The Danger of Success Part 1

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Danger of Success Part 1. He will be reading out of Isaiah 2:6-22.

We live in this digital age and I’m grateful for those opportunities and I see them as a supplement, but nothing can change you like gathering together as a body of believers and refocusing your thoughts and your minds upon Jesus Christ. Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders and I welcome you to the Hope Worth Having radio program from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. I serve as the Senior Pastor of the Open Door Church.

Today, we’re going to be in Isaiah chapter 2 and we are going to be studying verses 6 through 22. We’re going to talk about the danger of success. Join me as we study together.

I want you to take your Bible to Isaiah chapter 2. We were in Isaiah chapter 2 last week. We covered verse 1 through 5. We talked about that great hope. We talked about that one day God will be exalted above the hills and all the nations will flow to him.

Look at verse 5, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. What a beautiful truth that is. Now we come to verse 6 through 22.

I told you last week Isaiah is one of those books in the Bible that we keep shifting. We go forward, we go backward, we go forward, we go backward. It’s sometimes very confusing to me and it’s confusing to believers.

It’s like watching that movie. They go backwards on me and I don’t know what happened and my wife will say, Mike, this is in the past. I’ll be asking a bunch of questions.

You don’t want to watch a movie with me because I got 20 questions. You just give up, throw the popcorn away and just walk away, okay, because that’s the way I am. I just I can’t help it.

It just doesn’t make sense to me. I always am moving forward. I don’t like to go backwards, but here’s Isaiah.

He’s like that. He’s telling us about what the current state of Israel, which is often referred to as the house of Jacob, and then he fast-forwards us to the future and we learned so much of the positive and the hope of the future last week, but this week I want to talk to you about the danger of success. The danger of success.

We’re gonna finish out the chapter somehow, some way, but before we dive into the details of this chapter, I want to tell you a story about Augustine. He was a bishop in North Africa and he wrote a book entitled The City of God. In Augustine’s mind, in this book, he believed that history was really about two different cities battling each other in unequal terms.

He referred to it as the city of man, which represented Rome at that time, and the city of God, which represented the church, the true church of Christianity. At the core of the city of man is one driving spirit, love of self, which results in a contempt towards God. At the core of the city of God is an opposite driving spirit.

It is love for God, which results in contempt for self. In this book, The City of God, the story of history is that these two cities are battling for glory. The city of man is battling for its own glory and the city of God is battling for the glory of God.

The city of God against the city of man, which we could say simply is the love of God verse the love of self. It’s the outcome of that struggle that Augustine reveals in his book that is the topic of Isaiah chapter 2. So when we begin to dive into it, remember that we’re at the end times, we’re in the last days, we’re in those latter days that has already been revealed to us in verses 1 through 5, and what we’re seeing is the competition. The competition of self, or the competition of love of self, and the competition to love of God, and glorifying God.

Which will it be? The danger of success. The danger is that we can get so focused on self, it can become all about us, about building our own kingdom and what we want rather than a desire for God’s kingdom and God’s love and God’s people. So the first thing I want you to see in verses 6 through 9 is what we might refer to as pride, or we might call it that the people had become full of things, and they were empty of God.

Look with me in verse 6, for you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with Eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures.

Their land is also full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

People bow down, and each man humbles himself. Therefore, do not forgive them. Now, the house of Jacob has become corrupt.

They have turned their heart from God. They have refused to believe in God. They have chosen to follow a path of pride and self, and they have become full of things.

What you will see over and over in just these few verses for 6 through 9 is the word full or filled. That’s a key word, full or filled. You want to underscore that in your Bible.

You see in verse 6 that they are filled with Eastern ways. And then we jump down to verse 7, that they’re full of silver and gold. Then we look again at verse 7, they are full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots.

Verse 8, they are full of idols, full of stuff, but empty of God. When you and I fill our hands with the things of the world, then there’s no room for God. That’s why God sometimes calls us to let go of stuff, so we can come empty-handed to Him and let His love and life fill our hearts.

What are they full of? Well, we see in the text that, first of all, they’re full of superstitions and not true faith in Christ. Again, look at verse 6. They are filled with Eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines.

So, he’s referring that Israel has begun to practice pagan ways of the Eastern culture of that day. And rather than practicing what Moses had taught them, what they had been taught in the Word of God, they had begun to adopt these superstitions in their life. And so, they were full of superstitions.

And they are pleased with the children of foreigners. And so, that is that they wanted to follow the ways of the world. That’s what their heart was, satisfying their selfish desires.

Then you’ll note that they are full of silver and not the true wealth of Christ. Look at verse 7. Their land is also full of silver and gold. There’s no end to their treasures.

Yes, they have wealth. They have gold. They have silver.

But they don’t have the true treasure. They don’t have the true wealth that is found in a relationship with God Almighty. What an indictment upon people who will not let God be their true wealth and their true treasure.

Here again, he goes on to say that they are full, in verse 7, that they are full of horses and chariots rather than the true power of God. Their land is also full of horses and there is no end to their chariots. Now, I know that you guys look at this and I look at it and we say, what’s the big deal? Horses, chariots, doesn’t seem like that’s too powerful.

But in that day, that’s how the armies were. We might say that they had the F-17s. They had these mammoth warships.

They were filled with all these powerful things. But Israel did not have the power of God. Another indictment upon the people of God that we might be loaded with wealth and the bank account might be full, but we don’t have true wealth in Jesus Christ.

That we may have much strength, many buildings, wonderful property, but we don’t have the true power of Jesus Christ resting upon our lives. That we are operating in our own strength rather than the strength of the Lord. That we are worshiping our own accomplishments and achievements.

That we are impressed what we have done. And now you can see that pride is taken over, full of things, empty of God. Noted again in verse 8 that they are full of idols and they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

Verse 9, they bow down. They bow down to these idols and rather than being full of the Lord, they have become full of idols. Idols.

I know that we’re a sophisticated society and surely we would not be so odd as to bow down to an idol, but yet an idol is anything that you put before the Lord. An idol could be sports. An idol could be a relationship.

An idol could be a thing. It could be a passion. It could be a hobby.

Anything that you put before the Lord Jesus Christ is an idol. That you would spend more time doing that particular thing or that particular hobby than you do in spending time with Jesus Christ in a relationship. These are the things that we have to be alerted to because there is great danger, church, in being successful.

The Bible tells us in Romans 1 25 that what had happened to the society is that they had changed the truth of God into a lie and they worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. I know that sometimes we live in this digital age and we see no need to gather and worship when we can just watch it on YouTube or we can just watch it digitally or we can watch it on our phone and I understand and I’m grateful for those opportunities and I see them as a supplement, but nothing can change you like gathering together as a body of believers and realigning your heart and refocusing your thoughts and your minds upon Jesus Christ.

Because all throughout the week what you’re going to spend your time doing is listening to so many voices calling you to follow stuff, to follow idols, to follow other priorities. When we come back together God once again focuses our heart and helps us to stay on mission and to stay together as a team and to stay together as the people of God that rather than being full of idols we want to be full of Jesus Christ. Can God’s people say amen? And the sad commentary verse 6 again.

You have forsaken your people. What caused the Lord to forsake his people was that they were empty of God. They were empty of God’s power.

They were empty of a relationship with the Lord. They treasured the things of this world more than they did Jesus Christ. They exalted themselves before God and they humbled themselves before their idols.

It’s a warning to us this morning church to be careful that as you are prospering, as you are blessed, as you are moving forward, as the Lord is providing, as you’re rejoicing, that you don’t get your focus on success and forget who is the one who authors any blessing in our life. It is God. It is God who provides all that we have.

It is Jesus Christ who continues to sustain us and pour out grace upon us. So then now that they have become so full of things and empty of God, we see the second thing here is that the terror of the Lord has come upon them. Again this is a the last days lofty things have become humbled and so we’ll kind of just walk through this because it’s going to be difficult to cover every particular verse but I want you to see that the overarching point of verse 10 through 21 is that God’s holiness is vindicated and that though there has been this generation of people who have rejected the Lord, that God has vindicated and righted every wrong.

So what do we see here? First of all the day of the Lord is proclaimed. Look at verse 10 beginning there. Enter into the rock, hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty.

Don’t forget church that God will not share his glory. Isaiah will teach us that later that he does not share his glory that you may exalt yourselves above God and you may humble yourselves before your idols. You may bow down before your idols but God will destroy those idols.

Again in verse 11, the lofty looks of man shall be humbled. The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Look at verse 12.

For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up and it shall be brought low. The day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. What is the day of the Lord? The phrase the day of the Lord is identifying the events that will unfold at the end of history.

The day of the Lord is referring to a future day when God will intervene in history and he will judge those who have rejected him and he will establish his righteous rule in this world. The day of the Lord is the inception of that millennial kingdom. It is the conclusion of the tribulation period that when we as the church are raptured out of here, receiving our rewards in heaven, that while the events are unfolding in that seven-year tribulation and that there’s this final defiance towards God Almighty by the kingdoms of man, that Jesus Christ will crush them at the end of that seven-year tribulation and he will establish his righteous kingdom upon this earth and we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ.

The phrase the day of the Lord, it is used 19 times in the Old Testament, Isaiah being one of them, other passages scriptures as well. It is used four times in the New Testament. When you see the phrase you know that the Lord is proclaiming how things will unfold at the end.

This day of the Lord is not only a time of judgment but is a time of salvation as God will deliver the remnant of Israel. Remember I told you, why is it that we believe that God would rapture us the church before the tribulation period? Remember this, do not forget, because the tribulation period is about the nation of Israel. It is about a nation that has not accepted the fact that Jesus Christ is the coming Messiah.

I told you before that when I sat there with the chief rabbi amongst other pastors, he said the only difference between us and Christians, meaning Jewish people and Christians, is that you are looking for the second coming of your Messiah and we’re looking for the first coming of our Messiah. But there’s coming a day, the day of the Lord, that during the tribulation and especially at the end of the tribulation that the Jewish people, according to Zechariah, they will recognize that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah that they’ve been looking for, the one that they have been waiting for. He is the fulfillment of all the prophecies in Isaiah and in Zechariah and in Zephaniah.

He is the fulfillment of all those prophecies, as Matthew taught us and as Luke taught us, that they all align together and so Jesus Christ is the Messiah. The Bible teaches us that great sorrow will come upon Israel and they will be very repentant and they will be very broken and they will cry out to Jesus Christ for true salvation. Romans 11, verse 26 says, all of Israel will be saved.

Why do we love Israel as Christians? Well, not only because God has given us a promise that you are blessed if you do. If you bless his people, he’ll bless you. But number two, they are the chosen people of God and he is using the tribulation period to woo them back to him, to bring them back into a true relationship with him.

And that’s why there is favor, that’s why there is blessings, that’s why we as believers and those who follow Jesus Christ, that we have an affection towards the nation of Israel and we have a special protection because God called them the apple of his eye. And so we understand that and we recognize that and we look forward to that day in which they will truly come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. You will note again that in verse 10 that he says to us that we are to enter into the rock and hide in the dust.

This is a reference to what the Bible already teaches us in the book of Revelation that when the vials are poured out upon this world, when the bowls are poured out, when the trumpets are sounded, these are the things that represent God’s judgment and God’s wrath upon the Antichrist and his man-made kingdom and the judgment of God upon them. The judgment will be so fierce that people will want to hide in the rocks and the cliffs. Isaiah talks about in verse 12 that the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything that is proud and lofty.

That’s that second coming. That word can be translated host, it can be translated army. Some of your translations probably have that.

It is referring to the armies of angels, the legion of angels that are around the throne of God. In 1 Kings 22 verse 19 the Bible says, and he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts or all the armies of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

That God with all of his angels, all of his armies, and the people of God, we will come back on white horses. The book of Revelation teaches us and we will come back and Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords, he will destroy every man-made kingdom. He will destroy every enemy of God and as the judgment of God is coming upon this world, people will be in so much pain and so much terror that they will want to hide in the cliffs and hide in the rocks the scriptures teach us.

Now the day of the Lord is described here by Isaiah. He says the lofty will be humbled and the Lord will be exalted. Look again at verse 12.

When the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up, it shall be brought low. You and I witness and we wonder why do the heathen rage? Why is people getting away with their defiance to God? Listen to me my friends. It’s all coming to an end.

It’s just not going to come when you want it to and when I want it to, but God is going to bring everything to a point and he’s going to finally bring judgment and those who exalt themselves above God, he is going to confront them and he is going to deal with them. Joel 2 verse 31 says, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Wow.

So we look at verse 13. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the oaks of Bashan, upon all the high mountains and upon all the hills that are lifted up, upon every high tower and upon every fortified wall, upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all the beautiful slopes and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

So the day of the Lord is being described to us. What’s going to happen? People are on their perches and they are blaspheming God and they are acting all prideful and they can do whatever they want and there’s no accountability, but I tell you, my friends, that every person will give an account to God and that’s why you and I do not have to be afraid. You see, if you’ve already humbled yourself before Jesus Christ now, you will not have to humble yourself on the day of the Lord because you will already be with the Lord and you will be in a relationship with God receiving your rewards.

Now is the time. The Bible tells us that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. That day is coming, but how much better it is to bow your knee today and to confess in your heart today that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Do not wait till the terror of the Lord comes upon this world and upon this land, but receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Acknowledge before God Almighty that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior and accept him as your Lord. The house of Jacob, the nation of Israel, they were bragging about their military pride.

You see that in verse 16. They were bragging about their trade and their commerce and how prosperous that they had come, but look at verse 18. But the idols he shall utterly abolish.

They shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily. The lofty things that have been in direct competition with God’s glory are going to be destroyed. Human pride always seeks to exalt itself.

We look across this world. We see world leaders exalting themselves above God. We see politicians who think that they are better than God.

They belittle God and they think that everything’s because of them. It’s a reminder to me of an incredible story in 1951. We saw this picture occur that the communist era in eastern Europe came to a close.

The communists exalted themselves above God and they belittled God. They refused to let anyone believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in downtown Budapest and the Hungarian communist party had erected a monument to the great communist leader Stalin.

It was completed in 1951 of December. It was a gift to Joseph Stalin saying that he was above God. It was torn down on October 23rd 1956 during a revolution.

The statue was 75 feet high and the people pulled it down with rope around the neck and they began to torch it and to burn it. And I thought you know what that’s exactly what’s happening. We see it all across America.

We see these leaders claiming that they’re God or that you’re to worship them and they tell you not to believe in God but to only believe in them. And then what do we see? Their kingdoms crumble. Their statues fall.

Why? Because there’s only one true God Jesus Christ. And I’m going to tell you at the end of the day of the Lord God is going to take care of all those who’ve exalted themselves against God. He will destroy all those who challenge his supremacy.

Now I want you to see the result. What is the result of this day of the Lord? Well verse 19 they’re going to go into holes. They’re going to go into caves.

Why? From the terror of the Lord and the glory of the majesty when he arrives and shakes the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold which have made each for himself to worship to the moles and to bats. God is warning that his wrath is coming.

As Isaiah in Isaiah 2 gives us a glimpse of hope as we look into the future, he reminds the people of God that there is a danger to success. And one of those dangers is that we can become prideful, self-sufficient, and make it about us. And God wants us to always give him glory and always be dependent upon him.

And so the things we’re learning about these dangers may they serve as barriers for us and guardrails as we strive to honor Christ in our life. Now I also want to mention to you that if you’ll check out our website hopeworthhaving.com we have a newsletter and that can come to you through email or if you would like it to be physically sent to you just go to our website hopeworthhaving.com, hit newsletter, and then you can sign right up for it. This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.