(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

30, Isaiah was warning of the woe coming to those that were looking to Egypt for help instead of God. So remember that the Assyrians were coming to, you know, he was preaching, prophesying of them, coming over to invade and to come and attack Jerusalem, and there were those that were looking over to Egypt for help. We saw how giving of your wealth, your time, effort to Egypt, and we saw that Egypt represents a world how that's futile. It's futile, really, the Egyptians weren't going to deliver them from the Assyrians. But these rebellious people of Judah didn't want to hear it, so they were, according to Isaiah in chapter 13 verse 10, they were saying to the seers, see not and to the prophets prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, and there are various ways that many people do similar to date, and we looked at that, how many just want to hear the smooth things, they want to hear the deceits, they don't want to hear the truth of the word of God. Isaiah said that because of this they will be destroyed quickly, being the many that rejected the prophecies. We saw that and, you know, there were many that did end up doing that, and many would have been destroyed quickly. They rejected the prophecies and which was to stay in Jerusalem. He said that those that flee will have nowhere to hide. Then there was a turning point in the chapter, so about halfway through going from the woe for the rejectors to the blessing for those that do wait upon the Lord. There was physical blessings of plenty and provision, but these also seem to represent spiritual blessings if you remember too, salvations, everything around that being the ultimate end result. Then we saw how so much of it lined up with the prophecies of the second coming of Christ and the millennial reign to come, and we looked at some of those and we had to rush through them a little bit for the sake of time, but also focusing on how before that thousand years God's wrath is coming down to earth. He said in verse 30 of Isaiah chapter 30, Isaiah 30-30 said, And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lightning down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempests and hailstones. For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrits, harps, and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophat is ordained of old, yea, for the king it is prepared. He hath made it deep and large, the path thereof is fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it. And then Isaiah 31 starts with verse 1, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. I'd like to pray and then we're going to get going with the chapter. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the many truths we can get out of this chapter, Lord, the verses and how we can apply them to us today as well, Lord. Help me to do that in the right way, Lord, in an accurate way, in a bold way, Lord, in a way that people will be able to respond to what your word's saying, Lord, to want to apply it to their lives, Lord, to not just want to be hearers but to want to be doers of your word, Lord. Help me to preach this in the right way, Lord, help everyone to have a tent of his. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Okay, so Isaiah 31 verse 1 said, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. So Isaiah, he's been rebuking them for the last few chapters. If you've been, you know, sort of part of this Bible study, if you haven't, that's what he's been doing. He's been rebuking them, he's been warning of the woe coming and warning of those ignoring the woe coming. Okay, at the beginning of the last chapter, he said very similar to this in Isaiah 30 and verse 1. Verse 1 of the previous chapter said, Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, and that cover with the covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. So the warnings continued until, like I said earlier, about halfway through the chapter, when it's switched to the blessings of those trusting in the Lord. But he's repeating that warning again now. So he's just talked about, you know, the blessings coming to those that trust in the Lord. He's warned again of the wrath of God coming, and he's now repeating the warning again from earlier, and specifically the warning about trusting in Egypt. And if you're thinking, are you going to talk about trusting in Egypt again then, Pastor Tavener? It seems to be a bit of a theme of this one. You hit it quite a bit last week as well, I sure am. I sure am, okay. Isaiah is repeating it here, because regardless of the previous warnings, many were still going to do that. Many were still... He's just said it. He's talked a bit about some blessings, warned about the wrath. Now he's going to say to them again, you're going to trust in Egypt again. And despite last week's warnings of trusting Egypt, okay, trusting the world's solutions to your problems, okay, which most people, I think, that are here now, were here last week, or maybe they managed to at least watch the sermon online, you know, despite the warnings of putting your faith in the world's council, in the things which the world says will make you strong, I guarantee you, I guarantee you, okay, that people would have walked straight out of here, and within days, maybe not even days, maybe less, be back to the worldly council. For sure, for sure, be back to the world's solutions, be back to the world's ways of feeling strong. Because why? Because some of this stuff is deep-rooted. There is that. Some of this stuff, though, it's not that it's just deep-rooted. You know what the issue is for many people? It's just pure rebellion. It's rebellion to God's word. It's because you can hear God's word, you can hear him clearly tell you not to trust in the world, not to trust in the world for deliverance from your problems as a solution to your issues, your troubles. And what do people do? Go back to trusting the world. They just reject God's way. In Isaiah 30, verse 9, he said that this is a rebellious people. Verse 9 of the chapter before, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord. So Isaiah warned everyone again, some messages just need preaching regularly, even the next week. And again, I'm going to preach a bit differently and there is a lot of other stuff to hear, but maybe there are some that it will chip away at, at least. Maybe someone here heard it last week, kind of got maybe a little slight conviction, so quickly kind of fobbed it off. He's probably thinking about me or some, you know, you know, some one of those things, and I'm probably applying this wrong. It's not really, this doesn't apply to me. Whatever it is, right? So maybe this week, it might just chip away that little bit more, because that's the idea, right? What's the idea of preaching? Why are you here to hear preaching? Because it changes lives, isn't it? And we want to change our lives for the better, don't we? We want to live better. We want to serve God better. We want to ultimately be better used by God to get other people saved as the end result, isn't it really, right? So he's warning everyone again. He said this in verse one, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. So remember those that didn't trust in the walls of Jerusalem that fed to Egypt, they made the wrong choice. Well, the safe place was where God wanted them. And of course, the obvious application, the obvious one is a house of God, okay? That's the obvious place where God wants you, in the house of God, serving God. And I say this many times, just because there aren't houses of God in every corner, there aren't in every town, there aren't in every city, there aren't necessarily even in every nation, proper house of God that believe the word of God, that preach the word of God, that go out and preach the true gospel, the pure gospel, that it's grace through faith alone, like the Bible so clearly says. So there's always that, but at least it's trying to get involved with a house of God, whether it's to be part of a house of God and be at least, you know, part of maybe an attempt to have one where you live, maybe to move closer to a house of God. God ultimately, that's where it all comes from, comes from the church, comes from the house of God, okay? You're not safe for out of church. You're not safe for watching. You're not safe from the destructiveness of sin, watching thousands of hours of various preaching, teaching. Now, nothing wrong with that, okay? And again, I want to remind you that. I'm not criticizing people that want to learn and grow, listen to good preaching. It's good stuff, but it does not replace being in the house of God. It really doesn't. You're not better off with that. There's a safety in God's house. There's a culpability in God's house, isn't there? That you don't have when you're sitting at home going, I'll just watch sermons and watch sermons. It's not the same. There is a culpability. There's a safety in the house of God from the destructiveness of sin. You do feel that little bit more answerable, don't you? It's that little bit different. For those that have maybe spent time and periods in their saved life, sitting at home, watching things online, there's a difference when suddenly you're in the house of God or you're around other believers. You do feel a bit more answerable, don't you? There's an extra incentive to be in the house of God, to be able to walk in and feel bold. You hear a lot of people say things like they felt like a fraud going into church because they felt like they were just so messed up in all these different areas. But you know what? That starts to make a difference in your life, doesn't it? Because you want to get right. You want to change. You know you're in God's will, which does make you a little bit more likely, less likely, sorry, to just say, well, oh well. Because when you're just out of God's will in so many other areas of life, it's like another thing is just like, well, it's another thing I've done wrong. Another sin, do I really need to make an effort to avoid it? But when you're in church, you're serving God, you're trying to do the right thing, it does help, doesn't it? No, no one here is a picture of holiness, but it does help being in the house of God, doesn't it? So the other thing with that as well, here's another reason, is that if you come into the house of God and you're in the house of God regularly, you're walking with wise men, aren't you? Dan mentioned this verse in his sermon on Sunday evening. Proverbs 13 20 says, he that walks with wise men shall be wise. You're walking, you're around, you're spending time around wise people, around people that are saved. Yeah, because that's the beginning of wisdom. Then people that are saved are living for God, you'll be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You will get destroyed. You spend too much time with fools, you hang around with fools, you're going to get destroyed. And then another reason that we're in the house of God is that we exhort one another here as well, don't we? Hebrews 10 25 says that we should be not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of summaries, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. And obviously, I always apply that ultimately as it's for other people, but it is also for yourself. It's one another. You want to get encouraged, you want to be exhorted to go on to live for God, you kind of need to be in the house of God, don't you? You need to be where God wants you to be, not down in Egypt. But they could have been there in Jerusalem, okay? You know, these people here back in where we're talking about in Jerusalem here in this time period, they could have been there. They could have walked out the gate and we're about, you know, 700 years BC here. They could have taken the next camel train, though, straight back to Zoan, couldn't they? So just because they were there didn't mean they were going to stay there. And just because you're in the house of God doesn't mean that you're just going to always be in the house of God. It doesn't mean that you're not maybe going to be in between the house of God and Egypt, which obviously represents the world. Many might be regularly between the two. Maybe some of these guys here would have been ready to go there at the first sign of trouble. They were just gearing up, getting ready. As soon as those Assyrians come into view, as soon as we know they're on their way, we hear that they're making their way across the land, it's time to go back to Egypt. And you can be in church, but you can still have your trust in the world, can't you? You can be in church, you can still have your trust in the so-called strength that the world offers. He said in verse one here again, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses and trust in chariots because they're many, and in horsemen because they're very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. So they're trusting the strength that the world has an offering. It makes me think of a few things that God's people can and will do today. So you've got the Word of God, full of advice, yeah, and counsel. I mean there's so much advice and counsel in this word about the direction of your life. For example, dealing with anxiety. There's so much in the Word of God about dealing with anxiety, being bold but also being humble, being prudent but also faith-filled, because the Word of God gives you the balance that no worldly source will, because there's balance in life, because of course we build precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. You see verses about being bold in your faith and everything else, but then you see verses about being circumspect about being prudent, and it all goes hand in hand as a balance to how God wants you to live. But instead of reaching for the Bible, instead of putting that bit of effort into studying out the issue, and a lot of the time it is only a little bit of effort. I mean you could, nowadays with what we have in front of us, you could just search a term. Go on a Bible website, a Bible app, obviously a King James Bible website, a Bible and just search a term, search a word, search a phrase, and you'll find so much and it's not the hardest thing, but it does take a bit of effort, doesn't it? A little bit of effort to read the Word of God, to pick up the Word of God. But what happens is then instead of looking unto the Holy One of Israel, as you said we should do here, instead of seeking the Lord, the easy option is the world's imbalanced books on the topic. That's the easy thing, isn't it? Well, I've ordered a book on how to deal with anxiety in life, or I've ordered a book on how to do this, how to be, you know, bolder, how to be... And it's like, that's the easy option, isn't it? You just open it because you don't then have to look and search and everything else. Or even easier, shove on the podcast. Is that an easy one for many? Shove on the podcast, press play, shove it in my ears while I'm at work or doing something else, and I'll be told by someone else. I don't even have to put any effort in. The world's psychology in its various ways, and I'm not just podcasting anything, right? Videos, books, podcasts, you name it, the world's justification for your sin. Which often is a lot of what it is, isn't it? The world just tries to find a way to justify your sin. And always because of this happened to you, because of this, because of that in the future, because of that in the past, because of that. There's always justification. Now, don't get me wrong, there can be... There can be explanation while we're more predisposed to certain things. But ultimately, the world likes to justify it, doesn't it? Rather than trying to help us to deal with it, it's often justification. The world's advice often on how to focus on you. Isn't that what a lot of the world's advice is? Focus on you, how it's all about you, how to make life... You know, everything about you. It's so often the self-centered life, the narcissistic life, which is such a big thing out there now. They're having marriage problems. Christians out there, so what do they do? They reach for the world's advice. I don't know if they still... Do they still give men the advice of, treat them mean, keep them king? Yeah, it just made me think of that, because I just remember many years ago, I think I was 16, and I did this job very briefly for Anglion Windows. I think they're still around, right? So it was like a sales type thing that some friends are doing. They're like, oh, come along, yeah, you get paid for a leader. We're only young, couldn't get many jobs. So I got involved. And then the guy who led the gang of all these teenagers, he's this older guy, and he had his girlfriend at the time, and they had this blazing row in front of us. I thought, well, this is rough, yeah. And then she kind of stormed off, and he was like, treat them mean, keep them king, boys. And then within an hour, she dumped him. And that was the end of him. And that was worldly advice, you know? But it didn't work. Fortunately, I saw the fruits of that did not work, right? Okay, but maybe for women, they might be told, well, make him love you more by becoming more independent, more out of reach. Make him love you more by obsessing more over your looks. Isn't that kind of partly, part of the world? I've seen that sort of worldly advice. Women think that's how it's going to work for them, right? Does that really work, though? Does it really work? Is that really the right thing to be doing, by just becoming more vain, and more just all about the outward appearance? And this is a big one that the world is obsessed about, and seeks their security from their self-esteem, their boldness, isn't it? Looks, looks, how you look, how they look. And of course, look, women are naturally predisposed to this more, okay? This goes without saying. Why? Because men are more predisposed to be looking on the outward, right? Okay, so it kind of goes hand in hand, isn't it? Men are more likely to look on the outward. Women are more likely to look at themselves on the outward. But something that has exploded over the last several decades is men obsessing about their looks, too. It's weird. It is. It's queer. I'm sorry, it is. It's not. This isn't how people used to be, okay? Far beyond a bit of self-care and respect, okay? It becomes their confidence. And this has really blown up recently, isn't it? I mean, it's nuts. You didn't see this stuff. Look, okay, you did. If you think, you look back in time, you might have seen maybe, you know, if you look back at, especially like royalty and stuff like that, you saw some pretty funky, weird outfits and hairdos and stuff. It's one of those things. But for just like this massive cultural thing, I've seen this shift over at least my lifetime, of men where it's like there's no shame about their, you know, pruning, preening, fake tan, shave, waxing. I mean, this is weird stuff. Okay, this is not normal, badly behaviour, right? Though it's true, isn't it? You know, their body shapes and staring in mirrors and all that. This is weird stuff. And the problem is it's addictive stuff as well. I taught, the other day we had a plumber come in. He liked to talk this guy, yeah. But he had his apprentice here, and who basically just did all the work, you know. Whatever, the guy was like 67 or something, you know. So maybe he was kind of phasing it out a bit. But anyway, the apprentice, he's just, oh, all he cares about is going to the gym. All he cares about is trying to look big. I was like, oh, okay. So at the end of the, you know, we put it to the test. At the end of it all, he said, are you interested? Because I offered him the gospel again. The guy wasn't interested. Went to ask this lad, oh, you know, he's like, nah. Just laughed it off. Not interested at all. And again, you know, this isn't, you know, a double blind placebo trial, right? But what it is, is just an example. And so many of people that are just so vested in that stuff. That's all he really cares. He said, that's all he cares about. It's addictive stuff, isn't it? The people, that's all they care about, right? Their outward appearance, all that stuff. But it's not just those. There are those that think their job, their bank balance. Maybe their fighting skills, their weapons arsenal. Here, you're going to be a bit limited. Maybe you like your air guns, you know? This is going to keep me safe. You are a bit limited here, but there are those you can imagine in places like the US and other places where they think, this is what their trust is in. This is what their confidence is in. You know, maybe it's not their looks. Maybe it's their wealth, whatever it is. But turn to Proverbs 21. Turn to Proverbs 21, because it's not that all of that stuff is bad. It's not that you're unfaithful to God if you're not maybe a pencil neck with two left feet or something, you know? We are told to be circumspect, okay? It's natural to be prepared to some degree for trouble, for problems, okay? But Proverbs 21 31 says, the horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. It's an easy thing to look at and just go, yeah, I just trust in God. But how ultimately do you trust in God? It comes from relying on him, which you can't do without looking under him and seeking him. How do you rely on God? How do you rely on the things he tells you to do if you don't know what he's told you to do? How can you rely, have that safety of the Lord if you don't really know what he does or doesn't want you to do and where he wants you to go and where he doesn't want you to go? But it comes from learning that and not having all your trust and faith in all these other things. He said, woe to them, back in verse one of Proverbs 31, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they're very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. And you could look at 100 different worldly things that people have their trust in, their faith in, their confidence in. It's what really is keeping them feeling bold, feeling strong, feeling confident instead of the Lord. But aside from God's people, though, this also applies to the world as a whole that will look under anything Egypt offers, that will seek all over Egypt, won't they? Sorry, they will seek throughout Egypt rather than the Lord. Like I said, I spoke to this plumber the other day, okay, and he asked me about the church, you know, he came to do some stuff here. And then so I thought, okay, you know, let's see where he's at. I said, oh, well, this is the sort of church we are. I thought I could try and get on to preaching the Gospel to him. And straight away, nah, nah, I don't believe any of that. Don't believe anything at all. Don't believe a thing. Okay, and he was like pretty forceful with it. I said, okay, okay. So during this conversation, it then progressed to believing nothing at all, to then he actually believes, and he said, and it was a sad story, he said like his son had died as a teenager, so that's why he doesn't believe anything. You know what that really means. I'm angry with God. I don't want to hear anything about God because I'm fuming still with what happened many, many years ago. So I did try and explain. I tried to explain that God's not, you know, a puppet master God that, you know, we don't believe this kind of Calvinist-style God who just ordains evil and good. No, God gives us free will. There's free will in life. There's free will in all areas of life, right? And this can result in things like that, things, cancers, things like that. That's not God going, you get ill, you not, you know, etc. So I tried to get onto that. Then it went on to, oh, well, actually, I believe in, then it was aliens. Then it was actually, when you look at Egypt, it's a result of aliens. And that's why they've got halos around their head because they're actually space helmets. Having said he believed in nothing, then it got to aliens, then it got to spirits. Then it was actually when, you know, this family member died, I think a spirit came in. Then he went to see a medium after that. And do you know what it was? It was anything but hearing the gospel. Anything but the God of the Bible. He was happy with anything. Oh, I'll go with a bit of that, a bit of that, a bit of nothing, now a bit of aliens, now a bit of this. But I will not let you preach me the gospel. Will not let you open up the Bible. Spoke to me for about an hour. Just didn't want to hear the word of God. And that was the first time. Second time, I just didn't even try. But I thought, well, you never know, you might one day in the future. But, point being, okay, they look for anything but his wisdom. They do not look into the Holy One of his wisdom. Do not look into the Holy One of his will, neither seek the Lord. Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, verse two, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity. So this isn't one of those judgments like, say, Nineveh, dependent upon their turning from their evil ways in the Book of Jonah. This is going to happen. The Assyrians are coming. You either stay safe within Jerusalem or you flee away from God and get destroyed. They're your options, okay? He will not call back his words. It's not going to change. But who are the people here that are trying to pull them out of where God wants them? Look at verse two, it said, Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity. So the house of the evildoers, them that work iniquity, are God's enemies. They're the children of the devil. They're sons of Belial. Okay, they're the other team. I was explaining this to someone the other day. It's not that everyone in the world who's not saved is a son of the devil, a child of the devil. No, you've got three people, basically. It boils down to this. You've got the saved. You've got God's people. You've got the vast majority of people, which is just the lost, the unsaved that we're trying to reach. And then you've got children of the devil. You've got the sons of Belial, who are basically what the Bible called reprobates. You know, they're the evil, the house of the wicked, the house of the evildoers that we see here, children of the devil. Well, another name is workers of iniquity. Okay, that's what it's talking about here. God will arise against those people eventually. But was it the next day, do you think? Did these guys spring up in a day and get destroyed? Because we often get impatient about this, don't we? Especially if you're dealing with people that like this. You're thinking, man, these are some bad people, and these are some bad people that maybe you've dealt with, maybe you've been targeted by, and you're thinking, oh God. But it wasn't the next day, was it? It wasn't the next day. I believe they're even used like their father, the devil, to present choices in life. The devil presents choices, doesn't he? You know, he gives you the option. You can choose. In many situations, they present choices. But eventually he will arise against them. It does come in the end. It might come right at the end. It might be that they grow up, you know, the tares amongst the wheat until the very end. But at some point, eventually, he will arise against them. And here, what was their goal? Okay, what was their goal, these people here? Because these are the people that he's preaching against, to lead God's people into Egypt. That ultimately was their goal, wasn't it? To pull them away from God's house in Jerusalem. Isn't that their goal? They want to lead God's people into Egypt, into the world. Now, are they all telling themselves that we just need to get them out? They probably convinced themselves that they're right. They convinced themselves that they're justified. They convinced themselves that they're good people, probably. And the pride helps with that, obviously. And that they're right in their goal to basically try and pull people out, to try and remove people from God's house. And there are various ways that God's enemies do this. Some are obvious, okay? You know, some are just very clear that the lies and distortion of the truth is clear to all. Their folly is manifest at all, for some. Yeah, you just see the clear lies. You can recognize the lies. You're like, okay, I can see what I'm dealing with here. Clearly not God's way. They're like, oh, it's such a godly person. It's making up lies, changing things, you know, slander, etc. Their way, okay, going to Egypt, didn't line up with what God said through Isaiah, did it? So their goal, their way, and that's not what God was saying, the word of God was saying, which was being preached by Isaiah. But others are more subtle. So there can be the gradual promotion of worldliness. And that's something we need to look out for in our life. We're not just talking about in the church or people outside the church who, you know, maybe were in it or whatever else, you know, in sort of Christian circles. Just people trying to slowly promote worldliness to you is something we need to watch for. Because that's ultimately what they're trying to do. That's the picture here, is trying to basically get them out into Egypt. He said, he said here, he is also wise and will bring evil and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity, on the subject of them trying to take them down, them that go down to Egypt for help, stay on horse and trust, etc., from verse one. But maybe some of these guys, maybe they were just sowing seeds, promoting Egypt without saying go there, you know, just a little stuff. So stuff you've got to watch out for. Genesis 3, 1, you don't have to turn this, it says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Was it blatant? No, it was subtle, right? But it was, that is a very real attack. And as believers, we need to have our eyes open for the subtle stuff as well. Verse two said, Yet he also is wise and will bring evil and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that work iniquity. And notice how God will arise against the help of them that work iniquity. Now here it's the Egyptians, but you can apply that to anyone who helps God's enemies. First Peter 3, 12 says, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto the prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Because when God's judgment comes, right, we would do best to be as far away from wicked people as possible, wouldn't we? Yeah, you don't want to be around when God's judgment is coming on people. And although this is applied to the Egyptians, you can apply it also to just worldly believers, can you? Those with a foot in Egypt who do just seem, they seem less fussed by the works of iniquity. I don't know if you've ever noticed that. Like very worldly believers, people that are maybe struggling with these things, people that are maybe out of the things of God a lot, they just don't seem as fussed by bad people, do they? They don't really bother them so much. They're not really as outraged by it, they're not really as upset, they're not really, usually they're not really tuned into seeing it so much either. Psalm, you don't have to turn to Psalm 119 and verse 104 says, Through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. That's what makes you hate the false way, by learning of and doing God's precepts. That's how we get that hatred. Whereas the believer hanging around in Egypt is less fazed, less bothered. They don't seem to care, you notice that. You're just like, man, I can't stand, you know, this false prophet, this whoever, you know, they're like standing around preaching false gospels, it's like, oh well, oh well, they just believe a bit differently, they're just damning people to hell every week with their preaching and whatever else they're doing and doing. I mean, that stuff, that should vex you, shouldn't it? I mean, that stuff is vexing. I mean, it's eternity, it's different between heaven and hell for people. Getting, like, preaching a false gospel is serious stuff, isn't it? I mean, how wicked, I mean, is there much more wicked than that? People do some vile stuff in the world, right, and there's some vile things that people do and it's like stuff you don't even want to think about, but is there much worse than just damning people by the droves to hell? That is horrendous, isn't it? Through thy precepts I get understanding, and the more we understand, the more we read the word of God, the more we understand it, the more we understand that it is just a narrow way. It's faith alone in Christ alone and everything else is a false gospel, isn't it? The more we hate those false ways, but the believer hanging around in Egypt is less fazed and less bothered by these things. He said, now the Egyptians, well, that's three, are men and not God, and their horse is flesh and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is hoping shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. So when God's hand of judgment comes out, the only safe place is under the shadow of his wing. Okay, those different things that you're relying on in the world, you know, they're physical, not spiritual. We need spiritual protection when spiritual judgment comes, not physical. And those relying on the world shall fail with the world as opposed to those relying on the Lord. He said in verse 4, For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, like as a lion and a young lion roaring on his prey. When a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. So the analogy is of the Lord being like a lion facing down a multitude of shepherds, if you notice there. He said, like as a lion, in verse 4 here, and a young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. Which I find interesting, because isn't that similar to the battle of today? Isn't that the sort of battle we're in today with shepherds? Shepherds are what? Those that lead the flock, right? A pastor is a shepherd, that's what the word basically means. But so really are leaders of all various religions, whether they call themselves a pastor or not. A priest is pastoring his flock, whether they're saved or not. And obviously in a lot of these places, most of them they're not going to be. An imam is pastoring his group of Muslims. They're basically shepherding, aren't they? And isn't that who the Lord is battling through his people today? Isn't that ultimately what we were against today? That's what we were against, warring against shepherds. But they're just not the good shepherds. False prophets in their various ways. Multitudes, it said here, of shepherds called forth against the Lord, called forth against the truth of his word. That's what we're battling out there. That's what we were battling today, just in the high street with false prophets, or at least with people trying to come, Muslims trying to come and stop people getting saved, trying to distract, trying to get involved, having to be pulled away and stuff like that. That's what we're dealing with, aren't we? That's what the battle is. The battle is with the false religions, ultimately, isn't it? The false ways. He said in verse 4, For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, like as a lion and a young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. And they sure do make a noise, don't they? I mean, many are afraid of their voice because of the sheer multitudes. Because there's a lot of noise out there for work salvation, isn't there? I mean, it's everywhere. Because ultimately, that's what we're dealing with, and it's going to get worse and worse like that. It's just this ecumenical religion. Any which way is fine, as long as it involves some form of works. That's what you deal with. They're happy with each other. I mean, it always just makes me chuckle how many different versions of repent of your sins there are. Just in case you're wondering, that's a false plan of salvation. The Bible never says, once you've got to repent of your sins to get saved, you've got to repent, you've got to change your mind for what you did believe and put your faith in Christ. And it's funny how you talk to all these different people that will all say you've got to repent of your sins. One means you've got to give up sins. Another one means you've got to try to give up sins. Another one means you've got to at least attempt to give up some sins. Another one means you've got to keep repenting of sins in the future. Another one thinks you've got to at least try not to sin in the future. Another one thinks you've just got to ask for forgiveness every time you do sin in the future. Another one thinks it's only for the major sins. And they're absolutely happy with each other. I mean, that's a lot of versions of salvation, isn't it? Just in that one term alone. And I'll probably miss some there, okay? That's a lot of versions. Yeah, they get on like a house on fire. Oh, yeah, yeah, you've got to repent of your sins. Oh, yeah, what do you mean by that? I don't know. Whatever. Some form of works. As long as you can add something to salvation, we're happy. And do you know what they hate? It's the truth. They hate you saying it's not of works, that's any man should boast. Even though that's what the Bible says time and time again. It's just so bizarre. People claim to believe the Bible. But they don't really. They just want to somehow add work to salvation. But it's not just those. Those people don't seem fussed by the Catholic Church. They don't seem fussed by many churches. A lot of the time they don't seem that fussed by non-Christian religions as well. As long as there's some works. A lot of them will say, well, there's many paths to God. Many paths of work salvation. And they're right that there are many paths to work salvation. There are many paths of work salvation. But all those paths come together and they don't go up. They do go to God because they burn in the presence of the Lamb. But they all seem happy with each other. But you know what they hate? Is someone saying, no, Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And that's faith alone in Christ alone. And isn't that probably what will be the big difference in the tribulation? Don't you think? I think that's probably what it will come down to. It will be all the different versions of false religions. All the ecumenical religions. And then those pesky believers who will not accept any other religion. And they're saying, no, it's faith alone in Christ alone. With their King James Bible or whatever else. They'll claim it's hate speech by then, won't they? Well, at least here. So whether it's then or now, okay, whether it is in the future or it's now, you want to be more Christ-like, don't we? You know, a lot of people say you need to be more Christ-like, right? We need to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And I completely agree, right? He is our example, okay? We want to be more Christ-like. Well, how do we be more Christ-like? Well, according to this verse here, fight for God's people. Fight for God's people. He said here that he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill they're of. And ultimately that's God's people. Now, it's not a physical fight that we're called to, in case you're wondering here, okay? Thank God, because there's a lot of them, right? Not many of us, okay? It might get a bit rough, right? There's some of them you might fancy. You just kind of turn a switch now and again, okay? Physical for a minute. Oh, quickly! Switch it off again. There's a few too many. Those curved swords are coming now, okay? But we're called to be more Christ-like. Therefore, it's to fight to win God's people to the heavenly Zion is how I see that. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill they're of. And that's the battle we're in. It's to win souls. That's what we're here for. That's why we're here. That's ultimately the job that God has us to do. And obviously being part of church and preaching and all these things help equip us through it, but the goal is to fight to win people for the Lord. And he's saying here, don't be afraid of their voice. You want to be more Christ-like, don't be afraid of their voice. Don't abase yourself or lose your boldness, because the amount of false prophets everywhere. You kind of feel like that sometimes, can't you? I know you walked anyone in that Romford high street. I mean, is every flavour of false prophet going, wasn't there? I mean, they were putting up tents and doing this and it's just every version there. And you could maybe get a little bit like, oh, but you know what you need to do? You need to be more Christ-like and get bolder with it. Go, no, I'm going to show the truth. I'm going to preach the gospel. I'm going to preach the truth to these people instead of letting these false prophets get to them. Be like a roaring lion. Proverbs 28 one says, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. And God wants us bold as a lion in the gospel, bold in the Lord. Not bold in our own strength, not bold in our own skill, not bold in our own intelligence or whatever else that most of us don't have, but instead bold in the Lord. Bold in the truth, bold in the word of God. Said in verse four, for thus have the Lord spoken unto me, like as a lion and a young lion roaring on his prey. When a multitude of shepherds is called forth against me, will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. So there was the Lord fighting for his people against a multitude of shepherds. Then we get this next analogy, and the analogy is of protection. Verse five says, as birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending also, he will deliver it, and passing over, he will preserve it. So this is keeping his people from harm, perhaps circling above, watching his people, which by doing so delivers us and preserves us. Okay, it makes me think of Proverbs 15, 3. Again, you don't have to turn there. Which is, we've looked at this obviously in many of these verses over our Proverbs series. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. God's looking at it all, which should result. So as God, like a bird above, looking down upon us, it should result in us choosing the good, shouldn't it? Knowing that God's eyes are everywhere, should result in that. Which delivers us from evil, which preserves us, which keeps us in the Christian life, doesn't it? That should be what happens. Choosing the good, delivering, therefore being delivered from evil by doing that, which again preserves you, again in that Christian life, in that physical life. Not talking about spiritual salvation, that's a one-time affair. But the Lord being there, like a bird flying above us, looking down on his creation, knowing he's there and can defend you, should result as well for the unsaved maybe seeking that deliverance. Knowing it's only him that can deliver you from your sins, right? Knowing he's there, knowing that... Because, look, people know he's there, really, okay? That's an innate knowledge. People know even his eternal power and Godhead, so they're without excuse, right? And knowing he's there should result in that. It doesn't, sadly, for many. But Acts 4-12 says, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is no other name. That is the only way of salvation. He said, as birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem, defending also he will deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it. Notice how it's him that preserves the saved, not us, okay? We don't preserve ourselves, God preserves us. It's him that holds us, isn't it? Psalm 37-28 says, for the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints, they are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. So, the first application here is for those that chose to be physically there in Jerusalem, though when the Assyrians arrived, okay? That's the first application, but obviously you can see the spiritual applications there as well, okay? But they chose to be physically there, they chose to be where God wanted them to be, the Assyrians were going to march into town, you know, sooner rather than later. And verse 6 says, back in Isaiah 31 says, turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. So he said turn to God from whom they have badly basically deserted towards, is what it's talking about, okay? Like someone deserting from the army or something, revolting, okay? Maybe not quite full rebellion, but they've gone that way instead of to God, yeah? And to put this in perspective, just to get your head around this, okay? This was the world power at the time. This was the world empire. This was the biggest empire ever at that time, okay? At this point in time, no empire being as big as the Assyrian empire, the neo-Assyrian empire in this time period. To survive them invading, to think you could survive them invading, took some faith. That really did, okay? This wasn't, oh yeah, it's just some army, but we always do all right because we've got the Lord. I mean, this was a huge army, okay? It was just invading and taking over large parts of this part of the world, okay? And you can understand them thinking it might be a good idea to head south into Egypt and hide out behind their army, okay? You can imagine that, yeah? That would, you can understand them thinking that, thinking I'm mad staying here, right? Or maybe rely on the Egyptians to come and join forces against Assyria. Maybe thinking, yeah, if we could, you know, try and get some good diplomacy going with the Egyptians and encourage them. But God's prophet was telling them to stay put, not to go anywhere, not to rely on anyone else. That's what God was saying through Isaiah. And God's got a book full of some pretty specific instructions here, isn't he? Some pretty specific stuff. And he wants you to turn from whom you've deeply revolted and put your trust in what he clearly says. So he wants you to turn from the false doctrine, from the commandments of men, the false Christianity. And look, we're all infected by it to some degree. And he wants you to turn ye unto him. Turn to him, and how do we know what he wants, what he wants you to do, what are his instructions? It's all in the Word of God. Well, it's all here. Verse 7, For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. So when that Assyrian army rolls into town, he's saying those idols will soon be forgotten. And there are many idols in life, okay, we've talked about this last week, from people to false gods. But here the idol being talked about is wealth, silver and gold being valuable. Okay, so there was a lot of covetousness, basically. But Colossians 3, 5 says that it's idolatry. He said, It's a form of idolatry. Covetousness, worshipping money, worshipping wealth, other things, things which aren't yours to have, putting money ahead of God, putting wealth above God specifically here, worshipping money is idolatry. And this has been a theme in the Book of Isaiah, okay. God's people with their idols of silver and gold. We saw in Isaiah 2-20, Isaiah 2-20 said, The dual prophecy of God's wrath being very noticeable there. But whether it's some crucifix or some Buddha statue, they're both idols, right. And when I say crucifix, I'm not just talking about the cross, I'm talking about the cross with the graven image of the fake Jesus Christ on it, the Catholic crucifix. It's an idol for many. They worship that thing. They start worshipping this thing. That's not what God wants you doing, right. Worshipping graven images. But also the Buddha statue for sadly many out there in the world, or maybe it's some man-crushed guru or some false Jesus. God hates idols. He hates them. And that includes covetousness. He hates it. He hates it because, again, it's one of those things. It's just everywhere. It's everywhere in the world. People could just kind of see it as not as big of a deal as it clearly is in the word of God. He said, Flee, flee covetousness, didn't he? He said, Wherefore, O thou man of God, flee these things? In 1 Timothy 6, didn't he? So, in Isaiah 30 and verse 22, the chapter before, verse 22, he said this, Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold. So, again, it's these wealthy idols. Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth. Thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. To just dispose of it like something that's not very pleasant. And he's repeated again here in chapter 31, because it's another thing that goes in one ear and out the other, because you've made the idol, is what he said here. He said in verse 7, In that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. And I think people chasing wealth often feel that they've made that money. So maybe like almost it's okay to worship it, because you've had a hand in making it. You've made it. It's okay to worship that. It's you're worshipping the work of your own hands. It's the fruit of your hands. But covetousness is sin. In fact, provable covetousness is something that we're told to kick people out of church for. It's a church discipline offense. 1 Corinthians 5 makes that really clear. You go, why? Because it infects others. Covetousness rubs off on other people. More people are going on about money, talking about cash, talking about making money, it becomes their idol in life. It just infects other people. The more you get desensitized to it, it limits and destroys people's Christian walk. And it's not just, covetousness isn't just money, but here that's what we're specifically talking about. And it's idolatry. And guess what God hates? Idolatry. He's a jealous God over his people. He doesn't want us making idols of things, and money's one of those things that so many make an idol of. And one way God might get it out of your life is with some major tribulation that your idols of gold and silver cannot deliver you from. And you don't really want to get to that point. Better to get rid of that idol before you get to the point where the major tribulation is coming in to make you put God first, to make you forget the money, the craving, the money, the worshipping the money. Think how many people, and when I say things that it can't deliver you from, how many people have sadly tried to buy their way out of maybe serious illness? Because there are some illnesses in the world where, you know, it doesn't really matter. You can have all the money in the world, but a lot of the time the solution's not very obvious, is it? And it seems that there's different solutions to different people, and for some people there's no solution, no matter what money you throw at it. Or serious marriage and family troubles. How many people have thought that maybe their money might get them out of that? They just need to spend more money on their wife, or they just need to do this or do that. Is it really the solution? Oh, if only we had more money, that would get us out of these troubles. Maybe if I had more money, if I could send my kids to the best school, then we'll have a relationship and I won't lose them. But often it's not, is it? Often it's the opposite. Well, here it was serious danger that was to result in them casting away the idols of wealth and turning to God. He said, For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword. Which makes you feel like that was what was needed, wasn't it? Maybe. It looks like that. The idol's gone. And just quickly on that, that's a good checkbox when you're going through tribulation, isn't it? You're going through some stuff, you're going through some tribulation, you're going, why, you know, what's going on? God, am I being chastised? Or maybe, why are you not delivering me? Why am I going through? You know, a good thing to check. Are there any idols in my life? Is there anything I'm putting above God? Is there anything that I'm putting up here and God here? Is there anything that I'm making more important than God? Because when that time comes, you want to make sure you're casting those things away. Because it looks to me here like they cast them away. In that day, every man shall cast away his idols of silver. Verse seven, His idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword. Not of a mighty man, and a sword not of a mean man shall devour him, but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. So the Assyrians were to fall with the sword, and not from a mighty physical army, not from a cruel physical army. The sword came from a spiritual foe, didn't it? Now jump forward to Isaiah 37. Isaiah chapter 37, where Hezekiah has prayed to God, and Isaiah bears him the good news, okay? Isaiah 37, this is when this eventually comes, when all this prophecy comes true. Isaiah 37 and verse 33 says, Therefore, this is Isaiah telling Hezekiah, Therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into the city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into the city, saith the Lord. For I will defend the city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, so it was an angel which went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand, that's 185,000 men, that's a big old army, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. Verse 37, So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned to dwelt at Nineveh, and it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Dramilech and Shereza his son smote with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Armenia, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. So the angel of the Lord wielded the sword that devoured them. Which is what he, you know, he's basically at least hinting at here. He said, Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, verse eight, back in Isaiah 31, not of a mighty man and the sword not of a mean man, shad of Am, but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomforted, and he shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. We just read in verse 37, back, you don't have to go back there, but we just saw that in verse 37 of Isaiah 37. And it seemed that they were afraid, because they never came back over the next century. There's no, nothing we see in the word of God, nothing in secular history, of the Assyrians ever attempting to invade Israel, or at least the southern kingdom of Judah, Jerusalem specifically, again, so it never happened. It seemed that they were afraid of the ensign, which God said here in verse nine. And the end of verse nine, I think, is saying that that is where the Lord dwelt. He said, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. And that's where the temple of the Lord was, that's where he dwelt, that's where the fire of God was, where the furnace of God was in Jerusalem. And he's saying, really because of that, you could say, that's why they never came back again. And I've got a question, where do you think the Lord dwells now? He dwells within each and every born-again believer, but where's his house? It's the church of God, isn't it? It's the church of God. 1 Timothy 3 15 says, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And it's houses of God like this that really the prince of the world are afraid of. You go, really, it's where the truth thunders forth, isn't it? That's where the word of God's being preached, in houses of God like this around the world, where the lies of our world are cut through, because they're not like the word of God to show the lies of the world, where men, women and children are equipped to go out and reach the lost, where all the different ways that the world tries to pull you down with sin and drag you down is cut through by the word of God, of course. You can make the choice whether you're going to let it affect you or not, whether you're going to let the word of God change your life or not. You still have the choice, but it's houses of God where it happens. So with that in mind, yes, the house of God will get attacked, however it's the safest place to be. So the attacks will come. Of course they will. They'll continue to come, but it is the safest place to be. James 4.7 says, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And that's what you feel that happened here, right? They submitted themselves, they discarded the idols, the ones who are in Jerusalem submitted themselves to God, they resisted the devil, and he did flee. Verse 9 says, And he shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensigns. The Lord is fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. And that was Isaiah chapter 31. And on that we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you for the many lessons that we could get out of that chapter of Isaiah, Lord. And thank you for the book of Isaiah. Thank you for the many truths. Thank you for the great pictures we see in it. When you unwrap those verses a bit, just how many great truths we can get out of them, Lord. Please help us to apply them to our lives, Lord. You know, especially, you've repeated it there from the chapter before, to just not have our trust, our confidence in the things of this world, Lord. To not have our, you know, try and seek our boldness, our strength, you know, the things which help us, you know, feel confident in life from the world and help us to seek it from you, Lord. Help us to get right with you, help us to just stay in your word, keep seeking you in your word, Lord, to know that it's not something that happens for a time and then you know everything. You just need to keep, we need to just, all of us, just keep reading, keep learning, keep studying, keep knowing, learning more about you, Lord, to help us with our lives, help us to all, you know, get back safe and sound this evening to be able to make the sole winning time tomorrow for those that can in Tilbury, Lord, and to return on Sunday for another day in your house. In Jesus' name, for all this. Amen.