Loyalty is one thing. Stupidity is a whole other ball of wax.”
                    –P.W. Moore  (The Devil’s Edge)

       “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
                    –2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
————————————-
One thing that cannot be denied is that Peter loved the Lord.  He declared, as Luke recorded, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” (22:33, NKJV)  Don’t be quick to deride Peter.  He may have spoken in haste, not understanding the larger picture.  It may have been an emotional response to heart-felt feelings, not realizing that we are not to be guided by emotions.  In fact, emotions should follow decisions, not make them.  Nevertheless, Peter did speak out of love and loyalty.
     Every time we fail, we sin, we fall short in our obedience. We are doing the same thing Peter did.  Does that mean you are not loyal to the service of the Lord?  Does that mean that your heart is not right?  How many times have you promised not to sin, and you do?  Know this, that does not negate the promise.  It is still there to be kept.  Peter for sure, followed through with his promise to follow Jesus even if it meant death.
     You may have read the book or seen the movie, “Lonesome Dove.”  It is a story loosely based on Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight moving a herd of cattle from Texas to Colorado.  I want to look a little more closely at what actually took place.  Oliver Loving lay at death’s door in a bed at Fort Sumner with Charles Goodnight as his side.  Loving was shot in the wrist, shattering it by a Comanche weeks earlier.   But now, the stinking decay of gangrene was killing him.
     The story varies at this point.  Some say the doctor amputated, but was inexperienced thus causing the problem to accelerate.  Other accounts read that because of his inexperience the doctor would not amputate.  Either way, the death sentence was pronounced.  Loving said to Goodnight, “I regret to have to be laid away in a foreign country.”  Goodnight promised–a sacred vow–to take him home to Texas.
     Loving died and was buried in New Mexico.  Goodnight had to fulfill his obligation to deliver the herd which took months.  Then he rode six hundred miles back to fulfill a promise.  A lesser man, with little integrity, may have gone on his way, after all Loving was dead and buried and would never know.  Proverbs 20:6, declares, “Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is really faithful?” (NLT)  Goodnight was fulfilling his promise to his friend, but more importantly maintaining his integrity.  It is as Bryce Dominic Valor says, “By keeping every promise, I make my word as reliable as the sunrise, and my character as solid as bedrock.”
     He had Loving’s body exhumed, sealed in a tin casket filled with charcoal, and loaded into a wagon.  Now get this, it wasn’t just Charles Goodnight, but the entire outfit formed a five-six hundred mile funeral procession to Weatherford, TX.  Any one of those men could have found a reason, an excuse not to be there.  It took nearly six months.  That’s what is called stubborn loyalty.  Six months to fulfill a promise, plus the months that it took to get the herd to Denver and ride back to Fort Sumner.  Goodnight’s word was solid, not just a promise, but it was who he was.
     The question is, how loyal are we?  We do know One who was loyal.  Loyal to His Father, loyal to His mission and He carried it out to the finish.  Jesus could have said, “phooey,” that night in the garden.  “Look at the bums over there sleeping.  I’m coming home Father.”  No, He was true to endure the cross, to endure the cruelty, to endure the awfulness of man’s sin coming upon His righteous body.  There is little known regarding Peter.  There are a few verses in Acts, we have his two letters, and there are some in church history.  But I am convinced that his love for the Lord never wavered; his loyalty could never be called into question.  He gives us this advice, not emotional, not out of haste, but out of the depths of his character, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”. (2 Peter 3:14, NKJV)
  
(information regarding Loving-Goodnight taken primarily from “Brand & Backbone” by Bryce Dominic Valor)

 

Towns were the breeding-ground of greed and avarice, treachery and injustice, the places where men preyed on men and where corruption rose up with its ugly head and tried to swallow all that was good and decent, all that was precious and rare.”
                    –Jory Sherman  (Death Rattle)

       “The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.”
                    –Zephaniah 3:5 (ESV)
—————————-
          “God’s threats are designed to be trumpet calls that awaken us from our spiritual stupor, to shake us free of our drunken iniquity, and to sober us up, to open our eyes to our sins so that we fall on our knees, confess those sins, and receive the never-ending mercy of God in Jesus Christ.”
                    –Chad Bird

     I want to use the above quotation as sort of a thesis for a short study on Isaiah 5.  Note, though the prophecy was for Judah, God’s Word is for all times and ages; it is eternal and pertains to all nations.  It is a summary of what God is saying to all men.
     Israel, the combined nation, was set apart by God, for God, to be an example to the world.  Israel then, was unlike every other nation.   “But her constant trouble,” states D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “arose from the fact that she never realised that truth.  She always wanted to think of herself in terms of other nations.”  Israel simply did not want to be different.
     Isaiah 5:1-2 declares, “Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.  My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.  He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine.  And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.” (NASB)  God was making something splendid, beautiful, and unique.  The “Gardener” was God Himself.  He was also the Provider and Protector and the garden (Israel) grew, but look again at the last two phrases from the NLT, “Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were wild and sour.”
     What more could He do, God says through Isaiah in verse 4, “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?  Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes and did it produce worthless ones?”. (NASB)  The sourness of the people was appalling.  They were to live to a certain standard, honor God’s law, and have fellowship with the Almighty.  Instead the nation was producing nothing of ultimate value; it was a sham, with twisted ideas and morals.  Literally the term, “wild grapes” means “stinking things.”  The smell from the people, instead of a sweet aroma to God, had become a foul stink.
     The Gardener decides.  “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:  I will remove its hedges and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.  I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up.  I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” (Isaiah 5:5-6, NASB).  They were to be a fruitful vine, instead, however, they produced sour, bitter grapes.  Now He is going to lay it waste.  With the blessings removed what will happen?  The result will be destruction, chaos, waste, hopelessness…
     God expected justice in the land, but instead there was bloodshed.  Justice had become a mockery.  He looked for righteousness, but instead He heard the howls of distress, the moans of the oppressed.  God will warn them later that, “There is no peace…for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21, NASB)  Removing the hedge of protection opens the people to evil forces and spirits (know that prophecy involves the spirit world as well as the natural).  Briars and thorns symbolize anarchy and lawlessness.  “All the enemies of mankind are attacking with a mighty and terrible power–the forces of evil and sin and uncleanness and suggestions and foulness.” (Lloyd-Jones)  God is removing His protection because man has declared he does not need it–man is his own god.
     John Winthrop declared in a sermon taken from Matthew 5:14-16, that the colony that was being established was to be a “city on a hill.”  Despite its problems throughout its history, the United States has been a beacon for Christianity.  It has been on the frontlines of mission work and benevolence aid.  People can say bad things about the nation, but they do not realize that they are part of the problem.  A city on a hill also shines its light on its own citizens, exposing their evil and sin, exposing the perversion of justice, and the mayhem on the streets.  God has an expectation!  He has done all He can to bring justice to the sin that besets mankind with the supreme sacrifice that was paid by His Son, Jesus Christ.  However, once Christ becomes Lord, there are still expectations.  We are now to work out our salvation, honoring Him, bringing glory to His name.  We are not to be producing bitterness, hatred, an immoral society, and one in which justice is perverted.
     I close this morning with verse 7, from the NLT.  “This is the story of the LORD’s people.  They are the vineyard of the LORD Almighty.  Israel and Judah are his pleasant garden.  He expected them to yield a crop of justice, but instead he found bloodshed.  He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of oppression.”  Yes, there are expectations!  Look in the mirror, America!

 

But nature never wavered. If you messed up or just got unlucky, nature would drown you, freeze your blood, or cook you with lightning no matter how you begged or bargained.”
                    –John Deacon  (The Provider 2)

        “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
                     –Matthew 24:27 (NIV)
———————————
          “The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desires of the righteous will be granted.  When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.”  –Proverbs 10:24-25 (NKJV)
          “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.  When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.”  –Proverbs 10;24-25 (ESV)

What is the deep-seated dread of the wicked?  They may deny, disregard, and even show contempt for the idea, but it is that God will ultimately overtake them, judge them, and send them to perdition.  Therefore, they attempt to escape in one form or another until that day.  Bob Beasley writes, “People hide themselves in religion, good works, temporal wealth and position, revelry and promiscuity, drugs and alcohol, and other diversions.  But whatever they try will not extricate them from the coming storm of God’s wrath.”  We read in Acts, “Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained…”. (17:31, NKJV)  There is an appointment awaiting everyone.
     Ironically, the righteous desire the same as the wicked dread–to meet God face to face.  Yes, we all have to stand before the Almighty, but the righteous stand redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Right from the beginning, Adam and Eve tried to hide, escape the face of God.  Why?  Their sin made it so they could not stand to face God.  They knew they had broken His commandments, sin had entered.  Man continues to hide in one form or another, but there is no use.  Paul writes that, “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.  Their consciences confirm this.  Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them.” (Romans 2:15, HCSB)
     Dan Dick says that “the future of the evildoer is similar to that which lies in the path of a tornado.  In its time, it will be swept completely away, and after the coming of the Lord, it will be as if it never existed.”  I felt the fear of the tornado on the ground, seeing its wicked tail begin to form in the sky, ever twisting and moving downward.  A once peaceful valley, sun shining and normal life going on.  Then the sky darkens, the greenish evil-looking sky becomes menacing and in a matter of seconds what was once peaceful and serene is in the throes of an angry destructive tornado.  They are the same we see then, the wicked and the whirlwind as both are destructive forces. This is in direct contrast to the righteous.  They will remain after the storm.  “When our foundation is the Lord of all creation, there is nothing that can destroy us.” (Dick)  
     It isn’t fair today–but there is a coming day when the fears of the wicked will be realized and justice will prevail.  I recall what Luke wrote about the rich man on earth who lived in luxury every day.  Near his house there was a beggar named Lazarus who was covered in sores, hungry, even willing to eat what the rich man threw away.  He was in such a poor situation that the dogs would come and lick his sores.  Now there is justice, both died.  Lazarus went to Abraham’s side, he was now in complete comfort.  The rich man, however, went to hell and was tormented.  One shunned the other on earth, now a great gulf separated them.  The rich received his comfort, though temporal on earth while the beggar Lazarus, though tormented on earth, was now in the comfort of godly saints. (Luke 16:19-31).
     The best way to have our wills satisfied is to be godly.  “Our will must be agreeable to God’s will, the desire must be holy, and seasoned with the Spirit; and not carnal and corrupted by the flesh.” (John Dod)  Nothing can be built upon the whirlwind, the hopes and desires and lusts of the wicked will be blown to kingdom come.  “Thus righteousness is a constructive force in the world–a foundation without which society cannot exist.” (J.L. Flores)  Think of what the righteous, the church, does to calm the destructive forces of evil and sin on earth.  All of the world benefits, but my friend a day is coming–there is an Appointment.  When the Lord returns for His saints, the world will rush into havoc and chaos.

 

I suspect everybody wants to have it all when they’re young… Maybe a man shouldn’t have it when he’s young. It robs him of something, giving him all he can have when he’s too young to know what he’s got.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Man From the Broken Hills)

       So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
                    –2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV)
—————————-
          “Oh! to be like Thee!  
          Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.”
               –Thomas O. Chisholm

Last week we looked in our study on the Beatitudes signs of an impure heart.  Phillips translates Matthew 5:8, this way, “Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God.”  Sincerity in its completeness.  When we sincerely want God’s image to be our image, when we want Him stamped “deep on our hearts” then we are utterly sincere.  So how do we become, and remain pure?    
    Psalm 32:2 reminds us, “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (NIV)  The pure heart, one with no deceit in it.  It is sincere, and one way to think about it, the heart breathes after purity.  Sin is vile and foul to the pure in heart, and they refuse to entertain it at all.  They do not even want the hint of sin to be around them.  They abhor sin and will avoid the appearance of evil.
    Separation is a key, as we have already discussed earlier.  To be separate from evil is to have a pure heart.  We prepare ourselves and guard our hearts by watching our steps, our actions, our mouths.  With a pure heart there will be outward signs, one of which is a deep reverence for the things of God.  Paul reminds us, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1, NIV)  There are things for us to be doing.  It is not magical, but it takes effort and discipline.  No, it is not self-flagellation, but a desire to be like God.
     Where do we start?  With the Word of God.  We must look often into the Word of God.  Sometimes it might be a brief check as we leave the house, other times, we must spend time in front of the mirror of God’s Word.  Thomas Watson declares that, “The Word is both a looking-glass to show us the spots of our souls–and a laver to wash them away!”  We have already been made pure (justification) by the blood of Christ, but we should never forget that we should often bathe in the Word of God.  
     Faith!  Faith is always one of the key elements in any part of the Christian’s walk.  We read in Acts, “And made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” (15:9, NKJV)  Faith helps us purify our hearts.  We walk by faith, we work by faith, we serve by faith, we sleep by faith–in other words, our life should be marked by a life of faith.  Then we breathe after the Holy Spirit.  As Chisholm wrote, “Stamp Thine own image…”.  The image of Christ, or the image of self as we walk through this world.  Do not be close to the world, that will do nothing but tarnish the heart, not purify it.  “Beware of the society of the wicked,” warns Thomas Watson.  Yet, so many seek the thrills, the haunts, and the seeming excitement of the places of the world.  Walk, my friend, with those who are pure, not with those who are sordid, not with those who would sully your heart.
          O to be like Thee!  Blessed Redeemer,
          This is my constant longing and prayer;
          Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
          Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
T.O. Chisholm suggests that to be like Christ we must forfeit earth’s treasures.  Not just forfeit them, but “gladly” do it.  A pure heart–stay away from ungodly people, stay away from the stench and stain of evil, and then breathe in the freshness of the Holy Spirit and walk with those who are themselves pure in heart.