended the whole service of God and true religion. E. J. Young writes the expression of the true religion is therein manifest that is in keeping the Sabbath. For this observance constitute a regular remembrance and recognition of the truth as well as a constant profession of the faith. The weekly observance of the Sabbath was tantamount to an acknowledgement that the God of Israel was indeed the creator of heaven and earth and that he had delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt and had set them apart unto himself as a peculiar nation.

He who in sincerity and truth observed the Sabbath was truly devoted to the religion of Israel. For next to circumcision, the Sabbath was the central sign of the covenant. Young goes on to write the Sabbath is used as a synagogue. That is a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole and stands for observance of all that God has prescribed as a weekly recurrence. However, it would call to mind all that God had done for his people and all that was involved in their relationship to him. And then Young writes a mere form of religious service was not sufficient.

Man must keep the Sabbath positively and not profane it. Negatively, he must keep his hand from all evil. Matthew Henry wrote the Sabbath sanctification is here put for all the duties of the first table. The fruits of our love to God is justice and judgment are put for all of those of the second table, the fruits of our love to our neighbor. Keeping the Sabbath was the central part of their faith and its observance set them apart as the people of God. Now, the Sabbath is part of God's moral law. Have you ever read the fourth commandment?

In Exodus 28:1-11, it says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. And on it, you shall not do any work, neither you nor your son or daughter nor your manservant or maidservant nor your animals nor the alien within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The 10 commandments have not been done away with. They are a summary of God's moral law. The Sabbath was instituted during the creation week. The seventh day, God rested from his work. When we keep the Sabbath, we are following in the steps of God. Today, we as Christians observe the Christian Sabbath. When Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Christians began observing the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. It was also called the Lord's day. In Revelation 1:10, John writes on the Lord's day, I was in the spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

In Acts 27, it says on the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and because he intended to live the next day, kept on talking until midnight. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, it says on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money and keeping with his income, saving it up so that when I come, no collections will have to be made. In the early church, it is clear that Christians met on the first day of the week for worship and it became known as the Lord's day or the Christian Sabbath.

The Christian Christian heritage in our nation was once strong and that Sunday was observed as the Christian Sabbath. Stores closed. Normal work was not done on Sunday. There was even there were even laws that promoted the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath day. Joseph Piper in his book on the Lord's day wrote although we may not legislate that people go to church, may we not legislate that businesses and shops be closed on the Lord's day. Such laws once prevalent in the United States and Britain created an environment that was not only spiritually healthy, but also mentally and physically beneficial.

However, today the Christian Sabbath is profane throughout the nation. We're living in a 24/7 society. Stores stay open. Business and commerce gone as usual. Even great commercial events such as the Super Bowl are held on Sunday without any qualms at all. Yet, God calls us to holiness. We need families that will take a stand for God and observe the Lord's day as a day of rest and worship. We need to as a nation to honor God on the Christian Sabbath as our forefathers have done in the past. God calls this nation to repentance for its great sins.

God calls you to repentance for your sin and offers you forgiveness that can only be found at the foot of the cross. Come to Christ today. Come in repentance and faith. In James 4:6, it said God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. This nation needs to be humbled. It needs to humble itself before God. Only then will it become truly great again. You need to humble yourself before God now. Realize that you are a sinner before a holy God. Come to the cross and receive forgiveness and new life in Christ. And now I invite you to come and pray this prayer of commitment.

Dear Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. I confess that I have done wrong in your sight. I have broken your law. I have broken your moral law. Oh Lord, forgive me. I come now to the foot of the cross and accept your forgiveness and I accept you as my savior and Lord. Help me to follow you always. Oh Father in heaven, for those who prayed this prayer today, we pray that you will fill them with your spirit, that you will help them to live their lives for you. In Christ's name, we pray.

Amen.

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