Isaiah the Man

The main message, which covers a very important person in the Bible. He certainly has gained my admiration. I've read his book in the Bible many times, and I still marvel at it. It's inspiring to have biblical heroes, men and women of the Bible, that you can identify with and look up to. God designed the Bible to be that way, that the lives of those faithful men and women, through endurance and encouragement, will give us an inspiring example to follow.

In Romans chapter 15, verses 1 through 6, the Scriptures are meant to comfort and inspire us in our path toward God's kingdom. I'd like to read it in God's Word. It says, Everything written long ago was written to teach us so that we would have confidence through the endurance and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.

The word endurance is a better translation than patience. It actually means endurance, perseverance, and encouragement, because a lot of men and women in the Bible went through many trials and they persevered to the end. We all go through different trials, and we can also persevere as they did and be able to be there in that first resurrection that we're all looking forward to. Also, in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, again from God's Word version, it says, Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us.

We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up. So you see, it is a race that we have to cross that finish line. Just because we begin doesn't guarantee we will finish faithful to the end. God wants us to. He wants us to be here in church every week. He wants us to show Him after six days of running the race that we come back here to this spiritual oasis, that we're not going to let anything discourage us, that we're going to have fellowship with the brethren, and that we're going to receive His encouragement from the Scriptures. So who is it that we're going to cover today?

He's an example of faith and perseverance, the prophet Isaiah, the first of the major prophets of the Bible, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who wrote the largest books about the prophets. That's why they're called major. The minor, it's not because they're any less important, but they just wrote shorter books. So we can focus today on his life and lessons, and really, one sermon could not cover all the lessons.

We could just go on and on with him, but I want to give you a summary of his life, because he persevered from what the historical records tell us. He died at martyr's death. He was willing to persevere unto death, to be faithful to God. Isaiah lived in times similar to ours today. For those days, the end time was going to be the Assyrian captivity, and then eventually the Judean captivity. And of course, God, who uses prophecy in a dual manner, just as a hiker, sometimes will see two mountains in front of him, and you'll think both are very close by. But as he gets on top of the first mountain, he looks and he sees that other one was farther away than he could imagine.

It happened to us once in a youth camp back in the southern part of Chile. We went to a place where it was way out close in the Andes Mountains. It's a beautiful valley. It had the Arocanian trees, which are similar to the redwoods, the sequoias. And we decided, because the mountains were there, that there was this volcano that had blown its top. And it looked like a half of a volcano, just a complete separate...

and it was plain or it was completely flat up on the top. And so we saw it and said, let's go and let's have a hike up there. So we took our lunches with us, drove out there, and there was a mountain before that other one. And we thought, well, that's not too bad. So we went and we started walking and walking and it took us a lot longer to get up that first mountain. And then we looked and that volcano was a lot farther than we could imagine. So we had like 20 kids with us.

And I remember climbing up, eventually, up that volcano with all that ash, which had solidified.

And we were sliding and slipping and we finally made it to the top. But I learned my lesson. Don't let your eyes deceive you. Many times things are a lot farther than you can imagine. Talking about, like in the sermonette, we were deceived by that. It took us many more hours to do that.

Well, in the Bible, prophecy is the same way. God describes one thing that is for that day, for that time. But then it also applies to the end times before Christ comes back.

Two mountains that, on the horizon, you can't see too much of a difference. But they are very far apart. And so Isaiah was warned about what was going to come if Israel did not repent.

And he finally witnessed how Israel was punished time and time because of having left God's way of life. There were two major wars during his life. The first one in 1734, the king of Israel and Syria attacked Judah. And the king of Judah, unwisely against Isaiah's counsel, sought help from the Assyrians. And what the Assyrians did is they came down. Yes, they helped Judah, but then they stayed.

And then Judah became a vassal of the Assyrians. And the Assyrians eventually took, first of all, in 1734, the northern part of Israel, upper Galilee. And then in 721, it took Samaria the capital and took all of the ten tribes of Israel to Assyria, where eventually the survivors made it into northwestern Europe. And they continued as part of the prophecies that will be fulfilled during the end time. Then the Assyrians invaded Judah in 1701. And that's where Isaiah went to Hezekiah and said, don't worry, God has decided to punish this king of Assyria. And God caused an angel to kill 185,000 soldiers. And so the Assyrian king was not able to destroy Jerusalem or conquer it.

And by the way, the Greek historian Herodotus talks about the defeat of the Assyrians, but that somehow there were mice that ate the bows of the Assyrians, and that's why they were defeated.

And actually, as you know, mice carried the bubonic plague, and apparently something happened, but it killed the Assyrians. Even Herodotus acknowledges that some miraculous thing happened to spare Judah at that time. According to the Talmud, Isaiah was of royal blood, his father Amoz being a brother to King Amasiah. His writings show a familiarity with the palace, the temple, and international affairs. He also wrote a book about the life of King Uzziah, according to 2 Chronicles 26-22. It says Isaiah wrote a book about this king.

He shows an education similar to that of the apostle Paul with encyclopedic knowledge, and elegant yet practical writing. He was a counselor to kings for 60 years, from 740 BC to 680 BC, approximately. Isaiah, whose name means Yahweh is salvation, was well educated and writes with such vivid beauty that Hailey's handbook says of him, in some of his writings, he reaches heights unequaled, even by Shakespeare, Milton, or Homer.

By the way, I have my notes. If you like to get copies of it, you don't have to be writing all of this down, because there's a lot of material here, so I'll be glad to give you a copy later on. Unger, in his Bible handbook, adds, He is the great messianic prophet, for splendor of diction, brilliance of imagery, versatility and beauty of style, profundity and breadth of prophetic vision, he is without peer. Nobody equals him in the majesty of the way he writes.

Every glory of our Lord, and every aspect of his life on the earth, are set forth in his great prophecies here in Isaiah. Again, there's a lot of scriptures, so I'm just going to go over it without focusing on it. But Isaiah wrote about Jesus Christ being God in the flesh, being eternal, talks about his pre-existence, that he had been existing way before he was born in the New Testament, his creatorship, omnipotence, which means he's all-powerful, and omniscience, which means he's all-knowing. Isaiah 40, verses 12 through 18, and 51, verse 13.

It talks about his incarnation, that God would come down and become flesh. Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, 14, that's also quoted in Matthew 1, 23, that his name will be Emmanuel, which means God with us.

Now, we have to remember, Isaiah was writing this over 700 years before the birth of Christ, and yet this is all described. His entire life, the major stages of Christ's life, are described by the prophet Isaiah. It talks about Christ's lowliness and youth in Nazareth, chapter 7, 15, 9, 1 through 2, 11, 1, and 53, 2. It talks about his appearance as the servant of the Lord, that would be anointed as such, chapter 11, 2, and would be chosen and delighted as such by God, Isaiah 42, 1. Isaiah describes his tender ministering kindness, Isaiah 42, 3, which would be quoted later on, and what Christ talks about being meek and of gentle spirit in Matthew 12, 18, through 20. Isaiah describes Christ's obedience, chapter 50, verse 5. It talks about Christ's message, Isaiah 61, 1 through 2. He describes about his miracles, Isaiah 35, 5 through 6.

Also, he mentions Jesus' sufferings, Isaiah 56, 50, verse 6, mentions his rejection by the Jewish nation, Isaiah 53, verse 1 through 3. It talks about his shame that he would be struck, wounded, and bruised, Isaiah 53, verses 4 through 6. It talks about how he would die for our sins, Isaiah 53, verse 8. It mentions about his burial, and Isaiah 53, verse 9, that he would be buried with the rich. It talks about his resurrection, Isaiah 53, verse 10, and his ascension into heaven, Isaiah 52, verse 13. Also, it describes his spiritual progeny, which means spiritual children that he would beget through the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 53, verse 10, and his present heavenly ministry, Isaiah 53, verse 12. If anybody doubts that Jesus Christ was meant to be born at that time and fits this description perfectly, I don't see how they can do it by reading these sections of Isaiah. Isaiah was married to a prophetess.

We can read that he had two children. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 8.

And I hope with this message that you will read the book of Isaiah again.

Reacquaint yourself with this marvelous book, which is actually also called a mini-bible, because it includes all the major themes in the Bible. It's found in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 8, in verse 3, says, Then I went to the prophetess, so his wife was inspired by God as well, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Call his name Myershallai, Hashbaz, for before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, will be taken away before the king of Assyria. So again, God using a little marketing technique, which is to name the prophet's sons for prophecies that are going to be fulfilled.

So this, Myershallai, Hashbaz, which means the spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth.

So it's going to happen soon. And that's why Isaiah was a respected prophet, because these things happen. Before that child grew up to be able to speak and call Isaiah a father, and the prophetess mother, this all was going to be fulfilled. That happened in years 734.

When, well, at that time, let me backtrack a little bit here, where it mentions that the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria. So the king invaded that northern area, took over Syria, took over northern Galilee, and the spoil of Samaria. It didn't conquer Samaria, but it made him pay tribute to it. Isaiah answered the call to be a prophet and accepted the burden that it would be. In Isaiah chapter 6, this is another marvelous chapter, because it describes what he saw up in heaven.

In Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1, it says, in the day, in the year that King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord sitting on a throne. Probably this was around 740 BC, when he began his ministry.

He says, and I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. It was so much bigger than any temple. Above it stood Seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face. With two, he covered his feet. And with two, he flew. This is one type of angel that God set up. They actually have six wings. At Carabem, they have two wings, I mean four wings. And normal angels don't have any wings. So all those depictions you have of little angels with wings, that's not biblical. But you do have these six winged creatures, as well as four winged creatures described.

And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. So it's mentioned three times, because three is also a sign of completeness.

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips. So he recognized he was a sinner. He had said things he shouldn't have.

He was a man that recognized he needed to repent. He says, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now this is interesting. Is this God the Father that Isaiah saw, or is this the pre-incarnate Christ? Is this the word that's sat next to God the Father? We'll leave that for a moment. Verse 6. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. So he received forgiveness from God.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I sin? And who will go for us?

Now notice here the word us. Again, if you look at John chapter 1 verse 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And he was in the beginning with God. So here it says, Who will go for us? Who's going to represent us here?

And then I said, Here I am, send me. So Isaiah said, I'm willing to represent God before Israel.

It's interesting that about a year and a half ago, we needed a minister to go up to the area of Eureka, California. We didn't have a minister there. And one of the ministers here, we know him well, Herb Vera, who was a man. He was retired, and he wrote to our home office, and he said, he said, Go and say here, here I am I, send me. Guess what? He's in Eureka now. He's the minister there, taking care of two congregations. But he used this verse. Sometimes you have to be willing to accept God's calling. And no, it's not easy. Some people would rather not be part of the ministry because of all the pressures. And there are a lot of stressful moments. You have to give account to God. You have to be a loving minister that has the spiritual welfare of the congregation first.

You're going to be attacked. Satan doesn't want you in that position. Also, sometimes people kind of look down and say, well, this person is hired by the church, and we're sustaining them, and things like that. So it is a job that once you put your hand to the plow, you do not look back. And you're doing it for God. Whether you get paid or you don't get paid, you're still going to do it.

You're going to have to go out and sweep streets in the meantime to do whatever it takes. But God has a work to do down here on earth. And we believe we are doing God's work down here.

So who was it that Isaiah saw here? Again, we can't tell. We just know it mentions he saw the Lord, the word Yahweh, and the word Yahweh can refer to God the Father or to the pre-incarnate, the pre-existent Jesus Christ. It's hard to say. But when you look in the New Testament, it's cleared up. Let's go to John 12.

Verse 37, because it reveals who Isaiah saw.

John 12, and as Ricky Biddell mentioned, we teach don't believe us. Believe your Bible.

See it in your Bible to know what is truth and what is false.

In John 12, verse 37, it says, But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him.

John speaking here of Jesus Christ. That the word of Isaiah, the prophet, might be fulfilled, which he spoke. Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Therefore, they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.

These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him. That's not God the Father.

That's Jesus Christ. So, actually, he saw the pre-incarnate word, Jesus Christ, at that time, and a pre-incarnate or pre-existent Jesus Christ. It's another proof for people who don't believe that Jesus Christ is eternal and has been with God the Father forever. There's never been a moment when he was created. Let's continue.

I'd like to quote from Gleason Archer. He's a conservative scholar, who died some years ago, but a real historian and professor of Old Testament history.

He says about Isaiah, and I think this is a good summary of his life. It says, Directed by God to oppose with vigor any entangling alliances with foreign powers, including Assyria or Egypt, his cause was foredoomed to failure, for both government and people chose to put their trust in the arm of flesh, rather than in the promises of God.

Until the death of Hezekiah, around 700 BC, he enjoyed a large measure of respect, despite the unpopularity of his political views. And in the period of religious reform by Hezekiah, his influence upon religion was significant. There was a time when Isaiah was able to teach people, and people were coming along. He says, Yet the nation by and large turned a deaf ear, even to his spiritual message. The great majority didn't change. They continued with their carnal way of life. Apart from a small minority of earnest believers, his ministry to his contemporaries was little short of failure. In the reign of Manasseh, the degenerate son of Hezekiah, a strong reaction set in against the strict Yahweh worship of the previous reign.

Isaiah lived to see the undoing of all his own work so far as contemporary politics were concerned. Isaiah's interest during the reign of Manasseh focused on the coming overthrow of Jerusalem, the Babylonian captivity, and the restoration which lay beyond.

In all tradition, in the Talmud relates, he was martyred at some time in the reign of Manasseh, possibly being sawed in two inside a hollow log. In Hebrews 11.37, it mentions about some men and women of God perishing, and that at least one was sawed in two. And the only one that's ever been described was Isaiah the prophet.

Isaiah's writing anticipates the New Testament Gospel. The announcement of the good news of the kingdom of God, the coming millennium, and more than any other book in the Old Testament, he describes. So he can be also called the millennial prophet because he talks so much about that a thousand year reign of Christ.

It is the book most quoted by Jesus Christ and the apostles.

The essence of Isaiah is the good news of God's kingdom in Christ's central role as its king.

Time and time again, he will reiterate that point. We read in Isaiah 52.7, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns. Of course, Paul used that, describing the gospel that he was taking to all the nations. Let's go to Isaiah 2, verses 1-8. We've read this many times, but here we see how the two mountains, one describing that God will save Israel, and eventually bring a remnant back. But then, in the future, in God's kingdom, he will save the entire earth. He will be able to establish his kingdom. Notice in Isaiah 1, let's see here. No, Isaiah 2, verse 1. The word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. That's something he didn't make it up, but he described it.

That was his part, to describe what God was revealing to him in a vision. He says, now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. Now, mountains are symbolic of governments, so it's talking about the government of God being over all the nations, and all the nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, come, and 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. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

That's where Jesus Christ will establish his headquarters. He shall judge between nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. So with Isaiah, we go back and forth between these two mountains. One of them, that was going to happen during his days, and all that was going to happen to Israel, and the punishment, and then the restoration, and then a farther mountain, when God would establish his kingdom, bring back Israel, bring back and convert the nations during that millennial setting.

Isaiah was involved in doing God's work during his day. 60 long years, watching many of his preachings go unheeded, watching how everything was fulfilled according to what God revealed to him, the tragedy, the unnecessary punishment of God's people. He warned them time and time again.

They would not listen, just as today they're not listening either.

He proclaimed the good news in times of great trouble. What do we see today in the television, the newspaper? Bad news is mounting up. Iran is threatening the world with its nuclear program.

According to analysts, there's only a window of opportunity that will be closing by the end of this summer. Now, Iran might back down, but if they don't, they haven't done so. Those centrifuges are still spinning more than ever before. If they don't, by this summer, things are going to come to a head. I was really shocked by reading an article. Do you know how many missiles are pointed toward Israel, from all these nations? From Egypt to Iran, Iraq, from Syria and Hezbollah, all of these 200,000 missiles are pointed toward Israel. You heard me right. Not 2,000, not 20,000, 200,000 missiles. That's what analysts have calculated.

We have a fragile economy. We've gone through a terrible recession. It's called now the Grand Recession. We had the Great Depression. Now we're having the Grand Recession, which we haven't come out of by any means yet.

In Europe, Greece is threatening to become another Lehman Brothers, which is what cracked the economy the last time. We don't know what's going to happen again, but if Greece defaults, it could become another Lehman Brothers, which is the first domino. Again, we hope that doesn't happen. But there is a great amount of debt owed by the entire world. The rating agencies have marked down just about every major industrialized nation, including the United States. So just remember, just like in the days of Isaiah, God is carrying out his plan. He's sending a warning to the world. And we don't have a living Isaiah right now, as far as a major prophet. But we know there are going to be two prophets in the end time, which are the two witnesses. They will appear at the right time. We have to do our part in the meantime.

Isaiah described the state of his own nation in Isaiah chapter 1, verses 5 and 6. Isaiah chapter 1, verses 5 and 6.

It says, Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, talking about the leaders in the nation, and the whole heart faints. There's a lot of scared leaders. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it.

But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, they have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. So he's talking here about the state of the nation. And it certainly applies to our days, and especially the Western nations. Few aspects of our lives, financial, legal, moral, family, are not threatened by the disruption and disaster. Most of these things have a great threat. And yet Isaiah's message remains one of hope.

While lamenting the condition of the people, he calls for them to repent.

Notice in verse 16 and 17, to cease to do evil. He says, Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes.

Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. So he's telling the nation how to avoid that punishment.

Look at us today. In the internet age, the age of high technology, we're not becoming more spiritual and moral. We're losing it more quickly than ever before.

Kids now have in their hands the ability to corrupt themselves like no other children have ever had in the past. I call the internet the electronic version of the tree of good and evil.

The electronic version of the tree of good and evil, because kids have to discipline themselves, and they just have a barrage of images just waiting to unload into their brains.

That's the world we live, and yet God wants to reason with society.

Notice in verse 18, he says, Come now and 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 shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And we see the same pattern then as we see today. Isaiah draws a distinct line between good and evil, right and wrong.

And people nowadays don't believe there are absolute values, that there are absolute truths.

That's the oldest trick the devil ever came up with, this relativistic mentality. Well, that's your opinion. What I do is not necessarily evil in my eyes, so who are you to tell me? And this is what Isaiah mentions in Isaiah chapter 3, verses 1 through 6.

It says, For behold, 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, you know, men who are real men, men who are valiant. They call him that great generation that we had back in the 40s, 50s.

He takes away these leaders, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of 50 and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan and the expert and chanter. I will give children to be their princes. Nowadays, you see, the youth are the ones who set the values. They're the ones that younger people follow. They use them as their standards.

I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them. We have such things now as not only alcoholics anonymous, we have parents anonymous, which get together in different meetings to see how they can recover the authority in their home because the kids are the ones that rule. They lost the reins of their home and so they have to get together and see how they can restore that rule. It says the people will be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by his neighbor. The child will be insolent toward the elder, lack of respect, and we see that every day.

And the base toward the honorable people that are base and they will just not respect those that are honorable.

When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father's saying, you have clothing, you be our ruler and let these ruins be under your power. And that day he will protest saying, I cannot cure your ills for in my house neither food nor clothing do not make me a ruler of the people. For Jerusalem stumbled and Judah's fallen.

Because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory.

The look under countenance witnesses against them. So he says that just like it degenerated at that time, it will degenerate again. You can just see by the countenance of the person what kind of character or lack of character they represent. And they declare their sin as Sodom. They do not hide it.

Woe to their soul for they have brought evil upon themselves. So nowadays it's not politically correct to say anything about these types of lifestyles. And this is a prophecy. This is going to happen. Those that practice the same things will be just completely shameless. They are the ones who will say, you are the one that's wrong.

And it mentions here, verse 12, as for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, those who lead you cause you to error and destroy the way of your paths. So it's very sad what we see today. Their appearance, the way they lack, that respect in Isaiah 5, verse 20. It says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

See, no absolutes. They call evil good, and what is good is evil, who call darkness light and light darkness, who call something that is bitter sweet and sweet for bitter.

That's the society we live today. That's where we have to rear our children in such a difficult times and teach them about absolute values based on the Ten Commandments of God and all of the ramifications of those commandments. That's how we can have absolutes, because we have something solid not based on man's knowledge but on God's knowledge. Each one of those laws of God are absolutes. They're based on principles that God has laid down for all of mankind.

And yet society has their own standard of values. Look at what happens to famous singers, and they've destroyed their lives because they forgot to follow the right way. Very sad what happened to Whitney Houston, and she herself mentioned that she was reared in a church with values.

And then Hollywood took a hold of her, and she got into the drugs, marijuana, cocaine, and went to three rehab centers. And eventually nobody knows exactly what happened, but most say that it was her way of life that finally killed her at 48 years old. This is a part of what this world can lead a person to. So we see this relative mentality. Satan was the first one who said, oh, God told you that you're going to die if you take of this fruit. Well, you're not going to die.

And he was saying, well, you're not going to die in that instant. Because God said, when you take that fruit, you will begin to die. There is a process that will take in effect, because God wanted them to take of the fruit of the tree of life and not have to die. But they did.

They all died, just like all of mankind has done so.

So he, talking about Isaiah, saw all of this rebellious nature in his days. He described it.

We're seeing it today. We know that if God doesn't intervene, man will eventually destroy himself on the face of the earth. We are going that way. We are becoming more degenerate. If you look at just what's in the magazines, what's in the TV and other things today, and just compare it with what was allowed 20 years ago. You can see nowadays just complete degeneracy in so many ways.

That's why, basically, I like to watch old movies, history channels, sports channels, and not much else is worthwhile. But we've got to think the right thoughts. And again, we've got to go back to Philippians 4, verse 8. Talk about those absolute values. What our thoughts should be during the day. And we've got to discipline ourselves. We've got to resist the world's thought patterns. It says here in Philippians 4, verse 8, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true. And we heard the sermonette about things that are not true, that are believed. And we should believe only what is true. And it is backed by God's Word and His principles. Whatever things are noble, things that have good results. Whatever things are just. Whatever things are pure. Whatever things are lovely. Whatever things are of good report.

If there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. That's what we have to think about. We've got to discipline our minds, not to go into any darkness, into any wrong attitudes or spirits. It takes discipline. But believe me, once you get that habit established, that you're not going to wander, you're not going to go into any wrong ways of thinking, your mind will begin to set that habit of thinking about good things and asking, is this good what I'm watching, what I'm involved in, or not?

Isaiah was a prophet in tune with the future. He tells mankind there is a way out. He wants us to understand God's way of thinking, to elevate our minds. That's what we just were talking about. Notice Isaiah 55 verse 9. Isaiah 55 verse 9. Let's see here. It's verses 8 and 9.

It says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my way, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. God's way does require us to elevate our minds, elevate our practices, our behavior. Isaiah also realized that we need that peace that comes from God. He was going through terrible times. It was almost like living between or during World War I and World War II.

Some of these poor veterans that saw Europe blown apart. Well, Isaiah, he started out warning them because they'd had a time of prosperity under Jeroboam II. It had been a great period of prosperity, and instead of doing something good, what did they do? They squandered it.

They became more perverted, and so he had to begin warning them. God is up in heaven. He sees what's going on, and if not, he's going to use these human instruments to punish you, and he used the Assyrians. And so Isaiah watched his compatriots, the citizens of Israel, these all Abraham's descendants go into a terrible slavery. Believe me, the Assyrians were some of the most cruel and brutal military people on earth. They were the ones that invented impaling people up on sharp stakes. They just leave you. That's the first type of crucifixions. It started with the Assyrians, and they have them all in their walls in the palaces that archaeologists, they have them. They impaled the person alive, because they wanted to show you, if you defy us, this is the way you're going to end up. And they were a military machine, come in, and just methodically break down all the rest of the nations. And so, of course, Isaiah's saying, please don't let this happen. It's like we were saying, please, we don't want this end-time punishment to happen to the people on this earth. There's going to be a wake-up call.

God is going to one day be fed up and start the countdown to God's kingdom. And believe me, it's getting closer and closer. There in Daniel 8, it mentions that when the sin of the transgressors has reached its threshold, then God will intervene. Well, I'll tell you, these things that are happening now, where men and women are just shacking together, and they're thinking, it's just fine. And these four kids, they don't know who their father, their mother, they're breaking up, they're having other multiple partners that they have to be faced with. And so, God did not create human beings to degenerate. And so, we're thankful that He's shown us His way of life. Any person can come in and start walking the right way. It's the way to avoid that punishment in our lives now and in the future for mankind. Isaiah prescribes the perfect antidote for what's going on in Isaiah 26 verse 3. Isaiah 26 verse 3, he says, you will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because He trusts in you.

Yes, when you put God first in your life, you let Him guide you, you let Him answer your prayers, open and close the doors as you ask Him to do. He will guide you, He will lead you, but just make sure you're obeying Him too. Because as it says in Isaiah 59, I remember reading this, making me feel quite miserable. Isaiah 59 verse 1, it says, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. And so, we many times are the ones that hide from God. We are the ones that cause God to not be able to help us out. So we have to search our hearts, see how we can be at one with God. We live, work, and play in a world and system that does not exalt God, nor put Him first in anything. Our priorities are upside down.

The eternal God justly asks in Isaiah 51 verse 12 and 13, I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass, and you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth. You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor when He has prepared to destroy, and where is the fury of the oppressor? So we've got to put God first, as He says in verse 15, but I am the Lord your God.

Who divided the sea, whose waves roared, the Lord of hosts is His name, and I have put my words in your mouth. I have covered you with the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundation of the earth, and say to Zion, You are my people. So He's encouraging Isaiah, as he should us. Nothing is difficult for God. It is a matter of doing His will and letting His will be done in all of us as well. So the kingdom of God is the key to the book of Isaiah.

Once that kingdom becomes a reality, when all is said and done, and when all things have been fulfilled, these words of Isaiah will find their ultimate fulfillment. Notice Isaiah 65, verse 16 through 17. Isaiah 65, 16 and 17.

It says, So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes. For behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mine, but be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people as a joy. And he's going to bring that kingdom of God down here to the earth.

Isaiah speaks of a righteous remnant. The few who are faithful to God, who are also going to be protected in that end time period. Notice in Isaiah chapter 30. As we end this message, we're winding it down. Isaiah chapter 30, verses 31 and 33 through 33.

It says, For through the voice of the Lord, a Syria will be beaten down as he strikes with the rod, and in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the Lord lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps, and in the battle of brandishing he will fight with it.

For Tofet was established of old, yes, for the king was prepared. He has made it deep and large, as fire as fire, with much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.

This is part of how God is going to cause his intervention. He will protect his people, and constantly it mentions about God taking care of those that faithfully follow him.

So it will be in his church as well. And then finally, before we end, learning about Isaiah let's go to Isaiah 58, where we have the most beautiful and spiritual description of how to correctly keep the Sabbath day.

Notice it's a very spiritual description. This is the way we should keep the Sabbath day today. Isaiah 58, verse 13 and 14 says, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, in other words, it's something clean, white, pure, just like a rug, it says take your shoes because you're in the presence of something that's been made holy.

From doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable. So it's something that we should delight in, enjoyable, that God gave for our own welfare, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. That's why we don't play golf on the Sabbath. That's why we don't go skiing. We don't do all kinds of pleasurable things that they distract us, because that's what our mind is going to be focused on. If we leave those things out on the Sabbath day, that it is a day when we give that day to God to rest, to enjoy being with the family, to come to services as a holy convocation, to have fellowship, and to focus on His things. Pray a little more. Study a little more on the Sabbath day. Verse 14, it says, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord.

And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. You will be in God's kingdom. That's Jacob's heritage. That's what God promised, that He will establish that future kingdom. And so, the Sabbath is something that Isaiah describes so beautifully, and it's a day that we can honor God.

So, Isaiah is an example of faith, of hope, and of steadfastness. He is a faithful servant in God's kingdom, and he will be in God's kingdom in the future. I hope he inspires us to follow his example, to have the truth, to back God's work, and to persevere to the end.