Amen. Okay, so we're up to Isaiah chapter 17 in our Wednesday evening prayer and Bible study service.
We've been going through chapter by chapter each week and last week we were in obviously Isaiah 16
and it was the second part of the burden on Moab, at least the second chapter of the burden on Moab,
where whilst being warned of the invasion to come, the Moabites were told to let God's outcast dwell with them,
which was lightly talky of those fleeing the invasion of the northern kingdoms.
We saw how it also continued to picture God's wrath to come with the outcasts lightly representing the...
and it was the 144,000. I had a typo in my notes and I think I said it a few times, 148,000.
So apologies for that, but you know what I meant, okay?
The warning included a reminder that the throne shall be established, fulfilled first by Hezekiah but picturing the millennial reign.
We saw Moab's pride and haughtiness highlighted along with his wrath and lies,
how the foundations of the trusted fortress, Kirarasath, will be mournful and having your trust in anyone or anything beyond the Lord will fail.
Isaiah told them that their vineyards would be taken, how they would tread out no wine in their presses,
which was a good opportunity to remind everyone that wine refers to both fermented wine and juice like it was there.
Finally, how on the back of all that idol worship they didn't know God to call to, it was coming three years,
yet there would be a small and feeble remnant, which is what we have, like I said in this nation.
Look at verse 12, it said,
And it shall come to pass when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray, but he shall not prevail.
This is a word that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time.
But now the Lord has spoken, saying, Within three years is a years of an hireling,
and the glory of Moab shall be contempt with all that great multitude, and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.
And then we go into Isaiah chapter 17 of verse one says,
The burden of Damascus, behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
I'd like to pray before we get going with it. Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you for this chapter, Lord, and the talking points this chapter, Lord,
and help me to just preach those clearly and accurately and the timeline and how, you know,
how things could possibly play out just in the right way, Lord.
Fill me with your spirit, please. Help everyone to have attentive ears and just, you know,
minimise distractions, help everyone to really pay attention to your word and to grow from it, Lord,
to be edified by it, Lord, to be able to apply things to their lives.
So in Jesus' name, pray. Amen.
So Damascus being the capital of Syria, in case anyone's unaware, which was directly northeast of the northern kingdoms,
as opposed to Assyria, and some people might get confused between these two, which was east of Syria,
well, kind of northeast and east of Syria.
So Syria was in between the two, okay, between Syria and the northern kingdoms there,
and was also previously, if you remember, confederate with Israel and Ephraim.
If you go back to Isaiah 7, confederate with them against Judah.
So keep a finger here, go back to Isaiah chapter 7.
So Syria was previously part of that sort of trio of confederate nations that tried to invade Judah.
Back in Isaiah 7, it says,
And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah,
and at reason the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel went up toward Jerusalem to war against it,
but could not prevail against it.
And it was told the house of David saying,
Syria is confederate with Ephraim and his heart was moved and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
But now on the back of this, Syria is about to be invaded and destroyed,
potentially here by the Assyrians.
But keep a finger here and go back to 2 Kings 16.
So 2 Kings 16.
The issue here is that we saw a few chapters back,
the burden of Babylon was written in the year that King Ahaz died.
OK, you don't have to turn there, you'll turn to 2 Kings 16.
Isaiah 14, 28 said,
In the year that King Ahaz died was this burden.
Well, it was during King Ahaz reign that Damascus was invaded by the Assyrians, it seems.
It said in 2 Kings 16, then reason, verse 5, 2 Kings 16, 5,
then reason king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
At that time, reason king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria and drove the Jews from Elath and the Assyrians came to Elath and dwelt there unto this day.
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, saying,
I am thy servant and thy son, come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel which rise up against me.
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him, for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it and carried the people of it captive to Kir and slew reason.
And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest of fashion of the altar and the pattern of it according to all the workmanship thereof.
So we see clearly there that Damascus, the capital of Syria, was taken by the Assyrians all the way back then.
We'll come back to 2 Kings, keep a finger there.
Back in Isaiah 17 then, when is Isaiah prophesying of?
Because this is now after this point, Isaiah 17, 1 says, the burden of Damascus behold Damascus is taken away from being a city and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Well, Damascus was conquered again by the Babylonians nearly 200 years later, obviously going from being under the Assyrians to the Babylonians.
Now turn to Jeremiah 49, so Jeremiah chapter 49 now, just after the book of Isaiah obviously.
And Jeremiah is prophesying now over a hundred years after this point in time.
And he said this in Jeremiah 49, over a hundred years now after this point, he said this of Damascus, verse 23, Jeremiah 49, 23.
Concerning Damascus, Hamath is confounded, an arpad, for they have heard evil tidings, they are faint-hearted, there is sorrow on the sea, it cannot be quiet.
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear has seized on her, anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in travail.
How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy? Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord of hosts.
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
Ben-Hadad being the name of the line of kings from hundreds of years earlier.
So with that in mind, we've just seen that he said he'll kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
Back in verse 1 of Isaiah 17, it said the burden of Damascus, behold Damascus is taken away from being a city and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Now this could be firstly prophesying of the Babylonians to come, but as is regularly the case in Isaiah, and we've looked at this now if you've been listening to the series,
the dual fulfilment is still to come I believe. Having the walls burned and the palaces consumed that we just read about could be poetically described as being taken away from being a city and being a ruinous heap.
You know, in sort of poetic language, like we've seen many times, we've seen this first fulfilment which kind of is sort of, if you applied it, just poetically and not literally.
But however there seems to be then a second fulfilment to come, where Damascus is literally taken away from being a city and it shall be a ruinous heap.
And that really hasn't happened. So yeah, they've been invaded, they've been burnt down, etc, but Damascus is still a city.
Damascus isn't currently a ruinous heap. So when will Damascus cease to exist?
Well, now here's the thing, there are some people that have different views on this. Some people think, as far as I'm aware, that this is sort of maybe a precursor, it's something to come.
You know, obviously they look at world events, they go maybe Syria will be just razed to the ground, Damascus will be taken out.
I don't know, I think then that would be maybe a sign, maybe that could happen. I don't see that.
I see that everything that we're seeing in the book of Isaiah seems to be getting, often a lot of the time, we're seeing this dual fulfilment being in the end times and being around the time of either the tribulation or even going into God's wrath.
And it says here in verse 2, the cities of Arawah are forsaken. They shall be for flocks which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid.
Now where Arawah is, is a bit unclear. There's an Arawah mentioned in what was Ammonite territory previously, Gad, and also in the south of Judah.
But wherever it is, the cities were to be forsaken and eventually a place for grazing flocks, is what he's saying here.
And the result of the Babylonian defeat of the Assyrian Empire was that those cities were forsaken, I believe is what it's saying, and became a place of safety, fulfilment number one.
But like I said, I think it's another dual prophecy with the millennial reign being a time of peace and safety, isn't it? With God's people not being afraid anymore.
So when will Damascus be taken away for being a city? When will it be a ruinous heap? I think it's when God's wrath happens.
So that's what I believe. He's told us that it will be taken away from being a city, it will be a ruinous heap.
And then we see that there'll be the cities of Arawah forsaken. They shall be for flocks which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid.
And for me, that's talking about the millennial reign. So I think it's going to happen in God's wrath.
He said in verse 3, the fortress also shall cease from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria.
They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. So when God punishes,
okay, fortresses and kingdoms mean nothing. We looked at that last week. And obviously there are
fortresses, there are things that people rely on that they trust in which are nothing when it comes to God.
But I believe here that he's saying that he will leave a remnant. He said here, the fortress also
shall cease from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria. They shall be
as the glory of the, I think that's who he's talking about, the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of
the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. With the following verses showing that as we go
through, you're going to see that. And I mentioned that last week there'll be a remnant of people
getting saved by what's actually 144,000 witnesses. So we lost a few thousand. But I said that obviously
when it comes to God's wrath, okay, there'll be those obviously that if you're saved and
you're living in the end times, when Christ comes, you're getting raptured, you're out of there, right?
However, there will then be God's wrath. And there's a reason why there's 144,000 witnesses
sent. There's a reason why there's two witnesses. What are they witnessing of? It's the gospel, okay?
So there will be those during that time that I believe will be getting saved during that time.
And there will be a remnant and there will be as the remnant the glory of Israel or Jacob. He said,
and in that day it shall come to pass, verse four, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin and the
fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. So I think he's saying that there will be few left, that
remnant will be small. He said in verse five, and it shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the
corn and reapeth the ears with his arm, and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley
of Rephaim, yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three
berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof,
saith the Lord God of Israel. So he's saying that on the back of the main harvest there'll be a small
remnant left. The majority got carried away by the Babylonians, yet they left a remnant to tend
the land. However, on the back of verse two, which is again why I think it's just talking about that
period of time, verse two said the cities of Arowah are forsaken, they shall be for flocks,
which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid. With that picture of the millennial
rain coming after, you can't help but see a picture of the rapture here, can you? In verse five,
look at verse five again, and it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn and reapeth the
ears with his arm, and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim, yet
gleaning grapes shall be left in it as a shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top
of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of
Israel. So the valley of Rephaim seemingly known for its yielding of corn, but continuing like I
said with that end time picture, verse five does look a lot like the rapture to me. Now turn the
Revelation 14 while I read it again, so you keep a finger here obviously, turn to Revelation chapter
14, last book of the Bible, while I read verse five which said, and it shall be as when the
harvestman gathereth the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm, and it shall be as he that gathereth
ears in the valley of Rephaim. And in Revelation 14, we've got the one world cashier society has
just been instituted, you can't buy or sell without the mark, verse 14 says, verse 14 there
says, and I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the son of man,
having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the
temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the
time has come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud
thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped. However, on the back of the rapture
when when all believers shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air, it seems there will be some that are still able to be saved whilst God's hand is stretched
out still. So I believe that we see those clearly for me, I think a picture of the rapture in verse
five. And then back in with that in mind and we've just seen obviously that that he's coming in
with a sickle, he's reaping, the time has come to reap, the harvest of the earth is ripe. Verse five
in Isaiah 17 said, it shall be when the harvestman gathers the corn and reapeth the ears with his arm,
it shall be as he that gathers the ears and the valley of Rephaim. And then verse six then says this,
yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaky of an olive tree, two or three berries in
the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the
Lord God of Israel. Because ultimately I think here there will be those that are able still to
be saved. That's what's left, there'll be people that are still receptive to the Gospel. God's hand,
we looked before when his hand is stretched out in judgment, it's also stretched out to receive
those at the same time that are still able to be saved. I believe that's what we're going to see,
hence 144,000, hence the two witnesses. Well, it is a time when people understand the fear of the
Lord. Proverbs 9 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the
Holy's understanding. It takes the fear of the Lord, doesn't it? People have to fear hell to get saved,
okay? People ain't getting saved if they don't accept that there's a hell. I think someone
today started, Alex was telling me, some woman started trying to reprove him for daring to mention
hell while trying to preach the Gospel to her and her friend. It's like, well if you don't
understand there's a hell and that sin takes you to hell, how on earth are you getting, what are you
getting saved from? That's what salvation, salvation needs an understanding, it needs the fear of the
Lord. That's the beginning of wisdom. Well it says here in verse 7, at that day shall a man look to
his Maker and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And whether it was the
prophesied destruction of those nations by the hand of the Babylonians or the prophesied return
of Christ and his wrath spilled out upon the world, it's a time to have respect to the Lord,
isn't it? It's a time to respect him. The Holy One, by the way, often followed by of Israel or of Jacob
or of God, all being terms for God the Maker. We've just seen that and that day shall a man look
to his Maker and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel, who of course is manifest
in the flesh as Jesus Christ. Mark, you don't have to turn it, but Mark 1 24 says, saying, let us alone,
what have we to do with thee, thou son of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ is, he is the Maker, he is God in the flesh.
Well when he's raining down judgments on the earth, those that are still able,
those that haven't taken the mark, so remember we've looked at this, obviously, you know, they have
they have no rest day or night, okay, if they worship the beast, you know, whosoever receiveth
that mark, okay, they're done, but there are those that won't have done, that's the reason for the
witnesses, that's the reason for those people there. They will hopefully look to their Maker,
if you think about it, when God's raining down his wrath, when the whole world is hiding from the
face of the Lamb, you know, at that point, and then the wrath starts spilling out, you would hope
that they're gonna, their eyes will have respect to the Holy One of Israel, don't you think?
There'll be some respect there, and for those that are still able, well, because isn't that a big
hindrance to so many people's salvation, is respect, is fear, a healthy fear of God, that's a big
attack on the Gospel, that's what it's all about, that's in terms of, it's either, it's
one or two things a lot of the time, okay, they either refuse to acknowledge God, and there's a lot
of that, isn't there, just people just don't want to acknowledge God, they don't want to accept that
there's a God, they don't want to accept, they just refuse it in one way or another, and there's handy
ways that they're given to refuse Him, and or they have such little fear for God, and that's
kind of across the board a lot now, at least in western nations, there's just no fear,
no respect for the Lord, which is one of the goals, like I said, of the brainwash, it's one of the
goals of the conditioning, so one angle is to give people some handy excuses to pretend that God
doesn't exist, okay, so that, you know, the creation, evolution type stuff, it's just to
give people a handy excuse, just to give people, they kind of, they can pick and choose, I'll go
with the, I quite like the idea that, you know, nothing created everything, I'll go with that one,
and then everyone, and then I'm being told by my, by the mainstream media that I'm intelligent for
that, I had a guy walk past me the other day when I was trying to, you know, preach the gospel,
try to give him an invite for the church, and he said, I'm too logical for that, they say, you
absolute idiot, you know, you're not logical, man, Romans 1-20 says, for the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse, the creation itself should in a
normal world be evidence of the Creator, shouldn't it? Just the Creator, the creation shows there's a
Creator, that's sort of, that should be just normal thinking, that has been normal thinking
pretty much throughout the world, for most of history, people know there's a Creator, that it's
up to them if they want to accept that it's the God of the Bible, or they want to choose a God of
their own making, but telling yourself that you're too intelligent, you're too logical, you're just
too scientific for it, it's just an excuse, it's just a, it's a handy excuse to just not acknowledge
God, and people can choose that, God gives you the choice, you can choose that, you can choose life
or death, to believe that the creation was, was created, sorry, to believe that, to believe that
a creation wasn't created, it is a reason to not look into your Maker, like we've just seen
in that verse, but the other big angle that we've seen more and more of is the disrespect towards
the Holy One of Israel, the Holy One of Israel, okay, that's a bit of a title, isn't it? He's so holy,
He's God, but the disrespect of God, making Jesus into some sort of soft effeminate hippie joke,
is a, the purpose of that is to stop people getting saved, ultimately, it's to stop you
fearing God, because people look at that and just think, well if that is God, because deep down they
know, they know it's the God of the Bible, they can choose all their false religions, they know deep
down, I believe, that even His eternal power and Godhead, so they're without excuse, but to the, the
whole imagery, this constant long flowing locks, and I mean some of it is horrendous, some of it, He
just looks like a complete sodomite in their imagery, and it's to make Him just into a laughing
stock, He's a joke, no one has respect, and then they don't fear hell, they don't fear the judgment
coming, because Jesus is a joke for them. Now the, Jesus of the Bible isn't a joke, let's just make
that clear, but the world pictures Him and makes this imagery of this sort of, you know, painted by
Catholic sodomite artist type Jesus, floating around in dresses with long flowing locks, and
this immaculate pretty face there, it's an absolute, it's, it's horrendous, it's, it's pure heresy as
well, it's so against what the Bible teaches, it says it's a shame unto a man to have long hair,
the Bible says that, that, that to, it's an abomination to wear that which pertaineth unto a woman,
and they've just got this sort of joke Jesus, but with that it just makes people not respect it,
and it makes people not fear the judgment of God, and it's not just the, the mockery, the effeminate
hippie depicting the father as some sort of Morgan Freeman type reprobate granddad, I mean, imagine
if he was your granddad, you, you wouldn't want your kid sitting on his knee, he's a weirdo, and, and
that's, I mean he's been like God in about four different movies if I remember right, I mean it's,
it's nuts right, but, but it's like this weird old freaky old guy, but he, he's like just this sort of
hey come on in, like a little bit kind of hippieish, little bit, you know, free thinking type, so-called
God, and again it's just, it's a laughing stock, but what it does, it just stops respecting God, and
it stops people wanting to choose to, to avoid the judgment of God by faith in Christ, they just, it
becomes a joke for people, and that's what we see a lot in obviously Western culture, denying the
tons of evidence of, for example, the worldwide flood and other judgments of God, people, you
deny all that, you just keep just, just not then needing to respect God, not to fear God, the goal
is to lessen the fear, that healthy respect for the God of the Bible, which is what people need to have.
The Bible says of, yeah, on some have compassion, yeah, but others save with fear, pulling them out
of the fire, okay, and some people just really just need the fear of God in them, because they've had
years of just God being a joke. Well, when God starts giving you a thrashing, okay, it's time to
respect him, isn't it? Said in verse 7, at that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall
have respect to the Holy One of Israel, and he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands,
neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images. Now, when God
is raining destruction down on you, the false religion should finally go out of the window,
shouldn't it? So you'd hope at that time when, when they finally see the Son of Man coming in his glory
and, and, you know, and they're hiding in the rocks and in the dens and everything else, you would imagine
at that point they, they've, it finally dawns on them, yeah, Islam is a load of nonsense, yeah, Hinduism,
what a load of nonsense, yeah, my false version of Christianity, I'm here getting fire and brimstone
rain down to me is a load of nonsense, my pre-trib rapture was a load of nonsense, you know, there's
probably a lot of these things are going to dawn on people, right? Well, notice something here that
is common throughout the Bible when it comes to false religion as well, though, is that it's a work
of men's hands. This is a term that you see time and time again, and in one way it's because obviously
they've made the altars, they've made the groves, they've made the images, God is a, their God, their
small g god, their idol, is basically a creation of their own, and that's what all false gods are,
they're a creation of men, aren't they? They're a false god creation of men, and you could, and, and
it's like a pick and mix, people can just choose, there's a false god for everyone that, that suits
them, and for some it's sort of, you know, it's just a new age sort of higher self, is it, for the most,
you know, for the prideful spiritual types, it's like, I am God, it's just the higher self of me, or
whatever, they kind of try and make it, and then for others it's kind of like, they like the, the,
you know, the, the Islam version of God, the Allah, or for others they like one of the million Hindu
idols, or, you know, there's a god for everyone, right, in terms of false religion, but like I said,
yes, they've made all these things, they've made their own gods, but it also symbolizes work
salvation, okay, don't miss that, that the work of their hands are what they were trusting, they were
trusting the work of their own hands, but it says here, and he shall not look to the altars the work
of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images,
so really this is what it comes down to in life, and, and this is, for me that, you know, this college,
it's just so, maybe not simple is the right word, but there really is just a simple line, and the line
is this, it's all the different versions of the works of your hands, your works, whether it's works,
so-called works pre-salvation, so-called works during salvation, or so-called works to apparently
keep your salvation, working your way through the five pillars of Islam, the seven sacraments,
through all the different ways, and the different gods that you've got to work your way there,
there's all different versions, and then there's the gospel, and it's as simple as that, and the gospel
is clearly for by grace ye save through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God,
it's not of works, lest any man should boast, but man throughout history, and, and continuing,
wants to somehow work his way to some form of heaven, and it's ingrained within people to just
want to somehow be able to work their way, they want to take some credit, they want to take some
of it for themselves, but the problem is that as soon as you add some works, well, it becomes works,
you want to add some of your works to your salvation, you want to take some of the credit,
well, good luck, because God will judge you by every work, but you've ever done and not done.
The bible says it's one or the other, if by grace, and is it no more of work, otherwise grace is no
more grace, but if it be of works, and is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work, you
can't combine them, and, and the, that's sadly the most subtle attack on the gospel, and that is all
over this town, and all over this nation, and all over the world, is, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, well we know
the word of God, clearly the bible's the word of God, the Quran's absolute rubbish, yeah, I don't
know if you'd even bother using it in the toilet for paper, it's probably not very pleasant, it's rubbish,
all these other holy books are rubbish, the Bhagavad or whatever Bhagavad Gita,
Bhag, Baghdad Gita, okay, rubbish, it's all, it's all, it's, it's laughable in comparison, so we got the word
of God, yeah, but the word of God says it's faith alone, let's just add a little bit of work, a little
smattering, little splashing, let's just put a little bit of works in, but it's like that pure cup
of water, right, you add that tiny little bit of dirt into that cup of water, I should have bought a
prop for this, someone get, no man, okay, no way, but you, you know the, you know the drill, you put a
little bit of dirt in a cup of water, the whole thing goes dark, it all goes, it all goes dirty,
it takes that little drop, that little bit of works, you add that little bit of works to your salvation,
to what you're trusting, you, well as long as I don't do this sin in the future, as long as I keep
believing, as long as I don't commit suicide, as long as I do this or that in the future,
you're adding works, and you're adding works, you're putting that little bit of dirt into that
pure clear water, that water of everlasting life, that pure water, and you're going to hell, because
you never trusted Christ, you never knew you, and he'll say, depart from me.
So what is it you're trusting, and that's what it comes down to, it's either the work of your hands,
and again, some, it's not always, you know, for many, because look, for many who claim to believe the
Bible, it's very hard to add works to, before salvation, or the full works, because there's just
so many verses, just make it clear, it's belief, it's belief, it's belief, but then the other one is the
repent of your sins, obviously, so that one is, is because they're trying to add it to the point of
salvation, and this is a subtle one, so there's obviously the lose your salvation, then there's
well I repented of my sins, when I put my faith in Christ, it was a combination, and of course they go
hand in hand, no, that's your works, repenting of your sins, turning from your sins, trying not to
sin anymore, I've completely changed my mind now about enjoying those sins, whatever else, whatever
you think you've added to it, that ain't biblical repentance, biblical repentance is changing your
mind for what you did believe, and to faith in Christ alone. You want to add any of your, well I kind
of, you know, it was at that point that I suddenly decided I'm going to try to stop all those sins now.
You want to trust that, you're adding works of salvation, salvation is faith alone in Christ alone,
and anything else is a work of men's hands, because that is a hard work for many.
Look, you might think, well I gave up this or this, yeah, but what did you and didn't you give up,
because you know what, every single person is a sinner, so what sins didn't you repent of, and which
ones were you told to, you know what, you weren't told to repent of any of them for salvation,
you're told to put your faith in Christ. Galatians 2 16 says, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
who might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of
the law shall no flesh be justified. So you could dress it up any way you like, you could claim it's
biblical, you can claim it's Christ, that they all, oh yeah, you just got to give your life to Christ.
Believe, oh yeah, you just got to believe and give your life to Christ, what do you mean give your
life to Christ, he gave his life for you, that's not salvation, yeah we should give our life to
Christ, yeah I preach my and his pulpit every single week, give your life to Christ, but that's
not what saves you, what saves you is faith alone in Christ alone, and as soon as you start trying
to add that little bit of works, your own just efforts and everything else, it comes back to the
work of men's hands, it's a false god, it's a false salvation. In the Old Testament you could make an
altar, it sounded right, yeah, I mean this is what he's saying here, shall not look to the altars, oh
but they've got an altar, they must believe, but it wasn't God's altar, it was their own perversion,
it was their own version, their own perversion of God's one true faith, it was their own altar, the
works of their hands, and it's really what it comes back to, and just don't, because look, no one
here is, you can't lose your salvation, but you can have your head turned, you can have doubt, you can
lose your confidence in your faith a little bit, you can be a bit nervous about explaining it,
because you're unsure how to say it, because of the attacks, the constant different angles of
trying to make you think that maybe there's some works or something else, it's just to
shake your faith, don't, it's as simple as it's either faith alone or it's works, it's what it comes
down to, it's what it comes down to. The work of your hands, okay, here's the thing with that though,
it quickly seems ridiculous when you finally look at your Maker, look at verse 7, it says,
at that day shall a man look to his Maker and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel,
he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which is
fingers have made either the groves or the images. When you stop looking at yourself and you look to
him, you have respect for him, you appreciate that your works of righteousness are filthy rags,
you really do, when you're looking up, when you're looking to your Maker, when you finally have respect
for the Holy One of Israel, how could you ever think you could earn salvation at all? I used to
give this analogy, I do sometimes where people still find it hard, where they're still trying to
add, and it sometimes helps some people, is I used to give this analogy, I'd be, you know, if I'm
preaching to someone on a doorstep maybe and they're still just trying to take some credit,
something for salvation, well you've got to at least do this, you've got to at least not do that,
I've got to take some credit for myself. I used to give this analogy that same, and I'd look around
whether it was an expensive car or maybe they just had, you know, some double glazed window at the
front and say, just say, you know, my kid now, usually I have one of my kids and me, just put a brick
through your window, or maybe they smashed your front door, maybe somehow they just burnt down
your house or whatever it is, or they just trashed your brand new car, and you said to me, you
said, look, I'll tell you what, I'm going to give you some grace on this, just don't worry about it, I'm
going to pay for it, and I said to you, oh, but I must contribute, you said, no, don't worry, seriously,
just leave it, I'm going to deal with it, I said, well, let me just give you 10p, are you going to be
pleased with that? Is that person going to appreciate that? They go, oh, at least I gave me 10p towards it.
They're going to be insulted, they're going to be insulted, they're going to be angry, like, you
want to take some credit, you want to take 10p's worth of credit, I've just been willing to forego
thousands of pounds of damage, and that is minuscule compared with us trying to add our works and take
some sort of credit for salvation. That's just like, I mean, that doesn't even compare, but it's
just to help them understand it in real terms, that's what it's like, just multiplied by a million.
He's paid for every single one of your sins, all you've got to do is trust him.
So moving on from the remnant now, okay, for the rest of them though, verse nine says this,
verse nine says, in that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough
at an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel,
and there shall be desolation. So perhaps this is referring to those Syrian cities which weren't
defended due to them attacking Judah, because back in 2 Kings, I did say, I think, to keep something
in 2 Kings, but look at chapter 24 now, so back in 2 Kings 24, this is now talking of the bad
King Jehoiakim, so like I said, I believe really we're probably talking about this being fulfilled,
you know, with the Babylonian reign to come. Back in 2 Kings 24, it says in verse 1,
it's in Kings 24, 1. In his days Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim became
his servant three years, then he turned and rebelled against him, and the Lord sent against
him bands of the Chaldees, and I don't miss this, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites,
and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy him, according to the
word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the prophets. So when he said in that day,
shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, now some people think that maybe this switches
back to Israel, I think he's still talking about Syria here, Damascus being the capital, he said
his strong cities shall be as a forsaken bough, they've been forsaken, and an uppermost branch,
which has kind of been left, which they left because of the children of Israel, and there
shall be desolation. Well here, you know, at that point they do seem to, at least there's bands of
the Syrians attacking, maybe they left their strong cities to attack Judah resulting in desolation,
because just because it's around this time, we don't know exactly when, that the Babylonians
it seems retook Syria, and when you go, well why did it say bands of Syrians are not the Assyrians,
because just because the Assyrians invaded and conquered and took over these places, it didn't
mean that they just wiped out everyone existing, they weren't just performing mass genocides on
nations, they would take money from that place, they would take, you know, part of the produce
of the land etc, they were controlling those areas, so when they invaded Damascus they controlled
Damascus, but there were still Syrians living there. Well here there's bands of them around this
time when we start to see Babylon rise up, and at this point, you know, maybe Babylon's risen up, the
Assyrian empires ended, it's around that time, but we're seeing bands of the Syrians. Well, my point
is, and whether or not that is what it's saying in verse 9, is that just because God sends people to
chastise his children, doesn't mean that they don't still get their comeuppance, okay, so if you've ever
seen that happen in life and, you know, you've seen, you know, maybe or even yourself you feel like
you've got some chastisement, at the hands of maybe someone that wasn't very pleasant, the hands of
someone that wasn't very nice, you think, well how does he get to end up, you know, being what's
ended up chastising me or chastising someone maybe you know or, you know, however it works? Well,
they still get it in the end as well, and in God's wrath it will be those that were previously
persecuting his people that will be destroyed, won't it? That's what will happen
in God's wrath to come. It said in verse 10, because thou has forgotten the God of thy salvation
and has not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, sorry, back in Isaiah 17, and has not
been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants and
shalt set it with strange slips. In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning
shalt thou make thy seed to flourish, but the harvest shall be a heap in a day of grief and of
desperate sorrow. And that doesn't just apply to the children of Israel, okay, there's, there's,
there is only one God of anyone's salvation, isn't there? So again, that's why I think, and I might be
wrong, but I believe it probably is still applying to Damascus and Syria, is the burden of Damascus.
He said, he said that because thou has forgotten the God of thy salvation, not be mindful of the
rock of thy strength. There's only one God of your salvation, okay, there's only one rock of
your strength, there's only one true God, and when you forget him, when you're not mindful of him,
the result is a fruitless religion. And when you plant plants, okay, but you try to support them
with strange supports, which I think is what we're talking about here with the strange slips,
it might start off well, but a harvest will be a pile of waste. And this can apply obviously, first
off, to full salvations, okay, you know, in terms of when, when, when it's not really, it's not the
God of your salvation, it's not the, the rock of your strength, obviously those salvations won't be
legit, but, but also to those that are saved, okay, but they're set with strange slips, a support isn't
the true foundations, okay, so you can be saved, but you can just be in some lame old church,
you can be surrounded by false teaching, false bibles, false, false doctrine, surrounded by all
these false ways, just by strange supports, and the harvest ain't gonna be worth anything, the
harvest will be a heap. Turn to Matthew 13, in that day of grief and sorrow they crumble as well,
if you're not rooted and grounded, if you're not in the word, if you're not hearing the doctrine,
when you have those hard times, it crumbles. Now in Matthew 13, it's a parable of the sower,
and the Lord explains it from verse 19. So Matthew 13, we see the parable of the sower, in verse 19
he explains it where he says, when one, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth
it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart, this is he
which received seed by the wayside. That's someone that doesn't get saved, basically, okay, and sadly
often, you know, it does happen, you know, I don't know if you've ever spoken to people before that
maybe you preach to, they've said, oh, think about everything else, and then just something just,
it all just goes wrong after that, you might bump into them again, and they've kind of gone down
like, you know, suddenly the Jehovah's Witnesses were on their case, something else weird happened,
you know, things just happens, you know, the wicked one, and I think it can even just be
through, for example, the mainstream media, or through like, through just family and friends,
or just things suddenly just getting away, pull people away, you know, that's a sad result sometimes
that can happen when you go out and preach the gospel to people. But verse 20 says, but he that
received the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word and anon with joy,
receiveth it. Now this is someone that does get saved, he's received it, he's received the word,
okay, this is for me someone saved, however, verse 21 says, yet hath he not rooted himself,
but dureth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word,
by and by he is offended. So he's got no root, he's got no strong grounding which comes from the word.
Verse 11, in Isaiah said, in that day, don't worry, stay here for a second, said, in that day
shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish,
but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. So it makes me
think, for example, of, you know, there's a lot of like these fanboy types that often they'll put
someone on a massive pedestal, then when they perceive that they've fallen, they can't cope,
they can't cope in the faith anymore, they stop believing, it seems like everything they've ever
believed. You know, these people that seem to be like, you know, well on board with the doctrine
of the bible, then when they suddenly feel that, you know, whoever it is that they're worshipping,
they feel they've fallen, they can't cope, they're done. It's like their religion's almost done,
they just can't because they never had that, they never had that root, they never had that grounding
in the word. Here's another strange slip or support as well that will destroy that plant.
So the grounding comes from the word of God ultimately, that's what your root is, that's
what it has to be in, that's why, look, you know, and I've been preaching this for years now from
behind this pulpit and in our past, you know, church builders, just read the word,
keep reading the word, keep learning from the word, read your bible, read your bible, pray every day,
just be in the word of God, you've got to be in the word of God because if you're not in the word
of God, you're not grounded, you're not rooted, and you can't just trust whoever it is preaching,
everything they say, that's it, I'll just go off that, just this, some clips of preaching,
everything else, you don't have the grounding, the grounding comes from knowing what's in the
word and it's from the word. But like I said, another strange slip or support, look at verse 22
in Matthew 13, he also that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the
care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful. So all
that worldly nonsense or all that chasing riches that so many people are just so just consumed by,
just somehow I've got to get money, I've got to get richer, I need the cash, I need the money,
all that stuff, all the cares of this world, all the, you know, the pride of life,
the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word and it becometh unfruitful.
That's another strange simple support, you have that as that support, you have that as what you're
immersed in, as a believer it's going to destroy you. However, verse 23, but he that received seed,
and you won't be fruitful, and that's ultimately what we're seeing, the harvest will be a heap,
it'll be like a rubbish dump, there'll be nothing worth, but he that receives seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth
some an hundredfold, some 60, some 30. So that's someone that hasn't forgotten the God of their
salvation, that has been mindful of the rock of their strength, like we saw earlier in Isaiah,
that's someone that is in their good ground, that ground is constantly I think being turned over
and renewed, refreshed by the word of God, they're grounded, they're rooted, and they're bearing
fruit, they're getting people saved basically, because that's the goal, that's the goal Christian,
that's your goal in life is to get people saved. The goal isn't to make yourself feel warm and fuzzy,
that's not the goal, the goal isn't you know to just, if only I could just get some real great
Christian friends and then I'd just feel a bit happier about having to be in the workplace the
rest of the week. There we go, we've solved it. That ain't the goal, they're all good things,
yeah, feeling warm and fuzzy is nice, sometimes you feel warm and fuzzy,
okay, sometimes it's not, it's great having Christian brethren, it's great, but the goal
ultimately is salvation, to be fruitful, and you know how you, how, what helps that is, is having
not strange slips, not strange supports around that plant is to be constantly purged, to be
constantly renewed, refreshed by the word of God, surrounded by the word of God, supported by
believers, supported by preaching, being in the house of God, being around God's people, being in
the word, and it said back in verse 10 of Isaiah, it said, because thou has forgotten the God of
thy salvation, has not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant
plants and shalt set it with strange slips. In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow and in the
morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish, but the harvest shall be a heap in a day of grief
and of desperate sorrow. Woe to the multitude of many people which make a noise like the noise of
the seas and to the rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters.
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters, but God shall rebuke them,
they shall flee far off and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind and
like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. So this is those enemies that rush to destroy God's people,
that flood that's sent to destroy God's word and his people, I believe. And it can feel like it
at times now, okay, sometimes you feel like, man, it seems like everyone's at us, everyone hates us,
everyone's on us, but in the end it will be sheer multitudes of people rushing to destroy us.
Now Matthew 24-21 says, for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be. But God will deal with them, they shall
flee far off, they shall be blown away, won't they? That's what it said here, they shall be
chased as a chaff of the mountains before the wind and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
He said, and behold, at evening tide trouble and before the morning he is not. This is a portion
of them that spoil us and a lot of them that rob us. So that was to come again to the Syrians, okay,
it will come to our enemies now and in the future as well. It's sudden when God does deal with
things, that's what it said here, behold at evening tide trouble and before the morning he is not.
And, you know, ultimately that's why it's best to leave it to him, isn't it?
So the trouble you do have in life, the problems you do have, the people that attack you, that are
on your case, you know, all the different areas that God comes in, sorry, that they come in, you
need to leave it to God. Romans 12-19 says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather give
place unto wrath for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord. And here
he said that this is a portion of them that spoil us and a lot of them that rob us. So those nations,
those surrounding nations, those people that hated God's people, that were attacking God's people,
eventually, ultimately, God was to wipe them out. And that's what happens when you leave it to God.
And on that we're going to finish in a word of prayer.
Father, thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you for, well, you know, a complicated
chapter where there's kind of lots of, you know, it's interesting with timelines. I hope I preached
that accurately, Lord, and in a way that people are able to follow as well, Lord. And thank you
for your word, thank you for the complexity of your word, Lord. We pray that we'll just be,
you know, an effective group, an effective group of soul winners coming out of this church, Lord,
that we will, you know, we won't forsake you, Lord. We won't try and do things without you.
We'll do it your way and with that go on to get many people saved. Help us to just be a thriving,
flourishing church here, Lord. Help us to rely on you to deal with our problems, to deal with
our troubles. Help everyone to get home safe for sound this evening and to return on Sunday
for another day in your house. In Jesus' name we pray all this. Amen.
you