Okay, so we're continuing our study through the book of Isaiah. We're up to Isaiah 26.
And I've taken the title from verse number 19. If you look at verse number 19 it says,
Thy dead men shall live. That's interesting. Thy dead men shall live.
Title for the sermon tonight is dead men shall live. Dead men shall live.
And, you know, for you, you should know what that's about.
That's about the rapture. That's about the resurrection, right?
That dead men shall live. And I just want to show you that even in the book of Isaiah,
even the Old Testament saints knew about the resurrection to come, okay?
Now, when we look at the book of Isaiah here, when I look at this chapter, I should say,
verse number 26, I could see kind of three parts to this chapter.
We begin, look at verse number 1, it says, In that day.
Okay, so in what day is the question? Well, obviously if you've been here for the last three chapters,
or the last two chapters, we've been dealing primarily with the end times.
If you remember, chapter 25 was definitely about the end times, was about the rapture as well.
Chapter 24 was definitely about the end times.
Sometimes the book of Isaiah is speaking of current events,
and then it uses the current events as symbolism of the end times,
but chapters 24, 25, and 26, and I believe 27, is just primarily all about the end times.
It's like a mini book of revelation for us to study.
And so that's why when it says in that day, going back to what we've been studying so far through these chapters,
and what I can see here, the first few verses is about the eternal states.
It's about God bringing heavenly Jerusalem down to the earth,
and the righteous, the saved, living in the glory of God,
and then halfway through this chapter, we speak about the believers and the unbelievers,
the righteous and the wicked, and the comparison between the two groups today as we know it,
and then the last third of this chapter goes back to the end times,
and touches upon the resurrection, touches upon the rapture.
So we can continue that in verse number one.
It says, in that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah.
So this chapter is also what? A song.
It's a song that's going to be sung in the eternal states.
This song begins by saying, we have a strong city.
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
And so this is a song that we're going to be singing in the eternal state,
and what is it? We have a strong city.
Keep your finger there and come with me to Revelation 21.
Come with me to Revelation 21.
What is this strong city that it's been spoken about?
That salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
You know, when we talk about walls of a city, we often talk about the safety, the security,
the defense of the city.
Well, symbolically, this city that we're going to be talking about is salvation.
The walls represent our salvation, that we're secure in Jesus Christ.
That we're defended from death, we're defended from a life of sin,
that Jesus Christ has given us eternal life,
and we're going to be eternally secure by the protection of God's hands.
And so this is what this city, the walls of this city represents.
And when you look at Revelation 21, 23, this is speaking of New Jerusalem, okay?
When God creates a new heaven and a new earth,
we're not talking about this current heaven or this current earth.
A new heaven and a new earth, and if you know the book of Revelation,
God brings down holy Jerusalem, a heavenly Jerusalem, onto the earth.
And about that city, it says in verse 23,
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it.
For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
So who's going to be living in the city?
God himself and the Lamb and Jesus Christ.
And so look, first of all, there are no enemies of God in this place,
but of course there are going to be no enemies.
I mean, if we had a city today and God was living in the city today,
who could defeat that city? Nobody, okay?
We see that God himself is living in that city.
And then in verse number 24 it says,
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it,
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.
Okay, so what do we learn in the written times?
That there's still going to be nations, even in the eternal state.
God is going to have nations.
And these nations of those that are saved, all these nations are going to be saved people at this point in time,
but all of these people are going to have access to the city.
They're going to be able to walk and bring their glory and honor into it.
And then it says in verse number 25,
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day,
for there shall be no night there.
So you can see in Revelation 21, the gates will not be shut.
Now, go back to Isaiah 26, and verse number 2.
Isaiah 26 verse number 2 began by saying,
Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
So we see in Isaiah that God opens the gates of the city.
The gates are also 12 pearls.
If you read about that, you can read about that in your own time in Revelation 21.
But as soon as God opens the gates,
for all godly and saved nations to enter in,
it says in Revelation that the gates of it shall not be shut.
So the gates will be open, meaning there will be constant and continual access to the city,
constant access to God himself,
and those gates will never ever be shut.
Why is that important?
Because normally, in the time of the Bible,
when they had the walls and they had the gates, like I said,
that was for protection.
You know, especially during the night, they would close the gates.
Protection from some foreign invading army.
Protection from thieves that might come into the city and rob the place.
No, there's no need. There's no theft.
There's no enemies. There's no destruction.
There will be no attempt to overrun the new Jerusalem, the city of God.
And so the point is that the walls represent our security in Jesus Christ.
The gates represent safety, peace, security.
And we have direct access to see God face to face
and to fellowship with God face to face in the eternal state.
Back to Isaiah 26, verse number 3.
What else do we learn about the eternal state?
What else do we learn about eternity?
That it's a place of perfect peace.
Like I said, what's the point of shutting the gates?
There's no point. It's perfect peace.
We don't need to be concerned about the thief breaking in and stealing.
It's going to be wonderful being with all believers of all time,
knowing that we love one another, we're there to serve one another,
we're there to glorify God, and there will be no enemies.
There will be no Judas Iscariots.
There will be no reprobates. There will be no weak Christians.
It will be all righteous Christians and new resurrected bodies
serving our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then verse number 4 says,
Okay, verse number 4 is quite interesting in Isaiah 26. Why?
Because it's the last time in your English King James Bible
that you're going to see the name Jehovah.
Now Jehovah in this verse, if you were to go back to the Hebrew,
actually appears three times.
Look at verse number 4 again.
Trust ye in the Jehovah.
Trust ye in Jehovah forever, if you went back to the Hebrew.
Then it says,
If you go back to the Hebrew, it says,
And we've covered this before, I don't know if you remember,
but the name Jah is also a name given to God, J-J-A-H,
and that's a shortened version of Jehovah.
It's just taking the first letter, J,
and the last two letters, A-H, Jah, one of the God's names, Jehovah.
So trust ye in Jehovah forever, for in the Jah or Jehovah,
Jehovah is everlasting strength.
Now why is that important?
Because I want you to notice that the last time you see the name Jehovah
in the King James Bible,
the translators have also said,
alright, let's translate Jah, which is Jehovah, as Lord.
Okay?
And then, of course, when it comes to the majority of times,
when the King James translators are translating Jehovah into English,
they're using the name Lord.
Alright?
But I want you to notice that even God himself, when he,
when Isaiah, when God is using Isaiah to pen these words in Hebrew,
he says, alright, we want to have the word Jehovah, Jehovah,
but, you know, saying Jehovah, Jehovah doesn't sound that great, right?
For in the Jehovah, Jehovah is everlasting strength.
That doesn't sound great.
Jehovah is a name, but it's also a title, which is Lord.
So God himself decides, well, Jah, Jehovah,
so it just sounds better when it's spoken in Hebrew.
And I'm not trying to speak in Hebrew.
I'm just trying to show you the difference.
Alright?
Now, we've had that discussion before.
You know, why do the English translators not just change,
use the word Jehovah?
Okay?
This is why.
If you can keep your, well, actually,
yeah, keep your finger there in Isaiah 26.
Come with me to Isaiah 40 now.
Come with me to Isaiah 40 and verse number 3.
Isaiah 40, I just want to show you something here.
Alright?
Isaiah 40 and verse number 3,
I just want you to think about the question,
is it right for the English translators
to translate the name Jehovah to Lord?
Are they right to do that?
Well, in Isaiah chapter 40, verse number 3,
it says,
If you went back to the Hebrew, Jehovah.
Okay?
Or the Lord here.
So, if you went back to the Hebrew,
prepare you the way of Jehovah.
But the King James translators,
what do they put there?
Lord.
Were they right to do that?
Should they have put Lord in this verse?
And the Jehovah witnesses will say to you,
no, it's all a corruption.
They should have kept it as Jehovah
because that is his one true name,
which is, you know,
we'll talk about it some other time.
You know, the Lord has many names,
like Jah.
Okay?
Like Jesus.
Does anyone know that name?
Jesus?
God has that name as well.
Okay?
God Almighty.
Many names for God.
Jealous.
Jealous is one of the names of the Lord.
You know?
Anyway, so we see the King James translator said,
okay, let's call it Lord here.
Let's translate Jehovah to Lord.
Well, we know this verse.
This is about John the Baptist, isn't it?
Prophesied of John the Baptist.
So, come with me now to Matthew chapter 3,
where it gets repeated.
Okay?
Matthew chapter 3.
Well, now we're talking about the New Testament era.
We have New Testament writers,
and the Bible in the New Testament was written in which language?
In Greek.
All right?
So, we've got a Greek writer translating Hebrew text.
And how does he translate it?
In Greek.
And again, men that were writing the words of God,
they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
They're under the inspiration of God as they wrote these words.
So, this is exactly how God wants it to be.
Okay?
Forget the King James translators for a minute.
Forget the English.
Let's just talk about the Hebrew and the Greek here.
Okay?
The languages which God chose to pen his words.
And in Matthew chapter 3, verse number 3.
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.
Because we read it in Isaiah chapter 40.
Saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Now, if you go back to the Greek,
prepare ye the way of Kyrios.
Why didn't the Greek, why didn't, you know,
the Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
why didn't he just write prepare ye the way of Jehovah,
like in Hebrew?
He's under the influence of the Holy Ghost.
This was God's decision to use the Greek word Kyrios.
And I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right.
Okay?
And then you go, well, what does the word Kyrios mean in Greek?
Lord is what it means.
Okay?
It means the Lord is what it means.
So, just by using the word of God alone,
just using how God used men, moved by the Holy Ghost,
to write, you know, when you look at the Bible,
how does God translate the Hebrew word Jehovah?
Well, God says the right word to use is Lord, Kyrios, Lord.
So, when the King James translators said,
All right, we need to translate Matthew 3-3,
prepare ye the way of Kyrios.
Well, that's Lord.
So, translated as Lord.
And they go, well, that's coming from the Hebrew,
Isaiah 40, which we read.
So, then it says prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Let's use the word Lord as well.
Why?
Because that's what it means.
That's what Jehovah means.
It means Lord.
Like, if you went to the average person today
and asked them, what do you believe the word Lord means?
Well, the name Lord.
I think everybody, any average person would say,
Well, that's God's name, isn't it?
Lord?
Or that means authority, that means power,
and they'd be right on the money.
Wouldn't you say the majority would say that?
But if you go to the majority today and say,
Hey, what does the word Jehovah mean?
Like, I mean, besides Jehovah's.
People are like, I think that's the name of God,
probably, but I don't know what he means.
And look, we speak in English.
So, the word Lord makes a lot more sense
because it is the very word that God chose to use
to translate the word Jehovah into Greek as kyrios or Lord.
All right?
So, there's no problems with the English translators
using the name Lord because we know what it means.
The average English speaker is not going to know
what the name Jehovah means.
All right.
So, anyway, I've already taught him that before,
but let's go back to Isaiah 26.
Isaiah 26.
And back to verse number 4,
because I just want to take what actually this is teaching us.
Trust in the Lord forever.
All right?
So, brethren, our trust is not in ourselves.
Do you see that?
Our trust is not in our flesh.
Our trust is not in our strength.
Our trust should be in the Lord.
For in the Lord Jehovah is whatever lasting strength.
Brethren, you can be strong people for the Lord,
but you must understand the strength doesn't come from the gym.
The strength doesn't come from our muscles.
The strength comes from the inner man,
the strength that comes from God.
Okay?
And that's going to be an important part
as we continue in this chapter.
Verse number 5.
For he bringeth down them that dwell on high,
the lofty city,
he layeth it low,
he layeth it low even to the ground,
he bringeth it even to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor,
and the steps of the needy.
All right.
So verse number 5 introduces us to the lofty city.
Now, again, if you were just reading Isaiah 26 on its own,
you'd have no idea what lofty city.
You might say, well, just lofty city in general,
just any city that's full of pride, like Sydney itself.
And, yeah, of course, you can take a secondary application
and apply it to Sydney if you like,
but remember, we're still continuing the lessons
that we've learned from Isaiah 25
and Isaiah 24.
So just very quickly, come back with me to Isaiah 25
and verse number 2.
Isaiah 25 and verse number 2,
which says,
For thou hast made of a city and heap,
of a defence city a ruin,
a palace of strangers to be,
no city,
it shall never be built.
Now come back with me to Isaiah 24.
Isaiah 24 and verse number 12.
Isaiah 24, verse number 12.
In the city is left desolation,
and the gate is smitten with destruction.
So, again, this theme of this city,
chapters 24, then 25, then 26,
you know, which should remind us
what we've read earlier.
And if you want to go back and listen to my sermon in Isaiah 24,
I think I proved that that was Babylon the Great
that you read about in the book Revelation, okay?
That city that God refers to as a hall, okay?
Babylon the Great in the end times
will be destroyed and never be rebuilt ever again.
I won't cover all of that again.
But, come back with me to Isaiah 26 and verse number 7.
Isaiah 26 and verse number 7.
Alright, so, we began with the eternal state.
You know, God is comparing the city,
holy Jerusalem that we're going to live in,
and comparing the city that was lifted up,
lofty on the earth,
that God destroys, okay?
The city that we're going to live in
will be an eternal city,
again, representing our eternal state
our salvation, we can never lose it,
death has been conquered, sin has been conquered,
and we live in the glory and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
So we know that's all about end times.
But I believe verse number 7,
it's not like verse number 7 is completely detached,
it's just that we bring ourselves back to today,
bring ourselves back to the present, okay?
And the things that we learn about
are important for us to apply today.
Verse number 7, it says,
The way of the just is uprightness.
Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just.
Alright, I love this verse.
Remember I said to you that Jehovah,
the Lord is our everlasting strength, okay?
Well, not only that,
but hey, if we are the just,
we're justified, we're saved,
then our way ought to be uprightness.
Upright, right.
You know, our way of living ought to be to do that which is right,
to know what God's word says,
to know which way God directs our paths,
and that we walk according to those paths.
In fact, the end of verse number 7 says,
Dost weigh the path of the just.
You know, God is the one that tells us,
go this way or go that way,
and you say, pastor, I don't know which way to go.
What you do is you open God's word and you say,
God, show me what way to go.
And you just follow God's instructions.
That's following God's ways.
You say, pastor, I don't know.
I can do plan A, I can do plan B,
I can do plan C,
but God is not making it clear.
I've read the Bible cover to cover.
I don't know, well, is one way sinful?
No, they're all fine.
Then you've got free will.
Do whatever you want, okay?
Just acknowledge the Lord, whichever way you go, it's fine.
It's not like God only has one way all the time.
Oh, you're going to drive yourself insane.
Like as long as you're not breaking the laws of God
and God's giving you options, He gives you options.
It's fine.
You know, it's the liberty that we have in Christ Jesus
to live our lives maybe a little bit differently from our neighbor.
But I want you to notice that even though we are to walk in uprightness,
in verse number seven, it says,
thou most upright.
So who's the most upright?
God.
Like we're trying to live a holy and righteous life,
but we acknowledge the only one that's ever done that is God Himself.
So I want to show you again, you know, God is our strength,
but He's also our righteousness.
He's also the one that helps us walk in the paths that we are led.
All right, so again, as we live our life,
we're not trying to live in our own righteousness
because that's our strength.
No, we want to live by the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, okay?
And you know, this reminds me of,
let's just continue reading, verse number eight.
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee.
The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee.
So His name we saw earlier was the Lord Jehovah, okay?
But here, it's saying that, look, our soul ought to delight in Him, right?
In His name.
And it says here, yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee.
So again, how do we know which way to go?
Pastor, I don't know. What does God judge?
His judgments once again are found in the Scriptures.
You learn what the Scripture says, you follow His way,
that's what God expects, okay?
We are following His uprightness.
What I love about all these verses is,
and again, end of verse number eight,
and to the remembrance of thee.
You know, God is reminding us that our life ought to be about Jesus Christ.
Really, our life ought to be about our Lord God Almighty.
Like, I'm glad you're in church tonight,
and I know you came to church for Jesus Christ.
I know you came to serve and praise the Lord, okay?
But the big mistake that a lot of Christians make
is they think when I leave church, that's not for the Lord anymore.
Even subconsciously.
Like, I'm going to church for the Lord, praise God.
But you know what you do after service, when you drive home?
You drive home for the Lord.
When you get home and you give your body a sleep,
I'm going to sleep for the Lord
so I can be refreshed in the morning,
and if God allows me to wake up tomorrow morning,
I'm going to live tomorrow for the Lord.
Brethren, everything we do is for the Lord.
Everything. Raising our families, going to work,
going to the gym, whatever it is that you do.
Whatever activity God has given you.
Men, when you get together to go hunting and you hunt nothing,
you do it for the Lord.
Do it for the Lord.
Do it for the fellowship, to love one another, to serve each other.
Brethren, you do it for the Lord.
Just put God first, you know?
We've got a wedding coming up on Saturday.
Hey, let's go, let's go and celebrate the love of this couple.
But let's do it for the Lord.
Let's thank God that He allows us, He's given us the institution of marriage.
Right? Being able to support one another
in such an important decision that God has allowed us to have.
You know, to have a new family.
You know, that's what I take out of this.
Our soul's desire is to His name.
We ought to remember Him in all aspects of our life.
I love how the Apostle Paul puts it in Philippians 1.21.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
He goes as an advantage to die because I get to be with the Lord.
But, while I live, I live for Christ anyway.
You know what I mean? Like, either way, it's for Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number 9.
With my soul have I desired thee in the night.
Is that you brethren? Before you hit, before you put your head on the pillow?
What's the last thing that you normally do before you hit your head on the pillow?
What is it? I don't know.
Yeah, look at your phone. Because you're reading the Bible on the phone.
Not Facebook, right? Not Instagram, and not TikTok, and not whatever else there is.
I don't know. What else is there?
I don't know. I forget all these applications.
I just want to show you the desire of a righteous man.
Isaiah is speaking these words.
We know that we're going to be with our Lord Jesus Christ in eternity.
We know it's going to be a perfect, perfect peace.
And what about now? What are we doing for the Lord right now?
Do you really desire the Lord at night?
Maybe the last thing you do is watch some movie, some Hollywood movie, and then you zonk out.
Or maybe you fall asleep halfway through the Hollywood movie.
I want to show you the way of the upright.
To remember the Lord even at night.
And then he continues in verse 9.
Yea, with my spirit within me, will I seek thee early.
Hey, what's the earliest thing you do when you wake up?
Brush your teeth.
Tim's back on his phone trying to check out his latest notifications.
Who's messaged me?
What's the first thing you do in the morning?
What does this man do? What does Isaiah do?
The first thing he does, the earliest thing he does, is he seeks the Lord.
He goes, for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
What I love about this verse is, he just says, Isaiah says,
Look, I start my day with God, and I end my day with God.
What a great life.
Reverend, there are so many distractions, there are so many things.
I don't know, maybe just put your phone away before bed.
Like maybe just put it in another room or something.
Nothing's going to happen during the night anyway.
You don't need your phone. Maybe that's a good idea.
Maybe just, you know, you've got to charge your phone.
Alright, I'm going to charge my phone, I'll leave it in the kitchen.
I'm going to bed, and before I go to bed, I'm going to just read maybe one chapter.
Maybe I'll just read my favorite psalm, and I'll say a word of prayer,
and I'll just quote some songs of a hymn that I like maybe to the Lord.
I'll sing to you all tonight.
Thank you, Lord, and you go to sleep.
That's the last thing you ought to do.
I wake up in the morning.
You know that the Lord is your strength.
You know you need strength to get through the day,
because you know some days are hard, some days you're going to have tears and frustrations.
Some days you're not going to want to wake up and go to work.
You know, some days you're just not going to feel up for it.
Alright, then I know I can't depend on my strength.
Then, Lord, give me your strength.
I'll open your word once again, maybe a song, Lord.
I'll sing to you, I'll pray to you, Lord.
I'll ask your help to get me through the next 24 hours to the next day.
That's a great way to start your day.
I promise you, you develop this in your life.
God will help you in the day.
Put God first and He'll help you all day.
Like, why do we leave it to the last minute?
Like, we wake up and we check Facebook or whatever, brush our teeth, run to work.
Halfway through the day we have dramas and frustrations and stress,
and then we're like, God help us.
Why didn't you just ask in the morning?
He would have been helping you all the way through until you were desperate.
But we do that often, don't we? We forget last minute.
We call to the Lord.
So, hey, the verse number 9 teaches us to start the day and end the day with the Lord.
And look at verse number 10.
So he's talking about the righteous and we ought to work righteously.
Now he talks about the wicked, the unsaved.
Verse number 10, he says,
Be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness.
You know, we live in a blessed country. Australia's a blessed country.
I know it's full of sin. It's full of wickedness.
Partly why it's full of wickedness is because it is so blessed.
I mean, you show favor. God has shown favor.
I mean, even in the world wars, Australia's barely been scratched, hasn't it?
Like in the wars of Europe and, you know, where the US has got involved, Australia's pretty peaceful during times of war,
as far as if you're living in the nation.
Okay, well, when you live in such a favored or blessed country, you know what?
The wicked will not learn righteousness.
We need hard times, you know that? We need it.
It says, continues,
That's the wicked.
You know, when things are too easy on the earth, the wicked will never reach out and call on the Lord.
That's why so little people get saved in Australia.
Look, I rejoice when you guys, when I see, you know, this person got saved.
How many salvations do we get in a week, maybe between two to four salvations, roughly on average per week?
Something like that.
What about those of you that went to the Philippines?
How many are going to get saved in one hour?
Double that, maybe, right? Double that number in Australia.
Why? Because they've got hard times, and we've got it so easy.
You know, I don't know if you've ever seen this meme, promoting Facebook now, but,
I don't know if you've ever seen this meme that says, you know, hard times create strong men,
and strong men create good times, and good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.
Does anyone know that meme? Has anyone seen it? It's a pretty popular one.
It's true. It's true. Okay?
We're having good times right now in Australia because of the backs of hard men.
But now that times are so good, look at the average generation.
Weak men. Like weak men, and they're not seeking the Lord.
And I think we're going through the cycle, that the weak men are bringing in hard times.
And we might rebel against those hard times a little bit, we may not desire the hard times,
but you know what? I think we need it. I think we need it as Australians, the hard times.
So people can have a desire to behold the majesty of the Lord.
To say, Lord, where are you? Help me in these hard times.
Verse number 11. It says, Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see.
We're going to soon see, this is later on, this is speaking about chastisement.
So it's kind of like when the Lord's hand is about to judge the land.
The wicked, they don't see it. What's going on?
What's the Lord going to do? They don't see it.
But then it says here, but they shall see.
So when shall they see? Tell us in a moment.
But they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at the people,
yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
So what we see here, the wicked, the unsaved, are like completely oblivious to God's judgment.
That's why they don't need to get saved. They don't think they need to be saved.
They're not thinking that one day they're going to stand before God.
They're not thinking about hell fire, an eternity in hell fire, until it's too late.
It says, yea, they shall see.
And then at the end of verse number 11, yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
The fire that God has reserved for his enemies will devour them.
And then they'll see the judgment of God.
But it'll be too late for them.
They'll be destroyed, they'll be suffering, eternal damnation forever and ever.
So, again, our job when we go Lord of the Soul winning,
yes, to preach Christ crucified, amen,
but we must show people God's judgment.
That they're sinners, and as sinners they deserve in hell.
That is the right judgment that God has put upon sinners.
And then we tell them about God's grace.
Then we tell them about God's love.
Because if they don't see the judgment, if they don't feel the fire,
then it's going to be very hard for them to understand their need for a saviour.
Verse number 12.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us.
Again, comparing the wicked with us.
We're not going to be divided by fire.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,
for thou hast wrought all our works in us.
O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us,
but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
So there's a few things that we learn here in verses 12 and 13.
Once again, this is harkening back to God being our everlasting strength.
Again, when we see verse number 12,
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,
for thou hast wrought all our works in us.
So the works that we do for the glory of God,
the works that we do that matter for eternity,
the works that we do that will lay up treasures in heaven,
has been wrought in us by God.
God is the one that is using us to do a work for him.
As I preach to you tonight, it's not by my strength, okay?
I'm seeking the Lord to wrought in my life that I can do a work for him.
Meaning that if you take something out of your sermon,
we ought to give glory to God.
We ought to praise God.
God, you're the one that equipped this pastor to preach the sermon tonight.
Or when you go door to the soul winning,
or you serve the Lord in whatever capacity,
you say, Lord, you're the one that gave me the ability to do this work for you.
And again, verse number 13,
O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us.
That could be our politicians, our prime minister.
That could be your boss in the workplace.
Okay, we do have other lords.
We have other people with authority in our lives.
But this is the thing that we take out of this at the end of verse number 13.
But by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
What is it saying?
Again, whatever we achieve, even for these other lords,
whatever we accomplish for these other lords,
we only acknowledge the name of Jesus.
We did it for him.
We did it by him.
We did it for the Lord.
Alright, so when you pay your taxes, the government takes away your taxes.
Hey, who gave me the ability to earn what I earned?
The Lord.
Okay, when you get through the day and your boss says, great work.
Yeah, great work if your boss says that.
But you know, hey, it's the Lord that gave me the ability to work hard today.
You know, the Lord is the one that equipped me to be a good employee,
to be a productive employee today.
Again, it's the Lord that is our everlasting strength.
And when you can accept that and understand that,
boy, that takes away the pride.
If you're someone that struggles with pride,
you need to just remind yourself the only ability,
the reason you can even breathe this very second
is because God's given you the ability.
You guys know these.
In fact, if you want to turn there, keep your finger there.
Come over to Philippians.
Philippians chapter 4.
I just want to read these very famous verses to you.
But can you please meditate about these verses tonight for me?
Philippians chapter 4, verse number 13.
You know, probably everyone has said that in their lives at some point.
I can never do that.
Yeah, why can't you do it?
Because you're brave and you're bold and you're amazing.
No, no, no. Because Christ strengthened you.
That's why, right?
And come into another passage.
Philippians chapter 1.
And verse number 6.
Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 6.
Again, you know this verse.
Very famous verses.
Hey, who's begun a good work in you?
The Lord has, hasn't He?
He saved you, praise God.
Alright, He saves you.
But He doesn't just leave you now.
Now He wants to work in you.
He begins a work in you at salvation.
And He completes the work at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know the Lord's equipped you.
He's given you the Holy Spirit.
He's given you spiritual gifts.
He's given you a spiritual understanding.
He's given you the ability to overcome the flesh.
To overcome sin in your life.
Are you utilizing the work that God has done in your life?
You know, God has done that.
So you can be utilized by Him.
And when you accomplish things for Him, brethren.
You praise God.
Say thank you Lord, you used me.
You know, even if you're serving other masters.
It doesn't matter.
We're doing it for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Back to Isaiah please.
Isaiah 26.
And verse number 14.
Isaiah 26, verse number 14.
So here I believe we're now entering the third part of this chapter.
The first part about the eternal state.
The second part about us today.
And the comparisons between the wicked and the saved.
And now we're coming back to the end times.
Again, referring back to the wicked in verse number 14.
It says,
They are dead.
They shall not live.
They are deceased.
They shall not rise.
Therefore has thou visited and destroyed them.
And made all their memory to perish.
Okay, so.
Look.
There is a resurrection even for the wicked.
But when it says here they shall not rise in verse number 14.
You need to understand the context that we just found it in there.
Let's start with verse number 14 again.
They are dead.
They shall not what?
Live.
Okay.
For those of us that are saved we have eternal life.
Even if these dead bodies die at the resurrection.
These dead bodies are going to live again.
But the Bible speaks of the resurrection of the damned.
And their resurrection is a resurrection of death.
They're not going to live again.
They're going to be conscious.
Okay.
Their bodies are going to be brought up and they're not going to be alive.
They're not going to be living like we live.
Okay.
They'll be conscious but they'll be dead.
Okay.
And then when they stand before the great white throne.
Judgment of Jesus Christ in Revelation 20.
When their names are not found in the book of life.
They're going to be cast into the lake of fire.
Okay.
You guys know those passages.
But I want you to remember.
Their names will not be found in the book of life.
Their name will be eternally removed from that book.
So.
When you look at verse number 14.
Again let's read it carefully.
They are dead.
Okay.
They're not alive.
They shall not live.
They are deceased.
They shall not rise.
Because they're not going to rise alive.
Okay.
Therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them.
And made all their memory to perish.
So they will be forgotten.
Their names are going to be removed out of the book of life.
Praise God that our names will be remembered.
Praise God that we're going to be given a resurrection of life.
And brethren our names will live forever.
In fact the Bible says that God's going to give us new names.
New names.
I don't know what that means exactly.
Or you know what it represents exactly.
But brethren we're going to have names that will continue for eternity.
Verse number 15.
Now comparing the dead and the unsaved with the saved.
Verse number 15.
Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord.
Thou hast increased the nation.
So I want you to understand that this nation is a spiritual nation.
It's not a nation like we think today.
Like when you think of a nation, say, we think of a fixed place.
We fixed borders.
Right?
Like the nation of Australia.
Alright.
Let's just say if this was about Australia.
Pretend.
Thou hast increased the nation.
So it's growing.
Yeah, yeah.
The population of Australia is growing.
Mainly by migration I think.
More than people having kids.
But anyway, it's growing.
Alright.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But then it says thou art glorified.
Hmm.
Is God being glorified in Australia as our nation increases?
No.
So this is a spiritual nation.
You know, as we win souls, as more people get saved than come into the kingdom of God,
that brings glory to God.
That nation is increasing.
And in fact, you can see it's a spiritual nation because it continues.
Thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
So this nation compasses what?
All the ends of the earth.
It's not a nation that is restricted by borders.
Because there are people that are saved people of every nation.
You know, literally to the ends of the earth you're going to find a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But regardless of where we are across the earth, we are all part of that one spiritual nation.
I'll just read to you quickly from 1 Peter chapter 2 verse number 9.
It says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation,
a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him
who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
So brethren, according to 1 Peter, we are a holy nation.
That holy nation is made up of all believers, of all nations, unto the uttermost or the ends of the earth.
And as that nation grows, as that nation increases, more people get saved.
It's giving glory to our Lord.
So again I want to show you the difference between the saved and the unsaved.
Verse number 16.
Alright, now, verse number 16.
Lord, in trouble have they visited thee.
Now, the they are the saved here.
Now again, remember I told you, we saw it earlier.
We should seek the Lord in the morning and at night.
But, if you're honest, you're more like, verse number 16.
In trouble have they visited thee.
Lord, I'm in trouble, help me!
The Lord's like, why didn't you seek me in the morning?
Why didn't you seek me early?
But again, we just see the nature of man. This is us.
We're righteous, we're trying to walk uprightly.
The Lord's our strength, but we have the flesh, and we have troubles,
we have problems that we go through in life.
I don't know if you ever thought, at the moment I got saved,
I'm not going to have any troubles, that's a lie, if anyone ever told you that.
We have troubles like anybody else, but we often do it when we're in trouble.
We seek the Lord when we're in trouble.
So, Lord, in trouble have they visited thee.
They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
So, this trouble in particular is God's chastening on believers.
Because we mess up in life, we make mistakes, we sin against the Lord,
we get far from the Lord, we walk in paths of darkness,
and the Lord sometimes will.
Yes, He's long suffering, He gives us time, He's merciful,
but sometimes it says, look, I've got to judge,
I've got to bring my hand of chastening upon my sons and my daughters.
And you know what, when those troubles hit us,
that's when we run and we visit God, and we bring our prayers before Him.
Lord, help us!
Again, this is a state of believers, but they're not walking faithfully.
Verse number 17 makes a lot more sense.
So, like a woman who's going through pain,
you know those pains increase, they get harder and harder and harder,
and then the baby's born, right?
Joy for a man is brought in the world, right?
At least when a woman gives birth, after all that pain,
at least there's a reward.
That baby, right?
There's profit that's come out of that.
But what about when we're not walking with the Lord,
when we don't seek Him in the morning, when we don't seek Him at night,
when we only go to Him when we're going through problems,
and the Lord brings His hand of chastisement upon us,
and look, these problems we bring upon ourselves.
We've done it ourselves, right?
What about us?
Well, like a woman who's about to give birth,
yes, she's got something to look forward to at the end of that pain,
but I want to show you what happens when you're going through the chastisement of the Lord,
and you bring these problems upon yourself,
and you try to deliver yourself out of your problems by your own strength.
This is what happens in verse number 18.
It says, we have been with child,
so talking about ourselves, like spiritually speaking,
yeah, we're pregnant also, like we're going through those pains,
we have been with child, we have been in pain,
alright, well, we know there's a profit at the end of it,
oh, hold on,
we have, as it were, brought forth wind.
Nothing came out of it.
Remember, like a woman has a baby.
Well, when we bring these problems to ourselves,
and we try to deliver ourselves in our own strength,
there's no profit.
All that pain, all that suffering,
we're not going to be able to get ourselves out of problems by our own strength,
which is why, if you continue,
it says, we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth.
Like, we've not been able to deliver ourselves from these problems.
Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
I want you to compare, again,
we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth.
Like, we've done nothing.
Again, he's speaking about his own strength.
I'll get you to compare a verse in a moment.
He's only brought forth wind.
There's been no baby, there's been no profit
in all this pain that his troubles have brought him.
Again, compare verse number 12 in the same chapter.
Look at verse number 12.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,
for thou also has wrought all our works in us.
So it's the... who is going to wrought?
W-R-O-U-G-H-T.
It means to work, essentially.
Or to bring forth.
Who's the one that's going to bring us deliverance?
Well, we saw in verse number 12,
it's the Lord.
But what about when we try to do it in our own strength?
What are we going to bring out?
Wind. Nothing.
Unprofitable.
Trying to get through problems in life with our own strength.
This whole chapter is to remind us
that the Lord is our everlasting strength.
We must seek him and seek his deliverance,
not our own deliverance.
If you're like me and you're in for some trouble,
look, we should pray.
But I think sometimes we're like,
okay, let me logically think about this.
Here are the solutions.
Here's what I can do.
And you do it by your own strength.
And we need to remind ourselves, no, no, no, no, no.
If I try to deliver myself out of problems on my own,
there's not going to be a baby out of it,
in the end of it, it's not just going to be wind,
it's going to be nothing.
I better go to the Lord.
He is the one that does the great work in us.
Lord, it's your hand of chasing upon me.
What are you teaching me?
Guide me. Help me make the right decisions.
I want this chasing in to be profitable.
I want something to come out of the lesson
that you're allowing me to go through.
And then verse number 19.
We get a title for this sort of problem.
Thy dead men shall live.
Together with my dead body shall they arise.
So Isaiah says, look, dead men,
other dead men are going to live.
But he goes, but together with my dead body,
I'm going to live as well.
I'm going to be risen again in my dead body.
And it says, Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust,
for thy dew is as a dew of herbs,
and the earth shall cast out the dead.
The earth will cast out the dead.
But these dead men will live.
The other dead men, we saw, will not live.
They are dead, but these dead men will live.
This is about the resurrection.
Again, the Old Testament saints knew
about the resurrection to come.
Even Isaiah knew.
Now, we're going through Isaiah 26.
What's the 26th book of the Bible?
Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, praise God.
Now, Ezekiel is very, very famous
for one particular prophecy.
And I'll show you what it is.
Come into Ezekiel 37.
Ezekiel 37.
Again, we're comparing the chapters of Isaiah
with by numbers, according to the numbers
of the books of the Bible.
So we're in Isaiah 26.
We're looking at the 26th book of the Bible, Ezekiel.
In Ezekiel, like I said,
this is one of the famous prophecies.
In Ezekiel 37, verse number 1,
the Bible reads,
The hand of the Lord was upon me
and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord
and set me down in the midst of the valley
which was full of bones
and caused me to pass by them roundabouts.
And behold, there were very many in the open valley
and lo, they were very dry.
So this is the valley of the dry bones.
Are you guys familiar with that prophecy?
Very famous in the book of Ezekiel.
And then verse number 3.
And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
He's not sure.
He's like, you know, Lord,
if these bones can live again.
Verse 12.
God says, Therefore prophesy and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, O my people,
I will open your graves
and cause you to come up out of your graves
and bring you into the land of Israel
and ye shall know that I am the Lord
when I have opened your graves, O my people,
and brought you up out of your graves
and shall put my spirit in you
and ye shall live
and I shall place you in your own land,
then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it
and performed it, saith the Lord.
So again, very famous prophecy in the book of Ezekiel.
The prophecy of the valley of the dry bones.
And what do we see? The resurrection.
Even Ezekiel, right?
Like he wasn't sure. I don't know. Can these live again?
And God shows my vision.
And you can read it in your own time, the whole chapter.
The bones start to connect together.
All the muscle tissue starts to grow in the body.
And then there, they come to life.
Come back with me to Isaiah 26.
Actually, keep your finger on Ezekiel.
Come back with me to Isaiah 26.
Isaiah 26, and let's just finish it up. Verse number 20.
Isaiah 26 and verse number 20.
It says,
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers
and shut thy doors about thee.
Hide thyself, as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation be over-passed.
For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also shall disclose her blood
and shall no more cover her slain.
Alright. I'm of two minds as to when verses 20 and 21 take place.
Now, if this follows chronologically with the resurrection,
this might be speaking of, you know,
God is still pouring out his wrath on the earth.
This might be a reference to the believers
that get saved after the resurrection.
And God's telling them, look, go and protect yourself
and God will give his final judgment
before leading into the millennial reign of Christ.
That could be one way to understand it.
We also know at the end of the millennium,
at the end of the thousand years,
that the devil is loosed out of the bottomless pit.
He gathers the nations around him.
One final attempt at God, at God's people in Jerusalem
and then God destroys them.
Again, this might be a reference.
Just go, you know, protect yourself in Jerusalem
and God will destroy the wicked on the earth.
But I want you to notice at the end of verse 21,
the earth also shall disclose her blood
and shall no more cover her slain.
So this is speaking that the earth itself,
the wicked of the earth, they're not guilty,
sorry, they're not ashamed of the murders.
They're not ashamed of innocent blood.
It's like today.
You know, like, the news media speaks openly of abortions.
It's no big deal.
Like, that ought to be the right of every woman.
Just to go and murder innocent blood.
It's like there's no shame.
It's like we don't cover that up.
We don't hide that fact.
We just openly speak that we as Australians
are open to abortions if you want to go ahead
and kill your babies.
Well, again, God is judging the earth
because they don't cover it up.
They're just sort of full of pride.
It says, again, they shall no more cover her slain.
It's like, yeah, we're guilty of innocent blood.
What are you going to do about it, God?
All right, come with me to Ezekiel, final passage.
Ezekiel 24.
Again, we're comparing Ezekiel, the 26th book of the Bible,
with the 26th chapter of Isaiah.
And in Ezekiel 24, God speaks in parallel to the city of Jerusalem.
The city of Jerusalem in the time of Ezekiel, okay?
And it was a wicked city.
It was far from the Lord.
In Ezekiel 24, verse number 6, it says,
Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God,
Woe to the bloody city,
to the pot whose scum is therein,
and whose scum is not gone out of it.
Bring it out piece by piece,
let no lot fall upon it.
God is calling the city of Jerusalem the bloody city.
He calls it, you people that live there, you're scum.
These are hard words from the Lord God.
Here's verse number 7.
For her blood is in the midst of her.
She set it upon the top of a rock.
She poured it not upon the ground to cover it with dust.
Again, this blood being innocent blood.
Instead of putting the blood and covering it up with dust,
they put it upon a rock.
Yeah, we're killing people.
We're killing babies.
Verse number 8.
They might cause fury to come up to take vengeance.
But they have set her blood upon the top of a rock,
that it should not be covered.
And of course, I don't have time to read it,
by God speaking of His judgment against wicked Jerusalem
at this point in time.
And again, you see the similarity.
God is using the same language that they're not covering it up.
They've got to open about this innocent blood being shed
and He speaks about the whole earth being that way in the end times.
This is why we need the eternal state.
This is why we need the new heavens and the new earth.
We need God to make all things new.
We need the curse to be removed.
We need death to be destroyed.
We need the wicked to be cast into eternal fire.
For the righteous to be able to live with our Lord God forever.
The title of the sermon was Dead Men Shall Live.
Sometimes I talk to brethren and they say,
boy pastor, I really want to make it to the rapture.
Every believer is going to make it to the rapture.
You'll be fine.
If you pass away today and I make it,
I literally make it physically to the rapture,
don't worry, you're going to be raptured first.
The Bible says the dead will rise first.
Don't worry, you go first and then you see me follow after you.
So don't worry about it.
Everybody's going to make it to the resurrection.
Praise God, let's pray.