Isaiah 44:20

DISCOURSE: 936
THE FOLLY OF SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY

Isaiah 44:20. He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

WE who have lived under the light of revelation, and have been instructed in the knowledge of the one true God, are amazed at the stupidity of the Heathen, who form idols of wood and stone, and worship gods which they themselves have made. But we do not consider, that it is not the forming of these images, but the trusting in them, that makes them gods: and that we ourselves are guilty of idolatry as much as the heathen themselves, if in any respect we “love and serve the creature more than the Creator [Note: Romans 1:25.].” This is the essence of idolatry; as the Apostle tells us; “Beware of covetousness, which is idolatry [Note: Colossians 3:5.].” And of persons addicted to sensual enjoyments, he says, they “make a god of their belly [Note: Philippians 3:19.]:” and Christians universally, being in danger of indulging an undue confidence in, or attachment to, the creature, are guarded against those evils in these very expressive terms, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols [Note: John 5:21.].” In speaking therefore of idolaters, it is not necessary that we carry you back to the prophet’s days, or that we take you amongst Pagans of the present day: the language in our text is quite as applicable to us at this time as to any of them. With a view therefore to spiritual idolaters amongst ourselves, I will shew you,

I. The folly of their ways—

Of every one amongst them it may truly be said, “He feedeth on ashes:” for, whatever the things be with which he seeks to satisfy his desires, they are,

1. Unsuitable—

[It is needless to say, how unsuitable ashes are for the food of the body: but they are not a whit less so than the things of this world are for the nourishment of the soul. The soul is a spiritual substance, and must be fed with that which is spiritual. It was formed for God: and nothing but what comes from God, and leads to God, can support it. The word of God, for instance, is food on which it may subsist: and hence “the new-born babe desires the unadulterated milk of the word, that he may grow thereby [Note: 1 Peter 2:2.].” On this the saints of old subsisted: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them: and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart [Note: Jeremiah 15:16; Psalms 119:103.].” The presence of God also is that which strengthens the believing soul: “for that it hungers and thirsts, even to see his power and glory, as they are revealed in the sanctuary: and, when a sense of his loving-kindness is imparted to it, the soul is filled as with marrow and fatness, and praiseth him with joyful lips [Note: Psalms 63:1.].” In a more particular manner the Christian is nourished by the flesh of Christ and the blood of Christ; on which he feeds continually, and which he finds to “be meat indeed, and drink indeed [Note: John 6:53.].” As for the things of time and sense, they are but as husks which the swine eat of: and to attempt to feed on them, is only to “feed upon the wind [Note: Hosea 12:1.],” and to “fill the belly with the east wind [Note: Job 15:2.]

2. Unsatisfying—

[To all who go to the creature for happiness, the prophet says, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [Note: Isaiah 55:1.].” In confirmation of the reproof here given, I will venture to appeal to all, even to those who have drunk deepest of the cup of pleasure, and feasted themselves most largely with carnal delights; ‘Has any thing that you have ever enjoyed, afforded you permanent satisfaction?’ “Was your eye ever satisfied with seeing, or your cur with hearing?” or, “Was any man that loved silver, ever satisfied with silver [Note: Ecclesiastes 5:10.]?” There is but one testimony on this head, from every child of man. Vanity is written upon all human enjoyments; and vexation invariably follows in the pursuit of them.]

3. Injurious—

[As ashes, if taken into the stomach, would soon injure the constitution of the body, so all endeavours to satisfy the soul with carnal enjoyments will of necessity deprave and vitiate all its faculties. Such food will indispose the soul for every thing that is spiritual and divine: it will weaken all its energies; and debase all its powers; and reduce it to the lowest possible state of degradation, causing it to nauseate every thing which God has ordained for its good, and to affect every thing which will tend to its destruction. Every day that a man lives to himself and to this present world, he departs farther and farther from God, and renders himself more and more incapable of heavenly pursuits and heavenly enjoyments. He is “a sinner against his own soul [Note: Numbers 16:38.];” and is fitly represented as “wronging his own soul, and loving death [Note: Proverbs 8:35.].”]

But to what shall we look as,

II.

The source of their errors—

It is not from any radical defect in their understanding that this idolatry proceeds: it comes from their heart: “a deceived heart hath turned them aside.” This is a point which is by no means duly considered. If the subject of idolatry be brought fairly before a heathen, he sees at once that his god cannot help itself, and consequently can much less afford any help to him. And in like manner the spiritual idolater, if only he will candidly examine the matter, must see, and be convinced, that a vain world can never satisfy an immortal soul. But,

1. His heart is deceived by Satan—

[Satan is the great deceiver of mankind, He puts a gloss on every thing; representing as desirable that which is in itself evil; and hiding the deformity of it; and assuring us, that no painful consequences will follow a compliance with his suggestions. Thus he beguiled Eve in Paradise: and thus he still deceives the children of men, over the face of the whole earth. “He was a lying spirit in all the prophets of Ahab [Note: 1 Kings 22:22.]:” and he has his agents in every place, who are ready by every possible means to forward his delusions. He can, and often does, “assume the form of an angel of light [Note: 2 Corinthians 11:13.]:” and not unfrequently urges his temptations in so specious a way, as “to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect [Note: Matthew 24:24.].” In a word, so subtle are his devices, that to know them, and be aware of them, is a science which scarcely any human being is able to attain [Note: 2 Corinthians 2:11.]; so innumerable are his wiles, and so unsearchable his deceits.]

2. His deceived heart turns aside his whole man—

[The heart, beguiled thus, and vitiated with evil propensities, blinds his understanding, biasses his will, and carries him forward in ways, which a more dispassionate view of things would lead him to condemn. This distinction clearly appears in the two verses preceding our text: “They have not known nor understood: for God hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire, &c and shall I make the remains thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?” Then it is added, “He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside.” The blindness in his understanding arises from a want of due and unbiassed consideration in the heart. And, in fact, all evil will be found to originate here. “The heart of the sons of men is full of evil [Note: Ecclesiastes 9:3.];” and it is “deceitful above all things, as well as desperately wicked [Note: Jeremiah 17:9.]:” and, like a bias in a bowl, even when under any strong impulse a man has been going for a season in u right direction, it draws him gradually aside, and causes him to rest in a situation far distant from that at which he aimed. Who amongst us has not had abundant experience of this in his own soul? Who amongst us has not been drawn from complying with the dictates of a better principle, by the more powerful influence of an evil principle within him; and thus followed the less proper course, at the very time that he beheld and approved the better [Note: Romans 7:23.]? Thus it is with all the votaries of this world: they have an internal consciousness that their ways and their doings are not good: they therefore will not bring them to the test of God’s revealed will: “they are afraid of coming to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved [Note: John 3:19.]:” yet, through the deceits of Satan and their own hearts, they say, “We shall have peace, notwithstanding we walk in the imagination of our own hearts [Note: Deuteronomy 29:19.].” Thus, I say, it is with them: they are “carried away by a spirit of whoredom [Note: Hosea 4:12.]:” “they are drawn away of their own lust, and enticed. Then, when their lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death [Note: James 1:14.].”]

Hence we may easily account for,

III.

The strength of their delusions—

“They cannot deliver their souls”—
[Truly, as our Liturgy well expresses it, they “are tied and bound with the chain of their sins.” The whole generation of ungodly men are “led captive by the devil, at his will [Note: 2 Timothy 2:26.],” and are “carried away to their idols, even as they are led [Note: 1 Corinthians 12:2.].” Amongst them all there are few, if any, who have not felt at times some desire to liberate themselves from their thraldom, and formed some purpose to turn unto their God. But they have not been able to effect it; their inward lusts have been too strong for them, and their deep-rooted habits too inveterate; so that “they could no more change their course of life, than an Ethiopian could change his skin, or a leopard his spots [Note: Jeremiah 13:23.].” Their good desires have perhaps been renewed from time to time; but have soon vanished again; “their goodness being only as a morning cloud, or as the early dew that passeth away [Note: Hosea 6:4.].” In a time of sickness possibly, and at the expected approach of death, they may appear to have gained the victory over their corruptions. But no resolutions of theirs have been found sufficient. Returning health has brought with it renewed temptations; and these have borne down all their purposes, which have snapped asunder, as the cords or withs with which Sampson was bound: and the poor devotees of this world have returned again to their idols, “as a dog to his vomit, and as a sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire.”]

“They cannot even say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
[Even to consider their ways with any seriousness, is an effort beyond their power. I mean not that they are under any natural incapacity for this; but such is their moral weakness, and such the strength of their corrupt nature, that they cannot do what their better judgment would dictate. If they attempt to read or pray, their minds start aside from the employment, “even as a deceitful bow [Note: Psalms 78:57; Hosea 7:16.]:” and their thoughts quickly rove to the very ends of the earth. It is said of Satan, that, “as a strong man armed, he keepeth his palace, and his goods are in peace [Note: Luke 11:21.].” And this is verified in experience: for he keepeth his vassals from considering their bondage; he suggests to them that they will have some more convenient season for such unwelcome reflections; and he thus induces them to “think only of peace and safety, till sudden destruction come upon them [Note: 1 Thessalonians 5:3.],” and they “perish without a remedy [Note: Proverbs 29:1.].” One would indeed scarcely conceive it possible that rational and immortal beings should be so insensible in the midst of their dangers, and against all the dictates of their better judgment: but so it is: they are willingly deceived, and are therefore “given over to a delusion to believe their own lie [Note: 2 Thessalonians 2:11.]:” and so “vain are they in their imaginations, and so darkened in their foolish hearts [Note: Romans 1:21.],” that to bid them examine whether they have not a lie in their right hand, is as great an offence to them, as it would be to a poor, blind, infatuated heathen.]

Infer—
1.

How thankful should we be for a Saviour!

[If God had not “laid help for us upon One that is mighty,” who amongst us could ever be saved? Blessed be God, if there is “a strong man armed that has enslaved us, there is a stronger than he, that has overcome him, and taken from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divided his spoils [Note: Luke 11:21.];” and at this moment sends his servants to proclaim, in his name, “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound [Note: Isaiah 49:9.].” The very first sermon which he himself ever preached on earth was to this effect [Note: Luke 4:18.]. In his name therefore I now “preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” even the year of Jubilee, wherein every slave may assert his liberty, and claim the possession of his forfeited inheritance. Rejoice then, Brethen, in these glad tidings: and now “cast your idols to the moles and to the bats.” Feed no more on ashes: let not a deceived heart any longer turn you aside: but deliver your souls; and come forth into the light and liberty of the children of God. If your cast idolatries have involved your souls in guilt, there is a sufficiency in the blood of Christ to cleanse you from it [Note: 1 John 1:7.]: if your corruptions appear so inveterate that you cannot hope to subdue them, “the grace of Christ shall be sufficient for you [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:9.].” Only seek henceforth your all in him, and “you shall be saved by him with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end [Note: Isaiah 45:17.].”]

2. How watchful should we be against the remains of our corrupt nature!

[Whilst we are in this world, we still carry about with us “a body of sin and death,” and many corrupt propensities, against which we must be ever on our guard. We are but “in part renewed.” “The flesh still lusteth against the Spirit, as well as the Spirit against the flesh [Note: Galatians 5:17.].” And Satan has still power to tempt us, yea, and “will sift us all as wheat,” if our blessed Lord do not interpose for our help. We see in Demas, how prone the carnal heart is to relapse into the love of earthly things; and we know very little of ourselves, if we have not learned, by our own manifold backslidings, that we are yet in danger of “turning back unto perdition [Note: Hebrews 10:38.],” and of “losing all the things which we have wrought [Note: 2 John, ver. 8.].” I would say then, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation [Note: Matthew 26:41.]:” “and take to you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand [Note: Ephesians 6:12.]”— — —]