In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby observes:
God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
I have learned that God also speaks by the Holy Spirit through my wife. She is, after all, God’s gift to me designed to complete me. Moreover, she is absolutely one of the godliest people I know. Not the saccharine, pie-in-the-sky, religionist some people confuse with godliness. No, my wife sincerely applies herself by God’s grace to be and become a genuine incarnation of Jesus Christ and His Word, one of those christianoi or “little Christs” (Acts 11:26) to her world – in our home, in our neighborhood, in her work, and in our church. So, when she suggests to me – from the other room where she is in her own quiet time of prayer and Bible study no less – that I should bring a message to our church from Isaiah 29:13, well, I take notice and hasten to that text.
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it, he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it, he will say, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said:
Because these people approach Me with their mouths
to honor Me with lip-service —
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship ⌊consists of] man-made rules
learned ⌊by rote⌋ —
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden (Isaiah 29:11-13).
to honor Me with lip-service —
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship ⌊consists of] man-made rules
learned ⌊by rote⌋ —
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden (Isaiah 29:11-13).
Uh-oh. What do I do with this, Lord? What am I to make of Your Word here?
Which is worse – to ignore or disobey God flagrantly on the outside where everybody can see our sin, or to ignore God quietly, secretly on the inside while on the outside we appear to follow Him by doing certain respectable religious acts? The truth is, both are an insult to God, both are direct and intentional insubordination to His authority, both are sin, and both incur His judgment.
As consequence, both paths clearly lead to spiritual incapacitation. Whether externally or internally in defiance, were the rebel to take up God’s Word to read, the prophet reveals they would find Scripture sealed or closed to their understanding. Though they sit in on or even feign to teach 52 Sunday School lessons a year, they cannot begin to comprehend truth. Though they hear 1000 biblically sound sermons, they will not and cannot listen. So, how then would anyone, either worldling or worshipper, mistake them for useful members of the Redeemer King’s global disciple-making force?
Back to my question about which is worse, the deliberate dissident or the secret sinner. The latter seems to me to be the more dangerous to the advance of a fervent, faithful, and fruitful walk with Jesus Christ and His people. Whether they be intentional partners with the enemy or inattentive and, thereby, unintentional pawns of the same, their effect on Christ’s church and our mission would seem to be the same as that about which Paul warned Ephesians elders in Acts 20.
28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And men will rise up from your own number with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, … (Acts 20:28-31).
Here are three courses of action I propose in response to Isaiah 29:11-14 and these contemplations.
1. Let us examine ourselves.
We tend to think of certain other people when we are confronted by truths that may convict us. I asked my wife, “Am I one of those people who rebels on the inside while I wear the good Christian mask on the outside?” I asked her because she has no qualms about telling me the truth, pleasant or not. So, I likewise encourage you, dear reader, ask the people who know you and love you enough to tell you the truth to help you see yourself.
2. Let us examine our church.
I read an uncomfortable statement today made all the more unpleasant because it is so obviously true yet avoided in polite Christian conversation. Daryl Dash writes: “The North American church is languishing” (from Daryl Dash – “Pastoring: The Toughest Job?” http://bit.ly/pmh4tE). Virtually every metric we might employ from practically any serious student of the church in the United States confirms this status.
I encourage you to be so bold as to ask: “Is this true of our church?” If it is, I further exhort you to ask: “I love my church, but why are we languishing so? Are we perhaps out of sorts with the Head of the church and His mission and His provision? Have we become numb and dumb? Have we been less than alert as Paul warned, and have we become then arrested by those whom some regard as leaders who are in actuality secret rebels blind to truth?”
3. Let us encourage one another.
No witch hunts, please! Much could be said at this point. Let us allow Scripture to guide us.
24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, 25 not staying away from our ⌊worship⌋ meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 11:24-25).
Selah.
