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0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, we're in chapter 32 of the book of Isaiah where the prophet is giving a word of hope and encouragement in the midst of the woes that he had been delivering. Verse 17 ofThe Promise of Righteous Leadership 0:22 chapter 32, the work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. Now a king is coming who will reign in total righteousness.0:34 Now the events surrounding the reign of king Hezekiah provided a pretext for this prophetic word looking toward the reign of Jesus Christ in the millennial kingdom.0:46 Now Hezekiah was a, was a good king, and he instituted spiritual reforms, and the nation prospered. However, despite this, challenges came, and it came in the form of0:58 the the siege by the Assyrians. Now this time of prosperity partly facilitated the the siege because people became complacent, and that happens.1:10 It's it's more difficult to handle success than failure in many cases in keeping your eyes upon the lord. But on the other side of the siege, when the people turned intently back to the lord, they1:22 experienced unparalleled righteousness and justice. Now this is also a, a picture of the Messiah and the kingdom that Jesus initiated. And and and also, we see1:34 in this, this prophetic word, this intervening period, which will include complacency, will include opposition culminating in the tribulation followed1:46 by the reign of righteousness in the millennial kingdom. So it's helpful when we look at these Old Testament prophecies that we we we do so kind of in a this following manner. We we we1:58 see fulfillment often on 3 horizons. Now in this case, there was the near term, the physical partial fulfillment within, with with Hezekiah within the day2:10 of Isaiah. It was filled fulfilled in his lifetime. Secondly, there is the, the spiritual fulfillment, present fulfillment, and and then there will be the2:22 future fulfillment, the final fulfillment in Jesus Christ when he reigns on the earth. And there's different opinions, different interpretations, and so I try not to be dogmatic2:34 about that. But and we shouldn't be. But here's something I do believe with we can all agree upon, and that is for those who believe the word of God, that the biblical truths and2:46 principles revealed through these prophetic messages are relevant to the church today. Right? There's principles here that speak directly to us. Verse 1, chapter 32. Behold, a2:58 king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest and the rivers of waters in a dry place3:10 and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. So Hezekiah was a reformer, as I mentioned. He was a good king for Judah, and the benefits to the people flowed from godly leadership.3:22 Alright? There were benefits that and history shows us that both past and present reveal. We have godly leaders. Good things come from that. However, this looks ultimately to the reign of3:33 Jesus Christ. He will reign in righteousness. He will be a rock, a shelter for the people against the misdeeds of others. When there is righteousness at the top, the princes fall in line.3:45 And we would do well to follow this pattern of perfection that we know is coming. Now it's not here. It's not here yet. It will be, but that's what we should be working to move toward.3:57 Alright. Verse 3. The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Not only will the leadership be different, but so will the people. They4:09 will be willing to be taught, and they will want to learn. This speaks to the power and the influence of, again, of righteous leadership. Verse 4, also the heart of the rash will4:21 understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammers will be ready to speak plainly. Now as I I read this, I believe it will be the result of what we see here in a moment, verse 15, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.4:33 Jesus in Luke 12 said the Holy Spirit would teach you what to say. Verse 5, the foolish person will no longer be called generous nor the miser said to be bountiful.4:45 For the poll foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity to the to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink4:57 of the thirsty to fail. Also, the schemes of the schemer are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words even when the needy speaks justice. But a generous man5:09 devises generous things, and by generosity, he shall stand. So what what does this mean? Well, right will be right and wrong will be wrong as the intentions of5:20 evil men are exposed. You know, those who claim that they are for the little guy, the working man, only to line their own pockets with money and to amass power for their benefit5:33 will not long be preferred by the godly leadership. People will be advanced according to their merit and their character. That's god's kingdom. That's what we should be5:45 moving toward. We should do everything we can to emulate that. Verses 9 through 14, in the near term, speak to the coming siege of Jerusalem as we talked about. It would be traumatic. It5:57 may also speak as a warning to in the church to the age of, in the church age of the coming tribulation period, which I believe is just around the corner as, I think soon to be6:09 upon us. Verse 9, rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech. In a year and some days, you will be troubled, you complacent women,6:21 for the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come. So so what do we do with this portion of of the word? Does it have application to us? The principles that I would draw from this6:33 are as follows. We live in a time of great prosperity, relatively speaking. Most middle class Americans live better than royalty of the past ages. And I'm and I'm6:44 grateful for the abundance. I mean, we enjoy a tremendous standard of living in this country. But that said, we need to guard against becoming intoxicated with the blessings of6:56 our nation's past obedience. We need to be sober minded about the future, and we need to follow the Lord. We we should be content with our needs being7:08 met and not perpetually pursuing our wants. That's consumerism. And, I mean, I I could I could unpack that for an for the next hour7:19 and examples of of what consumerism leads to and what drives it and where it comes from, but let's go on. And by the way, the recent events in South Korea actually come to mind as I read7:31 these passages about complacency. You know, this nation that has prospered tremendously, South Korea, it's it's prospered economically. It's, prospered7:43 politically in the last 40 to 50 years in large part because of the praying and evangelizing church. But this nation has now descended into7:55 political chaos. And I was interviewing a pastor from South Korea about the situation, and he pointed to this. He said that the church had become complacent. It was not having the passion and the vitality that it once8:07 had. I mean, that's exactly what we're reading here with Judah. Now this is 1 of the greatest challenges that individuals and nations face, persevering through8:19 the blessings that come from following God. You know, we almost instinctively turn to God in difficulty, but unfortunately, many lose sight of8:31 God in times of ease and prosperity. So what is that? How do we how do we overcome that? We must be intentional and disciplined in our pursuit of god, and that's a part of8:43 what the stand on the word is. We have to be disciplined. And by spending time in the presence of God, in the word of God, the Holy Spirit shows us we just don't measure up. We need God. We need to8:55 abide him. As Jesus said in in in John, I believe in John chapter 15, that the source of our power is abiding in him. We have to abide in him. Verse 15,9:06 until the spirit is poured out poured upon us from our on high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest, then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and9:18 righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. My people will dwell on a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings,9:29 and in quiet resting places. Now total fulfillment of this is yet to come. Alright? It's not gonna happen yet. But in the present church age, we have been given the Holy Spirit. That's what happened at Pentecost.9:41 Prior to Jesus' ascension into heaven, he gave these instructions to his disciples. We read them in Acts chapter 1 verse 4, and being assembled together with him, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to9:53 wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come10:04 together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has put in his own authority, but alright. So10:15 he said, don't worry about that. Here's what you need to worry about. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in10:27 all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. See, the father sent the son, the son sent the spirit. And as believers in Jesus Christ, we have what10:40 in the past, in the Old Testament, only kings and prophets and a few others had, and that is the Holy Spirit to guide us and to empower us. We have that as followers of Christ in the new covenant.10:52 Final verse of the chapter, verse 20, blessed are you who sow beside the waters, who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey. Now we are seeing a partial fulfillment of this.11:04 So we were moving toward that fulfillment, and and, again, the the full completion is is is yet to come. But the Jewish people were prohibited by law from plowing with an ox and a donkey. You couldn't put 2 of them11:16 together because they just didn't walk. They didn't work together. They they they they don't work. They go opposite directions, but it was what they represented. Right? The ox represented the Jews, The donkey, the11:27 Gentiles, and they were not to walk together. Right? An an ox and a donkey weren't to work together, and a Jew and a Gentile wasn't to walk together because they're different. They were not to be together. But in the new11:38 covenant, they would walk together, and they would sow the word of truth to the multitudes, which is what the water represents. This is a, this is is a intermission,11:50 so to speak, of some of the the difficult words that Isaiah has been delivering. This was powerful, encouraging. This is a powerful, encouraging word from Isaiah this morning. Father, thank you for your12:02 word. And, and, Lord, thank you for this encouraging word. And may we, Lord, may we walk in it. May we glean the principles and the truths from your word that apply to our lives, and may12:13 the Holy Spirit continue to guide us as our teachers, that the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us and since Pentecost. And and we can walk in the power and the understanding of the Holy Spirit, and I pray that we12:24 would so that, Lord, we have a depth of understanding of your word that that's right there for us. So, Father, we thank you for that, and we pray and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright.12:36 Thanks for joining me this morning. Again, wanna remind you, if you've not, if if you're interested, the journal, the new journal part 2 are out for our next year or our our second and final, year12:48 of this journey through the Bible. So you can text journal to 6 7 7 4 2. That's journal to 6 7 7 4 2, and we'll send you a link. Alright. Thanks for joining me today. Until next time, keep13:00 standing on the word.13:03 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:15 can read through the entire bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:10 The Promise of Righteous Leadership
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