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Isaiah chapter 48 and we are continuing our study through the book of Isaiah and this chapter right here deals a little bit with Babylon. You know the last couple chapters actually have been dealing with Babylon but this is more so dealing with the children of Israel and you know obviously at that point you're dealing with Judah you know you're dealing with that southern kingdom which is still would be called Israel so when you see him talking about Israel or Jacob there's nothing wrong with that it doesn't mean that you're talking about the northern kingdom necessarily because they're all of Israel. It's just the fact that by the time Babylon comes into the picture or Babylon's being judged that's all who's left you know you just have that southern kingdom but the first thing that I see here and I'm just gonna be picking out some some things to basically preach on because you know there's a lot that you could you know get into and and I've kind of only preached on Babylon a couple you know for two sermons in a row so I'm not really going to be getting into Babylon as much but it says in verse 1 here it says hear ye this O house of Jacob which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousness for they call themselves of the holy city and save themselves upon the God of Israel the Lord of hosts is his name and the first thing I see here is that they're swearing by the Lord and they make mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousness okay and so the first thing that I see here is the fact that there's a lot of people that call you know on God and there's a lot of people that make mention of God there's a lot of people that say they're Christians say they're of God but not it's not according to truth it's not according to Go to Psalm 145. Psalm 145. Actually when we were out soul winning the young young man that we went to the Lord on Sunday first thing that he kind of mentioned was the fact that you know there's a lot of people that say they're Christian but they don't actually believe he basically was stating the fact what if someone says it but they don't actually believe it it's like well obviously they're not saved and you know it's a very good point to be made though is that it's not about just like saying a prayer or even you know saying something to God right it's the idea it has to be according to truth okay and and you could have you say well you know I was sincere in that prayer though yeah but if it's not according to truth it's not according to what the Bible actually teaches if it's not according to the truth of the gospel then it's not going to save you okay and so in Psalm 145 Psalm 145 and verse 18 notice what it says here it says the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him okay now this is very similar to Whosoever shall call upon him Lord shall be saved and you know all these passages that talk about the calling upon the Lord it says but keep reading there says to all that call upon him in truth see the difference there because there's a lot of people that make mention of God there's a lot of people that swear by the Lord if you will and and you know the Bible even talks about and we haven't got there yet into some of the minor prophets but talks about how they swear by the name of the Lord and by Malcolm meaning that they're basically holding on to God but they're also holding on to something else okay and the idea is that it's got to be you know in the truth it's got to be you know it's kind of like if a Hindu were to say well I believe on Jesus but they're like but he's just another God amongst all these other ones okay well that's not according to truth but it says that the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth and that's where you know we go out soul winning when I get to that calling upon name Lord which I do believe is something that someone has to do for salvation now but what I mean by that is the fact that that's them putting their trust in Christ okay meaning that that is the time where they are making that decision that can happen in their heart before you even get to that prayer okay but I do believe that someone it's not osmosis not like you just get tricked into being saved at some point someone's making a decision with God and saying I want that I believe that you know I want saved Lord you know save me and there's got to be some kind of like reaction between you and God okay for someone to get saved so to believe on Christ there has to be a reaction there and I believe the calling is where you are actively you know engaging that faith if you will so so I'm not here to say well you didn't pray with them they didn't get saved that's not what I'm saying but the prayer is very key into you know determining whether someone has made that choice okay because a lot of times I'd be like well no I've already been saved or no you got to do something else too you know it's just like it's really where the rubber meets the road as far as have they made the decision have it decided I don't believe this anymore I believe the truth but that calling and the reason I bring this up is that there's a lot of people that you'll run into and you'll go out soul winning they'll say well I've already done that in the past I already got saved I already prayed I went down to the altar I was at a revival I did this or that yeah but was it according to truth okay that's the difference because the Lord is nigh thee nigh unto all them that call upon him according to truth okay it's not it's not and even in go to Romans chapter oh actually let's keep reading there in Isaiah I'm sorry Psalm 145 I just want to read this whole passage here because the context of Isaiah 48 is the idea that Israel needs to basically come back to God and needs to just call upon him in truth and get rid of these idols and trust in him and in all this now and Psalm 145 in verse 19 to keep reading as we saw that you call upon him in truth it says he will fulfill the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them the Lord preserveth all them that love him but all the wicked will he destroy my mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever now what's interesting is that notice how this starts off Psalm 145 verse 18 it's it's basically talking about the fact that you need to call on the God call on the name of the Lord and truth or call on him and truth and then it basically says that the opposite is that is the fact that he's going to destroy the wicked this chapter starts off with the fact that they're not making mention of the God of Israel they're not swearing by the Lord in truth or in righteousness and it ends the chapter and the fact that says there is no peace for the wicked okay now that's the contrast right now go to you know Romans chapter you don't have to turn to Romans chapter 10 I know it's a soul winning passage but Romans chapter 10 it definitely makes me think of that okay Romans chapter 10 verse 13 for whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed okay and that's really the thing here is that and it says how should they believe in him in whom they not heard and how should they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except to be sent but here's the thing how are they gonna believe on the truth that they don't hear the truth okay and so the idea there is that you're preaching the gospel of truth and the gospel truth is being sent out by preachers to preach it so that you can know it believe it and make that choice right make that choice to put your faith in Christ but you can't take out the fact that it's by truth just as much as you can't take out the fact that faith has to be involved in there right you need the truth you need the you need faith and you need to exercise that faith as far as just putting it in Christ okay so like I said a lot of times the way I explain that because there's people out there on both sides there's people that say you should never pray with anybody and then there's people that say that calling on the name of the Lord is adding something to salvation okay I think that you can go too far on both sides of the spectrum okay obviously believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now shall be saved okay it's by faith that you're saved but the calling on the name of the Lord is very biblical and the thing is is that so this is how I explain it if someone said someone can say to me I believe that's how you get to heaven I believe that's that's what the Bible says I believe that's how you get to heaven it's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now shall be saved not by works can't lose your salvation but I don't want it see the difference and now a lot of times those things happen one and one in the same does that make sense it's pretty you know like they see that they're like that's how you get saved I believe that right and those things happen pretty much at the same time but there are people that I've run into and I and they're just like yeah it's black and white you can't you can't that's what it is and I've even told them like you know what it takes you know what you need to believe and so they can know it and believe that's how you get there but to put their faith in it and that's the difference between understanding and believing that's how someone gets to heaven and trusting in it yourself that personal trust in Christ for salvation that's where the calling on the name Lord happens okay and that can happen in your heart just like Cornelius and his family as Peter was still speaking the Holy Ghost you know came upon them so obviously they he didn't leave him in a prayer he was still you know preaching the gospel if you will or you know still preaching you know to them as this was going on so but don't miss that part that it has to be according to truth it reminds me too of you know they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge you know this idea of you know having you know calling on the name of the Lord but not having faith you know making mention of the Lord but not according to truth now you can apply this in other realms too outside of salvation but the idea that most Christians today in America make mention of the Lord talk about the Bible but it's not according to truth you know what that means it's not according to the word of truth because they're not actually in the Bible they're making mention of God and talking about God but they don't even know what the Word of God says and it's not according to truth now go to you know you're in Isaiah 48 notice what it says you know at the end of the chapter there and I'm kind of kind of hit the end of the chapter because this phrase is kind of just mentioned at the end there because more so talking to God's people and basically trying to get them back on track and all this stuff but then at the end here it's got this phrase it says in verse 22 there is no peace that the Lord unto the wicked now this is a very true statement now it's interesting because this same phrase is mentioned in Isaiah 57 at the end of Isaiah 57 so go to the end of Isaiah 57 verse 20 and 21 there and it says in verse 20 so Isaiah 57 verse 20 says but the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked so we see that same thing or saying pretty much the same thing right there's there's no peace to the wicked one place that says saith the Lord and the other one says my God right but the idea there's the same thing is that the wicked don't have peace and I'll say this the wicked don't have peace even in this life okay notice what it says go to Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 15 and children you need to you need to realize this right here young ones out there that sin is pleasurable for a season okay but just remember this that sin will always cost you more than you want to pay it'll take you further than you want to go and the idea here is that even in this life when it comes to sin there is it does not give you peace it does not give you rest notice what it says here in Proverbs 13 verse 15 Proverbs 13 verse 15 it says good understanding giveth favor but the way of transgressors is hard listen you get into alcohol and you become a drunkard that's gonna be hard on you it's gonna be hard on your liver it's gonna be hard on your body it's gonna be hard on your life you're gonna end up being a loser you're not gonna be able to pay the bills you're gonna end up you know severing all ties with people that that care about you because of all the dumb things that you do because of that and this can apply to any type of sin that you get into to where the way of transgressors is hard okay when it comes to fornication there's all kinds of diseases that come with that there's all kinds of scars that come with that mentally physically all that type of stuff that you don't want to mess with and here's the thing that won't give you peace sin never gives you peace it never gives you rest it looks like it will but just remember this that sin is always a temporal pleasure okay and here's the thing we're not this repentance of sins like once you get saved you'll never desire sin again type of church because that's not biblical because the Bible is very clear that we still have the flesh we still have those desires and where fore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man and the idea there is that we're all tempted we all have temptations and there's certain temptations that are that are harder on some people than others okay and the thing is is that you know we just need to realize that hey there's no rest for that there's no rest when you're in sin and especially as a Christian because now you're just waiting for that fearful looking for of judgment and fire indignation that's coming upon you by your by your Heavenly Father because the Lord loveth him he chasteneth and he scourgeth every son whom you receive it go to Psalm 9 and verse 17 so even as Christians you got to realize this that being in sin there's no peace in that and when it comes to the unsaved listen when when when all those that don't believe on Christ are cast into hell there's going to be no peace no rest it says in Psalm 9 verse 17 it says the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God so you can definitely see where it says there is no peace for the wicked where that would apply I'm just stating that hey I believe there's no peace for the wicked even now you know all those people that are in Hollywood right now and all those people that have all this money they're miserable they're not at rest they're never satisfied they're insatiable they're implacable you know like they they can't be pacified they can't be satisfied they always want more and and most of the a lot of them will tell you that they'll basically tell you that once they have all this fame and all this money it's not enough it's just they always want more and it's always the way it's gonna be listen silver and gold will never satisfy the Bible teaches this that I don't care how much money you have if that's what you're going after it'll never satisfy I don't care how much money you have I don't care if you're the most powerful person in the world it'll never satisfy Solomon is a testament to this and there's a saved person who wrote a whole book called Ecclesiastes to talk about how is vanity and vexation of spirit all the stuff that's under the Sun that's temporary is all vanity and vexation of spirit because it's all to be given to someone else after you die and it's all he basically talks about the fact that he didn't let any pleasure elude him you know when it came to music or even women because he had a thousand different wives right he had 300 wives princesses and 700 concubines I think I got that right so I'm always which one is it I think there's less wives than concubines but but pretty much you know a thousand women and he still wasn't satisfied so if you ever think well you know I you know my wife I'm just not satisfied I want someone else Solomon wasn't happy with a thousand so you're not gonna be happy with two okay now polygamy is obviously wrong and the Bible teaches against that but just the idea to where you're married somebody to think that all this other woman's gonna you know satisfy me more than my wife that I have now listen the grass is always greener on the other side but you don't realize that it's fake now I remember my boss would told me you know told me one but I can't say it behind the pulpit but basically it's greener over there because of the fertilizer but I'm just gonna leave it at that okay but but it's true you know like obviously when you're in a situation and you're around somebody listen you don't know all the faults of that person that that you know you know what I'm just preaching on adultery for a second here that listen just know this that they have all their skeletons in their closet they chew with their mouth open you know I don't know whatever but the thing is is that you got to know this is that if Solomon wasn't satisfied with a thousand women then that means you just need to be content with what you have okay and Solomon preached that now in Revelation chapter 14 go to Revelation chapter 14 I'm just kind of sticking it on this point right here that the wicked don't have rest they don't have rest in this life and they won't have rest in the next life in Revelation 14 of verse 11 it says in the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the Beast in his image and whosoever receive at the mark of his name I talked about that meeting tormented day and night the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever and the fact that they have no rest day nor night so when it says that there's no peace for the wicked that is a true statement as the day is long it says it but here's the dichotomy though okay go to Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5 and even when you go to Hebrews chapter 3 when it's talking about the physical rest of going into the promised land which is obviously coupled with heaven you know it's an allegory of going in heaven because it says you know in Hebrew chapter 3 it says to whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believe not we see therefore that they could not enter in because of unbelief and the idea of faith is how you go into that rest but they didn't enter in because of unbelief so we're talking about the wicked going into hell or the wicked not having rest or not having rest day or night the reason for that is because they didn't believe you know it's because of unbelief that they're damned it's unbelief that they're condemned he to believe it on him is not condemned but he that believe it not is kidnapped already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God it's really that black and white and the idea here is that there is a dichotomy between believers and unbelievers believers have peace unbelievers don't and believers notice what it says here in Roman chapter 5 and verse 1 Roman chapter 5 and verse 1 therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice and hope of the glory of God praise the Lord and by the way if you can lose your salvation that's not peace okay because what peace do you have if you think well tomorrow I could actually go to hell I committed this sin well now I'm gonna go to hell that's not peace no peace would mean that it's peace forever right eternal peace and the idea is that we have peace with God because we believe because it's by grace through faith you know it's saying that we we access this grace by faith and that makes sense because for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works the same ancient boast and by the way for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and so that's an eternal gift and that's eternal peace that we'll have with the Savior and listen we still have our flesh so you're gonna have this enmity with with God as far as the flesh is concerned and sin but inwardly in the inward man there's peace with God you have peace and rest in the Savior now Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 here which I believe I believe Romans chapter 5 is dealing with salvation Philippians 4 is more so dealing with the fact of our daily walk with God because we are not to just be anxious and fearful and you know fretting the Bible is very clear Jesus is constantly saying fear not fear not fear not there's a whole Psalm just saying fret not fret not fret not you know fear had torment he that is made perfect you know he that fear it does not made perfect in love because perfect love cast without fear and the idea of having fear and just fretting and being anxious and all that that is not listen God has not given us the spirit of fear but a power and of love and of a sound mind and so we are supposed to be at peace with God and notice what it says in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 I'm not saying that life isn't hard okay but this is where it comes down to prayer and putting it on the Lord casting all your care upon him for he cares for you it says in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 it says be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made note unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus you know you know how I have peace of mind is that I put it on the Lord I lay it at the Lord and let the Lord take care of it and the thing is is that when it comes to most of the things that we worry about I think in life are things we can't control anyway you know you think about the economy or you think about the leaders or the laws or whatever is gonna happen in our country or just whatever you know you're just you're worried about things that you can't control okay now there's certain things you can't control and I'm not saying to not like think about those things because things that you can't control like how hard you work and and your Bible reading and what you do for the Lord and providing for your family spending time with him those things are all you can control but things you can't control don't worry about them just put it on the Lord and just tell the Lord hey I'm worried about this situation worried about you know what the economy can do you know about providing for my family protecting my family whatever the case may be put it on him and he'll give you the peace of God that passes all understanding and so but with the wicked there is no peace there's no peace in this life and there's no peace in the world to come and I just wanted to hit on that particularly okay so I'm not gonna spend that much time on every single verse here but for example these I'm gonna go through from verse 3 to verse 11 here and talk about this right here and Isaiah 48 so back to Isaiah 48 in verse 3 says I have declared the former things from the beginning and they went forth out of my mouth and I showed them I did them suddenly and they came to pass because I knew that thou art abstinent and thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow brass I I have even from the beginning declared it to thee before it came to pass I showed it thee lest thou should say mine idol hath done them and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them thou hast heard see all this and will not ye declare it I have showed thee new things from this time even hidden things and now didst not know them they are created now and not from the beginning even before the day when thou heardest them not lest thou shouldest say behold I knew them yea thou heardest not yea thou knewest not yea from that time that thine ear was not open for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously and was called a transgressor from the womb for my namesake will I defer mine anger and for my praise will I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off behold I have refrained I'm sorry I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction for mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it for how should my name be polluted I will not give my glory unto another now that last portion there I believe he's basically stating here that I'm not going to destroy you because of his sake meaning that God swore to David that of his seed of his own loins he would raise up Christ and so ultimately God wasn't going to completely destroy Judah and completely annihilate them because he had already sworn to David and he's doing it for his own sake right and a lot of times in the Bible you see this that it's not for your righteousness that I'm doing this but it's for the Lord's righteousness okay and he's like making it very clear I just want you to know that I'm not doing this because you were like good or something like that or that you deserve it I'm doing this for mine own sake that's what God is saying here but the thing that I want you to see here is that what to start off with in verse 4 there it says because I knew that thou art abstinent or obstinate sorry obstinate and thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow brass now there's a phrase that comes up a lot in the Old Testament called being stiff necked not redneck stiff necked okay now there's a lot of similarities I think to being a redneck and being stiff necked okay but I'm not getting into that tonight because we are in West Virginia and there are a lot of rednecks but stiff necked you know you cannot you can understand what's being said here being obstinate is someone that's basically just just not going to be moved and when it's talking about stiff neck here it doesn't say stiff necked but it's saying thy neck is an iron sinew okay so the sinews you think of like the sinew of the thigh you're talking about like the joints and and what makes the the you know bone move around right because you have muscles you have joints you have ligaments you have all this stuff right and it's basically saying it's iron that means that that neck isn't moving okay so that's definitely a way of describing being stiff necked and thy brow brass so like it's just like you're just like not moving you're just like stiff necked brows brass and just not gonna budge and he's going through this whole list basically saying that I did this and I did it this way so that you couldn't say I already knew it I already knew it or you know the fact that you're gonna say some idol did this and he's like I knew that you're gonna be treacherous so I did this before you were even born right I said this before you were born less that you should say some idol said this or they say I already knew it and listen you know this already when you're dealing with your children right when you're when you tell your child something and they're just like yeah I know like no you didn't okay you're telling them something that you know they don't know like there's just no way they know this right and you're telling them this and they're just like yeah I know I know be like I you know like I tell my girl sometimes like hey we're gonna go over it we're gonna go you know like I'll surprise and be like hey we're actually going to the beach right we're gonna go on this trip be like I know like no you don't but it's just like this automatic reflex action where it's like they didn't want to know it at all right they want to be know-it-alls okay now this isn't just with children because this can happen with Christians and by the way Christian don't be a know-it-all okay like every time someone says something to you be like yeah I already knew that listen do you know there's some times where you know people will tell me things even biblical things and I already knew it but I'm not gonna be like yeah I already knew that man why you tell me that don't you know that I know that but a lot of times you know when someone tells me I mean yeah that's good that's good I won't say I don't know I'm not gonna lie to you be like man I've never seen that before you know there's a difference between like not being boastful and a know-it-all and not lying about it either okay I'm not just be like man I don't know anything you're like just you're you're teaching me everything here that I'd be patronizing you okay but the idea here is that listen you don't want to be a know-it-all you don't want to just every time someone says something to be like yeah I knew that especially because listen we know that you don't know everything no one knows everything and there's constantly times people will be saying something to me and I have no idea and now in that too and just to add to that don't be a one-upper okay meaning every time you'd say something to somebody they always do something better okay it doesn't matter what it is you're better than me you know like I gotta be like I climb Mount Kilimanjaro you know I'd be like yeah well I climb Mount Everest you know and he was just like it that's a silly example but it saved time like a lot of times when people do that you're like no you didn't like whatever you're saying it's probably not true okay or you're talking about something that's your forte it's like what you do for a living and they're just like yeah I already knew that it's like no you didn't like there's no way that you knew all of that okay anyway I'm getting sidetracked but the idea here is that you're dealing with people that are obstinate stiff-necked that's this this brow brass and what it comes down to is that they can't be taught they can't be shown anything it's just like I knew it and and God is basically saying I did it before you were born so that you can't say I knew it okay and I said this before this and all this stuff became the past just so that you can't say I knew that was going to happen okay so but you know other places in the Bible that talks about being actually that word obstinate go to Deuteronomy 2 and verse 30 just so you kind of just see obviously I think it's very self-explanatory most people know what that word means different than abstinent but in Deuteronomy 2 and verse 30 here it says but Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate so you very clearly see there and a lot of times you know looking up the first place that the Bible mentions a word you'll see the definition within there and I think when you look at that what does that what does that look like obstinate mean does that mean it's like malleable I mean like it's something you can be molding around no it's basically meaning that they're hard-hearted okay and it says that it says that he might deliver him into thy hand as a period to stay so he basically hardened Sihon's heart and spirit so that they would get destroyed okay same thing happened with Pharaoh and it's like the reprobate doctrine is in other places as well so but I go to Isaiah 48 Isaiah 48 and verse 12 Isaiah 48 verse 12 so he's basically kind of rebuking them saying hey you're abstinent you're stiff-neck you know all this stuff I knew you would be and this is why I did it this way and notice what it says in verse 12 it says hearken unto me okay so even though he's like knowing what type of people he's dealing with he's still saying hey hearken unto me Oh Jacob and Israel my called I am he I am the first I also am the last mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth and my right hand hath spanned the heavens when I call unto them they stand up together and it kind of reminds you know like dealing with children again we're children that think they know everything it's like listen daughter I was here before you were born okay and and the idea is that they especially when I haven't got the teenagers yet okay but I can imagine when you get the teenagers how they're gonna think they know everything and that we're just ignorant on everything that's going on in the world but listen we were teenagers at one time and and the the idea here is that God is basically stating here hearken unto me because I laid the foundation of the earth and and he's basically saying that with my right hand I spanned the heavens so he's what is he doing he's showing his authority he's showing hey I made the foundations the earth you weren't even around at all at that time okay God does this to Job he does this in many places where he's basically calling his authority up you know he's basically showing his credentials if you will okay and sometimes we have to do that with our kids you know where it's just like I know everything it's like listen you don't know what you're talking about you just need to sit and listen and one of the hardest things that you know dealing with homeschooling you know because we're starting with Clara is Clara is very bright she's very hard-headed and I can't imagine where she got that from so but she's very hard-headed and she is right you know it's like she's got to be right and it's just something in her that does not want to ever admit that she's wrong okay maybe the silliest thing in the world you know and she just does not want no that can't be that and it'd be something as simple as like she's supposed to spell out a word and and or she's supposed to pronounce a word right it'll be like a three-letter word but the picture is something different you know and or it shows like two things in a picture and she'll see the word and she'll say it and she and we like no that's not the word and she's like yes it is you know it'd be like a bunny rabbit and she'll say bunny but it's rabbit you know like that's the word is rabbit and she'll say bunny and she'll just like she doesn't want to admit she's wrong she's like no that is a bunny it's like I know it's a bunny but there's another word for it you know and she doesn't want to say that she's wrong on it and listen this is something that we all need to work on but see the opposite of being obstinate the opposite of being stiff-necked the opposite of being hard-hearted and hard-spirited is to be contrite and humble okay go to Deuteronomy 10 Deuteronomy 10 and verse 16 Deuteronomy 10 verse 16 so I believe God is basically calling them out and saying hey listen you're obstinate you're stiff-necked your brow is like brass you know but you need to hearken unto me and what that means is that you need to just let go of your pride okay and be humble you know soften your heart and Deuteronomy 10 and verse 16 it says circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords a great God and mighty and a terrible which regardeth not persons nor hearkeneth or taketh reward he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow and love at the stranger and giving him food and raiment so again you can see the same thing here where he's basically saying hey you need to circumcise your heart okay and and basically be no more stiff-necked because the Lord he's God of gods and Lord of lords he created the universe he created everything go to Psalm 34 Psalm 34 so children you got to learn this especially when you're going through schooling when you're going through when you're going listen when you're when you're learning and you're learning subjects you just need to be like I don't know what's going on and just listen to who's teaching you okay because you may know some of it and I understand that I understand that you're like I know some of this stuff already but you never know that there's gonna be things that they're trying to teach you that you don't know okay and sometimes you may think you know something you don't actually know it okay I think one of the one of the phrases that we use actually in work all the time is you don't know what you don't know okay you don't know what you don't know and it sounds silly okay but what this means is that if you're ignorant on something you don't know that you're ignorant on it okay you don't realize that you don't know something if you don't know it okay and I think when we're learning stuff we just need to have that attitude that there may be something I don't know there may be something I'm ignorant on and there may be someone that will actually teach me that and take it in okay so in Psalm 34 verse 17 it says the righteous cry and the Lord hear it and deliver it them out of all their troubles the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and save as such as be of a contrite spirit many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivered them out of them all and it comes down to this that salvation starts with that it starts with this contrite humble spear right because it's it's humble to realize I'm a sinner I deserve help that takes a humble contrite broken you know spirit to come to that conclusion so we need to have that same attitude though when it comes to learning the Bible when it comes to preaching is the fact that hey I might not know it all okay and even as your preacher listen I listen to preaching and I read the Bible and I and I still have to have that attitude that I might not know everything okay because I don't know everything now I do believe that I know the principles and the foundational doctrines and listen you're gonna have to prove those to prove me wrong right and I'm not gonna be like well let's talk about reason about salvation I might be wrong about that that's not what I'm talking about okay or you know the King James Bible or whatever the case may be or just different things that are foundational doctrines listen you're gonna have to prove that to the Bible but I already know that you're wrong because I know the Bible enough to know that those doctrines are principal those doctrines are founded and they're just unmovable okay you're just not gonna because there's just so much evidence okay you would have to basically say the Bible's wrong for that to be not true but when it comes to a lot of things you need to have this contrite spirit you know this humbleness to where you say okay I could be wrong about that I could you could convince me on that especially when you're dealing with doubtful disputations you're dealing with you know doctrines that just aren't taught that often in the Bible okay you know like the Lord's Supper for example or kind of think of another one that's that's just kind of not taught that that much it's alluding me right now but just like different things in the Bible where it's just not a big thing okay even tithing okay listen I have my stance on tithing but listen it's not something that's just like everywhere in the New Testament talking about tithing and where you're supposed to do it at because I get these questions like you know can if I don't have a church that I'm going to can I send it somewhere can I do this or that and people have different opinions on that as far as whether you should send your tithe or ways you have to bring it to the church that you're going to what if you don't have a church you're going to what if you're in a country you know and all these questions come up and listen you know you don't want to make a mountain out of molehill when it comes to doctrines that don't have a lot of backing to it but in those cases listen I'm open to you know if you can prove to me that tithing is not in the New Testament I think it's very I think it's biblical and I believe that Hebrews chapter 7 validates tithing in the New Testament and other verses I've preached on it before but that's an example of one where there's just not it's just not this mountain of evidence to where you could have a discussion okay the Lord's Supper how it's performed how often you're supposed to do it stuff like that you know whether we should have long hair I'm just kidding obviously that was pretty clear men should not have long hair and women should have long hair so go to Isaiah chapter 48 again Isaiah chapter 48 more the moral of the story be humble okay now in verse 14 there that's what it says says all ye assemble yourselves in here which among you I'm sorry which among them had declared these things the Lord had loved him he will do his pleasure on Babylon and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans I even I have spoken yea I have called him I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous come come ye near unto me hear ye this I have not spoken in secret from the beginning from the time that it was there am I and now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me so the first thing that I see here and again I'm not getting into all this stuff you know dealing with the Chaldeans and the bat and Babylon because I've already done that for the past two chapters so I kind of want to just leave Babylon off there we kind of heard about Babylon here but what I see here is that in verse 16 I kind of I kind of want to focus in on this it says I have not spoken in secret from the beginning from the time that it was there am I okay and the first thing that I see there is that he doesn't speak in secret it's not like you know it's like this secret religion somewhere where it's just all inclusive to this one area okay so this wasn't secret and even when Jesus was crucified it said this wasn't done in a corner you know even as I was like this wasn't done in a corner how do you not know about this right and go to go to Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 when it comes to God's Word I believe that from the beginning it was something that was spread abroad throughout the world and it's always been being you know propagated throughout the world okay now in different ways did he did that with prophets you know even before the Old Testament but then in the Old Testament what he was what God did is he used this nation and this nation was supposed to be the lighthouse of the world okay and he was giving them the laws they had these ordinances they had all this that they were supposed to be doing ultimately to preach the gospel to the rest of the world okay not to keep it to themselves okay and when Jesus was walking on the earth that's pretty much what they're like it's only for us you know you know not to everybody else they're all they're all you know swine and you know Samaritans you know the Gentiles all that stuff they didn't want anything to do with them and but from the beginning God wanted everybody to get saved from the beginning his word was to go throughout the whole world okay and Romans chapter 10 verse 16 answers that question okay because it says here in verse 16 but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah said Lord who hath believed our report so then faith cometh by hearing hearing by the Word of God so what's the subject here we're talking about the gospel being preached and believing the gospel and it says faith cometh by hearing hear by the Word of God it says in verse 18 but I say have they not heard so here's the question have they not heard and it says yes verily their sound went into all the earth in their words unto the ends of the world okay so we're talking about the gospel and the way that's quoted at is Isaiah 53 by the way where it says Lord who hath believed our report unto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed you know that's how Isaiah 53 starts and he's saying hey this is the gospel and this gospel the sound of the gospel and the words of the gospel has gone out throughout the whole all the earth and throughout the whole world through the ends of the world go to Psalm 19 because this is where that's being quoted okay so when it says their sound went into all the earth and their words onto the ends of the world that's a quotation he's quoting Psalm 19 okay which by the way this is what we're supposed to be memorizing this month so might as well bring it up and it's an interesting Psalm because half of the Psalm is really about the Word of God okay you think I think of Psalm 19 is kind of the abridged version of Psalm 119 okay the extremely abridged version right because Psalm 119 is the largest chapter in the Bible it's huge I think 176 verses in it and this isn't so but in verse 1 there it says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork day unto day utter speech and night unto night showeth knowledge there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard their line is gone out through all the earth and their words the end of the world in them hath he set a tabernacle for the Sun which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices as a strong man to run a race his going forth is from the end of the earth and his circuit unto the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof then it goes into the Word of God the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testament of the Lord is sure making wise the simple you see that sounds a little different to what said there well what you have to understand here is that he's basically talking about the heavens the Sun moon and stars and he's saying this is that there's no speech nor language where their voice is not heard it doesn't matter what language you speak everybody sees the Sun moon and stars and everybody has a word for the Sun moon and stars and he's likening the Word of God to that does that make sense and the idea that it can only be in like Greek and Hebrew is ridiculous okay Pentecost the day of Pentecost completely annihilates that but Psalm 19 annihilates that because Psalm 19 is likening the Word of God and the fact that everybody in the world wherever you're at in the world sees the Sun moon and stars and sees it on a daily basis okay and it's saying there in Psalm 19 there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard do you see that so this idea have they not heard yes verily right because where that what he's getting to and you say well does that mean that someone could just look up at the Sun moon and stars get saved no because faith comes by hearing and hear by the Word of God notice that that was said before it gets into this okay but it's likening the Word of God going forth as the Sun moon and stars touch the earth right as far as the light of the Sun and the light of the moon and light of the stars and the fact that everybody can see him no matter what language you speak everybody knows hey that big big ball of fire that you see that's lighting up the day they all have a name for it they all have a name for the moon they all have a name for the stars and the same thing with the Word of God is he's saying there's no speech nor language where it's not heard and you know what that's the same is today same thing listen I don't care what language you speak you can have the Word of God in that language okay you may not have a full Bible that's perfect like the English language you know that we have or the Greek and Hebrew and all that stuff I believe there are Bibles that are at that level but at the same time you may not have the whole Bible but you still have the Word of God you still have you know the gospel presentation I believe in every language that you can go out and preach the gospel or you can have someone that can translate it for that person okay and go to you know you don't have to go there but Isaiah 45 verse 22 says look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else remember God is the only Savior you know I you know I am God and beside me there is no Savior and the thing is is that God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so I have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and he's stating here that I didn't do this in secret I'm not speaking in secret and any religion that basically says it's only for this demographic that's a false religion okay obviously every religion outside of the Bible is false religion but one key way to understand or to know for sure that is a false religion you know anybody out there that's saying you know how do you know Christianity is is is right because it's all it's for everybody whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son who so believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life it's whosoever and all a lot of these other religions like no it's a certain demographic it's a super certain group of people but even in the Old Testament it wasn't that way it wasn't saying like only Israelites can be saved because anybody that wanted to be a part of the nation could be part of that nation but just because you weren't a part of that nation doesn't mean you weren't saved name in Syrian you know the widow that was of Zarepta you know like all these other cases where you see people getting saved that weren't even a part of that nation but the nation's job was to preach the gospel now they failed and that's why the New Testament is better because now we have a holy nation of all believers and you have local churches throughout the whole world that are all these houses of God throughout the whole world that are spread out to preach the gospel to every creature okay now go back to Isaiah 48 Isaiah 48 actually yeah I want to point out there in verse 16 just a little nugget of truth here another Trinity verse okay notice what it says you know you see I have not spoken so who's speaking God right it says I have not spoken in secret from the beginning from the time that it was there am I okay so God is speaking here then it says and now the Lord God and his spirit has sent me okay so I believe you're dealing with Jesus talking about God the Father and the Spirit okay now you can say well maybe it's God the Father saying that and but I'll say it's not the Spirit because it's saying the Lord God and his spirit but here's a nice Trinity verse because it's talking about God being sent by the Lord God and his spirit okay so you have the two persons of the Trinity sending another person to the Trinity so just a little nugget of truth there another Trinity verse and so how many we've seen in Isaiah so far at least three that I can remember off top my head but go to Isaiah 48 in verse 17 there it says thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go oh that thou hast hearkened to my commandments then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea thy seed also had been as the sand and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me so you ever wonder where we get that peace like a river and what my one of my favorite songs you know it is well with my soul there you have it now notice that the peace comes when you what hearken unto his commandments see if you would hearken unto my commandments then shall you have peace as a river okay because obviously you have peace of the soul when you get saved right no man can take that peace from you you have peace with God but you still have the flesh and when you reign in the flesh and keep God's commandments while you're in the flesh you know while you're still here on the earth listen you have peace as a river okay now you can think about this go to Psalm 1 Psalm 1 but it's talking about keeping his commandments but think about this verse as you're going to Psalm 1 Psalm 119 verse 165 says great peace had they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them so you have peace why because you love the law of God you love the Word of God and there's great peace with that and this is something that you just won't know unless you read the Bible unless you do his commandments I can't I can't explain it any other way besides that but the pieces you have when you read the Bible the comfort of God's Word and just everything that goes with that anytime that you're in like you know the depressed state or just anything or just the world's coming down on you just get in the Word of God it's like going home I don't have to really else to explain it but it's just this comfort of just God's Word and just lets everything kind of fizzle away one you get into it and when you get into the Bible and you just have great peace and those that love the Lord and love the Bible they have peace okay but it says in Psalm 1 and verse 1 it says blessed is the man that walketh not in the council young godly nor stands the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of scornful but it's the light is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in a season his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper and the idea is that being in you know in the law delighting in the law of God you can have peace you know this great peace and you're gonna have peace as a river and it says that you're gonna be like a tree planted by the rivers of water okay then you're gonna be nourished you have this river like this peace like a river that's gonna be associated with that and how that always works together there if you're if you're anxious and and fretting it's probably tell me that you're not in the Bible as much as you should be okay because you really need that peace of God that passes all understanding and how you're gonna get that well take it to the Lord in prayer and get into his word see prayer is how you can communicate with God the Bible's how he communicates with you okay you need both those and not to say don't do one and do the other you need to do both but I'll say this God gave us one mouth and two ears okay and the idea is that obviously we need to pray but I think we need to read even more okay because I want to hear what God has to say more than me you know talking to him now he wants you to speak to him don't get me wrong but we need to be reading a lot and then let's end the chapter here in verse 20 so Isaiah 48 verse 20 it says go ye forth of Babylon flee ye from the Chaldeans with a voice of singing declare ye tell this utter it even to the end of the earth say ye the Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob now I could tie this into Revelation because it talks about come out from among them my people out of Babylon it talks about and in Revelation but that's another sermon for another day but what I want you to see here is verse 21 it says and they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them he clayed the rock also and the waters gushed out so this is talking about when they're in the wilderness and they didn't have any water remember the water that came forth from the rock go to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 because 1st Corinthians chapter 10 talks about this but the significance with this is what that rock represents and in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 look at verse 1 there it says moreover brethren I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and we're all baptized under Moses in the cloud and the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ okay so when you're in the Old Testament they're dealing with this this water coming forth from the rock okay Jesus is the rock that rock was Christ and that water that came forth was the water of the living water right Jesus says I give unto them living water and you'll never thirst and just all of that that represents it says in Revelation 21 verse 6 it said unto me it is done I am Alpha and Omega the beginning in the end I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely Revelation 22 17 it says in the spirit and the bride say come and then let him that hear it say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely and in Revelation 22 it talks about this pure river of water of life that's flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb and so all this stuff works together but if you think about it what's on both sides of that river but the tree of life right and what do we have in Psalm 1 we had the fact that you're gonna be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters why because you delight in the Word of God okay and all this stuff works together when it comes to that but what do you have what if you were to look at Revelation 21 22 what do you see for Christians what is the big thing you see but peace and rest right you had that we finally have entered into rest you know the new heaven new earth no more death no more pain no more sorrow no more curse we're finally at rest and then this chapter ends with the fact of saying the wicked have no peace right and that's how it ends but at the same time you know obviously there's a dichotomy that's working there is the fact that hey believers we do have peace we do have rest but the wicked don't so that's Isaiah chapter 48 and enjoying going through these chapters and sometimes you know even this chapter for when I was reading through this there are certain things I was picking up but I'm like this is not I'm not picking up a lot that's that kind of information I really you know where you see that and be like oh that'd be a good thing to talk about that'd be a good thing to talk about but the more I read it the more I was picking up other things I'm like oh no that's good that's good that's good and so it's one of those chapters that on the surface after reading I'm like there's a couple things I could see in there that that are really interesting to kind of point out but the more I read it the more I thought about it just other stuff was popping out too so when you're going through the Bible sometimes you'll have those chapters like oh that one wasn't as good as the last one you know or that chapter is a lot more full than this one sometimes you just kind of have to step back and just think about it and there's a lot in there more in there than maybe you saw before so let's end with the word of prayer to the Heavenly Father we think today thank you for your word thank you for the book of Isaiah in this chapter Lord and just praise you to help us to have the peace of God that passes all understanding we know spiritually we already have that but Lord just pray that through our lives when we go through all types of persecutions tribulations or just even life in general and just all the hardships that come with it Lord just that you give us peace and help us to come to you in prayer but also Lord to be in your Word daily and Lord just to give us peace Lord we love you and pray also in Jesus Christ's name amen