How Isaiah 32 Calls Us To Hope

The most important news on earth doesn’t need a newsroom, it needs messengers. We start with Jesus’ parable of the sower and a simple definition that reframes everything: the seed is the Word of God. From there, Pastor Carl walks through Isaiah 32 and challenges us to ask a hard question for anxious times: when the world shakes, are we scattering hope or stockpiling comfort? 

We talk about prophecy as a pattern that points through history and ultimately lands on Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and the coming kingdom where righteousness prevails. Then we bring it into the present, because God doesn’t wait until the end of the age to change people. The Holy Spirit is given, the church is empowered, and the kingdom of God lives within believers right now. That means spiritual healing, a renewed mind, and the kind of courage that speaks plainly when others stammer. 

Isaiah also confronts the way our culture renames things: foolishness gets dressed up, greed gets applauded, and the poor get used as props. We contrast empty “help” with God’s real heart to protect the weak, and we dig into why true generosity is not self-improvement but Spirit-empowered transformation. Along the way we hear a warning against complacency, a call to repentance, and a reminder that peace and assurance grow where trust in the Lord replaces trust in our modern chariots. 

If you want a stronger foundation in Scripture, a clearer gospel witness, and a faith that holds when the plug gets pulled, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs steady hope, and leave a review so more people can find these teachings.

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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What did Jesus refer to the seed as? In the parable of the sower and the seed. The seed is the word of God. And what are we called to in this time of upheaval in our world? We're to sow the seeds of the word.

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Each of us are called to be messengers of the Lord. In previous times, not everyone had access to all the latest news at their fingertips. For millennia, before modern technology, before the printing press, news traveled by word of mouth from person to person. But still, this allowed for the news to spread effectively. In today's teaching, Pastor Carl encourages you to deliver the message of the gospel to as many people as you can. The word of God is the most important news for all of mankind to hear. Use whatever means are available to you to make it known. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

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Prophecies in the Hebrew mindset point to a pattern. This points to the King Hezekiah. This points to his grandson Josiah. And ultimately it points to Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. When he comes and sets up his kingdom, this will fully be realized. And the princes, who are his princes? The ones that come with him, the ones that are believers in Jesus Christ. That he will set us up and give us authority, give us, you know, cities. You're going to go to the city of Pete and hang out with him, and he's going to be in charge of that place. It's going to be glorious. And he's going to have decks built all over the place, and it's going to be fully manicured all the time. It's going to be beautiful. The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Also, the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. When the Lord works in our lives and moves in our hearts, he brings us spiritual healing so that we can hear him and see him and understand him and proclaim his goodness. He also brings us physical healing so that we can literally see, hear, and speak the oracles of God. And if we want to be honest with ourselves, this doesn't just begin when Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives. What happened on Pentecost? The church was born, the Holy Spirit was given, people were empowered, and now the kingdom of God lives in believers. When you accept Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and lives within you. And he also wants to come and empower you to do the work of ministry. And when he does, you're going to do things that you never thought you could do. Amen. And this is what Isaiah is trying to get the people to grab a hold of. There's so much more. Don't just look to the world for protection to keep your kingdom alive. You think you're comfortable, you think you like what you built, but it leads to nothing and destruction. And during this time, he's going to call things out for what they are. We're not going to be fooled anymore. Verse 5: the foolish person will no longer be called generous. The fool said in his heart, there is no God. And there are many out there in the name of humanity, in the name of, you know, everything but God that purportedly go out and help the poor. When the truth is they don't. They take advantage of the poor. Nor the miser is said to be bountiful. Just because you hold on and greedily hold on to everything that you've been given and everything that you earn doesn't mean that you're rich. You might have a lot of money, but the truth is you're bankrupt. Because the Lord gives us what we have to meet our needs and to go and to bless others, to perpetuate the gospel of Jesus Christ. The foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. And the Lord says, No, in that day they won't get away with it anymore. Foolishness is going to be called foolishness, and it's going to be clear that they fight and rebel against the Lord. Also, the schemes of the schemer are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy seeks justice. The Lord's heart is to protect those who have no one to defend them. But the heart of the enemy is to destroy the ones that are weak. And it will be made clear. And even now, as the Lord lives in the church, through the 2,000 years of existence of the church, the church has been a light to shine on the sins of the world. To help people realize, wait a minute, this is all a scheme. This is all racket. God, through these people, are real. That's how we have hospitals. Because we care about people instead of just, well, they're condemned by God. That's why they're poor. That's why they're sick. That's why they're filling the blank, right? Why is it so important for the believer today to walk in utter dependence of the Lord? Because we're to be salt and white. If we pretend to be Christians, if we're a Christian on Sunday and we're the king of our own lives for the rest of the week, then what do we look like? The world. But submit yourself totally to me. Deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow after me. There are things that He'll ask us to do that are not comfortable. Of course, our Lord did something that was very uncomfortable, didn't He? He laid down His life, he was tortured, and he died at an excruciating death. And that wasn't even the worst of it. He took the sin of the world upon himself, and his father turned from him. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Verse 8 But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand. That generosity comes from the Lord. The heart of real generosity is a supernatural thing that only comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. We submit ourselves to the Lord, we gain the Lord's heart, and we see things through a different perspective. And we do things we never thought we would do. And we really have a heart for people. And if we don't have a heart for people, we need to get on our knees and say, Lord, this is a sign that I'm not fully walking with you. I'm not fully empowered by you. Would you would you come? Would you change me? Would you fill me? Would you give me your heart? Would you give me your eyes? Help me to see people from your perspective. Verse 9. He begins to talk to the people of the city again. And again, this is a pattern. This happened before the attack of the north of Assyria. This happened after the attack of Syria and before the attack of Babylon. And it continues to happen, doesn't it? Where we get comfortable in our situation. Rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women, for the vintage will fall, and the gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease. Be troubled, you complacent ones. Strip yourselves and make yourselves bare and gird sacklash for your waist. Repent, repent, turn to the Lord. Put aside all the things that you put on for your comfort, for your strength. Turn to the Lord. He is your covering. He is your strength. He is your hope. If we trust in chariots and not in the Lord, those chariots, when they fail, they're going to fail us, right? They got so comfortable in their life once again in Jerusalem. They had their schedules of their festivities. The harvest would come in, and we're going to do this, and it's going to be great. And people from all around are going to come in, it's going to be lots of money, exchanging hands, it's going to be wonderful. But the plug is going to be pulled. Then what? When the plug is pulled in our lives, where do we go? Well, if we totally trusted in the things of this world and the things in our comfort of our lives, if that's what we put our hope and trust in, then we're in a bad place. We have no hope. There's nothing to trust in. Our world is collapsed. But if we trust in the Lord and realize this world is still a mess. Even in eternity, eternity is forever. Eternity is in resurrected bodies. Eternity is life with the Lord with no sin. Everything we ever hoped and wanted in the Lord will have forever and ever and ever. Here we still walk as and we look into the Word of God like a mirror, a glass that's dim. We kind of get an idea that things are going to be great. And we certainly understand that things aren't not the way they ought to be here in this world. Right? And so if we're not putting our trust in the Lord, if we're not growing in the Lord, if we're not getting an eternal perspective, then we begin to ask questions like, well, how can a God exist, a good God, if all these things continue to happen? I don't know if you heard about it, but, and I don't even know if you know who this is, but the lead singer of the group, Hawk Nelson, who grew up a pastor's kid, you know, a youth director, and became the lead singer for this group, Hawk Nelson, for the last 20 years had been singing songs to glorify God and encourage people, came out and said, I finally got to the point I don't believe in God anymore. Why? Because somewhere in the midst of all that, he didn't get founded in the word of God. He trusted in Christianity, but he didn't trust in Christ. He trusted in religion, he trusted in the church, but he didn't know the Lord. Now, at least that's from what I can guess. You know, I don't know his heart, I don't understand it. But that is why it's so important to be in the word. That's why it's so important to be founded in the truth of Jesus Christ. Who he is, who we are in him. Because these storms will come our way, and I guarantee you, this is nothing compared to what's on the way in the next, I don't know, two years, twenty years, two hundred years. There's more that's on the way. And how can we endure? Not from my stuff, not from anything that I can conjure up within myself. The only way I can endure is in my faith and hope in Jesus Christ and the finished work that he's done in my life and the continuing work that he's doing in my life. Recognizing that this life here is but a vapor. And if he suffered for me the way he suffered, can I suffer for a little while to continue to be salt and light while we're here? When we're going through these times and our and our world is pulled out from underneath us, are we worried about our well-being? Or are we saying, Lord, what are ways that I can encourage somebody with the truth of the gospel? Lord, there are people searching now. Give me the words of hope to share with them. We need to not get caught up in the things of this world, but find our hope in the Lord. People shall mourn upon their breasts, for the pleasant fields and the fruitful vine on the land of my people will come up from thorns and briars, yes, on all the happy homes and the joyous city, because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be destroyed, the forts and towers will become layers forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks. This great, powerful city. When Babylon finally comes in and takes over, will be flattened. And wild animals will be the ones that, at least for a period of time, will make their home there. But did you see verse 15? Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. And again, this has a lot of fulfillments, a pattern of fulfillments as we go. Since that time to today, it's become in many areas flourishing. It's a fruit basket for a lot of the world. They feed the world a lot from Israel. The blessing of God was upon them. But can we say that the Spirit of God has been poured out on Israel? It's been poured out on individuals, completed Jews, Jews that realize that Jesus is their Messiah, they've come and they're changed and they're doing amazing things. But Israel as a nation is still a secular nation and in many ways deny their God. Yet in the day of the Lord, when the Lord comes and brings judgment on the world and sets up his kingdom, he restores Israel. And Israel as a nation comes to faith in Jesus Christ and they begin to flourish. And again, as Christians, in the here and now, the Spirit of God is living in our souls. The kingdom of God resides within you right now. And he wants to work flourishing in your life. He wants to bring the dead things and make them come to life again. And I think a lot of us have testimonies that that's what's happened in our lives. Do we still have struggles? Do we still have potholes that we hit? Yeah, because we're in this fallen world, we're in these fallen bodies that are still being conformed to the image of Christ. So as Paul, you know, we have this battle going on within ourselves. The things that I want to do, I don't do, and the things that I don't want to do, I do. Oh, who's gonna save me from this body of death? And he says, but thanks be to God, Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit has come to change us. Are we gonna trust him? Are we gonna submit to him and allow him to do his work in and through us? Verse 16. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. That sound good when the Lord comes and sets up his kingdom, unrighteousness will be taken away, and righteousness will prevail. And with righteousness you have peace. Peace in knowing I no longer have to try to work myself to heaven. I've been accepted. I'm loved by the king. He paid the price for my sin and he's made things right. And I get along with my fellow man, and we all rejoice in the Lord together. That's peace. And the effect of righteousness, that's what righteousness does. It works peace in our lives. And as it does, the effect of that is quietness and assurance. I no longer have to stammer to pay the rent or to get enough money for groceries or to defend myself from rioters that are coming into my house or whatever, you know. Quietness and assurance. I don't need to worry. God's got it. And again, as Christians, the Holy Spirit, the kingdom residing in you right now, this is available to us. Do we avail ourselves of it or do we fall back and start getting distracted by the prince and power of the air, by the God of this world that keeps throwing messages at us, right and left? What do we put into our minds? What are you watching? What are you listening to? Is it gonna get you off base? Is it gonna fill you with worry? Are you filling yourself with the truth of the gospel? Are you filling yourself with the word of God? Verse 18. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Though hail comes on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation. That really speaks to us in the here and now, right? In this world you will have tribulation. That's the words of the Lord. But fear not, I have overcome the world. In him we find peace. In him, we're able to not only just endure through these times, but to thrive through these times. As we align our will with his, as we seek him, as we find him, as we allow him to change us from the inside out. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey. And we could do a whole sermon on that last verse. Let me just say. Next to the rivers are the most fertile soil, right? What did Jesus refer to the seed as in the parable of the sower and the seed? The seed is the word of God. And what are we called to in this time of upheaval in our world? We're to sow the seeds of the word. Each of us are called to be messengers of the Lord in your own special way, the way the Lord calls you to do it. It reaffirms what we're all about at Calvary Chapel, simply teaching the word of God and declaring the truth of the gospel wherever we go. We're salt and we're light. How are we sowing the seed of the word? Pray that the Lord gives you wisdom and vision. What are new ways that we can connect with people right now to teach them the truth of the word? Because it's in the word that they find hope, it's in the word that they find forgiveness, it's in the word that they find new life in Christ. If they don't hear the gospel, they're friends of the enemy, they're friends of the world, and they'll end up in the same place that the enemy ends up. I don't say that lightly. If you don't know Jesus Christ, if you haven't accepted the gospel, if you haven't heard the gospel, you're destined for hell. Because we were all born into that. We were born into sin. We were all headed for destruction. But God intervened. He became a man, he lived the perfect life. So he identified with his creation and he became the Lamb of God, the sacrificial Lamb to take on our sin, because we weren't even close to taking it on, let alone somebody else's. We couldn't pay for it. But he could. And he did. And he rose again. And he said, Whosoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. If you're baptized into Jesus Christ, you're baptized into his death and into his resurrection. You have a new life with him. Behold, all things are past, everything is new.

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You're listening to Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross as he teaches through the book of Isaiah on today's episode of Come On Up. Isaiah is an important book for us to read in the Old Testament because this is where we read many prophecies about the coming Messiah. While we now know Jesus as our one and true Messiah, the people who originally read Isaiah's prophecies did not know when the promised Savior would arrive. So while the book of Isaiah calls the nation of Israel to repentance, it also inspires its readers to have hope in the coming Messiah who will establish a new heavenly kingdom on earth. Well, if you would like to learn more about what it means to follow this Messiah we know as Jesus, we have some resources online to help get you started. Just visit us at themountaincross.com and head to our How to Know God tab. You can also find a link to our podcast feed in case you want to catch up on past teachings from Pastor Carl. If you'd like to get connected with us in person, we'd love to have you join us here at the Mountain Cross. We meet every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, North Carolina. We also host a Faith Film Night on the first Monday of each month. To learn about our next film, visit us online or search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. Thanks for tuning in today. Well, that's all for 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.