The Tab Is Paid

Someone picks up the check for the whole table and a friend insists on paying “their part.” It feels polite, but it quietly rejects the gift. We start there because it captures the core tension of the gospel: Jesus Christ paid the full price with His precious blood, enough for the whole world, and yet salvation is only credited to “whosoever will” believe. Pride still tries to contribute, negotiate, or refuse, even when grace is complete.

From that doorway we climb into Isaiah 2, where the prophet sees the mountain of the Lord lifted above every other “mountain,” every kingdom and authority. Pastor Carl unpacks the promise of the latter days: the Messiah reigning from Jerusalem, the nations coming to Mount Zion to learn God’s ways, and a world where justice is real enough to turn swords into plowshares. We also face a hard truth: even in a time of extraordinary peace, the human heart still needs surrender, not just better circumstances.

Isaiah doesn’t stop at future hope. He presses present urgency: walk in the light now, repent now, and don’t confuse popular spirituality with the Lord. We talk about idols, prosperity, and the subtle way believers can reshape Jesus into what we want instead of worshiping who He is. Isaiah 3 sharpens the warning with a picture of societal breakdown when people abandon responsibility and God’s order, especially in the home and in leadership.

If this challenged you, share it with a friend and subscribe for more teaching through Scripture. After you listen, would you reply with one “paid in full” truth you needed to hear today, and leave a review to help others find the show?

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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Jesus paid for the price of the whole world and then some. The price of his blood is precious. It's valuable. It more than covers the sin of the world. There should be nobody being judged or sent to hell. The problem is not everyone accepts it, because whosoever will believe, whosoever will accept the gift of eternal life, those are the ones that can benefit from it. But if you don't put it to your account, you're an enemy of God.

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Have you ever been out to dinner with a group of people when suddenly there's that awkward moment where no one is sure what to do? Who's going to pay? Maybe this time you offer to pick up the tab for the whole group. Then randomly one of them protests and says, No, no, I've got my portion. They think they're being kind, but really they're rejecting your offer. Today, Pastor Carl reminds us that this is true with Jesus' gift of salvation. It's there for everyone to accept, but some people will reject it. And now here's Pastor Carl.

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This is the word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. His main focus was on the southern kingdom and most specifically on Jerusalem and the leadership in Jerusalem. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. All the nations shall flee to it. Many people shall come to say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Now, whenever you see phrases like mountains in the Bible, they represent kingdoms, authority, and rule. And this is talking about a time when the Lord Himself, Jesus Christ, will come and in person rule over all the mountains in the world. And he'll set up his kingdom on Mount Zion, which is on a series of mountains in Jerusalem. So actually, when you go up to Jerusalem, they talked about going up to the temple to worship the Lord. No matter what direction you were coming from, you would go up to Jerusalem. And it'll be the same thing in the end of the days, but it won't just be people from the nation of Israel. It'll be all tribes, all tongues. The Gentile believers that come and worship the Lord will be coming. This is good news, but it's also a news that kind of made Israel uneasy because Israel was the chosen nation, right? Israel was the one that was given the law, the covenant of God. They were his special people, and he had special focus on them. And now they're getting this prophecy that maybe they're thinking because of their sin, they're going to lose God's favor, and the rest of the world is going to get his favor. Do you remember the story in Acts when they were debating on whether the new Gentile believers, who obviously were born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, if they should be required to keep the law, to be circumcised and to keep the law? And there was a debate about that. And usually we think about, well, they need to be like us. When it could be the other way, the Jews were fearing they're losing their significance, they're losing their history, they're losing their blessing from God and having to become like the Gentiles, as opposed to the Gentiles becoming like the Jews. And this is kind of a picture of that. In the end, all will be coming to the Lord, to the house of God. But as we go on too, we will see it's not because God has taken it away from the Jews, which is being taught today. The Jews are now forsaken by God forever, and the church has replaced the Jews. The Bible does not teach that. The Bible teaches that the Jews will be corrected as a nation, but they will be certainly part of the kingdom. Because how do you come into the family of God? By faith in Jesus Christ. It was through the line of Israel that the Messiah came, but he came to save the whole world. He's the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the whole world. So redemption is through Jesus, through Israel, in the church, who is comprised of Israel and Gentiles, all believers in Jesus Christ. And it's a good thing. And it's a good thing. So let's focus on that. It's a glorious time where all nations will be submitted to Jesus Christ, and people will be coming to Israel, to Jerusalem, to Mount Zion to worship him on the holy hill. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. He shall beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war any more. What a glorious verse. It'll be a time of peace like you've never seen before, because the prince of peace will be ruling and reigning. Will there be skirmishes? Will there be trouble between people? Yes, we see that still. He will judge between the nations and rebuke many people. But there will not be a need for nations to rise up against nations anymore, because he will hold the peace. He's the peacemaker, he's the way maker. He's the one that will hold all things together by the power of his word. And yet there will still be people that haven't fully surrendered to the Lord. There will still be people who are operating in bodies of flesh and have skirmishes between each other. Sin will still be there, but without the influence of the enemy, because the enemy will be uh in a pit for a thousand years. Of course, at the end of that thousand years, he'll be let out, and many people will be led astray even then. After having God in their presence for a thousand years, they'll still desire to go off in their own way. So all this to say is there will be a time of great peace. Verse 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled in eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Isaiah is looking forward to the future. What a glorious time of peace and reconciliation and restoration that Israel and the rest of the world will experience. He said, Look at that. That's coming. You can have it now. Repent now. Turn back to the Lord now. He's in your presence. Let's walk in the light of the Lord. Not in our own ways of thinking. Let's not fall into the world's ways. This is what he's saying. This is what has happened. You've forsaken the house of the Lord. You've forsaken your people. You've gone astray. And you've gone east. You've gone east of Babylon. And all the Babylonian philosophies and religions. You've adopted because it makes you feel good, because it makes you prosperous. It's just a hip thing to do. Fill in the blank. What is it? And what's going on today? So many in the church today are taken captive by the ways of the world. And those ways are presented in so many different ways, are they? They're in our media, they're in our schools, they're in our politics. All these ways that go against what the Lord teaches us to do. And yet we like it. Because we have prosperous times, we have strength. You know, there's soothsayers like the Philistines. There's this spirituality where we can tie into it and find some benefit from it. Just because something is spiritual does not mean it comes from the Lord. Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there's no end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses, and there's no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols, they worship the work of their hands, that which their fingers have made. People bow down, and each other humbles himself. Therefore do not forgive them. He's saying, All right, this is what's happening in Judah. This is what's happening because of what's happening in the lives of your neighbors. It's attractive to do the things they do because things are going well. They're rich, they're powerful, uh, they're comfortable, they've created idols that they love to worship. So often we create idols that we love to worship. And we need to be careful not to create an idol out of the word. Not to create an idol out of Jesus. That doesn't make sense, does it? Well, it does when we make it say something that we want it to say and not what God is telling us. We make Jesus into an idol when we change the nature of who he is into something we want him to be. That's another Jesus, as the Apostle Paul describes it. And this is what was happening. And they're so proud of the things that they do. Look at what I made and look at these things that I put together. It's all about me. It's not about the glory of God and the goodness of God. People bow down and each man humbles himself, therefore do not forgive them. That particular translation doesn't really share what's really intended there. It's more that a mankind is humbled. God is on his way to humble mankind. And each man will be brought low. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. But if you don't humble yourself, eventually he will humble you. And that's what this verse is saying. All these people will be humbled, including Judea. You have an opportunity now to humble yourself before the Lord before he humbles you. When he comes and he humbles the world and he humbles mankind as a group and individually, he says, Do not forgive them. Now the word for forgive in this case means lift up or bear their load. Don't come alongside them and encourage them that they're doing right. Oh, it's all right, it'll be all right. No, this is a time where you know you're doing wrong and you're not repenting, and judgment is coming, and this judgment comes because of you. It's not God's fault, it's not my fault, it's your fault because you did not repent and turn to the Lord. Now, who are the people that we come alongside and lift up? Those that want to seek the Lord, those that are sincere, that have have struggles in their life, and they want to break through them. They don't want to make excuses for their sin, they want to find answers to their sin. And we say, Come on alongside, God forgives you, I forgive you. Come and let's worship the Lord together and let's find healing and hope and forgiveness. Well, he goes on at verse 10 enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty, the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. No more bragging about the things that you made. The Lord is going to be exalted. And if we've humbled ourselves and we praise the Lord and we recognize anything good within our lives comes from the Lord, so we praise Him, He's exalted, we will be exalted with Him. We will be lifted up. But if we continue to walk in our own ways, continue to justify our own sin, we will be brought low. And God is saying, run, run to the hills, because judgment is coming. Does that remind you of something in Revelation? Does that sound like something that happens in Revelation? People run to the hills to hide themselves from the face of God, wishing that the rocks themselves would call fall on them and kill them because they don't want to face the wrath of God. Verse 12 for the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty. What is God bringing judgment against? The proud and the lofty. Why? Because they were too proud and lofty to humble themselves and to receive the forgiveness of Christ. To receive the finished price that God did once and for all through Jesus Christ on the cross. Again, Jesus paid for the price of the whole world and then some. The price of his blood is precious, it's valuable, it more than covers the sin of the world. There should be nobody being judged or said to hell. The problem is not everyone accepts it, because whosoever will believe, whosoever will accept the gift of eternal life, those are the ones that could benefit from it. But if you don't put it to your account, you're an enemy of God. He brings this judgment on every everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low, upon the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon the oaks of Bashem, upon all the high mountains, upon all the hills that are lifted up, upon every tower, upon every fortified wall, upon the ships of Tarshish, and above all the beautiful sloops, which is another word for a ship, a grand ship. These these ships of Tarshish, the people of Tarshish did a lot of trading, and they had valuable commodities from all over the world, and they had these great sea-bearing vessels that could go out for two months at a time to get supplies and bring them in. They were glorious, and people looked at them and said, Wow, what wonder these ships are. The Lord is greater than them. The Lord is greater than the cedars of Lebanon. That's a picture of strength. It's actually a picture of Christ Himself. He's strong, He's eternal, He's there. And the cedars of Lebanon represent his strength. But when the people who are strong in the Lord forsake the Lord, no longer is that strength in the Lord there. The cedars of Lebanon are falling over when they aren't really in the Lord, in the branch. And upon all the oaks of Bashem, the same sort of symbol. There's strength, there's endurance, there's this majestic beauty in the Lord, and the oaks of Bashem represented that. But when we take ourselves out of the glory of God, when Israel went its own way and said, Our ways are better than the Lord's ways, that strength is no longer there. And again, mountains are rulers, our nations. When when a nation forsakes the Lord, no longer are they strong. No longer will they endure. They're about to receive the judgment of God. It's not a safe place to be. The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols he shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks, into the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily. The judgment of the Lord is going, and all the idols and all the strength that you've created for yourself will not be able to stand against his judgment. You put all your effort and all your hope and all of your love into your stuff, and your stuff will not give you what you're hoping it will. Only the Lord can. And if you forsake the Lord, you're in a bad place. And everything will be taken away. In that day, a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold. He'll realize that they're no good. Those things which he made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and the bats. They're going to dispose of them in the caves and let the bats and the moles and the other animals have have at it. And what do they think of those things? Silver and gold don't mean anything to animals, does it? To go into the clefts of the rock and into the crags of the rugged rocks from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. When he arises to shake the earth mightily, sever yourselves from such a man whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he? We make ourselves friends with people from the world. And we're to do that. We're to be salt and light to the world. But how far do we let it go? Are we an influence on them or are they an influence on us? Don't be deceived. Bad manners corrupts good character, right? We have to exercise wisdom when we reach out to the world. We don't want to become entangled in the ways of the world to change our ways of thinking and acting. Because when judgment comes, and the unrepentant have to flee from the wrath of God. And again, he says, Sever yourselves. Sever yourselves from those of the East. Sever yourself from those of the West. Your enemies who make idols, but but their lives are so full, you think. They're rich, they're eating the good food, they're doing the great things, they're just having a good old time living life. It doesn't last. Their things, their lives, their power does not give them life. I give them life. And even if they're not serving me, the breath that's within them is the breath that I've given them. And all it takes is a little bit to cut off that breath. Don't hang around them. They can't do anything for you. Run. Run back to the Lord. Chapter 3. For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of the fifty of the honorable men, the counselor and the skillful artisan and the expert enchanter. Are one of reason he's not against stores, he's not against, you know, mighty men of battle, he's not against judge and prophets. But when they've turned from the Lord, when they've forsaken the Lord and they've gone in their own ways, they've gone in the ways of the world, thinking that it's glorious and it's great. We've moved past all this old-fashioned stuff. We've advanced in our culture. It's not an advance. It brings death, and the Lord will bring them all down low. I will give children to their princes, and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, and every one by another, every one by his neighbor, the child will be insolent toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable. There's this idea that when we fall into the ways of the world, it's easy to give up on some of our responsibilities before the Lord. Because it doesn't matter what I do before the Lord anymore, because I'm following the ways of the world. And their ways seem to be good. So let them train my kids. And so, because you've abdicated your ways of doing things, we will the Lord will put the children in charge. And what happens when children are put in charge? And the child will be insolent toward their elder. This is this is all a beginning of things breaking up. This is not how God intended it to be. God intended the man to be a godly man that seeks after the Lord first, to be a leader in his family and his society. And a leader not only tells the kids what to do, but he protects them. He nurtures them. He sacrifices himself in order for his wife and family to have what they need. And what do they need? They need Jesus. And he points them to the Lord. When we bring that out of the picture, when we just want to do what we want to do, things fall apart. And family breaks apart. From the very beginning, the enemy's goal was to destroy the family, to destroy the marriage relationship. And from the very beginning, he attacked Adam and Eve and mankind ever since. When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, I you have clothing to be our ruler, and let these ruins be under your power. In that day he will protest, saying, I cannot cure your ills, for in my house is neither food nor clothing. Do not make me a ruler of this people. In other words, instead of living up to his responsibility, the man will find somebody else to do it. You do it. You got stuff, you've got clothes, you've got authority. And the other guy says, I don't have anything. I'm not going to do it. For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judea has Judah has fallen because their tongues and their doings are they against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory, to look on their countenance and witness against them. And they declare their sin as Sodom, and they do not hide it. Woe to their soul, for they have brought evil upon themselves. Say to the righteous that it will be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. You'll reap what you sow if you if you deny the wisdom of God. If you're so proud of your sin and the things that we do as a nation, that we say, hey, Sodom is great. We're missing something. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women will rule over them. O my people, those who lead you cause you to error and destroy the way of your paths. The Lord stands up to plead, and he stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes, for you have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the faces of the poor, says the Lord God of hosts?

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You're listening to Pastor Carl teach through Isaiah on Come On Up. As you may know, the book of Isaiah was written by a prophet who was telling of the coming exile of the people of Israel. They had strayed far from God, and they were about to face consequences for their sinful behavior. However, this exile isn't the end of the story for God's chosen people. Isaiah also shares a message of hope, reminding his readers that God can use even the darkest of circumstances for the good of all humanity. The Israelites may be away from their homeland for a while, but one day they will return. Pastor Carl wants us to learn that we are spiritual exiles, living in a world unlike the one we were made for. We were meant to be in communion with God, but we were separated from his presence by the curse of sin. But just as the Israelites came back to their homeland, we will one day be restored into the presence of our Creator, thanks to the blood of Jesus. Would you like to hear more from Pastor Carl? If so, go to themountaincross.com. There you'll find links to our Bible studies and our podcast feed, where you'll be able to listen to more of Pastor Carl's lessons. But you'll also find information about our in-person services at the Mountain Cross. If you're in Waynesville, North Carolina, you're invited to join us for our Sunday services at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. Thanks for listening today. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.