The NXR Podcast - November 10, 2024


THE SERMON - Christ： The Stability of Our Times - Isaiah 33_1-6


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Length

1 hour and 4 minutes

Words per minute

146.66624

Word count

9,406

Sentence count

464

Harmful content

Toxicity

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

78

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Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

This morning's sermon is titled "Christ, the stability of our times" and is based on a phrase taken from Isaiah 33:1-6. God bless you as you listen to this morning's message.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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00:00:49.020 Thank you, David.
00:00:50.560 It's wonderful to be reminded of the law of the Lord and especially the fifth commandment.
00:00:55.580 God's law is certainly for our good, as we just heard.
00:00:57.660 And it is good for us to honor fathers and mothers who have done so much for us.
00:01:02.920 So it's a privilege even to be reminded of that.
00:01:05.660 There'll be a lot in today's sermon which might reflect back to the fifth commandment.
00:01:09.600 So let's refresh our minds or keep that in our minds as we now move forward to hearing the word preached.
00:01:15.940 It's a pleasure to be able to preach this morning.
00:01:17.500 Again, as I said, Pastor Joel's gone.
00:01:19.100 And I always consider it a great privilege and pleasure to preach in the place of Joel when there's opportunity for him to rest.
00:01:29.920 So if you have your Bibles or a copy of the sermon notes which are in front of you, please direct your attention now to the text at hand.
00:01:38.060 If you'll notice, today we're going to be pausing our sermon series through the book of Matthew
00:01:43.300 and preaching through at least a one-off sermon through the book of Isaiah.
00:01:48.800 And today's sermon is titled, Christ, the Stability of Our Times, which is a phrase which is taken from Isaiah chapter 33.
00:01:57.160 Therefore, today's primary text will be Isaiah 33, verses 1 through 6.
00:02:03.340 And as I mentioned, I plan to incorporate or synthesize other portions of text from the book
00:02:08.220 of Isaiah as well. So as is our tradition here at the church, would you stand with me as I read
00:02:13.640 today's text? When I conclude reading it, I will say, this is the word of the Lord. And as a
00:02:20.160 congregation, I will ask that we respond by saying, thanks be to God. Once more, today's text is Isaiah
00:02:27.180 chapter 33, verses 1 through 6. The Bible says this. Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not
00:02:36.480 been destroyed. You traitor, whom none has betrayed. When you have ceased to destroy, 0.99
00:02:42.720 you will be destroyed. And when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
00:02:47.820 O Lord, be gracious to us. We wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time
00:02:54.180 of trouble. At the tumultuous noise, peoples flee. When you lift yourself up, nations are
00:02:59.840 scattered, and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers, as locusts sleep it is
00:03:05.340 leapt upon. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with justice and
00:03:12.400 righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times. Abundance of salvation, wisdom,
00:03:18.540 and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure. This is the word of the Lord.
00:03:25.080 Thanks be to God. Please be seated and join me now as I pray.
00:03:31.080 God, we thank you, oh gracious Father. We thank you of your word again, which reminds us of the
00:03:39.580 truth of things. It's easy to lose our heads or be distracted or run in the way of our sinful
00:03:47.000 passions, Lord, and you command us not to do so, Lord. You ground us in your perfect steadiness,
00:03:53.860 in your perfect constants, constant steadfastness, O Lord. And you remind us through texts such as
00:04:01.860 these that you are the stability of our times, Lord. Each and every person who lives in each
00:04:07.880 and every day, Lord, each and every time that a Christian has found himself, Lord, you have been
00:04:12.700 the stability of that time, O God. And we thank you that you ground us, you keep our feet planted,
00:04:19.720 us firm in you, O Lord. We thank you that in Christ, you help us not to lose our heads. You
00:04:27.180 help us to remain constant, always moving forward, always our eyes fixed on Christ.
00:04:33.040 We pray that you would help us to do so through a glimpse of your word today.
00:04:37.220 Help me to preach your word faithfully, O God. You know that I need your help, Lord,
00:04:41.300 So please be with me and please be with this congregation as well.
00:04:45.300 Lord, we pray that they would hear your word, Lord, and that you would grant to us the fruits of responding to your word in faith and obedience and in worship to you, God, as we continue to worship you on this morning.
00:04:57.540 God, be glorified, be blessed and be with us, God.
00:05:01.000 We pray these things in Jesus's name.
00:05:02.960 Amen.
00:05:05.220 So I first became a Christian when I was about five or six years old.
00:05:10.440 And the story of God's grace at work in my life is a testament, first and foremost, of course, to the grace of God in Christ.
00:05:18.960 At a young age, he revealed to me that I was not merely the product of evolutionary forces or chemical processes,
00:05:25.780 but was purposefully created by God to know him, to trust him, to love him, and to obey him.
00:05:33.900 Such is the same story for each and every one of you as well.
00:05:38.340 With the help of my parents, I realized that God loved me,
00:05:42.340 but this specific love was a special kind of love.
00:05:46.840 It was not merely the kind of love that every proverbial man or woman has sought for,
00:05:52.320 that every poet has gushed about,
00:05:54.280 or that seems to be in the air at Christmastime in the Hallmark movies.
00:05:58.840 Instead, God's perfect love is exhibited chiefly in his grace,
00:06:03.240 his unconditional unmerited favor given to his image bearers through the life death and
00:06:10.320 resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. Whenever I think of these younger years I think of my parents
00:06:17.120 and I'm especially grateful to them. They both grew up in unbelieving homes and were saved in
00:06:23.640 their 20s later in their life. Though they may not have known it at that time God used their lives
00:06:29.220 and the mustard seed of faith that he planted in each of them to correct and completely alter the
00:06:34.660 trajectory of our family's life. I thank God for this, and I rejoice in his grace to me in first
00:06:41.160 saving my parents. Because of this, my sister and I grew up knowing the Lord, and now too,
00:06:47.100 my children have the blessing of growing up with Christian parents, but also Christian
00:06:51.700 grandparents. So this is a blessing that I thank the Lord for often. Though I understood God's
00:06:57.800 grace from a young age, it wasn't until I moved out on my own and started attending a newly
00:07:02.680 reformed church in San Diego where I began to develop a hunger and thirst for reading the
00:07:08.100 scriptures. Since those years, God has used his word to wash me, to train me, and to sanctify me
00:07:14.860 more into the image of Christ. There is much we can glean from the word of God as it is taught,
00:07:21.460 preached and applied to our own hearts, our lives, our institutions, and our society.
00:07:29.220 It truly is a living and active word, and the one who spends his days drinking deeply from it
00:07:35.460 will have no lack. To this day, though, some of the most challenging books for me in my yearly
00:07:41.600 Bible reading had been the works of the prophets, particularly the major prophets such as Jeremiah,
00:07:48.460 Ezekiel, and Isaiah. As I've grown, I have even come to appreciate some of the minor prophets
00:07:54.500 for their appointed message and their seemingly consistent train of thought. Arguably, all of us
00:08:00.720 remember the story of Jonah for this reason. It's easy to follow. Earlier this year as well, as we
00:08:06.320 preached through the book of Ezra, we saw how the minor prophets Haggai and Zechariah spoke to the
00:08:12.400 people in the midst of the rebuilding of the second temple. The major prophets, on the other
00:08:18.160 hand, have remained a challenge in my study of the word, and I would dare to suggest that maybe that
00:08:24.260 is true for some of you as well. I would often get lost while reading such books, not knowing who the
00:08:30.320 prophet was speaking to, what he was addressing, and what his words meant for Christians throughout
00:08:37.480 history in the ages to follow. For these major prophets and for the book of Isaiah, which we
00:08:43.780 will be focusing on today, context is key. Therefore, our study of the book of Isaiah must
00:08:50.620 begin with the first verse of chapter 1. Isaiah 1 verse 1 reads, the vision of Isaiah, the son
00:08:59.700 of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
00:09:08.300 and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. In this verse, we learn that Isaiah prophesied the Lord's words to
00:09:15.520 a specific people, the southern kingdom, namely the kingdom of Judah, which existed prior to
00:09:23.180 the period of the exile to Babylon. He prophesied these words to the kingdom of Judah at a specific
00:09:30.320 time, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, we learn from the text.
00:09:38.980 So his prophesying spanned the reigns of four different kings throughout Judah's history,
00:09:44.460 meaning that Isaiah was commissioned by the Lord to take up residence as a prophet and to speak
00:09:49.720 his word for over 40 years. We should expect nothing less from one of the Lord's prophets,
00:09:55.880 but this single fact is remarkable. Throughout the course of the book's 66 chapters and 40
00:10:03.380 some odd years, Isaiah prophesies with consistency and clarity. Ironically, and maybe not surprising,
00:10:11.240 but many liberal and critical theologians, for them, this fact is an impossible reality. Many
00:10:18.100 of these theologians have sought to explain this away by stating that the book of Isaiah
00:10:23.400 is really a collection of the words of not one, but three different Isaiahs. These are the same
00:10:30.720 scholars who dispute that the miracles of the scriptures could not possibly have happened and
00:10:36.420 were merely embellished in fantastical accounts of natural occurrences. You think of the flood
00:10:42.980 or other such characteristics that happened in the scriptures, they've tried to explain away as
00:10:48.500 merely embellished accounts or natural occurrences that people were taken away or carried away in
00:10:54.380 their explanations. You see, such theologians claim to follow Christ and yet have traded the
00:11:00.200 wonderful inheritances of special revelation and sovereign providence for a palatable Christianity
00:11:06.980 to gain the approval of the elites and the skeptics of our day. Such scholars have the
00:11:14.140 appearance of godliness but deny its power and ultimately do more to undermine the truth
00:11:20.060 of Christ and lead many astray into doubts through their contextualizations. Instead,
00:11:27.960 as we've said, we see the remarkable consistency of Isaiah's word and message throughout the 40
00:11:33.980 years and various kings that we see ascend to the throne. In fact, it is safe to say that during
00:11:40.920 Isaiah's prophetic tenure, nearly everything is changing, while the constant thread is Isaiah's
00:11:47.340 word to the people. Despite changing circumstances and the passage of time, the word of the Lord
00:11:55.280 remains constant and steadfast. Isaiah himself prophesies this in Isaiah chapter 40, where he
00:12:01.740 says, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
00:12:09.120 We can see this over the course of short intervals of time, as well as the course of the history of
00:12:15.540 the world. God's word and the unfolding of his providence are consistent and steady despite the
00:12:22.780 changing of the guard, the rise and fall of dominant civilizations, and when it seems sin
00:12:28.780 and darkness are triumphing over the earth. This is an encouraging and timely word to us.
00:12:36.400 As Americans of the 21st century, we have grown accustomed to measuring time by four-year cycles.
00:12:42.900 Our politicians are often willing to say whatever is needed to protect their seat for the next
00:12:48.280 election cycle. One leader gets elected and makes progress in an area only to have it completely
00:12:54.400 stripped away by the next administration. As Solomon wisely observed in one of my favorite
00:13:00.720 books in the book of Ecclesiastes, he writes, I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun,
00:13:07.800 seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be 0.98
00:13:12.800 wise or a fool. Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. 0.96
00:13:22.300 This also is vanity.
00:13:25.240 In looking back on the last few years, I don't know if I can speak for many of you, but it
00:13:29.540 seems to me that COVID and 2020 happened such a long time ago, nearly 10 years ago.
00:13:35.280 But then when I think that was only four years ago, I'm always astonished.
00:13:39.600 Perhaps this is because new technologies have seemed to increase the speed at which time
00:13:44.700 passes, or because we live in a particularly volatile political climate.
00:13:50.420 I, like many of you, as David just said, are praising the Lord for the outcome of the election
00:13:55.320 that just occurred this week.
00:13:57.480 But we would be naive to say that our work is done or that stability has been achieved.
00:14:04.440 In fact, the work is only just beginning.
00:14:07.220 And if history bears repeating itself, we may find ourselves in a similar state of affairs
00:14:12.640 come 2028.
00:14:14.580 Despite the apparent truth in these realities, there is a line that runs deeper.
00:14:20.500 The truth that girds the Christian in the midst of chaotic and volatile times is found in our text today.
00:14:27.540 In Isaiah 33, verse 6,
00:14:31.160 He will be the stability of your times.
00:14:35.180 The word of the Lord endures forever, and he will be the stability of your times.
00:14:41.440 One of the most striking facts of this word that's spoken by Isaiah is that unlike many
00:14:48.460 of his other prophecies which were foretold to be fulfilled in a future day, this spoken word
00:14:54.740 brought present hope to the people of Judah and was also an everlasting promise. In that way,
00:15:01.940 it was directed to the people of Judah and also for all of God's people in all times and places.
00:15:09.440 All Christians can rejoice in the reality that Jesus Christ provides peace in the present day
00:15:15.120 and is himself the stability of their times, no matter what day and age they may find themselves in.
00:15:23.100 As Isaiah sought to encourage the people of Judah with these words,
00:15:27.300 so we too must find comfort in them in the present day we find ourselves in as well.
00:15:34.720 But one aspect of Isaiah's prophecy and ministry was to warn the people that there would be no
00:15:40.840 peace or stability as long as they embraced sin. In fact, God warned the people that rampant
00:15:47.820 sin and rebellion would be the surest way to bring about God's judgment, leading to strife
00:15:54.000 and challenging times. This, in fact, is exactly how Isaiah begins his prophetic ministry
00:15:59.800 in the beginning of the book of Isaiah. He was first called by the Lord to prophesy during
00:16:06.820 the period or the days of King Uzziah of Judah. According to faithful historical commentaries to
00:16:13.720 set somewhat of a context, this period was a time of relative stability for both the northern and
00:16:20.020 southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah respectively. This was largely in part because the main
00:16:26.260 powerhouses of the day. Egypt and Assyria had directed their attention elsewhere for the time
00:16:31.420 being. Therefore, Israel and Judah were surprisingly able to extend their territories
00:16:37.660 to the same extent as it had been in Solomon's kingdom. For the time being, there was the
00:16:43.300 appearance of success. The kingdoms had extended their borders. The peoples enjoyed many treasures
00:16:50.620 and were prosperous. The land knew peace for a time. But the Lord, through the mouth of Isaiah,
00:16:57.900 warned the people that such peace and prosperity would not last. In Isaiah chapter 2, he prophesies
00:17:05.120 against the people and their sin. Isaiah chapter 2 verses 6 through 8 reads,
00:17:12.560 For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the 0.91
00:17:18.740 east and of fortune tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of 1.00
00:17:24.580 foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. 0.97
00:17:31.800 Their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled
00:17:38.140 with idols. They bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
00:17:44.920 At the time, the kingdom appeared to be prospering.
00:17:49.640 The land was filled with silver and gold, horses and chariots.
00:17:55.120 The land had the appearance of wealth, success and military strength.
00:18:00.120 But these became more precious in the eyes of the people than the Lord himself.
00:18:05.800 This was the crux of Isaiah's cries against his people.
00:18:10.440 Prosperity is not always a sign of God's blessing.
00:18:14.560 By prizing God's gift in the comfort of material blessings,
00:18:18.420 Judah forsook gratefulness in exchange for entitlement. 0.69
00:18:23.380 They ask not how they could use their wealth as instruments of righteousness, 0.88
00:18:28.560 but how they could spend it further on their sinful pleasures.
00:18:32.440 And this in turn gave birth to idolatry.
00:18:35.320 They craft and create idols of wood and stone 0.95
00:18:39.300 and neglect proper worship of the triune God. 0.95
00:18:42.960 Instead of charting a course of faithfulness for their posterity, they abandoned their heritage 0.75
00:18:48.640 and become like the peoples of the land, worshipers of wood and stone of what their own fingers had 0.98
00:18:56.160 made. On the outside, Judah seemed to prosper, but Isaiah properly diagnoses the situation. 0.71
00:19:03.620 Judah was in disrepair and on a collision course with exile, abandonment, and fading into oblivion.
00:19:11.780 Isaiah prophesied of a day when the veneer of prosperity would be torn asunder.
00:19:17.840 He does so just a chapter later in Isaiah chapter 3, verses 18 through 26.
00:19:24.300 In that day, the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands and the crescents,
00:19:30.560 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves, the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes,
00:19:37.100 the perfume boxes, and the amulets, the signet rings, the nose rings, the festal robes, the
00:19:44.360 mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags, the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
00:19:52.000 Instead of perfume, there will be rottenness, and instead of a belt, a rope, and instead of well-set
00:19:59.300 hair, baldness, and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth, and branding instead of beauty.
00:20:06.240 Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty men in battle, and her gates shall lament and mourn.
00:20:14.580 Empty she shall sit on the ground.
00:20:18.440 This prophecy from Isaiah and this day came in many iterations in the years that followed. 0.76
00:20:25.460 After Uzziah's death, Judah soon found herself at war with her brother, the imploding northern kingdom. 0.88
00:20:33.620 Even worse was the fact that Assyria finally had united and strengthened 0.92
00:20:37.600 to become a formidable and undeniable force to be reckoned with. 0.98
00:20:42.700 In addition, a crumbling Egypt could no longer be counted on, 0.96
00:20:46.100 and Judah was left to face these new dangers with a weakened stamina and little will to fight. 0.88
00:20:53.780 To add to this was the fact that it had been foretold by one of her own prophets
00:20:59.780 that the kingdom deserved every ounce of what was headed her way.
00:21:04.860 The possessions and prosperity it once had held so dear
00:21:08.420 would be graciously stripped away. 1.00
00:21:11.500 Through all of this, Judah would be brought back 0.95
00:21:13.420 to the place of trusting in the Lord. 0.96
00:21:16.260 But this would occur after many years
00:21:18.160 and after many warnings and encouragements from Isaiah, the prophet.
00:21:23.060 So after Uzziah came, Jotham, and then Ahaz,
00:21:27.200 we read of the failings of King Ahaz in Isaiah chapter 7 and how his actions set the stage for
00:21:34.280 what we read of in Isaiah 33. Isaiah chapter 7 verses 10 through 17 read,
00:21:43.340 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, Ask a sign of the Lord your God. Let it be deep as Sheol or high
00:21:50.740 as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. And he said,
00:21:58.180 Hear then, O house of David. Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
00:22:05.520 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
00:22:12.900 and shall call his name Emmanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the 0.71
00:22:18.980 evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good,
00:22:25.420 the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon
00:22:31.280 your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim
00:22:37.180 departed from Judah, the king of Assyria. In this prophecy, Isaiah foretells both Judah's future
00:22:46.700 judgment and future blessing. The Lord speaks to King Ahaz and entreats him to ask for a sign.
00:22:55.020 In response, King Ahaz feigns humility. He responds, I will not ask and I will not put the
00:23:02.080 Lord to the test in verse 12 there. If we're not careful, his response may seem to us to be
00:23:09.720 genuine, to be righteous. As we heard from the gospel of Matthew recently, even the Lord Jesus
00:23:15.720 refutes Satan with these words. In Matthew 4, verse 7, he says, again, it is written,
00:23:21.560 you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. So Ahaz is not putting the Lord as well to the 0.88
00:23:28.220 test. But Ahaz's response to the Lord is presumptuous. It is foolish. He refuses God's
00:23:36.220 help in order to continue in his idolatry. You see, to accept the Lord's help would be to reject
00:23:42.680 Judah's horses, chariots, and idols. Accepting God's help would be to oppose Assyria and 0.99
00:23:50.220 inevitably cut off the stream that provided such riches, treasure, and idolatry, which Judah
00:23:56.580 greatly esteemed. Matthew Henry writes about this in his commentary as he states,
00:24:03.000 quote, the true reason why Ahaz would not ask for a sign was because having a dependence upon
00:24:10.200 the Assyrians, their forces, and their gods for help, he would not thus far be beholden to the
00:24:17.100 God of Israel or lay himself under obligations to him. He would not ask a sign for the confirming
00:24:24.880 of his faith because he resolved to persist in his unbelief and would indulge his doubts
00:24:31.540 and distrusts, end quote. But Ahaz would learn quickly that choosing Assyria meant that not only
00:24:40.680 would Judah have God as her enemy, but Assyria as well. Isaiah prophesied this exact word of
00:24:48.760 judgment. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such
00:24:55.840 days as have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Judah, the king of Assyria. 0.93
00:25:03.280 Judah, after sowing in unrighteousness and idolatry for many years, would finally live
00:25:09.460 to see the fruit that came from such sowing. Ahaz believed that he could persist in unrighteousness 0.93
00:25:17.480 and not see the consequences for his actions. He would have done well to heed the warnings
00:25:23.780 of the Proverbs. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one
00:25:31.220 walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? Judah had viewed Assyria as a source of security,
00:25:40.200 fine treasures, and scandalous forms of worship, but would soon find that Assyria and her sins 0.88
00:25:46.900 would be a source of misery, judgment, and suffering. Therefore, Isaiah speaks this word 1.00
00:25:54.120 of judgment. Assyria is coming, and Judah will suffer for her sins. But even in this word of 0.95
00:26:03.260 judgment, we see a better word of blessing. This word of blessing, you may know, was the promise
00:26:10.100 of the coming Messiah, Emmanuel, Christ Jesus. He would be born to the virgin, fulfill all
00:26:18.180 righteousness, and save men once and for all from their sins. King Ahaz did not deserve to hear this
00:26:26.440 blessing, and yet the Lord gives it. This is remarkable. The land of Judah would taste the
00:26:34.320 wrath of Assyria soon enough, but would live to see a future day when God himself would step into
00:26:41.280 his creation, take on flesh, die for the sins of his people, and rule over them with perfect grace
00:26:48.660 and dominion. The promise and blessing of the Messiah came many years later, but was one that
00:26:56.220 true worshipers of the Lord could cling to as they prepared to face the wrath of Assyria. 0.64
00:27:02.800 The promise of future blessing in Emmanuel provided present stability 0.57
00:27:08.380 as Judah understood the reality of God's imminent judgment by Assyria. 0.75
00:27:14.840 So too, when we faced with the grim reality of challenging times,
00:27:20.560 difficult providences, crumbling tyrannical governments,
00:27:24.620 and every sort of hardship in life,
00:27:26.980 ought to be refreshed as we remember that God kept his word.
00:27:31.940 Emmanuel did, in fact, come.
00:27:34.620 He has redeemed us from the curse of sin.
00:27:37.760 And at the end of his government and of peace, there shall be no end.
00:27:42.940 You see, this is a precious and emboldening reality when the hardship does, in fact, come. 0.79
00:27:49.120 And in the book of Isaiah, we see the judgment of Assyria come in the later chapters.
00:27:55.520 In Isaiah chapter 36, now in King Hezekiah's reign,
00:27:59.920 we read the grim account of King Sennacherib's envoy,
00:28:04.560 which was led by the Rabshakeh as it approached the gates of Jerusalem.
00:28:10.300 Many of you may know this, but in the ancient world,
00:28:13.260 the city center was the safest place for citizens of the land to find refuge
00:28:18.420 and protection from raiders and invading armies.
00:28:21.680 A person would merely have to enter the city's gates to be safe from such dangers.
00:28:26.540 For ancient cities like Jericho, Jerusalem, and the like were protected by their stout walls and armies of archers and additional defenses which were positioned strategically atop the walls.
00:28:40.360 Many invading armies then began to develop a tactic known as a siege, where they would camp outside the city's walls and cut off all flow in and out of the city.
00:28:52.440 Additional resources would be prevented from coming into the city,
00:28:57.400 and therefore the people would be forced to exhaust their food and water sources until there was nothing left.
00:29:03.200 If the army laying siege was patient enough,
00:29:06.680 they simply had to wait until the people of the city were sufficiently starved
00:29:10.560 before the walls were broken and the city defeated.
00:29:14.960 In this case, in Isaiah chapter 36, the sieging army surrounds Jerusalem,
00:29:20.480 striking fear into the people of Judah and mocking the one true God.
00:29:26.560 If you have a Bible with me, you can turn with me to Isaiah 36. 0.63
00:29:30.920 We'll read the account of this siege and the words of the Rabshakeh beginning in verse 4.
00:29:38.520 Once more, Isaiah 36 beginning in verse 4.
00:29:45.660 And the Rabshakeh said to them, say to Hezekiah, thus says the great king,
00:29:50.480 the king of Assyria. On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words
00:29:56.700 are strategy and power for war? And whom do you now trust that you have rebelled against me?
00:30:03.620 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of 0.99
00:30:08.780 any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. But if you say to
00:30:15.720 me, we trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,
00:30:23.140 saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar? Come now, make a
00:30:29.560 wager with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you are able on your part
00:30:36.960 to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's
00:30:43.460 servants when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen. Moreover, is it without the Lord 0.96
00:30:50.000 that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, go up against this land
00:30:56.380 and destroy it. Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, please speak to your servants 1.00
00:31:03.580 in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of 0.97
00:31:09.760 the people who were on the wall. But the Rabshakeh said, has my master sent me to speak these words 0.56
00:31:16.220 to your master and to you and not to the men sitting on the wall who were doomed with you 0.99
00:31:22.420 to eat their own dung and drink their own urine? Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud 0.55
00:31:28.820 voice in the language of Judah, hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says
00:31:35.980 the king, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Do not let
00:31:42.100 Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, the Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not
00:31:48.680 be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king
00:31:55.620 of Assyria, make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own 1.00
00:32:04.220 vine, and each one of his own fig tree. And each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern
00:32:10.680 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread
00:32:19.160 and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, the Lord will deliver us. Has any of the
00:32:26.860 gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods
00:32:33.960 of Hamath and Arpad. Where are the gods of Sepharvim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my
00:32:39.980 hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, 1.00
00:32:45.780 that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? But they were silent and answered him not 0.97
00:32:51.980 a word. For the king's command was, do not answer him. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over
00:32:58.800 the household, and Shebna, the secretary, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah
00:33:05.780 with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. You see, in that text with a loud
00:33:13.500 voice and in the language of the people of Judah, the commander of Assyria's army, he terrorizes 0.69
00:33:21.680 God's people. He mocks them and their God. He calls them back to their idolatries, supposing
00:33:28.960 that Hezekiah's removal of the high places was wrongheaded and tempts them with the gift of
00:33:34.920 comfortable lives in the land of Assyria, which was a land of grain, wine, bread, and vineyards,
00:33:42.760 he says. The Rabshakeh attempts to direct Judah's attention away from God and his word and to the 0.97
00:33:50.460 words of the truly great king, he supposes the king of Assyria. He says that no god has been
00:33:58.660 able to withstand the power of Assyria and supremely underestimates the sovereign lord
00:34:05.380 of all. You see, in this interaction between the Rabshakeh and the watchman of Jerusalem's walls, 0.81
00:34:11.380 we see the Rabshakeh commit two fatal errors. In the first, he certainly underestimates the lord, 0.85
00:34:18.880 but also Judah and her king. These are not the same people in Isaiah 36 as those in the opening
00:34:27.420 chapters of the book. And King Hezekiah is no Uzziah or Ahaz. The people had been prepared
00:34:34.520 for Assyria's coming for years. With Isaiah's warning chapters before, they make an effort to 0.95
00:34:42.180 return to the Lord. Judah seeks the Lord, albeit imperfectly, and removes the high places and 0.95
00:34:49.740 pursues proper worship. Hezekiah, the righteous king, leads the people in prayer and despises 0.95
00:34:56.640 not Isaiah's prophetic office. At this point, Judah has changed. Unlike their predecessors,
00:35:03.200 the people and their king reject the temptation of idolatry and seek a word from Isaiah and help
00:35:11.160 from their God. The word that they receive comes in Isaiah chapter 37.
00:35:19.240 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them,
00:35:24.800 say to your master, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard,
00:35:31.760 with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit
00:35:38.080 in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the 0.89
00:35:45.520 sword in his own land. It may not be obvious from that text, but this word from Isaiah highlights
00:35:52.480 the second fatal error made by the Rabshakeh. You see, the Lord used Assyria to judge Judah for her 0.98
00:36:01.180 sins, but equally, and if not more so, the Lord providentially causes these events to happen 0.71
00:36:07.720 in order to judge Assyria for her sins. Assyria was a wicked nation committing a number of gruesome 0.85
00:36:16.220 atrocities and exalting themselves against God and his people. And this is one of the beauties 1.00
00:36:23.940 of the book of Isaiah. There are many judgments foretold against the people of Israel and Judah,
00:36:31.360 God's own, but also a number of blessings. Many of these blessings were specific to Israel,
00:36:39.220 but so too many of these blessings came as promises from God that he would also judge
00:36:45.080 Israel's enemies for their sin and the harm that they had caused his own people.
00:36:50.760 Specifically, Isaiah prophesied judgments from the Lord against many of Judah's enemies,
00:36:57.300 including Assyria just a few chapters before this in chapters 28 through 33. And this brings us all 0.56
00:37:05.580 the way back to Isaiah 33, our primary text for today, where we see the judgment of Assyria
00:37:12.660 foretold in the word of God. So let's go back and read our text again as we remind ourselves
00:37:19.320 of this prophecy. I'll begin with verses 1 through 4.
00:37:25.940 Ah, you destroyer who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor whom none has betrayed. 0.95
00:37:32.800 When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed. And when you have finished betraying, 0.98
00:37:38.360 they will betray you. Oh, Lord, be gracious to us. We wait for you. Be our arm every morning,
00:37:45.500 our salvation in the time of trouble. At the tumultuous noise, peoples flee. When you lift
00:37:52.940 yourself up, nations are scattered, and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers.
00:37:59.560 As locusts leap, it is leapt upon. In these verses, Isaiah begins his prophecy by directly
00:38:07.060 addressing Assyria. Assyria is the one who is identified as the destroyer and the traitor
00:38:14.360 there in verse 1. In recent years, Assyria had rapidly been gaining strength and flexed its
00:38:21.480 power through conquest and destruction. Through Tiglath-Pileser, the Assyrians had conquered the
00:38:28.160 northern kingdom of Israel and banished its people into exile in 722 BC. And although the southern 0.74
00:38:35.920 kingdom of Judah had once been considered an ally, its kingdom and spoil were next on the menu.
00:38:44.360 In this way, Assyria became known not only for destruction, but for betrayal.
00:38:50.440 As we read the account, Judah would soon find Sennacherib's men at the gates and their trust betrayed.
00:38:57.540 But they had learned that Assyria had committed treason against the Lord and his people many years before.
00:39:03.740 Assyria had been the source of many iniquities and idolatries, including those which had tempted and led the people of Judah astray.
00:39:12.320 Thus, Isaiah prophesied that the Lord was about to hang a giant millstone around Assyria's neck. 0.94
00:39:20.620 The destroyer would find himself destroyed, and the betrayer would at last himself be betrayed.
00:39:28.200 Look to the words of Matthew Henry, who writes on this in his commentary.
00:39:33.720 He writes, quote,
00:39:34.520 End quote.
00:40:04.520 The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin.
00:40:10.040 This may be a tough pill to swallow, but we know this to be true even today.
00:40:16.140 For example, America has prized promiscuity and sexual deviancy
00:40:21.420 and have allowed these sins to run rampant.
00:40:24.660 It should be no surprise to us then that certain types of diseases,
00:40:30.020 abortion, and even fertility issues are more prevalent.
00:40:33.460 At another level, if you gain a reputation of being a dishonest person, you shouldn't be surprised when you find that you aren't believed, when you do attempt to tell the truth.
00:40:45.940 And the glutton may find one day that his own insatiable appetite will be what kills him in the end.
00:40:53.000 So too, as Isaiah prophesies, the destroyer himself will be destroyed.
00:40:58.720 He may have evaded it for quite some time, but this too shall come to pass. 0.91
00:41:04.620 Assyria had exalted himself against Judah and against the Lord God, but would soon be 0.95
00:41:10.400 laid to waste in a moment. 1.00
00:41:12.940 This is exactly what we see Isaiah prophesying in verses 3 and 4.
00:41:18.740 At the tumultuous noise, peoples flee.
00:41:22.120 When you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar
00:41:27.940 gathers. As locusts leap, it is leapt upon. At the sound of a rumor, the Rabshakeh fearfully
00:41:35.100 abandons his pursuit of Judah and flees to his homeland. In a moment, the angel of the Lord
00:41:41.700 strikes down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers without a single skirmish. The people of Judah were kept 0.99
00:41:50.440 safe and were able to gather the spoil of Assyria as the caterpillar gathers and leap upon it as
00:41:58.440 the locusts leap. The resounding cry of victory belongs to the Lord. And even before Assyria was
00:42:07.220 on Judah's doorstep, the Lord promised through the mouth of Isaiah here in chapter 33 that this 0.97
00:42:13.500 would happen. Therefore, they had great assurance in the midst of terror to pray as Isaiah does in 0.56
00:42:21.580 verse 2. Oh Lord, be gracious to us. We wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in
00:42:31.220 the time of trouble. No longer were they trusting in their idols or in the provisions and protection
00:42:38.240 of foreign lands, but had been given grace to wait on the Lord. They pray for strength to endure the
00:42:45.740 day of fiery trial. They pray and hope that not one of them would lose courage or faith in that
00:42:52.160 day, that Hezekiah would be given strength to lead God's people, and that Assyria would be sent 0.79
00:42:58.240 packing all for the glory of God. So one particular comfort that we should come to the people of God
00:43:06.240 is a realization that both Christians and non-Christians like sin. In the case of the book 1.00
00:43:13.460 of Isaiah, both Judah and Assyria were guilty of sin and idolatry. Judah was surely judged for 0.95
00:43:21.420 her sins. This was the primary reason that Assyria had come to Jerusalem by force. 0.99
00:43:28.860 God had sovereignly moved on the hearts of Sennacherib and the Assyrian army to act as the 0.90
00:43:33.960 means by which his people would be judged. But for the people of God, God's fatherly displeasure
00:43:40.360 and discipline is always to create in us more repentant, faithful, loving, and obedient hearts
00:43:48.020 that we might be brought to the place of trusting Jesus and desiring to be more like him.
00:43:54.660 When the Lord disciplines one of his own with rebukes for sin, he consumes like a moth what
00:44:00.780 is dear to him and in its place bears the peaceful fruit of righteousness. For Assyria, on the other
00:44:08.180 hand, and for the unrighteous alike, God's judgment for sin will either soften their hearts and turn 0.84
00:44:15.300 them to Christ or further harden them into condemnation, into destruction. God endures with
00:44:22.380 much patience and even at times prospers these vessels of wrath for a time to bring glory to
00:44:29.500 himself, and also so that the people of God may marvel at his grace and power. The Assyrians had 0.61
00:44:37.720 fallen into the pits they had dug themselves, while Judah found themselves holding steady
00:44:44.760 in Christ, the stability of their times. So this is the promise that we too must remember,
00:44:53.040 and I leave you with as we now look at these last two verses which are present in Isaiah's
00:44:58.220 prophecy, verses 5 and 6. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with
00:45:07.420 justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times. Abundance of salvation,
00:45:15.000 wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure. God is exalted. He will be
00:45:23.840 glorified in his destruction of the wicked and unrepentant by perfect justice and holiness,
00:45:31.320 and in his salvation of the elect by grace alone. He alone dwells on high and is himself the source
00:45:40.540 of justice, righteous, and stability, which we see in the text. The one who makes the Lord his trust
00:45:48.160 will find no lack of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. He finds these fruits come in abundance
00:45:55.620 and above all the fear of the Lord is his treasure. One of the beauties of these verses and
00:46:01.900 these promises is that the Lord is the source of such fruits and he gives these freely to those
00:46:09.120 who trust in him. And so Christians of all people are to be marked by salvation, wisdom, justice,
00:46:17.000 knowledge, righteousness, and stability. No matter what takes place in life, the Christian
00:46:23.980 must remember that God himself is not surprised or swayed by disaster or man's evil intentions.
00:46:32.860 God had called Assyria to rightfully judge Judah for her sins, but also to judge Assyria for hers.
00:46:41.520 Assyria had intended this for evil, but God had meant it for good.
00:46:47.640 And being fully omniscient, God is perfectly stable, immovable, and immune to chaos and anxiety.
00:46:55.180 And for those who make God their trust, their anchor and ballast in life,
00:47:01.620 they find that God is the stability of their times.
00:47:06.320 The Christian, no matter what time, place, or circumstance he or she finds him or himself or herself in,
00:47:14.200 can ride the waves of uncertainty or hardship by being grounded in salvation, wisdom, and the fear of the Lord.
00:47:23.980 As Judah was urged by Isaiah to trust that God was the stabilizing force in all of their days,
00:47:30.620 so too should the Christian remember that the Lord grounds his people in his perfect steadiness.
00:47:38.080 For before the creation of the world, to 700 BC, to 33 AD, and to the present day, November 10,
00:47:46.920 2024, the Lord has been the stabilizing force of history and has always maintained a remnant
00:47:54.280 of believers. He promises that those who put their trust in Christ will not be put to shame.
00:48:03.140 So as Christians, if Christ is truly the stability of our times, what kind of fruits should this
00:48:10.600 fundamental truth produce in us? We've discussed a few of those, but again, we must start with the
00:48:16.540 reality that steadiness, composure, and stability are directly tied to an understanding of God's
00:48:23.420 grace expressed in the face of Jesus Christ in the gospel. It is impossible for one to be anchored
00:48:30.480 in the stability of the times without a recognition of that same person's sin and need for God's
00:48:38.760 forgiveness in Christ first. There is no peace apart from the Prince of Peace. Many today have
00:48:46.820 attempted to find peace or solace in life through a positive outlook or meditation or tropical
00:48:53.940 vacations while still harboring sin and denying the reality of a holy and just God. No, we must
00:49:02.260 first recognize the state of our souls and the reality of judgment apart from the grace of God
00:49:09.180 in Christ. When we first find peace with God through faith in Christ, then he bears in us
00:49:17.380 the fruits of stability. And so, with this foundational understanding of the gospel
00:49:24.120 at work, what particular fruits does the Lord bear in his people by trusting in the stability of
00:49:31.580 their times? We've said there are doubtless many, but I propose three key fruits that we may focus
00:49:38.460 on for today. Sober-mindedness, self-control, and earnestness. So let's delve into each of these
00:49:46.680 three fruits as we close. The first of these fruits is sober-mindedness. 1 Peter 1, verses 13
00:49:55.760 through 16 reads, therefore preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope
00:50:03.440 fully on the grace that we brought to you at the revelation of jesus christ as obedient children
00:50:09.760 do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance but as he who called you is holy you
00:50:16.320 also be holy in all your conduct since it is written you shall be holy for i am holy and second
00:50:25.040 Timothy 4 verse 5. As for you, always be sober-minded. Endure suffering. Do the work
00:50:33.360 of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. In his recent book, Leadership and Emotional Sabotage,
00:50:41.560 Joe Rigney defines sober-mindedness as a state of sobriety. A sober-minded person is free from
00:50:48.980 the influence of chemical substances such as alcohol or drugs, but also from being ruled by
00:50:55.860 his passions and emotions, those that wage war against his soul, according to 1 Peter chapter 2.
00:51:04.220 Therefore, Rigney argues that sober-mindedness must include three key elements, clarity of mind,
00:51:11.400 stability of soul, and a readiness to act. We see this in the passage from 1 Peter, which I just
00:51:17.880 read, where the one who is sober-minded has also prepared his mind for action. One who is sober-minded
00:51:25.360 is not paralyzed with fear, but can think clearly through noise, chaos, and volatility, and short a
00:51:33.280 course through tempestuous seas. Today, so many seem to be embittered and enraged by every trivial
00:51:41.540 matter and lose their heads with the changing of the winds. Chronic anxiety, depression,
00:51:48.400 and envy have been embraced en masse, and many of our leaders find themselves at the whims of
00:51:55.180 society's most emotionally unstable members. Instead, it is the Christian who must stand 0.91
00:52:01.260 apart and be marked by sober-mindedness. We must be marked by a stable constitution, 0.96
00:52:08.500 mental fortitude, and the strength to rule over our passions.
00:52:13.320 We do this by anchoring ourselves in the stability of our times.
00:52:18.600 We must desire this and pray for this for ourselves,
00:52:23.000 but also that God may grant this to our leaders,
00:52:27.160 the fathers and heads of the families we belong to,
00:52:30.000 the young men who will grow up to become heads of households one day,
00:52:33.960 our pastors, and our elected officials, just to name a few. As we saw from the book of Isaiah,
00:52:41.080 it was two leaders in Judah's day, King Hezekiah and Isaiah himself, who were examples of sober
00:52:48.460 mindedness. Upon learning of the coming Assyrian siege and invasion, the people presented themselves
00:52:55.680 before Hezekiah in great fear. And instead of panicking, Hezekiah prays. He seeks the Lord,
00:53:03.080 and summons Isaiah to hear the words of the Lord.
00:53:08.180 And Isaiah, with steadiness of mind and soul, delivers the message.
00:53:13.040 Judah will be spared for the time being and must keep close to the Lord,
00:53:18.160 the stability of the times. 0.99
00:53:21.480 The second of these fruits which we see being born in Christians
00:53:25.460 as they keep close to the stability of their times is self-control.
00:53:30.500 Look now, Titus 2, verses 11 through 14, read,
00:53:34.620 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
00:53:40.080 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
00:53:44.680 and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
00:53:50.520 waiting for our blessed hope,
00:53:52.600 the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
00:53:56.540 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness
00:54:01.940 and to purify for himself a people for his own possession,
00:54:06.980 who are zealous for good works.
00:54:09.880 As we said previously, sober-mindedness,
00:54:12.220 as it always thus leads us to a readiness to act,
00:54:17.060 therefore self-control must necessarily follow sober-mindedness.
00:54:22.200 Sober-mindedness does not merely create people who are unfazed,
00:54:26.540 and immovable, but those who are proactive leaders in righteousness, truth, and beauty.
00:54:34.220 See what Paul says to Titus in Titus chapter 2. For the grace of God has appeared, training us to
00:54:41.840 renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, that's sober-mindedness, and to live self-controlled,
00:54:49.600 upright, and godly lives in the present age, self-control. Christians are to be marked by 1.00
00:54:56.140 a renunciation of their sinful passions and emotions, which seek to dominate and gain control 1.00
00:55:02.440 at the level of desire and affections. But thus having a cleansed and sanctified conscience,
00:55:10.600 the stability of soul leads not merely to a defensive posture, but to one that also seeks
00:55:16.760 to cultivate, build, and bear fruit. One of the key markers of self-control is endurance. We bear
00:55:25.460 witness to the faithfulness of the stability of our times when we live self-controlled, upright,
00:55:32.220 and godly lives in the present age, but also as we exhibit patience in waiting for him. See how
00:55:40.360 Paul continues this train in the passage, to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
00:55:47.740 present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
00:55:54.160 Jesus Christ. Living in light of the Lord, who is the stability of our times, will cause us to be
00:56:03.240 self-controlled and upright in the present, and to be patient and enduring over time. As we said
00:56:10.960 before, this promise from Isaiah regards the stability of the Lord, which he provides in the
00:56:17.100 present day, but this promise is an everlasting and enduring reality. This fact alone gives us
00:56:24.420 faith, hope, and assurance to remain composed amidst trial, to fortify ourselves for the next,
00:56:32.780 and to live our lives with the full expectation that God will be glorified in all of it. This
00:56:39.140 is how the Christian can prepare himself to bear the weight of old age, the rise and fall of
00:56:45.800 governments and kingdoms, the loss of a child or a spouse, all of it. Self-control produces in us
00:56:53.840 endurance, patience, and earnestness, the last fruit we will discuss for today.
00:57:01.180 As we look to earnestness, look to Hebrews chapter 6 verses 11 and 12.
00:57:07.740 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope
00:57:14.420 until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and
00:57:20.440 patience inherit the promises. This endurance that self-control brings, as we've discussed,
00:57:27.440 will inevitably lead us to earnestness, a spirit of sincerity, zeal, confidence, and joy as we
00:57:36.260 progress on through the Christian life. In the book of Hebrews, the author exhorts the readers
00:57:42.020 to this spirit of earnestness, of assurance, and hope. And he warns them against a spirit of
00:57:48.340 sluggishness, slothfulness. The fruit of earnest endurance reflects the confidence that we have
00:57:55.340 in the steadfastness of God, the stability of our times. Judah possessed an unshakable
00:58:02.860 earnestness that they would be delivered from the Assyrian invasion because God had faithfully 0.68
00:58:09.360 spoken it by the mouth of Isaiah the prophet. So too, we can rejoice knowing that God may present
00:58:16.680 us with a great trial or a bout of suffering in this life, but this will be to bring about our
00:58:24.580 good as God has promised. He will also see to it that we will be ultimately and finally delivered
00:58:32.220 from sin on that great day. And as those who trust in God and his promises, we should seek to
00:58:38.580 finish the race at the peak of our stride, our eyes fixed on Jesus with joy, confidence,
00:58:46.220 and peace. According to the book of Hebrews, one of the chief ways that we can grow in a spirit
00:58:52.600 of earnestness and confidence is by way of imitation. The author says, but imitators of
00:58:59.380 those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. As I mentioned at the beginning
00:59:05.540 of the sermon, I have learned this from my parents, who were an example to this. Not perfectly, but
00:59:12.520 at least that a Christian should be marked by hope, composure, and a certainty in God. For those of
00:59:20.060 you here, we have a wonderful example of earnestness in the older generation who are present here
00:59:26.320 this morning. Every generation has its sins, and we should be honest about these. But we do have
00:59:33.340 before us many fathers and mothers in the faith who have been wonderful examples to us in this
00:59:39.640 spirit of earnestness over many years of life. We should seek to honor them as well as the many
00:59:45.920 centuries of Christians who have come before. They are deserving of great honor and respect,
00:59:53.040 and we would do well to listen to them and imitate them and look to as David began this
00:59:58.340 whole service by speaking on the fifth commandment and the glory that's contained therein.
01:00:03.340 We have many examples, and lastly, we have the examples of those who are recorded in the pages
01:00:09.240 of Scripture. The patriarchs, the apostles, prophets, and men and women of faith who
01:00:16.280 exhibited a steady earnestness amidst sin, both their own and those of their enemies,
01:00:22.440 as well as trial and persecution. Through all of this, they maintained
01:00:28.480 So remindedness, self-control, and earnestness.
01:00:33.060 And it was to such people that this promise came.
01:00:37.400 Isaiah chapter 9, verses 2, 3, 6, and 7.
01:00:41.600 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
01:00:45.640 Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
01:00:49.940 You have multiplied the nation.
01:00:52.380 You have increased its joy.
01:00:53.980 They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
01:01:02.080 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
01:01:10.040 And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
01:01:17.900 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
01:01:21.920 on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice
01:01:28.540 and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
01:01:34.600 will do this. Let's pray. God, we thank you. We are so undeserving, Lord. We
01:01:43.400 we remember Lord that we often crumble under pressure. We know that even for the Christian 1.00
01:01:52.360 Lord that there are many weights Lord and sin even clings closely. For the Christian
01:01:58.700 we lament the sin that still remains Lord but earlier in this service we confessed our sins
01:02:06.240 God, and we heard your assurance of pardon, God. And so we rejoice and dwell no longer
01:02:14.760 on the sin that remains still, Lord, but that the fact that you have redeemed us from our sins
01:02:22.260 through Christ and through Christ alone, Lord. And so as your people, Lord, we should be abounding
01:02:28.600 and sober-mindedness and self-control
01:02:31.320 in a spirit of earnestness, of joy and assurance.
01:02:36.200 And all of these things are fruits
01:02:37.560 that you give to your people, to Christians.
01:02:40.560 We thank you, God, that you have transformed
01:02:43.140 and redeemed us, Lord.
01:02:44.980 We thank you that you have given us new hearts
01:02:48.160 to behold and treasure your word, oh God.
01:02:51.320 We pray that you would write it upon us, Lord,
01:02:54.360 that you would help us to grow
01:02:55.580 having heard your word this morning.
01:02:57.200 help us all to glorify and praise you, but also, Lord, that we might bear much fruit for you.
01:03:04.320 Oh, God, we want to please you. We want to grow the inheritance that you've given us, God. We want
01:03:11.680 to give much glory to Jesus Christ. And we pray that you would help us to do so, Lord, in each
01:03:17.780 and every day, as you are the stability of our times, God. And so we pray that you would help
01:03:24.580 us to be marked by steadiness, to be marked by confidence, and to be marked by a state of
01:03:31.880 constance. For our children, for our spouses, for our homes and the places which we work,
01:03:42.280 for our city, for our land, Lord, we pray that you would use Christians mightily for this fruit,
01:03:47.400 Lord, that many would look to Christians and say, why are they so content? Why do they have such a 0.96
01:03:53.220 such a composed fortitude or such a composed state of mind. And we pray that we would always
01:04:00.000 say it's because of Christ, the stability of our times. We thank you, God, for this,
01:04:05.180 and we praise you. It's in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.