xxix. 13, 14. _Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this
people drew near to Me with their mouth, &c._
The charge against the people is clear; it is that of a heartless
religion, formal and full of hypocrisy. "Their fear toward me is
taught by the _precept of men._" That is, their religion is a
mechanical following of human directions, instead of the spontaneous
uprising of a heart inspired with the fear and love of God.
+I. The charge against the Jews in Isaiah's day.+ It is twofold--the
removal of the heart and the substitution of a lip-service. _The
removal of the heart._ God demands the service of the heart (Prov.
xxiii. 26; Jer. xxix. 13). The Psalmist felt how reasonable was this
demand when he said, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, with the _whole
heart_" (Ps. ix. 1). A man may do some things with a slack hand and
yet be blameless, but to steer an Atlantic steamer in a storm, he
needs the whole force of both hands. Unless our whole soul be in
God's service, our worship will be thrown back upon us with the
withering words, "Who hath demanded _this_ at your hands?" This
worthless thing! "Bring no more vain oblations." How strikingly our
Lord put this principle of supremacy (Luke xiv. 26): "In every man's
heart I must be supreme, or therein I cannot dwell." Infidels must
ignorantly misread this passage. One of their counts against
Christianity is that it frowns on family joys; while every day's
facts prove that the truest Christian is the best husband, father,
&c. God being first in a man's heart, that heart is humanised, its
generosity enlarged, so as to take in, not only the family, but "all
mankind." But some, after having given their hearts to the Lord,
withdraw them from His service (Matt. xiii. 22; 2 Tim. iv. 10).
+II. This charge has been true in every generation.+ The heart's
weakness and the world's force are ever the same. This evil existed
in our Lord's day (Matt. xv. 8, 9). For long years before the
Reformation whole nations of Christendom presented to God a mere
formal worship. And to-day, of how many congregations may the words
of Ezekiel be said! (Ezek. xxxiii. 31).
+III. The worthless substitution presented to God.+ "And with their
lips do honour Me." The instinct of worship is so strong within the
soul that men everywhere worship something. It may be the hideous
fetish of the African or the artistic statue of the refined Greek,
but something the Greek and the barbarian must have. When that young
mother, in the days of Solomon, arose in the morning and found a dead
child by her side instead of her own living one, how severe must have
been the shock! Had there been no child by her side, no dead
substitute, she might have thought that her own child lived somewhere
and might sometime be found. But that dead substitute at first nearly
killed her by despair. It is bad to withdraw a living heart from the
Lord, but to substitute a dead one is first to rob God and then
wickedly insult Him (H. E. I., 5066-5070).
+IV. The threat+ (ver. 14). The threat is that of _cherished
expectations bitterly disappointed._ In times of extremity, full of
confidence in the wisdom of their leaders, they shall seek light and
leading, and behold nothing but darkness and folly. How often have
the leaders of a nation been stricken with folly, and, like a blinded
steersman, have driven the ship to destruction! "The wisdom of their
wise men shall perish." Disappointment! It is only another expression
about the foolish man disappointed in his false security, his house
resting on the sand, and of those who "make lies their refuge, and
under falsehood hide themselves." The threat is that "the hail shall
sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding-place." Though men may not admit that their worship is mere
lip-service, and their neighbours not see their hypocrisy, yet to the
eye of God
"The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear."
--_William Parkes, F.R.G.S._
Two conditions under which religion is in a declining state. 1. When
the ordinances of Divine worship are generally neglected. 2. When the
attendance on worship, however large, does not represent a religious
state of mind, but is simply an outward performance. The latter was
the state into which religion had fallen in Judea. The religious
observances of the people were not inspired by knowledge of God's
Word, but by human authority. The text--
+I. Describes a great privilege.+ "This people draw near me." God
speaks after the manner of men. When we desire to speak closely to a
friend we get near him. This is coming close to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28;
Heb. x. 22; Heb. vii. 19; James iv. 8). Is it not a wonder that the
Almighty permits us to draw nigh to Him? Men make it difficult for
their inferiors to obtain access; but the Infinite and Eternal One
makes Himself accessible to His creatures. Not only so; He has made a
way for creatures stained by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ stands
between God and man by virtue of His atoning death and interceding
life. The guilty, condemned, utterly impure, have only to renounce
their sinfulness and avail themselves of this new and living way. If
there is truthfulness and sincerity, they will be welcome. In the
sanctuary, in meeting for prayer, in the family, in the closet, in
the round of daily duty, we may draw near to God. Do you know
anything of the blessedness of this privilege? Enjoyment, comfort,
purity, fitness for intercourse with men, for the battle of life, for
the work of the world, do they not all come through this privilege?
+II. Points out a serious abuse+ (ver. 13). Their sin was not the
abandonment of worship. That is a measure of ungodliness not reached
without a long process. Unsettled faith, indifference to spiritual
blessings, habits of sinful indulgence, conduct to it. What
multitudes have reduced themselves to this predicament? But it was
not their case. They had not relinquished the ordinances of worship;
they observed them. But there was a twofold defect: the heart was
absent and the motive was wrong. 1. _Something was present that ought
to have been absent._ "Their fear toward Me is taught by the precept
of men." Their piety was only out of respect for some human
authority. Our Lord quoted this part of the text in His exposure of
externalism as exemplified by the Pharisees of His time (Matt.
xv. 9). Human authority in religion is here distinctly denounced. One
man may hand the Word of God to another, but no man must impose his
notions of religion on another by his mere authority. A man's
religious service must be the result of his personal conviction. If
he is religious because some one else is, or because it is
respectable, or because it may promote his worldly interest, or
because it is recognised and imposed by the authority of the state,
it is not really the honour and worship of God at all, but of man.
2. _Something was absent that ought to have been present._ "But have
removed their heart far from Me." God must be worshipped with the
heart. Apart from the outward expression of inward reality, the
movement of the lips and the utterance of the mouth are nothing. Real
worship is the consent of the understanding, will, affections, to the
homage which is paid by the lips. Without this they are mockery, as
when one who stands in the king's presence is alienated from his
allegiance.
+III. Utters a solemn warning+ (ver. 14). Their religion was only the
counsel of man. It was unavailing for its purpose, and would come to
nothing (1 Cor. i. 19). Such worship is: 1. _Unacceptable._ God is
not deceived. Realise the terribleness of being rejected. He says,
"It is not the kind of worship I require." After all your wisdom
(Isa. i. 11-15). 2. _Unsuccessful._ The prayers offered only by the
lips are not heard. No answer comes, no blessing descends. This comes
of the policy which followed the precepts of men. 3. _Unstable._
After such religion reaction may be expected. There is no inward life
to sustain the outward exercises. Does not the test point to that
deeper spiritual blindness which follows the attempt to put the
wisdom of man in the place of the wisdom of God?
In religion and at its worship take care: 1. That there is
_sincerity._ See that the heart is right with God. "Ye must be born
again." 2. That there is _simplicity._ Let there be no superfluous
externalism in worship; only what is necessary to the suitable
expression of the heart's worship. 3. That there is _earnestness._
And if a merely formal worship is rejected, what is the predicament
of those who do not even offer that, but who live without any
acknowledgement of God?--_John Rawlinson._