Isaiah’s Warning

Transcript

All right, well, good evening, brothers and sisters. It's wonderful to be here with everyone and see all the familiar faces and the smiles and that we can come together on this cold New England day to discuss the Word of God.

What I was wanting to do tonight was to look at some of the warnings in the Book of Isaiah, as well as the message of hope and prosperity, applying it to our own lives and our own walk, and having some excitational points on how the nation of Israel, back at this time, there's a lot of similarities to the society that we live in and where we can be guided by the Word of God here and by Isaiah's message, helping us to improve our walk and showing us some watchouts. This quote from Isaiah, to me, really sums up what our Heavenly Father tries to do in all of our lives. God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, don't be afraid. I am helping you. So I think this is a critical principle for us to remember as we go through our walk, as we work together and as we wait for the return of Christ, that we're not without a God who is holding our hand, so to speak. He's directing our lives. He's helping us. He's there for us, like a parent or a relative or a friend with a child, intricately involved in our lives. Just as when Christ was on the cross, Zechariah says, it was as if God was being pierced by those nails. He felt it as deeply as his son did, and so it's an opportunity for us, with these principles in mind, to remember to keep faith, pushing out thoughts of doubt and fear because God is helping us. He cares for us. He loves us in that we should keep heart in these last days that we live in. The nation of Israel was caught in a time of sinfulness in the nation. The creator of the earth was looking to this nation and saying, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they should become like wool. And the NET translation reads, come, let us consider your options, says the Lord. Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow. And I think it's fascinating that God would condescend to flesh and reason with us to give us our options to, even though we are in a fallen state, even though the nation was in a state of sinfulness, God didn't just move on, so to speak. He reasoned with them to say, these are the changes that you need to make. An encouragement was given to them to choose a path to follow, to make a commitment, whether it be the mind of God or the mind of the flesh. And this idea that although the nation was in a state of sin, God was telling them and telling us to move past that, move past the challenges that you faced, move past these areas where you failed, and let's have a fresh start. Let's consider your options. How do we get from point A to point B and get back on the right path? And we're all familiar with the passage in Joshua chapter 24 in verse 14 where it reads, Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods of your ancestors worship beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are living. And we all know that Joshua says, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. And that's why we're all here tonight. That's why we're sharing thoughts and sharing encouragement, because we have decided we've made a choice, even though we do it failingly, to serve the Lord. So there was a clear choice before the nation, and there's a clear choice between us each day. Even though we made that commitment at our baptism, it's a daily decision that we have to make. We have choices that come up. We have trials that are put before us. We have areas where we can falter because of the nature that we have, our proneness to sin, and also because of the world we live in, that there are obstacles seemingly all around us at times. In 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 21, it says, Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him. And this is the challenge that Israel faced. They had to make a decision. Were they going to serve the gods in the land, or were they going to make the necessary changes and get back to righteous worship? And I think it's interesting here that God comes to the children of Israel and wants to reason with them, to consider, have them consider their options. And it just shows how great God's character is. He's not like us. He wants to pardon our shortcomings. And I find in my own life, and perhaps you find it in yours, we can be far less forgiving sometimes with one another. We can hold grudges. We can be, so to speak, look at the beam or the splinter in our brother or sister's eye and miss the beam that's in our own eye. But the creator has a character that rejoices in mercy. And so it's a wonderful opportunity for us to take on those characteristics, to pardon one another's shortcomings, to be more forgiving, to be more reconcilatory with each other. Micah chapter 7 verse 18 says, on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. So this idea of compassion and removing our sins so that they're never even placed before God's mind again, and that's the wonder we have through the sacrifice of Christ. But to be compassionate, not only to each other, but I think in this day and age, life can be very harsh on us as individuals, the day -to-day grind. And we need to be compassionate and forgiving to ourselves. We need to give ourselves a lot of grace as we go through life so that we don't become downtrodden and look at the negative, but rather on focusing on the hope and the positive and the fact that God has and will cast our sins into the depths of the sea. Psalms 145 verse 8 says, The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all and is tender mercies over all his works. This idea of a tenderness, mercy, we need to be tender with one another, with ourselves when we have areas of weakness to, not that we look past it, but that we don't beat ourselves up too much over our feelings, that we make the necessary changes to get back on the right track and not feel hopeless. Psalm 86 verse 15 says, But you, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth. And this idea of being long-suffering, I've seen it in my own life when I was a new dad. It's such a joyful experience to have children and to raise children and you have one child and then you have two and you have three and I had four and sometimes Jen and I looked at each other and we thought, did we really have four kids? Why do we do that? Of course we love all our children, but as you're dealing with the day-to -day busyness of four children, you have to really refine some of these characteristics like patience, long-suffering and compassion and it's been a wonderful journey, an opportunity for growth in the things of the truth to say, well wait a minute, I need to slow down a little bit here. Maybe I'm getting upset a little bit too quickly here about something I shouldn't. I need to be more long-suffering and those are qualities we can all take into our families, into the ecclesia, into our workplaces to be more gracious, to be abundant in mercy. There's no limit on these things and it's a great opportunity for us to serve. It's incumbent on

us to be merciful with ourselves, with each other and not to be defeated. So if we look at Isaiah chapter 1 and into verse 19, the message continues in this idea of reasoning. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. How is the faithful city become inhaled? It was full of judgment. Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. So the nation of Israel had come, they had their periods of righteousness, but they had fallen from that and they were being reminded that they could return to that with changes in their lives. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious and companion of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. They of the widow come unto them. And so this idea of the less fortunate being passed over and people just busy about making sure they had all their own possessions and carrying on with their own lives, not showing justice and mercy and compassion. And so Isaiah lays out the options in chapter one, verse two, it says, hear O heavens and give ear O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, referring to the nation of Israel, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. This idea of considering our ways, our day to day. And that's why a memorial meeting is so important. That's why it's important that we get together whenever we can so that we examine ourselves before we partake of the emblems. We consider our walk. It says, continuing on, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward. And so they showed the ultimate disrespect to God by turning their backs to his commandments. And they were in need of some serious self-reflection in lifestyle and spiritual changes. In Matthew 27, we have an exchange with Jesus and the Pharisees. And it's this back and forth, just like Isaiah was doing here with the people. It starts in 36 and says, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus saith unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. They had moved past these principles to a selfish existence. And they're reminded. Jeremiah in chapter 17 tells us, The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. So this idea of accountability for our lives. Israel was being made accountable, and so are we. We can examine our lives. We have to be accountable for our decisions. In verse four, in Isaiah chapter one, it says, Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great. They have spurned the holy one of Israel and turned their backs on him. This idea of forsaking God to abandon or desert a forgotten journey. And we've all set out on a journey on the day of our baptism, or we're considering baptism. And it's a journey and a commitment that we can never forget. And if we've gotten off path, we need to recommit to those principles, recommit as the nation of Israel is going to do. God goes on to say, The multitude of your sacrifices, what are they to me, says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings and rams. What God wanted was a repentant heart, a walk that cared about the less fortunate. He wanted sacrifices that were meaningful, not just people that were going through the motions. And it had gotten so bad that God says, when you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you. Excuse me, even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. And he says, wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right. Seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless. Plead the cause of the widow. And so God is always ready to hear. He's always ready to forgive. And he's always ready to show mercy to not only his nation, but also to each one of us in our lives. So he lays out the problem with the nation. And then he lays out the solution and the options to serve him either life or death. And we're going to see

Isaiah's message continue here. Yeah, we're still not seeing any more slides, Jason. I haven't changed slides, Jim. Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks. And as we move forward, we're going to see

Isaiah continue this message to the people along with the opportunity for the coming kingdom, for the return of the Messiah. And Isaiah is

going to really hit that home with the nation on how good things are going to get. So we know God declares his purpose with the earth. So with this backdrop of

Isaiah laying out to the people where their behavior has gone wrong, we know this well from, you know, Isaiah, he says, for thus saith the Lord that created the heavens and the earth, God himself that formed the earth and made it. He hath established it. He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. I the Lord speak righteousness. I declare things that are right and Habakkuk for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And this was the message that Isaiah was delivering, that not only the nation but the whole world would exhibit the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. And he was going to provide them

the steps to get there. And when it speaks of knowledge here, it means to know something by experience, not just learning it. And the nation knew the principles, but they were not putting those principles into moral practice. In a sense, practicing our knowledge or ordering our lives based on the reality of the gospel message and understanding our purpose is to bring glory and honor to God. They failed to act on these principles and so Isaiah was trying to motivate them. There's a great motivational speaker that I listen to from time to time. His name is Les Brown and he has a whole audience full of people, a couple hundred people. And he asked the audience a question. He says, practice makes what? And I think we'd all probably say the same answer. The audience says they reply enthusiastically and say, perfect, practice makes perfect. And he says, no, no, no, practice makes improvement. You can always better your best. You can always go beyond anything you have ever done. You will never hit a state of perfection. You are looking for new breakthroughs through practice, practice, and practice, and you will get better and better. And so the idea is here. We're never going to be perfect in this walk in the truth, but we can practice righteousness to the best of our ability. And that was what was being asked of the nation. So don't be discouraged with failure. Show grace and mercy to yourself, not accepting sin, but growing through failure, using the failures of life to practice a little bit better each time for improvement on this walk. That's what we're all here to help each other do. Philippians tells us,

rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. And if we're being gentle to one another, it really will help to bring out these qualities. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So this idea of being anxious, we know from the beginning of the class where God is reaching out his hand to us, he's holding our hands, so to speak. And it goes on to say, think upon how do we push out the doubt? How do we increase our faith? We're told to think upon whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on these things. To keep our minds focused and to put into practice positive principles in the truth is going to lead us in a straighter way, in a more enthusiastic way towards the kingdom. Being called out here, as it tells us in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 5 verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the glory that will fill the earth when the kingdom of heaven is those principles are brought here by Christ at his second coming. And the same principle that Isaiah brought out in Matthew chapter 7 verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. This is the idea of making those changes in lives. And so we can all ask ourselves, what are we practicing each day? What should we practice more? And what should we eliminate or practice less in our daily routines? What would it be helpful to eliminate from

day-to-day activities which would help us be more spiritual in our thinking? And so it brings us to this idea of God's glory being shown on the whole earth to an individual who foreshadowed

Christ, the kingdom of God on earth, which is what we will have again when Christ returns. And this was what Isaiah was bringing

forward to the people in his message. They would have known how things were under Solomon as one of the most influential figures in the Hebrew Bible. His reign marked the height of the United Kingdom of Israel. It was characterized by peace, wealth, and wisdom, marking a golden era in biblical history. And he was famous for building the first holy temple in Jerusalem. And this is what we can look forward to, this idea. We can look at some of the aspects of Solomon's kingdom as we're going to tie in Isaiah's message as he moves through the book to the second coming of Christ and what that reign is going to be like. We're going to be able to put away all of the noise that we hear today with the rulers that we have today that seemingly can't figure out how to do one thing or another. There's always a complication. Things are never done in a way that are effective for the nations where they can work together and peace. And that's what Solomon's name means. It means peaceful. And so the people were united. In 1 Kings chapter 4, it tells us that Solomon was given wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than all the people of the East and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. This is what's going to happen when Christ returns. This wisdom that Christ has is going to permeate from Jerusalem and it's going to bring righteous rule and it's going to solve all of these seemingly perplexities that face society today. All nations and people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom and they were enriched by it. Solomon was skilled in the administration of government. He wisely operated commercial enterprises. He wrote poetry and music. He was a prolific author. He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and the majority of the Proverbs. These are all qualities that Jesus is going to bring with him that's going to not only turn the nation of Israel around and turn our lives into perfection, but it's going to turn this world into a place that will bring glory to God as it says, as the waters cover the sea. And we take a breather there if anybody has any comments or anything they'd like to add at this time. Yeah, Jason, I want to comment on your statement by, what was the motivational speaker's name again? Les Brown. Les Brown and his band are renowned. I like that statement very much. I worked in a job at one time where we had a general manager at this facility whose favorite expression was, we strive for perfection. We strive for perfection and he would say it about everything and as a result, anything that wasn't perfection was treated as failure. And I've never worked in a more negative environment than an environment in which, you know, things happen. That's just the way life is. But everything that would happen was always treated as failure. So you could never succeed. That's just not the way human nature is. So I really appreciate this idea of practice makes improvement. I like that very much. Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Jim, for that. Yeah, it helps us to keep a more positive mindset because we can learn when we fail. That's when we're going to have our growth, when we recognize our failings and then get up and try again. What was that passage that, you know, God's tender mercies are new every day, right? Right, yeah. Good thing because basically what he's saying is, you know, don't give up. Keep coming. There's nowhere to go. Yeah, good point. And, you know, this is the message that Isaiah is trying to pull into the to the nation and to us as it tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them. This idea of serving God and serving each other while we have the strength and the energy and the mental capability to do it. The instruction that Isaiah was giving the nation that he was giving us and that Solomon in his reign was giving, we find some wisdom in Proverbs chapter four where it says, listen, my sons, to a father's instruction. This was God saying to the nation, come, let us reason together. There is a solution to this seemingly problem that you're facing, that your walk is facing. It says, pay attention and gain understanding. I will give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. He taught me also and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments and live. So this idea of not only reading, but practicing the words, practicing these principles, get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee, love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. This is God reasoning with us in our lives. He's reaching out his hand to take hold of ours to guide us and if we apply these teachings, the teachings of Christ, then wisdom shall preserve us and will keep us as we face the challenges of life. Proverbs 6 tells us in verse 20, my son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. This good parenting, good relationships, good friendships, good ecclesial environment for everyone, but particularly for the young, is so critical to show those right qualities. In Proverbs 22, we're told, train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. And we know from our own walk, it can be a winding road. We have our own journey of life and of failings and so we shouldn't be discouraged, even if it comes to our children, where they seemingly are maybe not on the path they should be on.

When it says when they're old, they won't depart from it. We're all going to run into different challenges in life and we should take comfort that God is always working in our lives, that he is always stretching out that hand. And when we look at our own journey, we can certainly see that we were not always heeding the lessons that we should have. I know as myself when I was younger, I didn't always follow the lessons that would have helped me have a better walk in the truth. And so as we gain wisdom, as we get older, we can use that with our young and with each other to encourage, to exhort, to help one another. And this idea of not being discouraged, that God is always working in our lives. It's his intention to lead us to his kingdom. And to do that, he tells us to bind these principles continually upon our neck. Tie them about our neck and they'll lead us. There'll be a lamp, it says, and the law is light and the reproof of instructions are a way of life. So when we run into a situation, what's the advice that the Bible gives us? What's the instruction so that we can practice a little bit better on our walk? And it's an ongoing process. It's an ongoing process, just like God wasn't expecting perfection from the nation. He's asking us to strive for it, but if we were going to be perfect, we wouldn't need Christ. And we have such a great savior because of our failings. The Proverbs has so much good advice for us on this. Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for she is thy life. And to continually, as best we can, always keeping these principles before us, these godly principles, and having it influence

our daily activities. This idea of God's glory in Exodus, when Moses wanted to see God's glory, we're told he descended in a cloud and stood with him there. Now this glory that's going to cover the earth, it's styled here as the glory, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering in abundance and goodness and truth. This is the glory of God. This is what God delights in, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children. This idea that there's always opportunity for us to change, that God is merciful and gracious and long-suffering. This is his glory. This is what is going to be brought to the earth when Christ returns. John 7 tells us, and this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ who thou hast sent. This is a pivotal part of God's character that he has this mercy. No, he doesn't look past sin, but he gives us a way out of it with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why it tells us in 1 John chapter 2, My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for us only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. We have Christ, who's a propitiation for us. Our sins are covered through his sacrifice and through us approaching Christ, asking for forgiveness and changing our walk to the best of our ability and ridding our lives of these sins. It's a wonderful, wonderful system that God has set up and that he was offering to the nation of this time. Ephesians 5 tells us, Be therefore followers of God as your children and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet smelling savor. It says for us to come out of the world, be not therefore partakers with them, walk now as children of light. 1 Peter tells us, you're a chosen people, a special possession. This idea that God, he delights in us. We're special to him. We all have things in our lives that are a special possession and we do anything we can to make sure that it stays safe, that we provide it with all the best information, the best environment, and that's what God is trying to do for us. And he's

imploring us to follow his commandments because that's going to lead us on a path of righteousness. 2 Corinthians tells us and really lays out why it's so difficult, why it was difficult for the nation of Israel. It says, but we have this treasure, this wonderful treasure of knowing God, being able to bring glory to his name, but it says we have this treasure in jars of clay. We have it in mortal bodies. And even though God doesn't abandon us and we're not destroyed, we always, as it says in verse 10, carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. Even though we have mortal bodies, we can still bring glory to God in many, many ways. And God understands that. He understands that we're dust. We have all these scriptures where God, he looks at us and says, here today, gone tomorrow, like the flower in the field, we're like a vapor, a smoke. And so he, when he looks at our lives, he has that understanding, and that's why he can be so gracious and merciful to us. Jonathan Bowen has a book that he wrote, which is a lot of interesting things in there. It's called Common to Man. And he speaks about the human experience as the majority of the human race hurries along competing for first place or whatever it is that might be important to us. But we arrive at the inevitable conclusion of death. And mankind lives in a state of animated procrastination, refusing to face the realities of life. Just as the nation of Israel had this hope put before them, we're in such a privileged position in a world of 8 billion people to have the gospel message. And as Matthew 7 tells us, NTE in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at. So this idea of mankind, we all know people like this in our lives. It just, it's all about them. It's all about their life and they don't really consider what's next or is there a purpose or how did we get here? And all of these kinds of questions of that we've been blessed to understand the gospel message and to have this hope and to share it with each other. And 2 Timothy 3 tells us, And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. This is where our hope lies. This is where our fortitude is when we have an issue in life. It's seeking the things of the kingdom. And so with this in mind, this idea of what the kingdom age was like unto Solomon. What was Isaiah trying to show to the nation? How do we get there? How do we order our lives? What can we practice each day? These principles of grace and mercy and long-suffering, this idea of faith not being downtrodden. This was the message to the nation. It was to make a choice to turn from evil and do good. No longer practicing evil and forsaking God but seeking the creator with all their hearts and loving their neighbors, seeking righteousness, helping those that were less fortunate than them. And in Isaiah chapter 2 it says, And it shall come to pass in the last days. And where in those last days? We see the signs of the times where 2000 plus years from Christ's first advent, the nation of Israel has been reestablished. We see prophecies taking place. We see what looks like peace is now going to take place in the land of Israel with peace agreements happening and enemies being destroyed in this latest Middle East conflict. It says, And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And this is as it wasn't this way any longer at Isaiah's time. He was preaching this to the people of what they could have and what the expectant coming of the Messiah was. This is going to be God's glory throughout the earth. Isaiah goes on to say, And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares. Peace, just like under King Solomon, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And we can't turn on the TV these days without hearing about another conflict, whether it be Iran, or Ukraine, or Russia, or China, or some other conflict brewing. It's not going to be that way when Christ comes with his righteous judgment. Verse 12 tells us, For the day of the Lord, when Christ returns, it shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up shall be brought low. The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low. And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. It will be God's glory that will be shown in the earth. No man will stand before God and exalt himself. It will be his glory, his righteousness that will rule the earth. It says that all idols will be abolished in verse 18, all the idols of gold. So the almighty dollar or gold and all of these material things will be done away with, and people will turn back to principles that are enriching for their lives, rather than running to and fro in all of the,

that takes up our time and our days between technology and rushing and all of these things. It says, For the fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. There'll be a physical shaking, but also a moral shaking, a moral shaking to bring people's minds back to a creator. Isaiah says as well, it's an interesting verse. It says, See she from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? And in the NIV it says, Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem? And there's a wonderful excitation there for us to not trust in ourselves, not trust in world leaders, but to trust in the almighty creator. That's where our faith and our hope lies. It's in God reaching out his hand to us and us taking hold of it. Isaiah 7 says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, speaking of Christ. Butter and honey shall he that ye may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. The idea of butter and honey is the words of truth, the manna that fell in the wilderness. It wasn't just food, it was the teachings, the teachings that Christ gave in his ministry. Christ said that he had food to eat, but it was the words and it was to do the will of his heavenly father. In Deuteronomy we're told, Man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. These are the principles that provide us with sustenance. Psalms 119 tells us, How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea sweeter than honey to my mouth, though through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. So taking these things of God into our minds and hearts, enjoying them, it's presenting this picture of

honey and butter, very sweet and rich and delicious foods. This is how the word of God should be to us. This is how we should take it in every day, sustenance for our walk and those things that we can practice. Isaiah delivered this message to the nation, he's delivered it to us. In chapter 9 it says, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shine. We have that light, brothers and sisters and friends, we just need to open it. We need to take it in like honey and butter so that it directs our steps, so that we can continue to shine as lights in our ecclesia, in our family, in our community, because the light that each one of us shine, it matters. That smile, that kind gesture that we do, those are the things that make a difference, those small things that we can do every day. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 goes on to say, Speaking of Christ, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. Who better to rule this world than Jesus Christ? His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. These are the qualities of a real leader. Of the increase of his government in peace, there shall be no end. There shall be no end of the peace that Christ will bring to this earth, a wonderful day and time to look forward to. And so we're exhorted and encouraged to walk worthy of the calling that we have, to consider our ways, and to, as God reasoned with the people, he showed them the way of righteousness and the way of death. We have all of that same information before us, and it's all because we have a wonderful Savior who has overcome the world. And as Isaiah says in chapter 61, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives in the opening of the prison. We will be released, this world will be released from sin and death when Christ returns, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. Christ is going to come to comfort the nations, to preach righteousness, to give everybody an opportunity to choose the good and to forsake the evil. So never lose heart, keep faith, stay positive, practice makes improvement, day by day, little by little, inch by inch, we will all get there together and we will all be there for each other through the sacrifice of Christ.