Will you pray with me this morning? Father, we use words to communicate our hearts. We try to grasp the knowledge and depths of your grace and mercy. And we're left with just asking the question, how deep is your love? How deep is your grace? How deep is your mercy towards us? And by your kindness, we can see how deep it has to be because we can see the depths of our own sin. We can see the depths of our own needs and how you have promised to meet those needs. You have given to us everything that we need for life and godliness in this life. And then you've prepared our hearts for eternity. So it's deeper than we can ever imagine. And so our hearts are overflowing with praise and gratitude. And Lord, we have to confess that our hearts are not always filled with gratitude. Our hearts are often cold. and indifferent towards you. We are very good excuse makers. We are very good at coming up with human reasons why we wouldn't depend on you. We wouldn't trust your word. Lord, we are very good at creating and recreating our own view of God rather than hearing and listening. to how you have demonstrated your own glory, how you have demonstrated yourself to us through the Word. And I pray, Father, that you would forgive us for living this week in a Christless way, living as if you don't really matter day in and day out, only on Sundays. Lord, forgive us for playing at Christianity, having the outside symbols correct without having the internal growth and submission and glory that you have given to us through Christ. And so, Father, we come today in faith. We come today believing Your Word. And in those times when we fail to believe, Lord, it is our desire that You would be all in all to us. For as Your Word tells us, You are really from the beginning and You are all the way to the end. You are the great ruler of all. You are the Alpha and the Omega. So we trust You this morning. Lord, I pray for our country. I pray for the desperate need of transforming hearts. how desperate we are for the gospel. Lord, so many people are without the good news of saving faith in Christ today. And Lord, I pray that we would be people who would proclaim with confidence the goodness of Christ to those who desperately need righteousness. Lord, I praise the gospel goes out around the world. Lord, I can't help but think of Robert and Janelle Sulek in Krakow, Poland. Lord, this is the place where Robert grew up. He understands the dynamics of living in Poland, living in a very godless society. And yet, Lord, you reached down and saved him and prepared him. gave him Janelle as a wife to go back and reach those people. Lord, as they stand at Bethany Baptist Church there in Krakow, Lord, would you continue to bless them? Lord, I pray for their daughter, Amelia, as she wrestles with a disease that would perhaps cripple her in the future. Lord, would you strengthen them? May they look to you and find peace and rest as they seek to serve you there. And Lord, as the gospel goes around Columbus today, Lord, as you use different servants, Lord, I pray for Pastor Alan Shearer, Lord, at Maranatha Baptist Church. Lord, would you encourage his heart today? May he speak boldly the message of the gospel. Lord, I pray that here, within these walls, Would You cause our hearts to be renewed with the truth that You alone are God, You alone are our Savior, and we trust only You. We seek not to lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways, we want to acknowledge that You are God. So Lord, use the Word of God to speak to our hearts today. Lord, would You have mercy on our nation? Would You have mercy on our state, on our city here? And would You call to Yourself people who would turn from their sin and place their faith in Christ alone. And may we not just be religious people, may we not just be religious talkers, but may we be faith-abiding people, Christ-centered, gospel-driven people. that would live in the purity of the gospel. And Lord, we ask these things because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done on our behalf, for we trust only in him. Amen. You may be seated this morning. If you take your Bibles with me. Turn to the book of Isaiah, if you would. Book of Isaiah. I just wanna echo what Jeff said. This is absolutely gorgeous weather, and this is why you wanna live in central Ohio. All right? No hurricanes, no floods, although we could use a little bit more rain for sure, but anyway. We are traveling through the book of Isaiah. And I hope my prayer for you is that you've come hungry and thirsting for what Isaiah has to tell us. We're just starting this little trek, as it were, through this Bible book, 66 books, 66 chapters, as it were. But one that I hope you will pick up on each week that each chapter is connected to the previous chapter, and it also will open the door for the next chapter. So as we learn chapter two today, brace yourself for chapter three next week. All right, because that's where we'll go next week, Lord willing. The title of the message today is The Power of Hope. and humility, hope and humility. And as we read through this, look for what Isaiah is talking about and look for the idea of hope and humility. Now, it won't necessarily come in flashing colors. You may have to stop and think as we go through this, but I think it's a wonderful message for us today. By the way, this was written eons ago, okay? Eight century BC, roughly around there. And so it's very, very important for us in 2024 as well. And may we delight in hearing this Word today. Isaiah chapter 2. This is God's Word. The Word which Isaiah the son of Amos beheld, concerning Judah and Jerusalem. I'm reading from the Legacy Standard Bible. If you catch words that are just a little different, I love the clarity that this gives. I probably won't always be doing this, but for these chapters in particular, I want you to just note the differences and you'll see what I'm talking about. Verse two, now it will be that in the last days the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains. and will be lifted above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us from his ways. and that we may walk in his paths. For from Zion the law will go forth and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. And he shall judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob. Let us walk in the light of Yahweh, for you have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east, and they are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. Their land also has been filled with silver and gold, and there's no end to their treasures. Their land has also been filled with horses, and there's no end to their chariots. Their land has also been filled with idols. They worship the work of their hands that which their fingers have made. So the common man has been bowed down, and the man of importance has been made low. Do not forgive them. enter the rock and hide in the dust. From the dread of Yahweh, from the splendor of His majesty, the lofty look of man will be made low, and the man made high will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day. For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and high, and against everyone who is lifted up, that they may be made low. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against the high mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every lofty tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarshish, against all the desirable craft, The loftiness of man will be bowed down. The men who are high will be made low, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day. But the idols will completely vanish. Men will go into caves of the rocks and into holes of the ground before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of His majesty. When he arises to make the earth tremble, in that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats, their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship. In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the cliffs of the cliffs, before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to make the earth tremble, stop regarding man whose breath of life is in his nostrils. For why should he be esteemed? Thus reads the word of God this morning, the power of hope and humility. Let me start off by just asking you a question. Think with me this morning. Where do we find our sense of stability in life? I mean, for some of us, it truly is a hot cup of coffee, perhaps in our favorite comfortable chair, some familiar music in the background, usually a pleasant view, not hot weather, but an Ohio fall type weather, or even spring warmth with the sun beginning to show the signs of wet dew amongst the foliage. It's kind of an idyllic scene. And we can find some sweet comfort there, can't we? I can. I love certain spots and it just, it calms my heart. It's an idyllic scene. But in those things right around us, we can find a sense of stability. And how can we know that? Well, just watch our response when those very familiar and comfortable things are suddenly gone. All comfort and stability is rocked. I mean, we trust in God in a way, but more than we realize, our sense of stability is often not grounded in God alone, but in our pleasant surroundings. And in some ways, there's nothing wrong with that. God has given to us all things to enjoy, and we can enjoy this. And so don't get the idea that I'm saying you can't enjoy these certain things. But here's the point. Many of us have worked so hard for these things, but as life goes on, it begins to appear that our faith in those things only serve to create our own vulnerability. World events are forcing us to think about that, aren't they? I mean, every day, the idea of terrorist attacks, that these people are out there plotting to murder us? And even if we get to them first, how do we save ourselves from the powers of nature that slammed Florida and the Carolinas with killer storms that left hundreds, brought staggering loss of life and material things? How do we deal with that? Left to ourselves, we are defenseless before the true buffetings of life. I mean, the highlights, this highlights the importance of a right view of God, thus giving us a right view of things. It is God who owns all things. It is God who owns all authority, all might, all power, and he alone is the giver of life. Like what one writer said, through Christ, our losses can become pathways to hope. For us privileged people in the Western world, the supreme privilege of life is when we find that God himself is all we really need. Isaiah helps us set our hearts on God. The key is not just in what we believe, but what it is that we esteem valuable, what it is that we treasure. And Isaiah's opened his book here with truth about what God's people believed and what they valued. And it wasn't pretty. Yahweh sharply rebukes his people for their failure to believe into his word and his promises. In chapter one, verse 28, he says, sinners will be broken. And for those who forsake Yahweh, it will come to an end. And now here in chapter two, Isaiah brings them two powerful points and brings to us two powerful points that they should hear and that we should hear as well. Isaiah is urging God's people to relocate their sense of stability and comfort, not into the present, but in the things that God has planned for them. And so it's a shift in worldview, as it were. It's a shift away from what I'm seeing right now, and it's a shift in our hearts and our mindset to look at what has God said will take place in the future. Why does Isaiah do this? Because like us, Judah bought into the line of self-affirmation, of self-advancement. to find comfort and stability in what we can control. And Isaiah's point is powerful. Only God can transform proud and fearful hearts with hope and with humility. And it's God who does this. Faith-filled people who are riveted to God's Word and stand in genuine awe and worship of all that Christ is and all that Christ has done on our behalf find that our idols truly are worthless. The things of this world grow strangely dim and it dethrones idols. And God alone is exalted. That's the text that's in front of us. And may this be how we live our lives. So just two points today that I want you to understand. One, the glory of future hope. And we see this in verses one through five. In these verses, Isaiah's enlisting, he's enlisting us in a greater cause. And this is what I want you to grab hold of. As we go through this book of Isaiah, God is constantly pointing our eyes to what's out there. His future. He's pointing us to a greater reward than mere earthly stability, than mere earthly reputation or professional success on this earth, or creature comforts, the things that we tend to live for in this world. He's described in verse one, not as hearing, but as seeing the word of God. Did you see that in chapter two, verse one? He says, the word which Isaiah, son of Amos, beheld, concerning Judah and Jerusalem. We saw this last week in chapter one, verse one, the same words. Isaiah signals to us that this is not news, a news opinion by a social commentator. No, this is God actually speaking to us through the instrument of an inspired prophet, and so it's divine revelation. So what Isaiah says, God says. And God says, this day is coming. Isaiah says it. When God's kingdom will be established in power and all competitors will be cast down. This is coming. And this should bring great hope to your soul this morning. And when will this happen? This will happen in the last days. Isaiah uses the phrase, the latter days, giving us this great statement that you will find virtually word for word in Micah chapter 4. He says the same thing, referring to everything that will someday come. And it's when Yahweh promises that all of his promises will be finally fulfilled. It will happen. He says it very bluntly. Now it will be. Isaiah is a sure thing that what God says, it will happen. So Isaiah here describes what the Lord will do in the future, and this is such a hope-filled view of life, because the reality is, what he's talking about here, we've already seen happen. They hadn't seen it yet, but we have seen it happen. And if God says it, that settles it, right? So hear these words this morning. Notice, first of all, that God's people will learn God's ways. We see this in verses, really, two and three. Verses two and three, I love this. That will be that in the last days, the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains. In Isaiah's day, people located their shrines, to their gods and they always located those things up away into mountains. And so he tells that someday that people will stop going to those mountains and they will go to another mountain. So people located their shrines on hills and mountaintops and they said, well, it's closer to heaven. And it's there where you would go to worship God. They're called in scripture, the high places. If you read through Old Testament, you'll see and they went to the high places. But God chooses for his place, a little hilltop in the land of Israel to be placed where he could be worshiped. It wasn't impressive by usual standards, and it's very much like today. The church is rarely impressive in the eyes of man. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1, 26, it's the foolishness of humanity that God brings about in the church. But in the latter days, the nations will abandon their worldviews and ideologies and gladly give to the church their highest loyalty and love. This is what he's saying. It's interesting, if you've ever been to Jerusalem, if you've ever been there, Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, where the temple is built, the Temple Mount, it's not much of a mount. I kept thinking this would be a mount. It's like you'd have to climb up it. And certainly there is a little bit of a climb to it. But if you stand back and look at the terrain, you see other mountains that are much higher. So this is not a literal height that he's talking about here. But indeed, it's talking about the value, the treasure of it, that this is God's place. You see, every ancient religion had its mountains, but the day was coming when Mount Zion would become the Mount Everest. of religions, as it were. And according to Isaiah, geography itself will be shaken, that all those other gods and their mounts will be like a molehill compared to Zion. The Temple Mount is known as Zion, and Zion is another word for Jerusalem. And he says, Zion will be exalted and lifted up. Zion would reign supreme. All other religions, all other hills would be made like mere molehills in contrast to Zion. In other words, listen, the ways of God the worship of God, and in the end, the supremacy of God will reign over all. Now my friend, you know in your life, even this week, as you watch politics unfold, as you watch the world seeming like in turmoil, that there's this part of you that goes like, what is going on? Just know that there's gonna come a day When every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Let your anxiety be replaced by truth. This will happen. And so this is what we see with the exaltation of Zion. Someday it's going to take place. The supremacy of God will rule and reign over all. Let your mind rest on that. Secondly, notice the magnification of Zion. This is the last part of verse two. He says this, all nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob. Notice that even The kind of the natural laws of gravity would somehow overcome that the rivers of people would flow uphill to worship God. That's kind of what he's saying, that people will come and there'll be rivers of people that will stream upward. Zion would be some kind of a magnet. You say, what is he saying here? The idea of flow literally speaks to people on their own. going against the current of the world's culture, and on their own they will flock to the ways of God and His glory, and they're eager to do so. The idea of flowing is like, we're going against the culture, but it doesn't matter, I want to go. And this has already begun, we know it began in Acts chapter 2, right? I mean, there were added to the church people by the thousands on that day. And it continues to happen even today in Christian missions. It's so cool that someone like Katie can go over to United Arab Emirates in a place where they don't want you believing in the one true God. And yet there's these people that are coming to terms with the reality of the gospel and their hearts are flowing to that. This is exactly what he's talking about here. There will come a day when this will happen. Now we get to see it. We get to hear about it. We get to live in it. Because we're in those latter days, as it were. It's a beautiful thing. Now catch this. It's the magnification of Zion in verse 2. But then I want you to notice God's work of grace. This, my friend, is what we need to grab hold of. All right? Because this is how God works. God will work. And notice verse 3. Turned the light of truth on in the hearts of these people and they're going I want that I want that God and This is a work of God's grace God's grace Works in the heart of men to come to the temple of God and come with hearts that learn That will seek to walk the path of God the law will come out of Zion and the wording literally is out of Zion alone and I mean, this speaks to the exclusivity of the gospel. It's the gospel alone that brings about this transformation. It truly is Christ alone. And all through time, we have watched humanity go and gravitate to other kinds of religions. And what has God done? Sends guys like Luther to go in and go like, stop, we can't do this stuff. Why? Because it's not God alone. It's God and works, it's God and religion. And in God's kindness and mercy, he sends us these times because why? Someday, it will be exclusive, God and his people. And this is God's sweet work of grace in bringing people to himself, and they give themselves to walk with God. Can't we just walk with God? Where does that come from? That comes right out of creation, where Adam and Eve walked with God. It's the same idea. It's a beautiful thing. This speaks of restoration. the work of God and the soul's humanity. And it's all of grace. We don't deserve this. But if you think of the old covenant, God was working through one ethnic nation, the family of Abraham, but no longer. And Isaiah is forecasting a day where a new humanity will be recreated now, streaming up into the exalted city of Jerusalem. Jesus said about this to the Gentiles, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. He's speaking of you and me. The people who are not Jews. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. John 10 16. I think that's exactly what it's talking about right here. The grace is spread far and wide as these people then leave Zion. Notice this. They leave Zion for from Zion The law will go forth and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. Isn't that beautiful? We've seen this, right? Haven't we? This grace spread far and wide as people leave Zion and go to all nations and many peoples. Think Acts 1-8, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. We know this happened. Now they didn't know that. But Isaiah is telling them, this is gonna happen. My friend, do you not see this is God really pouring out His hope into the hearts of men to go like, I've done this, this will happen. And so the glory of future hope is that God's people will learn God's ways. But notice secondly, God's people will live God's ways. Look at verses four or five. This is a beautiful thing that God's doing here. Instructing Learning God's ways is always seen in life. The Word of God lived out and it brings peace to the people around. Verses four and five speak of a new way of relating to one another. God is judged. I don't have to be the one judging. I don't have to be the one that's trying to figure things out. God is the one that's doing this. And notice God's work of transformation. You see this in the first part of verse four. The Lord himself will settle disputes, bringing peace. I mean, this is the transformation of an internal soul that no longer wants self to rule, but gladly submits to the rule of Christ. This is the supreme indication that salvation has taken place in the heart. When we step back and no longer want my heart to rule, No longer do I have to have my way, but I submit to God's way. This is this universal standard of true salvation. Christ reign is firmly in place internally, and men gladly submit to his rightful rule. That is a transformation and a half. This is why God's people should be the first people to have hope. because they're not placing their confidence in their ability to declare things. Notice, secondly, God's gift of peace. Nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Well, swords and spears, here, the indication is, this is a picture. It's not necessarily literal. But the idea here is that these weapons of warfare are now these relics. Because why? They're no longer needed. We have this wonderful relationship with one another and the division of different people and different countries is put down. Why? Because our unity is found in Christ. And so these things, these tools of fighting and killing and destruction are no longer the thing. So they reshape those relics into tools of what? Service to one another. The result of peace is always service to one another. And what a beautiful thing. that they have these plowshares and pruning hooks. These are ways in which they can take and serve one another and care for one another in order to use the proper land and fruits and vegetables. And they use these things so that we can have food. And they do so because they care for one another. And Christ, who's the Prince of Peace, served humanity. and his father, and one can always identify when there's no humble, peace-filled heart by viewing the fact that there's no genuine service to one another. You can come into a church very easily and find, if this church is filled with its own ways, if there's no care for one another. God's people care for one another, so they're not out trying to fight and maim and destroy, why? because they understand what Christ has done for them. This is a group of people who understand the gospel and someday this will be at such peace that nations will need to fight nations no longer. Can you behold a day like that? I can't. I can't even imagine that. Why? Because everything that we do has fighting and wrangling and destruction and putting down other people all the time. that God's gift of peace is no, you'll serve one another. This ought to be how the church functions. We serve one another this way. But notice then finally God's gift of hope. And this verse five actually is kind of a repetition of verse three. He says this, come house of Jacob, let us walk in light of Yahweh. So he's going like, come church, come God's people, you know that someday this is gonna happen. And because of that, you can live in light of this now. You don't need to be fighting. This idea of the Jew and the Gentile, the barbarian and Scythian, as we talk about in the New Testament that comes up, these are just strange people. No, no, no, all of that is put down, and we have this unity together, and it's the gift of hope. People who've come to God, whose life is forever changed, now want to walk in light of the Lord. The nations come to the worship of God. Believers walk in the light. And he says this, oh, house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. And if all I could say this, oh, Calvary Bible Church, oh, people of Columbus, come, let us walk in light of the Lord. In other words, let the promises of God have their full impact on us now. That's what he's saying. Let there be hope now. My friend, listen, some of you are worried sick about what's coming up with the politics. My friend, let the promises of God solve your dilemmas now. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart now. What a day of hope this will be. It will come, let it come, but you gotta trust God. Notice second thing, the necessity of present humility. You see, my friend, verses six through 21, it's as if Isaiah, if he were here, he would be saying, you know what, we need hope, and we do. But over time, over time, listen carefully, God's people have a tendency to walk away from the truth of God's word. And they do so in a very proud and arrogant way. And so what he says next is that Judah needed humility. The Judah of Isaiah's days was not hope-filled. It was completely different. You discover that the house of Jacob had not listened. They had not heard. Israel is not repentant. Israel has not given ear to what the Spirit is saying. And everything changes in verse six. If you notice that, for you have abandoned your people. the house of Jacob because they're filled with influences. Oh my goodness. This is the church today, I believe. They have not heard. And notice what he's saying here. Isaiah's foreseeing a day when God will reject the majority of his own people. Isaiah's argument here is simply this. Jerusalem and Judah, it's the same. Zion, Israel, is not the Zion of the prophecy that he read about in verses one through five. Rather, it has absorbed the culture and the values of the nations round about. They've allowed themselves to become squeezed into the mold of the world. Israel, which always stood apart from the goyim, if you remember last week, the nations, are now regarded by God as simply being one of the nations, one of the goyim, like the nations of the Gentiles. So what God is saying here is you will be treated like the rest of the nations. One writer says it this way, when men's hearts are not full of God, listen, when your heart's not full of God, they become full of the world around like a sponge full of clear water that has been squeezed empty and then thrown into a mud puddle. You mothers know exactly what that's like, right? You get this beautiful, clean sponge, and you clean it with water, and you rinse it out, and then you throw it in the mud puddle. Guess what comes out of it next? Crud, right? Brown, yucky stuff. That's what he's saying here. The pride of their hearts has done severe damage, and good, old-fashioned humility is in order. You see, whenever God reveals future truth, God reveals a need for adjustment in the present. You understand that? Whenever God says, here's what's going to happen, the idea is, here's how you live now. And you adjust. So let's read through this. Verses six through nine, God rejects the house of Jacob. He rejects the house of Jacob. And you just go like, Israel, come on, wake up. Isaiah discerns pride amongst God's people, pride in the world, pride in their worship of idols, in their own creativity. And here we leave the messianic vision of verses 1-5 far behind and we return to the stark reality of 8th century B.C. Israel. And Israel is addressing God and look at what he says in verse 6. He says, for you have rejected your people. Why? Because they're full, and you could just say all the rest of what he says here are the distractions of the world. They're full of distractions. Let's read through these. They are enamored with influences from the East. Philosophies of the East, Eastern philosophy. They're enamored with this. Well, that's something to think about. Fortune tellers from the Philistines. Philistines were God's enemies. Doing deals with children of foreigners. materialism and wealth, and they were covetous because there was no end to their treasures. They collected weapons for security and war, horses and chariots, and there was no end to that. Their land is filled with idols, and these idols are things that their own fingers replaced by God, and so little godlets, as it were, or little God substitutes that belittled the true God of Israel. What do these little godlets show? Well, they showed that the Lord's own people don't really trust in the God. And so they manufacture their own preferred God. George Bernard Shaw once said, quote, God created man in his image and man being a gentleman returned the favor. Created an image of a God. And that is man tries to remake God, reducing him down to a convenient pocket-sized deity, one who's safer and less intrusive. So they bowed down to what their hands had made. And what a contrast from the people, from the masses who are the nation streaming into Zion. The nations were drawn to Zion to worship the one true God, but it seems that now God's people are drawn to the world. Does this sound familiar at all? I was reading through this this week, and I'm going like, this is us. I mean, this is us. The nations speak a spiritual benefit, teaching and instruction that comes from God's temple. But now Judah seeks earthly wisdom, and they're enchanted with godless people whom they know to be God's enemies. My goodness are we not seeing this in our political world today, that God's enemies And you see Christian people align up with known as God's enemies because of how they live their lives and how they rule. That these are just enemies of God. And we just go along with this and we try so hard to live in this culture in such a way that wouldn't be an embarrassment to God. And in doing so, we throw God and we cast God aside. Judah seeks earthly wisdom. and they're enchanted with these gauntlets that were empty of God. They're full of their own material possessions, but they're empty of God. The nations are committed to their peace through the Prince of Peace, but Israel holds onto armaments, horses and chariots. They're proud, self-reliant, and as a result, they would face the judgment of God. Today, the church is simply copying Judah. What we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. We're so easily distracted from God. There's so many things that mean more than going to hear God's word. Think about what happens on a given Sunday. All the things that compete with God's people meeting together. Materialism, godlets. floods our souls, and we become proud. And what happens is, in verses 10 through 12, we become enemies of God. Judah became enemies of God. In verse 12, a day of reckoning is coming, and my friend, it's unavoidable. God's people become the enemy. Enter into the rock, he says, and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of his majesty. You see, verse 11 tells us why. Because the hub of the problem is lofted mankind. It's pride. And it's not Judah's problem only. It's a universal disease and none of us are immune to this horrific disease. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, the lofty pride shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. What is he saying is this, when the church becomes the world, the church becomes the enemy, therefore the church is linked to all the other nations in the world, facing the prospect of total and final judgment on that final day. John Calvin said that this judgment is more to be feared than a thousand deaths. I mean, there were actual times in Israel's history when they did hide in caves, under the rocks from invading enemies. But let me ask you a question. How can you hide from God? How can you hide from God? It would be like Adam trying to hide in the garden. They tried to hide. God knew exactly where they were. Isaiah's warning here highlights the terror of the plight of this day. This word reckoning is a word that makes calculation or a working out of consequences. And it's an enormous, ominous refrain known as the terror of the Lord used five times in verses 10 through 21. It's the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord. And in case you haven't gotten it, it's the terror of the Lord. And what do we want to hear in our day? The love of the Lord, the love of the Lord, the love of the Lord. But it's the love of the Lord that makes the terror of the Lord so hearable. The phrase in that day is an Old Testament technical term for the day of the Lord. And it's used often in scripture when God declares that this is the day of God's judgment that goes against all things that would be against God. It's a working out of this consequences. There will be this day of reckoning. And then notice in verses 13 through 20, we'll go through this quickly. Yahweh will be exalted. My friend, we can't get away from this. God alone will be exalted both now and in the end. Notice that the words against all or against every, the same words in the Hebrew text appear 10 times in verses 12 through 16. Do you remember when we read through this? It will be against, against, against, against, against, and notice that all of those particular things are things that are lofted up against God. Everything in the world that exalts itself against God is brought low on this day of reckoning. But why does God insist that he alone be exalted in the day? Chapter two, verse 11 and chapter two, verse 17. Is God some megalomaniac who can't stand to see others succeed? No. My friend, the reason that God's glory entails both God's rightful glory is to continue to show us what our ultimate right purpose should be. And that is the reflection of God's great glory to people who desperately need to hear Him. And this comes with great humility. But humility before God really is so vital in the Christian life. Our self-exaltation and self-affirmation really just debases us. But humility before God heaps honors on us and is the way of blessing. You see, my friend, no one can rob God of his rightful glory. You see, only God is God. You're not God. But notice verse 18. Look down at verse 18, he says this, but the idols will completely vanish. Do you understand, my friend, what you give yourself to to replace God in order to find stability in life because of your pride and your self-exaltation and your self-buildup? Understand, one day, it will go away. idols will completely vanish. You see, our idols are very precious to us, aren't they? They always consume our hard-earned money. They rob us of our time and our energies. But they're things that we have crafted ourselves. So we prize them. They're beautiful and alluring, but they bring such ruin to our lives and they do not stand up on that day. But notice the way of man. Did you notice that? Men go into the caves. or holes in the ground. It talks about moles and bats. Moles are hole diggers. And bats live in the rocky crags, as it were. And in order for men to go there, they have to unload their idols. Did you pick up on that? In order to go into the caverns, verse 21, of the rocks, and the clefts of the cliffs before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to make the earth tremble. They're idols of silver and they're idols of gold. They have to get rid of them. Of course you do. You don't come to God himself carrying your gauntlets. And so the dread of Yahweh and his majesty caused the earth to tremble. Everyone would understand this if you've seen J.R. Tolkien's portrayal of the Lord of the Rings. You almost cannot be a pastor and not somehow bring up the Lord of the Rings these days. I just remember watching that, and everyone who gets connected with that golden ring of power morphs into this weirdly subhuman person like Gollum. Gollum just gave me the shivers. But he cherishes that crazy thing, and he calls it what? My precious. Isn't that what we do with our own idols? Isn't that what we do with our own way? It's our precious. And so for Middle Earth to be saved, the ring must be thrown into the fire of Mount Doom and destroyed forever. You see, my friend, Tolkien understood that the key to life is not only what we lay hold of, but also what we throw away. Paul says, I've suffered the loss of all things. Count them as rubbish. in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3.8. So my friend, what golden idols do we cherish as essential to our earthly purpose? What must we throw away to possess the one that we should treasure and the one that we really cannot live life without? Jesus Christ, the one who will make us beautiful like himself. You see my friend, it's a trade-off. It's an exchange of our self-rule and self-alformation for God's exalted glory, and it's daily, and it's hour by hour, it's minute by minute. God's exalted glory is what we're created for. But it's a trade-off that we consistently devalue and refuse to trust in our hearts. And so he finishes. with verse 22, and this is where we'll stop. Certainly this verse jumped out at you when we read it. Stop regarding man. Put your name, yourself, in that word man. Stop regarding you. Some of you have looked to the politics of today and you've placed your trust in a particular man, particular movement, particular thing other than God. And what does he say? Don't trust man. stop regarding man. And here's an entire chapter, listen, that speaks to the tragic results when we set up man as the final authority in our lives. That's the problem in this entire chapter. Notice the words, whose breath is in his nostrils. You see that? It's an allusion to the very thin hold on life that man has. We We do not rule our breath. How did that breath get there? God gave it to you. You see, your pride wants to point at how able and how wise and how stable we are. But I want you to notice there are two words that are used in verse 22 that are used elsewhere in Isaiah. The words trusting and the words of what account. Do you see that, verse 22? Stop regarding man, stop trusting man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils, for why should he be esteemed? It's trusting and esteemed. These two words are used in Isaiah 53, talking about Jesus. He was despised and rejected. Not trusted. Christ, who should have been trusted, was rejected. A man of sorrows. He was familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and here's the third, here's the second, and we esteemed him not. In other words, we did not regard him. They rejected the very one they should have trusted in. They esteemed everyone and everything else, but did not regard the Son of God. Consequently, they don't know this yet, but Jerusalem will be completely destroyed. We know it now. And we've proven over and over and over that we have no business regarding man. We have no business listening to ourselves. And the only way of hope is to trust in the man, the man of sorrows, the man who was made low for us that we may be exalted on that day. We think of ourselves as sophisticated, but the fact is we are too easily impressed. And our self-confidence keeps us from walking in the light of the Lord. And God is calling us to make a bold step here. And one writer said this, the greatest need of man is to reject man. And humbly live for the glory of God alone. My friend, here is where the future is of our stability, and our satisfaction, and our source of true joy. So listen today. Learn God's ways, verse three. Run to the temple, the church. Be instructed. Learn God. Two, walk in his path. Learn God's ways. Walk in his path. Verse three, walk implies a relationship with intimacy and knowledge. It's his path. You walk his way. But three, walk in the light. Instead of a life of darkness, despair, and blindness, we get to see light. We get to find joy in light and hope in that light. And then verse 22, humbly trust Yahweh. Stop regarding, man. Look back this week and ask yourselves, how often that I make the decisions of my day based on the perfect promises of God versus all the other distractions that could help you make those decisions. And you'll begin to see how desperately we need to be renewed in the words of Jesus Christ and the promises of him, trust in his promises. Will you pray with me this morning? What a perfect example of your loving kindness to us. As we look at other nations and other peoples who've had the same words of God, we were designed in the same way, given the same distractions, and how easy it is to get us so overwhelmed with our own ways, our own wants, our own godlets, our own idols. Father, would you forgive us this morning? And Father, would you grant to us your grace once again that would cause us to walk in your paths, to walk in your light and help us to do so with great joy and gladness because where you, where the light is and where the path is is where you are. And so your presence and power is our hope, and we trust in you alone. Thank you for giving us this word. Help us to be reminded, help us to live our lives in light of your promises, we pray, and ask these things all because of Jesus, amen.