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Isaiah 1:10-14 Hear The Word of The LORD, Ye Rulers of Sodom

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Introduction

In this study we will be shown just how important pure and undefiled doctrine is to our Lord and His Father. Those who take the doctrine of Christ lightly are doing nothing less than fornicating and committing adultery against our Lord, whom they claim as their beloved husband.

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

There is but one spirit and one faith and one baptism and one gospel, and Christ will not play second fiddle to another Jesus with another spirit and another gospel. He is a jealous God, and He will have no part of such an arrangement.

Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

As we continue this study, it will also be very interesting to discover in the vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem how much of the symbolism found in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ is to be found to have come straight out of this book of Isaiah. Such is the case with verse ten, the first verse of today’s study:

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Notice where this same terminology is to be found in the book of Revelation:

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Remember that these words are addressed to “Judah and Jerusalem”:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Let us note that our Lord was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, the capital of the Old Testament kingdom of God. The people who claim the name of Christ are those who would this very day crucify a Christ who would dare to tell us to love our ISIS enemy and resist not evil and return good for evil. What this tells us is that it is all those in whom the kingdom of God dwells who first are the murderers of our Lord before they are brought to their knees. Furthermore, it is those who are spiritually called Sodom and Egypt who have spiritually crucified our Lord. Once we get this spiritual Truth in mind we can then understand how Christ can make these statements:

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem symbolizes God’s own people, and it is God’s own people who first become spiritual Sodom and Egypt and first become those who slay the Lord’s prophets, before they are struck down, broken and crushed to powder. In other words, all the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zecharias is required of this generation (Luk 11:50-51) before we can become those who repent and see themselves as that “man of sin the son of perdition [who] exalts himself above all that is called God and [who] sits in the temple of God claiming to be God”. Only after we are brought to see that this vision of Isaiah is for us as the chief of sinners will we ever be given the peace of mind that comes with accepting the fact that we of ourselves are first ruled by the law of sin which God has placed within our members and to see ourselves as the brute beasts which God has made us to be.

It is the fact that God has not yet given us eyes to see ourselves in this way that restrains His coming to rule His kingdom within us:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [within you, 1Co 3:16), shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [Greek: katecho, withholds] will let [withhold], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

So who is it who first rules over spiritual Sodom and Egypt? It is those who:

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

It is only those who are granted of God to acknowledge that it is they who spiritually have been the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s elect are those who first come to see themselves as the “chief of sinners”.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

I have not literally and physically “breathed out slaughter” against the body of Christ, as Saul of Tarsus did. That very act is in my corruptible flesh though, and Saul of Tarsus, who later was renamed Paul the apostle, was chosen to be a forerunner of those who could also see themselves as the worst of the worst as we read in the very next verse:

1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

But Saul of Tarsus certainly did not see himself a ‘chief of sinners’ while he was ‘breathing out slaughter’ against the church of God. Quite the contrary. As a “pattern to [us]” he actually saw himself as a champion of the law of Moses:

Gal 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

It was while he was most offensive to Christ that Saul of Tarsus thought he was doing God a service (Joh 16:2). Which brings us to our next verse here in our study of the vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem within us:

Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

This is what the Lord is telling us here in Isa 1:11 about our own self-righteousness:

1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

There are many ways in which we demonstrate that, like the apostle Paul before his conversion, we too, destroy Christ, while at the same time believing we are serving Him. Like Job, we maintain our own righteousness while at the same time contending with and condemning our own Creator:

Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Saul of Tarsus was “blameless… touching the righteousness which is in the law”, but Christ was in the process of reforming the law and establishing a “new covenant”, and any glory of being blameless according to the righteousness, which is in the law of Moses, “had no glory at all by reason of that which excels” (2Co 3:6-10). But God does not give an accounting of His ways to us. The exact opposite is what takes place. It matters not the least bit to Him how righteous we think we are. Even if we, like Job (Job 29), really have done “many wonderful works” (Mat 7:22), and like Saul of Tarsus we are “blameless… touching the righteousness which is in the law”, God is not the least impressed with our good works. The fact is that when we fail to acknowledge that our works are not ours at all, but are in reality Christ working His purpose within us, then our righteousnesses become filthy rags from God’s perspective (Isa 64:6), and so He continues here in verse 11:

Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

Those words have proceeded out of the mouth of God, and we all live by them in one way or another. Until we do we are still the blind who think they see:

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which [think they] see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye [knew you] were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Addressing this self-righteous spirit within all of us in our own time Christ asks us:

Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

Israel was commanded to appear before God three times in the year; three representing the process of our judgment:

Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

But notice the next verse here in Exodus 23:

Exo 23:18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

When we obey God we must do so with a humble spirit which trembles at His word and fears to approach Him with any strange fire (Lev 10:1-2) or any spirit other than that spirit which is expressed in His Word as King David makes so clear to us:

Psa 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
Psa 50:17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

We have all done this inwardly in our own time. We see ourselves as righteous even as we hate His instruction and cast His words behind us. Outwardly the entire western world, which still is known as ‘the Christian western world’, cannot be any better described then with the words of Psa 50:16-17. All the so-called ‘Christian western nations’ and all the churches within those nations “hate [Biblical] instruction, and [have] cast [Christ’s] words behind [them].” Political correctness has replaced any pretense of Christianity, and the churches who all subscribe to the mantra, “Obedience in the essentials, tolerance in the non-essentials, but love in all things”, have, with that very mantra, literally lead the way in “casting [Christ’s] words behind [them]”.

It is the “few chosen” only who are granted to tremble at His words which are what keep those “few chosen” from being absorbed into that mindset which is willing to sacrifice obedience for unity. In the end we all come to see that seeking to save our lives by uniting with the permissive spirit that teaches us that unity is more important than obedience, is a doctrine which will actually cost us our lives (Mat 10:39 and 16:25).

That is the spirit of the message we are being given in the last two verses of our study for today:

Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

When we are anything less than whole-hearted in our service to Christ, when we decide for ourselves that there are only portions of His Words which are “the essentials of His doctrine”, and we decide for ourselves that there are large portions of the doctrine of Christ which are “non-essentials”, and when we think that God should be pleased with such a rebellious, and self-righteous spirit, any days we keep to Him are an abomination to Him, and when we think that we can simply ignore the example of Christ, who profaned (Mat 12:1-8) and broke (Joh 5:18) the sabbath, and when we substitute His example with our own appointed pagan feasts, truly “[we] are a trouble to [Him], and [He is] weary to bear [our transgressions] as if we are doing them to His glory.

This is not something God is vague about. This is what we are told in the New Testament regarding the keeping of any days, months, seasons or years, Jewish or otherwise:

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

What are the weak and beggarly elements that keep God’s people in bondage? We are not left to guess what Paul had in mind:

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Which days, months, seasons, and years does Paul have in mind? Is it the Jewish holy days and seasons? Yes, of course it includes those days, months, seasons and years. But God tells us here in Isaiah:

Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

If the very feasts He appointed for Israel to keep “three seasons in the year” are now an abomination to Him, why would anyone think that “Your appointed [pagan] feasts [would not be] hated [by His] soul”? God has purposely not given us the birthday of one single Biblical character, including the birthday of our Lord Himself – not Adam, not Enoch, not Noah, not Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. He has intentionally not given us the birth dates of any of the kings or the prophets, or any of the apostles. Then we have Christ Himself breaking the sabbath, setting us an example that we should walk in His steps:

1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Yearly birthdays, anniversaries and holiday observances of any kind in no way can be said to “follow His steps”. Nevertheless as King David said, we still take it upon ourselves to “take [Christ’s] covenant in [our] mouth”, a claim to be speaking for Him:

Psa 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
Psa 50:17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

Here are a few of the “words of instruction [which we have all] cast… behind [ourselves]” inwardly as we have in our own time succumbed to that spirit of permissiveness that tells us that it is impossible to:

1) 1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

The importance our heavenly Father places upon this particular instruction is demonstrated by the fact that it appears twelve times in various words within the New Testament:

2) Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3) 2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

4) Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

5) Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

6) 1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

7) Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

8) 1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

9) 1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

10) 1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

11) Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

12) Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

To play the devil’s advocate, is it not true that we are all at different levels of maturity? Does not that fact alone make all these commandments to “be of one mind… be of the same mind… speak the same thing” absolutely impossible? The answer to that foolish question is a resounding; No it certainly does not!

In Scripture we are called “the body of Christ”. We are called “the house of God”, and we are called “the whole family” of God. No healthy ‘body’ is schizophrenic, every well-built house is “fitly joined and framed together”, and every properly functioning family lives by the same house rules regardless of the various ages of the many members of that one family.

Eph 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

What healthy functioning family tolerates a child who disagrees with the way his parents have agreed to discipline their children and run the home? Is the whole family supposed to accommodate a naturally immature and rebellious child who thinks that fearing his parents and being chastened and being scourged for his rebellious ways is a family rule and a family doctrine which is not to be tolerated? I think not, and God also thinks not:

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

We will come back to these words later, but it is clear that new members of a family, what the scriptures call “babes… in Christ (1Co 3:1-4), are not to be permitted to dictate to the family leaders, the mother and the father, what will and what will not be the rules of the family. So we are told:

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Here are the Greek words which are translated “doubtful disputations” in the King James Version. Let’s begin with the Greek word translated ‘doubtful’:

G1261
διαλογισμός
dialogismos
dee-al-og-is-mos’

From G1260; discussion, that is, (internal) consideration (by implication purpose), or (external) debate: – dispute, doubtful (-ing), imagination, reasoning, thought.

This word is defined as meaning ‘discussion… dispute, doubtful’, and it is so translated in several instances. But it is most often translated as ‘thoughts’, but in every case it is associated with evil, foolish, or vain thoughts. Here are the various ways this word is translated in the King James Version:

G1261
διαλογισμός
dialogismos
Total KJV Occurrences: 14
thoughts, 8
Mat_15:19, Mar_7:21, Luk_2:35, Luk_5:22, Luk_6:8, Luk_24:38, 1Co_3:20, Jam_2:4
disputings, 1
Phi_2:14
doubtful, 1
Rom_14:1
doubting, 1
1Ti_2:8
imaginations, 1
Rom_1:21
reasoning, 1
Luk_9:46
thought, 1
Luk_9:46-47 (2)

Every single entry of this word concerns doubtful, foolish, and vain thoughts, or disputes. So this one word would be sufficient for the King James translation of “doubtful disputations”. But there is another Greek word involved which the translators seem to have missed. It is the Greek word:

G1253
διάκρισις
diakrisis
dee-ak’-ree-sis
From G1252; judicial estimation: – discern (-ing), disputation.
Total KJV occurrences: 3

This word which appears to have been ignored or overlooked by the translators, means “judicial estimation: discern or discerning”, and it appears but three times in the New Testament. Here are those three entries:

G1253
διάκρισις
diakrisis
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
discern, 1
Heb_5:14
discerning, 1
1Co_12:10
disputations, 1
Rom_14:1

Since there are only three entries let’s take the time to look at the other two times this word appears in the New Testament and see if we can discern what is the voice of the True Shepherd here in Rom 14:1:

Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern [Greek: diakrisis] both good and evil.

Throughout scripture each of the various Old Testament types of Christ demonstrates that being “of full age” has nothing to do with physical age. Rather it has much more to do with those who actually came to know Christ. Like Abel, Isaac, Jacob, David, and even the apostle Paul, the one thing these people all have in common is that they were one and all younger than their rejected brothers, or in the apostle Paul’s case, he was chosen to be an apostle many years after the other apostles. So being “of full age”, has much more to do with being able to try the spirits and to discern the voice of the True Shepherd and to digest and be strengthened by “strong meat” rather than being physically older than another brother.

Let’s now look at the next verse:

1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning [Greek: G1253 diakrisis] of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

The ability to “try the spirits, to see whether they are of God” (1Jo 4:1) is called “discerning of spirits”, and we are told that this is a gift of the spirit, and we are also told that those who spiritually “are of full age [are] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern [diakrisis] good and evil”.

Seeing how this Greek word ‘diakrisis‘ is used in these other two verses, it becomes obvious that Romans 14:1 would be much better translated in this manner:

Rom 14:1 He that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to disputing over discernments [of already firmly established doctrine].

Who is the “ye” in this verse? Who is it Paul is instructing concerning how the weak in the faith are to be dealt with in the body of Christ? Obviously he is speaking to and instructing those who are not “weak in the faith”. He makes that perfectly clear when he sums up his instructions given in this chapter of Romans with these words:

Rom 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Those who are spiritually strong are instructed to “bear the infirmities of [those who are spiritually] weak”, but they are never to permit those who are spiritually immature to begin disputing over discernments of already firmly established doctrine, and in doing so bring the leaven of the Pharisees into the body of Christ, dividing and scattering the Lord’s flock. I cannot say that I have never permitted those who are weak in the faith to bring disputations about already established doctrine into the body of Christ. I have done just the opposite simply because I, too, had to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4). The very fact we are told “Them that are weak in the faith receive ye but not to disputations about discernments” of already established doctrine, is written simply because the Lord knows we will first be guilty of doing just that and permitting those who are weak in the faith to bring in disputations about discernments of already established doctrine.

This is how the Lord’s flock is instructed to relate to its spiritually more mature leaders who “are strong… in the faith [and] who have had their senses exercised to know good and evil”:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you. (CLV)

But we all are learning together, and as we become aware of how we are instructed to handle such situations, and as soon as we learn that the “trespass against you” of Mat 18:15-17 applies especially to “transgressing in doctrine”, then we were are strengthened to be “uncorrupted in doctrine”:

Tit 2:7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

What 2Jo 1:9 is telling anyone who is given eyes to see and ears to hear, is that any man who comes to you telling you that you need to have “agreement in the essentials, tolerance in the non-essentials, and love in all things”, is a minister of Satan attempting to appear as a loving, compassionate, all inclusive angel of light. Anyone who falls for that lie is demonstrably incapable of trying the spirits to see whether they are of God, and is incapable of abiding in the doctrine of the Christ whose doctrine is to “show yourself… uncorrupted… in doctrine”.

Here is the voice of the True Shepherd which is set in contrast with the that doctrinally permissive spirit which is an abomination to Christ and which is hated by His soul:

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

The harlot wants to avoid calling her sisters harlots. Most ministers are like politicians who dare not identify the enemy for fear of offending the enemy. Will we be spiritual harlots and politicians, or will we call heresy, heresy, and call those who attempt to bring heresy into the body of Christ heretics? Will we try the spirits and see whether those spirits can confess that the Christ we preach has come in our flesh and still has the same sound mind that is not divided and does not teach that many of His own doctrines are “non-essential doctrines”? Will we say “Unity in the essentials, tolerance in the non-essentials” or are we going to stop casting the words of Christ behind us and boldly say what we are commanded to say: “We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God does not hear us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error”?

Will we dare to boldly discern who it is who has transgressed against us in the doctrine of Christ or will we teach “tolerance in the non-essentials” of the doctrine of Christ? Will we be obedient to the doctrine and words of Christ, and not bid a heretic into our spiritual house, and not even say ‘Good bye’ to a heretic, or will we fear men more than we fear God? We need to “think on these things… and settle in [our] hearts what we will do” beforehand (Luk 21:14), because this is what will separate us from families and friends and will cause us to be hated of all men for Christ’s doctrine’s sake (Mat 10: 14-42).

The time is at hand to keep the sayings of the prophesy of this book (Rev 1:3).

This will be our last study in Isaiah until June the fifth, at which time we will, Lord willing, continue our study of these verses of the vision of Isaiah one:

Isa 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isa 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

While we are away your very able brother, Steve Crook, will be leading the Sunday studies. We will join in as time zones allow. God bless you all for your prayers on our behalf.