WEBVTT 00:00:00.461 --> 00:00:05.012 I'd ask you to take your Bible and turn with me over to the book of Isaiah, chapter 28. 00:00:05.012 --> 00:00:10.785 We're going through the book of Isaiah on Sunday mornings and we are in this chapter coming up chapter 28. 00:00:10.785 --> 00:00:28.179 In 1711, a long time ago the South Sea Company was established for the purpose of consolidating and managing the national debt of the British Empire, of consolidating and managing the national debt of the British Empire. 00:00:28.179 --> 00:00:36.865 In return for taking on the debt, the South Sea Company was granted the monopoly of trade in the South Seas. 00:00:36.865 --> 00:00:44.381 The government played a very significant role in that arrangement and for nine years everything seemed to go well. 00:00:44.442 --> 00:01:08.615 In 1720, the South Sea Company proposed a scheme to assume even more of the debt in exchange for shares, and Parliament voted and approved their proposal, and that contributed to a mad rush on the South Sea Company stock. 00:01:08.615 --> 00:01:19.712 It rose dramatically and people rushed in to get in as early as they could, because they could only see it getting better and better and better and better. 00:01:19.712 --> 00:01:24.912 People believed that they'd receive massive profits by investing early. 00:01:24.912 --> 00:01:35.951 People believed that they'd receive massive profits by investing early, and those who had invested early found themselves leveraging what they thought was their wealth and obtaining more debt in order to secure properties and places. 00:01:35.951 --> 00:01:39.209 Everybody was connected to it, tied to it. 00:01:39.209 --> 00:01:49.947 The success of it would have been fantastic for all, and at its peak the company was worth several times what it was just a few months prior. 00:01:49.947 --> 00:01:59.566 Everybody was excited, but their excitement was just nothing but irrational optimism fueled by misleading information. 00:01:59.566 --> 00:02:04.453 In truth, the company was all built on speculation. 00:02:04.453 --> 00:02:23.657 It lacked any real earnings and within a few months from that peak in 1720, it collapsed and thousands and thousands of people went bankrupt in a day. 00:02:23.657 --> 00:02:28.651 Thousands of investors, whether they were in the aristocracy, whether they were politicians or just common everyday folks. 00:02:28.651 --> 00:02:33.009 They were brought to financial ruin in a moment. 00:02:33.009 --> 00:02:37.407 This ruin caused widespread panic. 00:02:37.407 --> 00:02:44.288 It disrupted the whole banking system of the British Empire and almost toppled the government. 00:02:44.288 --> 00:02:51.152 Politicians were entangled with this and the public outrage grew and grew and grew. 00:02:51.152 --> 00:03:10.156 The South Sea Company and the bubble that was caused by it stands as an emblem for us of the dangers of speculative excess, of investing ourselves in things that actually have no true value whatsoever. 00:03:11.901 --> 00:03:13.989 So we come into Isaiah, chapter 28. 00:03:13.989 --> 00:03:37.112 Isaiah is returning from his prophetic whip around tour of the nations To come back to Samaria, to the people of Israel, and back to Jerusalem, to the people of Israel and back to Jerusalem, to the people of Judah, to talk about them, about the foolish investment of their own self-reliance or in their alliances with the nations he's just spoken oracles of destruction about. 00:03:37.112 --> 00:03:47.640 He's here to tell them, in this chapter, of the follies of putting themselves and investing in the wrong securities. 00:03:47.640 --> 00:04:00.052 He tells them that their misplaced trust in themselves and their misplaced trust in their alliances are going to prove their ruin, and so he gives them a warning. 00:04:00.052 --> 00:04:03.743 But he also extends to them some hope. 00:04:03.743 --> 00:04:24.172 In the same chapter as he exhorts them about these dangerous activities, these dangerous investments, he tells them that if they would invest in the Lord and put their trust in him, that they would receive a reward far beyond their wildest dreams and imaginations. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.925 The question is, how would they respond to this? 00:04:28.925 --> 00:04:38.492 And as we think about that overarching question, it's a question that we have to ask ourselves also what are we investing ourselves in? 00:04:38.492 --> 00:04:43.785 Where are our reliances, not only for time but also for eternity? 00:04:43.785 --> 00:04:53.701 And could we be speculating, thinking that our investments secure in something when actually it holds absolutely no value whatsoever? 00:04:53.701 --> 00:05:07.553 Or have we invested in something that may not on the surface look promising but in reality will open up into eternity to be the greatest value and weight of glory ever imagined. 00:05:07.553 --> 00:05:18.531 We're going to compare these two contrasting investment schemes and strategies and see whether or not one is secure and the other one is not. 00:05:18.531 --> 00:05:25.990 And I want us to ask ourselves and to evaluate ourselves where am I putting my trust in my investment? 00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:33.533 Where are my securities, and will they hold value when the eternal day comes? 00:05:33.533 --> 00:05:39.192 Well, the first scheme that we're going to look at is a crumbling capital investment. 00:05:39.192 --> 00:05:41.283 A crumbling capital investment. 00:05:41.744 --> 00:05:45.994 And it starts off with this cry of woe, the very first word of the chapter. 00:05:45.994 --> 00:05:46.920 Take a look at it. 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:50.225 In verse one, woe, woe. 00:05:50.225 --> 00:06:07.375 Isaiah jumps right in to tell us just how tragic this investment is, and he grabs a word from the realm of the funeral and begins to tell us just how dramatically sad and horrible this is. 00:06:07.375 --> 00:06:13.809 The word woe comes from the places of weeping at a funeral. 00:06:13.809 --> 00:06:20.925 It comes when we mourn over the lost loved one who's been snatched away from us. 00:06:20.925 --> 00:06:37.194 It comes from that place of pained lament as we wail over the fact that our loved one is no longer beside us, that we're separated, that now life will be completely different. 00:06:37.194 --> 00:06:57.204 And here Isaiah is taking up this language of the funeral to talk about the tragedy of this headlong destruction that the people of Israel and Judah are in by investing in their own reliance and investing in their alliances with nations like Egypt that are going to bring them nothing but ruin. 00:06:57.204 --> 00:07:09.615 And so, as he unpacks this, he begins to talk about a crown and actually makes a contrast of crowns. 00:07:09.615 --> 00:07:11.422 Look at the first few verses here. 00:07:11.422 --> 00:07:16.653 You'll see this word wreath or crown show up In verse one. 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:27.961 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor, which is on the summit above the rich valley. 00:07:27.961 --> 00:07:30.187 Take a look at verse three. 00:07:30.187 --> 00:07:35.562 The majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. 00:07:35.562 --> 00:07:42.262 Verse four the fading flower and its beautiful splendor, which is on the summit above the rich valley. 00:07:42.262 --> 00:07:58.310 Verse five on that day, the Lord of armies will become a crown of beauty and a diadem, a splendor to the remnant of his people, a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, and strength to those who repel attacks at the city gate. 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:02.202 Here is Isaiah contrasting crowns. 00:08:02.202 --> 00:08:04.446 Here is Isaiah contrasting crowns. 00:08:04.446 --> 00:08:12.776 One crown is a wreath of everlasting beauty and glory, in verses 5 and 6. 00:08:12.776 --> 00:08:27.720 And it is the crown that is the Lord himself, but the other crown, a wreath of flowers that partying people slip onto their heads as they dance around in their drunken revelry. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.932 We'll discover more about the Lord's crown in just a moment, but take a look at this first crown. 00:08:33.932 --> 00:08:42.605 It's described to us in verses one and four as the beautiful splendor which is on the summit above the rich valley. 00:08:42.605 --> 00:08:57.460 And what Isaiah is referring to are the 10 northern tribes and their capital city of Assyria, or Samaria rather, and of its battlements, of its walls that protect it. 00:08:57.460 --> 00:09:10.729 And so it's on top of a mountain, overlooking a lush and fertile plain, and there are this significant walled city with the center of it standing above and all of it. 00:09:10.729 --> 00:09:17.404 And if you looked at it, you'd say that looks just like a crown, looks just like a wreath on top of someone's head. 00:09:17.404 --> 00:09:31.076 And here Isaiah is saying that this battlement, this structure of defense, this fortified city, is really going to be trampled down. 00:09:31.076 --> 00:09:41.291 It's going to be nothing more than fading flowers, a corruptible wreath that's going to be put underfoot and smashed to the ground. 00:09:41.291 --> 00:09:58.764 And the people here are so secure in what they think they've got by having fortified their capital city that they're literally partying almost like people who stayed on the dance floor after being told the Titanic was sinking. 00:09:58.764 --> 00:10:01.308 That's what these people are doing. 00:10:01.308 --> 00:10:05.995 Their confidence is ruinous. 00:10:07.899 --> 00:10:11.109 And Isaiah, in order to get the point home, gets very graphic. 00:10:11.109 --> 00:10:13.485 Actually Verses 7 and 8. 00:10:13.485 --> 00:10:18.610 He talks about the priest and the prophets and the leaders, the political leaders. 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:25.865 In verses 7 and 8, he takes us into a realm that's a little unpleasant for us to hear, but boy does it communicate. 00:10:25.865 --> 00:10:31.851 Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer. 00:10:31.851 --> 00:10:34.567 Priests and prophets stagger because of beer. 00:10:34.567 --> 00:10:36.187 They're confused by wine. 00:10:36.187 --> 00:10:37.946 They stumble because of beer. 00:10:37.946 --> 00:10:39.767 They're muddled in their visions. 00:10:39.767 --> 00:10:41.407 They stumble in their judgments. 00:10:41.407 --> 00:10:44.789 Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit. 00:10:44.789 --> 00:10:47.642 There's no place without a stench. 00:10:47.642 --> 00:10:52.092 What a remarkable statement. 00:10:52.092 --> 00:11:00.793 This is hardly the kind of table anybody would want to eat at and these people are hardly the kind of leaders anybody would want to follow. 00:11:02.701 --> 00:11:14.491 And Isaiah is saying that their confidence in these leaders and their confidence in themselves and their confidence in this walled city is well, what is it? 00:11:14.491 --> 00:11:18.365 It's like watching a drunk at a party who has a lampshade on his head. 00:11:18.365 --> 00:11:45.530 It's like watching him move around the room, bumping into people and saying ignorant words and offensive remarks, and then eventually getting sick and vomiting all over the buffet table, and the only thing more offensive and humiliating than that are the people who are grabbing their tongs in a plate and saying I think I'll continue to put some stuff on my plate from there. 00:11:45.530 --> 00:11:51.028 He said this is pride. 00:11:51.028 --> 00:12:09.820 This is how disturbing and disgusting and how degrading and humiliating pride is and arrogant is and self-reliance is, is and arrogant is and self-reliance is. 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:15.916 The only thing worse than this stuporous, staggering slosh who's chundered all over everything are the people who are trying to eat off of the table he just threw up on. 00:12:15.916 --> 00:12:20.388 It's degrading and disgusting. 00:12:20.388 --> 00:12:57.525 The smell is putrid, sadly in our day, there are people walking around offering advice and spiritual wisdom and instruction are no better than the prophets and the priests in this day who are spewing nonsense all over the airwaves and social media and television, and there's people taking their spiritual plates and forks and they're going give me some more of that and it's just ruinous and tragic. 00:12:57.525 --> 00:13:20.831 And in verse four, god says it's going to be like this and he uses another picture it's going to be like that first ripe fig that shows up when all the others are still too green to eat, and you've been waiting and waiting and waiting for the figs to become ripe and you see that one that's just right there ready to eat, and you grab it and you eat it before you even take it home or wash it. 00:13:20.831 --> 00:13:27.210 That's how fast Samaria is going to be gobbled up in judgment. 00:13:27.210 --> 00:13:32.745 Assyria is going to come down and wipe them out in a heartbeat. 00:13:32.745 --> 00:13:38.215 And in 721 BC that's exactly what happened. 00:13:38.215 --> 00:13:43.489 Isaiah moves on to talk about this. 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:53.596 Isaiah moves on to talk about this catastrophe of an investment in self by moving to Judah in verses 14 to 22. 00:13:53.596 --> 00:14:00.750 And there he takes up another picture of a covenant with death to make an agreement with destruction. 00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:09.249 Judah's leaders were no different than the people in the northern tribes who were relying upon their walled cities. 00:14:09.249 --> 00:14:19.721 And now he condemns the people of Judah for their covenant with death by making an alliance with the people in Egypt, thinking that Egypt would help them defeat the Assyrian onslaught. 00:14:19.721 --> 00:14:28.465 He tells them look, god will take care of you, god will supply everything you need to stand firm. 00:14:28.465 --> 00:14:34.107 You don't need to be disturbed in the midst of these troubling circumstances. 00:14:34.107 --> 00:14:37.227 Your God can hold on to you. 00:14:37.227 --> 00:14:52.782 But the nation rejected the Lord and they were thus put into a place where they had made a covenant with death, an agreement that you take care of me, I'll take care of you. 00:14:52.782 --> 00:14:54.657 And they both died. 00:14:56.910 --> 00:15:07.649 In verse 17, isaiah says that hail will sweep away this false refuge and water will fill up your hiding place. 00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:24.058 A storm will come in and you will find yourself in your little hideaway, up to your throat in water, and you're going to get washed away in the surge that's coming. 00:15:24.058 --> 00:15:29.015 And in verse 19 and 20. 00:15:29.015 --> 00:15:34.099 He tells them Every time it passes through, it will carry you away. 00:15:34.099 --> 00:15:37.495 It will pass through every morning, every day and every night. 00:15:37.495 --> 00:15:40.519 Only terror will cause you to understand the message. 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:46.620 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on and its covers too small to wrap up in. 00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:52.458 When Assyria comes, you're going to find Egypt can't take care of you. 00:15:52.458 --> 00:16:00.220 You're going to try to get in bed with Egypt and you're going to find that bed is not big enough for you. 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:03.115 You're going to try to cover yourself with the sheets of Egypt. 00:16:03.115 --> 00:16:06.621 You're going to find that half of you is still left exposed. 00:16:06.621 --> 00:16:08.431 This is not a safe place. 00:16:08.431 --> 00:16:11.916 This is not where you find help. 00:16:11.916 --> 00:16:18.975 And he says it's not until the terror comes upon you that you understand. 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:27.482 They could listen to the preaching of Isaiah and listen to the warnings that he had given and heard the promises that he provided. 00:16:27.482 --> 00:16:31.851 But it wasn't until the judgment actually fell did they say. 00:16:31.851 --> 00:16:51.942 You've made a tragic mistake when there's no place to remedy the mistake you've made. 00:16:51.942 --> 00:16:57.438 I love talking to Sam as he raised his boys. 00:16:57.438 --> 00:17:04.758 He told them one thing, told them a lot of things, but one thing that I remember him telling them is don't make a mistake, you can't walk back. 00:17:04.758 --> 00:17:08.258 Don't make a mistake, you can't walk back. 00:17:08.258 --> 00:17:15.700 These people have made mistakes that they never realized they should have never made until it was too late. 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:19.635 Now let's find out why. 00:17:19.635 --> 00:17:22.999 Verses 7 to 10 tell us exactly why. 00:17:22.999 --> 00:17:37.584 It comes on the heels of this disturbing illustration of the priest and the prophets and the political leaders who are overtaken by alcohol and staggering around and stumbling, confused and blurred vision. 00:17:37.584 --> 00:17:48.919 I'm not going to repeat that sordid story and depravity anymore, but let's get behind it and see what's behind Israel and Judah's disturbing investments. 00:17:50.991 --> 00:17:52.116 Verse 9 and verse 10. 00:17:52.116 --> 00:17:57.417 Who is he trying to teach? 00:17:57.417 --> 00:18:00.898 Who is he trying to instruct? 00:18:00.898 --> 00:18:07.857 Infants just weaned from milk, babies removed from the breast? 00:18:07.857 --> 00:18:10.457 Law after law, law after law. 00:18:10.457 --> 00:18:13.115 Line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there. 00:18:13.115 --> 00:18:16.736 What's this. 00:18:18.990 --> 00:18:23.362 Isaiah is quoting the drunken prophets and priests. 00:18:23.362 --> 00:18:29.383 He's repeating back what they're saying about Isaiah's preaching. 00:18:29.383 --> 00:18:55.397 These leaders, who are getting bombarded by the prophet with words of judgment and warnings to repent, who are given sweet and beautiful invitations if they'd only trust in the Lord, are listening to Isaiah and they're saying man, this guy just doesn't have it. 00:18:55.397 --> 00:18:59.838 His message is beneath us. 00:18:59.838 --> 00:19:07.182 His call to trust in God is simplistic nonsense. 00:19:07.182 --> 00:19:16.032 It's just a silly message meant for children and to their ears. 00:19:16.032 --> 00:19:23.884 Isaiah's plain speech just doesn't fall nicely upon their sophisticated ears. 00:19:23.884 --> 00:19:29.500 He doesn't satisfy their refined tastes. 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:39.296 He doesn't speak a message that moves them with profundity, and so they mock him. 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:44.901 And verse 10 is a little difficult to translate in the Hebrew. 00:19:44.901 --> 00:20:07.784 But what I think is happening there is that Isaiah is using what sounds like baby talk to mock, as they're using baby talk to mock Isaiah's preaching Kisav Lasav, sav Lasav, kav Lakav, kav Lakav, just blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:20:07.784 --> 00:20:13.318 Right, it reminds me of that house music song. 00:20:13.318 --> 00:20:16.704 Yes, your pastor understands house music a little bit. 00:20:16.704 --> 00:20:22.160 All we ever hear from you is blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:29.430 So all we ever do is go yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:33.846 We don't even care about what they say because it's all yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:20:33.846 --> 00:20:38.140 That's the prophets talking about Isaiah's preaching. 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:55.721 We don't even care what Isaiah says, because it's all just blah, blah, blah, blah, mocking the power and the protection and, yes, the spiritual profundity of Isaiah's message. 00:20:58.051 --> 00:21:04.961 Looking at the word of God is worse than worthless just because it wasn't sophisticated enough for them. 00:21:04.961 --> 00:21:19.961 And so verse 11 opens up in the NIV, particularly with the phrase very well then, they're going to refuse God's message. 00:21:19.961 --> 00:21:21.855 Then he has something to say to them. 00:21:21.855 --> 00:21:30.301 Very well then, if that's your determination about the message of the prophet, well, verse 13,. 00:21:30.301 --> 00:21:39.855 The word of the Lord will come to them, law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there. 00:21:39.855 --> 00:21:56.718 It will sound to you like blah blah, blah, blah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it'll be the Assyrians speaking a different language to you when they drag you away from your country and bring you into captivity. 00:21:56.718 --> 00:22:01.116 You're going to mock the word of God. 00:22:01.116 --> 00:22:03.221 You're going to face the word of God. 00:22:03.221 --> 00:22:05.876 You're going to face the consequences of that mocking voice. 00:22:10.590 --> 00:22:22.237 What Isaiah is saying here is real, and every Sunday, when the word of God is proclaimed, there's someone in the pew saying boy, I've never understood the word of God like this. 00:22:22.237 --> 00:22:22.898 This is sweet. 00:22:22.898 --> 00:22:23.934 I can't wait. 00:22:23.934 --> 00:22:25.796 I wish we didn't have to close. 00:22:25.796 --> 00:22:28.159 I would love to write more in my notebooks. 00:22:28.159 --> 00:22:34.278 I'm gonna take this home and read God's word more deeply and with a fresher sense of understanding. 00:22:34.278 --> 00:22:46.217 I love God's word, and then there's someone who listens to it and says this is dumb God's word. 00:22:46.217 --> 00:22:49.309 Why can't God's word say something up to my level? 00:22:49.309 --> 00:22:55.390 Same message, different impact. 00:22:56.890 --> 00:22:59.940 When the Bible's opened up, you have to ask yourself is it sweet to your soul or is it sour to your tongue? 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:05.778 Or is it sour to your tongue? 00:23:05.778 --> 00:23:19.278 Do you receive it as if it was a rich and satisfying drink, or do you spit it out because it tastes like swamp water? 00:23:19.278 --> 00:23:24.044 You see, it's not the Word of God that's under judgment, it's us. 00:23:24.044 --> 00:23:32.336 We are here. 00:23:32.336 --> 00:23:47.377 The Lord is offering rest to the weary, but if they continue to resist it, if they continue to mock it, if they continue to speak against it with such haughty speech, they're going to face judgment and get back in their face what they're blurting out in derision. 00:23:47.377 --> 00:23:56.479 They're just going to hear a bunch of foreign words in their ears as they're dragged away and never returning to their homes. 00:23:59.211 --> 00:24:11.200 Paul quotes this passage of scripture, by the way, in the book of 1 Corinthians, and what he means to say there is that incomprehensible messages are not how God speaks to his believing people. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:19.922 That kind of speech is left for those who don't have the heart to hear the truth. 00:24:19.922 --> 00:24:25.065 Who don't have the heart to hear the truth. 00:24:25.065 --> 00:24:30.898 Let's jump down a little bit, because there's a message to people who are making poor investments and there's a message of hope here. 00:24:30.898 --> 00:24:39.481 You see, you don't have to come to complete ruin before you return and find welcome in the Lord. 00:24:39.481 --> 00:24:48.297 There is a place of repentance and there's an invitation at the end of this section, verses 23 to 29. 00:24:48.297 --> 00:25:00.201 In verse 23, it says listen and hear my voice, pay attention and hear what I say. 00:25:00.201 --> 00:25:02.756 And then verse 29,. 00:25:03.609 --> 00:25:04.997 This comes from the Lord of armies. 00:25:04.997 --> 00:25:26.902 He gives wondrous advice, he gives great wisdom, and to those who have made a rather tragic and destructive investment, he says before you go any further, why don't you just stop and listen to the Lord instead of mocking him? 00:25:26.902 --> 00:25:40.439 And so he calls into this invitation some wisdom from the farm, an example of why God should be heeded. 00:25:40.439 --> 00:25:43.750 And he asked two questions about plowing and planting. 00:25:43.750 --> 00:25:50.942 The first question in verse 24, does a plowman plow every day to plant seed. 00:25:50.942 --> 00:25:53.751 Does he continually break up and cultivate the soil? 00:25:53.751 --> 00:26:00.338 No, no, of course he knows when to plant and he knows when to stop plowing. 00:26:00.338 --> 00:26:06.026 And then the second question, verse 25,. 00:26:06.846 --> 00:26:11.259 When he's leveled at surface, does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin? 00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:14.833 He plants weed in rows and barley and plots with spelt as their border. 00:26:14.833 --> 00:26:19.578 Does he know when to plant and when to plow? 00:26:19.578 --> 00:26:23.844 To plant and when to plow, when to stop plowing, when to stop planting? 00:26:23.844 --> 00:26:24.744 Of course he does. 00:26:24.744 --> 00:26:33.851 Yes, the farmer knows all of that. 00:26:33.871 --> 00:26:35.133 Where does that understanding come from? 00:26:35.133 --> 00:26:36.354 Isaiah asks us to consider. 00:26:36.354 --> 00:26:37.516 It comes from God. 00:26:37.516 --> 00:26:55.103 The farmer can follow the instructions that come from God's common grace in this world that has patterns in its seasons, and we can discern this because God is a God of order who has made this world work for the purposes of granting life. 00:26:55.103 --> 00:27:08.623 So the farmer, even though they may not even understand it to be God, who's granted them this understanding, recognizes the signs of the seasons and knows when to plow and when to plant and when to harvest. 00:27:08.623 --> 00:27:17.919 And if he can do something simply for the purposes of attaining an ordinary crop of cumin that we can put in our curries. 00:27:17.919 --> 00:27:25.623 How much more should we listen to this God who tells us things of eternal consequence? 00:27:25.623 --> 00:27:33.403 Should we not invest in his wisdom and then receive his instruction? 00:27:33.403 --> 00:27:37.452 This is what he's saying. 00:27:38.796 --> 00:27:54.512 And if this farmer can find himself reaping a harvest at the end of the year, having paid attention to the signs of the seasons, how much more would an investment in God himself and trusting him alone bring with it? 00:27:54.512 --> 00:27:59.784 Something far beyond what we could ever gather if we simply relied upon ourselves. 00:27:59.784 --> 00:28:05.961 You see, there's a lot more at stake than a good or bad harvest. 00:28:05.961 --> 00:28:14.978 For the people of Israel and Judah, what was at stake was the danger of a mighty Near Eastern Empire called Assyria wiping them away. 00:28:14.978 --> 00:28:18.339 But for us there's something even bigger than that. 00:28:18.339 --> 00:28:28.980 There is the enemy called sin and the eternal destruction that that will bring to us, because it'll enslave us forever. 00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:43.383 And God is saying take refuge in me, don't take refuge in yourself, don't lean on your own abilities to get you through eternity. 00:28:43.383 --> 00:28:55.464 So there's one investment scheme, and it's a crumbling capital investment. 00:28:55.464 --> 00:28:57.896 It falls into nothing. 00:28:57.896 --> 00:29:08.594 But there's another scheme, and this one is a concrete capital investment, because it's an investment in the Lord himself. 00:29:10.037 --> 00:29:14.294 For the people who are reading this, in their day, things could have been so much different. 00:29:14.294 --> 00:29:30.116 And so let's just retrace our steps very quickly as we go through this chapter and see what the dividends are for putting our trust not in ourselves, but in God, for those who would humble themselves and hear what Isaiah is saying. 00:29:30.116 --> 00:29:37.482 What does the person who trusts the Lord find? 00:29:37.482 --> 00:29:40.657 Well, the first thing we find is a crown. 00:29:40.657 --> 00:29:42.375 We started with crowns. 00:29:42.375 --> 00:29:55.000 The bad investment scheme had a crown or a wreath of flowers that was going to get trampled underneath, but what about the crown of those who trust in God? 00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:01.589 Verse 5, chapter 28. 00:30:01.589 --> 00:30:10.077 On that day, the Lord of armies will become a crown of beauty and a diadem of splendor to the remnant of his people. 00:30:10.077 --> 00:30:46.523 Yeah, the first crown is a fading crown, it's a worthless crown, but this, the Lord himself, is, to his people, a crown of glory and of splendor, one meant to beautify the wearer, one that intensifies and glorifies the person who puts it on, because that crown is the Lord himself, with all of his love and all of his investment, of all of his person in the one who puts him or herself in his hands. 00:30:50.151 --> 00:31:01.541 Yesterday, when Kevin and Jessica were married, ephesians 5 came into the discussion, as it should Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. 00:31:01.541 --> 00:31:05.480 And wonderful instructions Kevin received. 00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:19.113 But listen to it, apart from the marriage aspect, and just take in who Jesus is to his people marriage aspect and just take in who Jesus is to his people. 00:31:19.113 --> 00:31:20.576 Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to do what? 00:31:20.576 --> 00:31:36.465 To make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word and he did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that Holy and blameless. 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:40.218 What happens to those who trust the Lord? 00:31:40.218 --> 00:31:43.190 They become the bride of Christ. 00:31:43.190 --> 00:31:57.094 They become this one who receives Jesus' full attention and his full care and his full investment in them in order to bring them to a place of honor and glory that they could never bring themselves. 00:31:57.094 --> 00:31:59.240 What a glorious thing this is. 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:05.015 This is Jesus calling out a people to himself and giving them all that he is. 00:32:05.015 --> 00:32:10.002 If he's a king, his people will be his queen. 00:32:10.002 --> 00:32:13.213 If he reigns in heaven, so will they. 00:32:13.213 --> 00:32:18.511 If he's heavenly, his people will bear the image of the heavenly. 00:32:18.511 --> 00:32:29.762 If he is incorruptible and immortal, they will be incorruptible and immortal If he is at the right hand of the Father, so they shall sit with him in heavenly places. 00:32:29.762 --> 00:32:32.752 This is Christ and his people. 00:32:32.752 --> 00:32:37.820 This is the crown, who is God himself. 00:32:37.820 --> 00:32:41.289 But it doesn't stop there. 00:32:41.289 --> 00:32:53.001 It could easily and we've already seen the weight of this investment far excels the destructive, ruinous investment in ourselves. 00:32:54.463 --> 00:32:55.184 But it goes on. 00:32:55.184 --> 00:33:09.781 Verse six he's going to give to the remnant of his people a spirit of justice, to the one who sits in judgment, and strength to those who repel attacks at the city gate. 00:33:09.781 --> 00:33:13.758 Solomon, you're going to be a king. 00:33:13.758 --> 00:33:18.015 Solomon, you're going to be making decisions for the people. 00:33:18.015 --> 00:33:26.422 Solomon, you're going to have to think about what's equitable and what's righteous and you're going to have to make judgments that are going to be for the benefit of the people. 00:33:26.422 --> 00:33:39.798 Solomon says I need wisdom, I don't need money, I don't need my looks, I don't need money, I don't need my looks, I don't need anything but wisdom. 00:33:39.798 --> 00:33:42.517 Because he knew he didn't have it. 00:33:42.517 --> 00:33:45.978 The responsibility was beyond him. 00:33:45.978 --> 00:33:48.919 What does a person who sits in the place of justice need? 00:33:48.919 --> 00:33:54.303 They need the wisdom to make judgments that are just and right and equitable. 00:33:54.303 --> 00:33:59.862 What does a soldier need when he's standing against the enemy at the gate? 00:33:59.862 --> 00:34:06.163 Well, give me some reinforcements and give me a larger ability to repel the enemy. 00:34:09.291 --> 00:34:20.340 In the place of our lack, there is the supply, and this is that picture that Jesus, that the word of God is giving us, about God granting to those who trust in him. 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:30.259 Where do you feel a weakness, where do you feel a lack within yourself, where do you feel an inability of strength? 00:34:30.259 --> 00:34:34.056 It's in those very places God will operate. 00:34:34.056 --> 00:34:48.750 Paul said this treasure, we have it in earthen vessels that the excellency might be of God and not of ourselves. 00:34:48.750 --> 00:34:57.693 And he said we're afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:34:57.693 --> 00:34:58.896 We're perplexed, but we're not in despair. 00:34:58.896 --> 00:35:00.260 We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned. 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:02.025 We're struck down, but we're not destroyed. 00:35:02.025 --> 00:35:02.106 Why? 00:35:02.106 --> 00:35:12.398 Because Jesus is with me Through all the places where I feel my utter inability, he steps in and he has everything to keep me going, everything. 00:35:12.398 --> 00:35:22.360 And then he says this and we know that the one who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with him. 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:30.396 The place where I feel the weakest, the most in the face of death, where I can't tell it no, come back tomorrow. 00:35:30.396 --> 00:35:47.018 He's there and I can go into the grave knowing that through Jesus Christ's resurrection, I will also come up out of the grave because of him. 00:35:47.018 --> 00:35:54.956 So here, what are the dividends of investment in God and not ourselves? 00:35:54.956 --> 00:36:01.400 A crown, the conquering victory and confidence. 00:36:02.163 --> 00:36:03.164 Take a look at verse 12. 00:36:03.164 --> 00:36:14.597 He said to them this is the place of rest, let the weary rest, this is a place of repose. 00:36:14.597 --> 00:36:18.177 But they wouldn't listen. 00:36:18.177 --> 00:36:37.746 The Lord is telling us that he himself is the place of rest, that he himself is the place where the weary and the weak can find that needed recreation and recovery and they can lie down without fear. 00:36:37.746 --> 00:36:42.900 We'll look at it in a few chapters, but in Isaiah 32, verse 17,. 00:36:42.900 --> 00:36:46.059 The results of righteousness will be peace. 00:36:46.059 --> 00:36:53.721 The effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever, and my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure dwellings. 00:36:56.570 --> 00:36:58.510 What a glorious picture that is. 00:36:58.510 --> 00:37:01.318 You don't have to be afraid when the lights are turned out. 00:37:01.318 --> 00:37:06.260 You don't have to wonder if there's some enemy sneaking around the backyard. 00:37:06.260 --> 00:37:10.494 You don't have to turn the alarm on when you leave the house. 00:37:10.494 --> 00:37:13.237 You don't have to lock your car. 00:37:13.237 --> 00:37:19.130 There's no danger. 00:37:19.130 --> 00:37:24.563 That's the image of what it means to find rest and repose and security and confidence and safety in God. 00:37:24.563 --> 00:37:32.318 There's nothing bigger than him and there's nothing going to take you down that he's not already got an answer for. 00:37:32.318 --> 00:37:36.766 Take you down that he's not already got an answer for. 00:37:36.766 --> 00:37:44.536 And this is why Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. 00:37:44.536 --> 00:37:54.938 And he said he will give us rest Because he is that place where our very soul can lie in repose. 00:37:54.938 --> 00:38:01.266 How confidence building. 00:38:01.306 --> 00:38:17.757 That is, polycarp of Smyrna, who lived from 69 AD to about 155 AD, was drugged before others who were mocking his faith in Christ, calling on him to abandon Christ and to call Caesar Lord. 00:38:17.757 --> 00:38:20.878 And he said this right before they killed him. 00:38:20.878 --> 00:38:28.762 80 and six years I've served him and he has done me no wrong. 00:38:28.762 --> 00:38:33.878 How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? 00:38:33.878 --> 00:38:38.806 How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? 00:38:38.806 --> 00:38:50.719 He was ready to die for Christ because he had lived under the safety of giving himself wholly over to this Lord Jesus who had taken care of him for 86 years. 00:38:54.771 --> 00:39:00.793 But there's more, one more, actually almost two, but one Verse 16. 00:39:00.793 --> 00:39:08.284 Look, verse 16. 00:39:08.284 --> 00:39:22.230 Therefore, the Lord said Look, I've laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. 00:39:22.230 --> 00:39:27.945 The one who believes will be unshakable. 00:39:27.945 --> 00:39:38.023 He repeats himself three times here, with three different phrases, in order to get the point across that if you rely on God, you've got an eternal security in that investment. 00:39:38.023 --> 00:39:42.257 It's a precious cornerstone. 00:39:42.257 --> 00:39:44.097 It's an unshakable foundation. 00:39:44.097 --> 00:39:50.983 It's a tested, proved, reliable place to put your trust. 00:39:50.983 --> 00:39:59.400 It's not the South Sea Company and it's not the housing crisis of 2008. 00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:09.900 Because if you trust in Him, he will uphold you through everything. 00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:14.559 God's building will stand in times of trial. 00:40:14.559 --> 00:40:19.021 The Assyrian conflict, god will take care of. 00:40:19.021 --> 00:40:42.735 There's no need to be afraid or dismayed because of the enemy that's in front of you, because God's cornerstone is dependable and trustworthy More dependable and trustworthy than Egypt, and certainly more dependable and trustworthy than your ability to sort of stifle your fears or to make it through on your own or to pick yourself up and say I'll do better next time. 00:40:42.735 --> 00:40:48.077 What is this cornerstone? 00:40:49.710 --> 00:40:53.597 Again, the New Testament picks this passage up actually in several different places. 00:40:53.597 --> 00:40:55.414 It's a significant prophecy that's echoed in the New Testament picks this passage up actually in several different places. 00:40:55.414 --> 00:40:59.059 It's a significant prophecy that's echoed in the New Testament. 00:40:59.059 --> 00:41:09.641 It's found by Peter in 1 Peter 2, verses 6 to 8, where Jesus Christ himself is identified as that cornerstone. 00:41:09.641 --> 00:41:19.804 When we put all of ourselves and invest everything that we are for life and eternity into Jesus Christ. 00:41:19.804 --> 00:41:29.920 We are standing on top of this secure foundation, this tested place. 00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:39.710 It's a concrete investment place. 00:41:39.710 --> 00:41:40.291 It's a concrete investment. 00:41:40.291 --> 00:41:43.963 The hope of redemption that Isaiah, chapter 28, is talking about, is fulfilled ultimately by our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:41:43.963 --> 00:41:54.177 His death and his resurrection secure our salvation and our reconciliation with God and give us the promise that we'll be with him. 00:41:54.177 --> 00:42:02.206 Jesus himself picked up these words and talked about himself. 00:42:02.206 --> 00:42:09.603 We read about it in chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians, about Christ is the only foundation. 00:42:10.791 --> 00:42:19.675 And in the book of Romans, in chapter 9, paul says this about the contrast between the bad investment and the right investment. 00:42:19.675 --> 00:42:21.458 And he said this. 00:42:21.458 --> 00:42:28.079 He said Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:42.041 Thinking that they can be righteous by doing the things that God demands, they find that that thing actually reveals sin to them rather than grant them the righteousness that they were trying to attain. 00:42:42.041 --> 00:42:44.635 Why is it? 00:42:44.635 --> 00:42:50.378 Because they did not pursue it by faith, but, as if it were, by works. 00:42:50.378 --> 00:42:57.456 They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, and he quotes Isaiah 28. 00:42:57.456 --> 00:43:03.197 Look, I'm putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over. 00:43:03.197 --> 00:43:07.880 And the one who believes on him will not be put to shame. 00:43:11.731 --> 00:43:30.177 Paul explains there's a bad investment, a ruinous effort and endeavor, being preoccupied with the righteousness that comes from your abilities or righteousness that comes by simply believing on the righteous one, christ himself. 00:43:30.177 --> 00:43:38.282 And the investment in Christ is the one where you'll never feel ashamed. 00:43:38.282 --> 00:43:48.353 You'll step into eternity and there won't be a single moment in the eternal day that you'll say I wish I hadn't done that. 00:43:48.353 --> 00:43:51.177 You'll never be ashamed. 00:43:51.177 --> 00:44:07.900 And if Paul were alive today, he would say if you're planting your eternity and your investment of your never dying soul in your own abilities, he said you're no better than putting your assets into the hands of Bernie Madoff. 00:44:07.900 --> 00:44:13.097 You're going to say why did I do that? 00:44:13.097 --> 00:44:14.701 I'm ruined. 00:44:14.701 --> 00:44:35.762 You see, telling people they need to be better and do better or think that they can go to heaven because they are better, is a sweet deception that just seems to ring well in all of our ears. 00:44:35.762 --> 00:44:38.717 But it's a lie. 00:44:38.717 --> 00:44:50.518 And Paul is telling us here that there's one investment, and one investment alone, that makes all the difference. 00:44:50.518 --> 00:44:56.409 And it's not the collapsing capital investment, it's the concrete capital investment. 00:44:56.911 --> 00:44:59.340 Who is the Lord Jesus himself? 00:44:59.340 --> 00:45:09.469 We'll conclude with this Prince Oscar Bernadotte was born in 1859. 00:45:09.469 --> 00:45:17.659 He was the second son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Queen Sophia, and he was titled initially the Duke of Gotland. 00:45:17.659 --> 00:45:21.358 But his life took a remarkable turn. 00:45:21.358 --> 00:45:33.320 In 1888, he married a lady named Ebba, who was a commoner, and he did so without the required royal consent. 00:45:33.320 --> 00:45:36.177 So what did he do? 00:45:36.177 --> 00:45:39.177 What did Prince Oscar do? 00:45:39.177 --> 00:45:41.978 He renounced his royal titles. 00:45:41.978 --> 00:45:54.664 He renounced his succession rights because he'd rather have Ebba than to have the title of prince or king. 00:45:57.170 --> 00:45:59.900 Oscar and Ebba shared together a deep Christian faith. 00:45:59.900 --> 00:46:13.599 It was a very central part of their lives together as a couple, and he was actively involved in a lot of organizations the Swedish YMCA, a number of different conferences and conventions. 00:46:13.599 --> 00:46:16.418 It was just wonderfully used of God in that part of the world. 00:46:16.418 --> 00:46:26.041 And he wrote the lyrics of a song in Swedish that have been attributed in English to a lady named Rhea Miller. 00:46:26.041 --> 00:46:34.197 You might know the song I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. 00:46:35.219 --> 00:46:37.202 I'd rather be his than have riches untold. 00:46:37.202 --> 00:46:40.695 I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. 00:46:40.695 --> 00:46:48.802 I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hands than to be king of a vast domain or to be held in sin's dread sway. 00:46:48.802 --> 00:46:55.157 I'd rather have Jesus than anything, anything this world affords today. 00:46:55.157 --> 00:47:00.505 Amen, let's pray. 00:47:04.632 --> 00:47:14.420 Father, thank you for this word, a word that is striking in its imagery, a word that pierces our very hearts. 00:47:14.420 --> 00:47:23.518 Thank you for warning us, before we step into eternity, about the awful investment of self. 00:47:23.518 --> 00:47:38.297 Thank you for the sweet invitations of life and the guarantee that comes by your very person, because you can swear by no higher. 00:47:38.297 --> 00:47:51.021 You swore by yourself and gave us a security that our investment will never fail by putting ourselves in your hands. 00:47:51.021 --> 00:48:01.242 Thank you for granting us a savior, jesus Christ, one who delivers us from ourselves and our own destruction. 00:48:02.971 --> 00:48:14.099 And, father, I want to pray for anyone who's here, anyone who, maybe today for the first time, has asked themselves that very serious question when are my securities lying? 00:48:14.099 --> 00:48:19.175 Who am I trusting? 00:48:19.175 --> 00:48:20.335 Where's my reliance? 00:48:20.335 --> 00:48:48.802 Oh, father, I pray that today would be the day that they bow to the true King, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, because you tell us in this that our glory is in you, that we find justice in you, that we find strength in you, that we find composure and rest, we find victory in you, because you are that cornerstone. 00:48:48.802 --> 00:48:56.583 You promise us a never fading wreath of glory. 00:48:56.583 --> 00:49:04.840 You grant us our wisdom and justice beyond imagining and strength that endures through the test of time. 00:49:04.840 --> 00:49:09.340 Father, thank you, thank you. 00:49:09.340 --> 00:49:12.757 Move them and move us. 00:49:12.757 --> 00:49:19.320 We pray to be in the Savior and we pray this in Christ's name, amen.