Sermon Snippets

1. "I wonder, do you ever have FOMO when it comes to heaven? Do you ever have the fear of missing out on heaven and all its glory? Is there anything that you can do today to ensure that you don't miss out on heaven?"

2. "This message of Isaiah chapter two is heavy, and it is simple: God has a glorious future for you, so stop trusting in man."

3. "Jesus Christ is the true house of the Lord. In Jesus, God's glory and presence fully dwelled. The temple in Isaiah's day only pointed forward to the true dwelling place of God in Jesus Christ."

4. "This church, full of redeemed sinners who struggle in a multitude of ways, who are dead tired and want to be anywhere else but here right now, is being made into an eternal home for God, the likeness of which we cannot comprehend."

5. "The effects of trusting in man and his creations are insidious."

6. "When you trust in yourself and what the world has to offer rather than the one true and living God, immediate harm may not befall you, but you are drinking the poison that will corrode your entire faith."

7. "Our pridefully trusting in ourselves may seem small to us, but in God's eyes it is a massive sin requiring a massive judgment because it is at the heart of all human rebellion against God."

8. "The only place you will be able to hide from God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will be your only safe refuge and shelter in that day."

9. "When you share the gospel with others, you're not just telling them how to avoid God's condemnation and judgment. You are telling them how they can be welcomed into His eternal presence and fellowship. That is the glory of the Gospel."

10. "Soon enough the fog will lift, Christ will appear, and His appearing will be glorious."

Sermon Study Guide

Observation Questions

1. According to Isaiah 2:2-3, what are the nations described as doing in the "latter days," and what is their stated reason for doing it?
2. In Isaiah 2:6-8, what things had the people of Judah "filled" their land with, and what was the ultimate result of this behavior as mentioned in verse 8?
3. What is the transformative effect of God's direct rule over the peoples, as described in Isaiah 2:4?
4. What does Isaiah 2:12 state that the "Lord of hosts has a day" against?
5. According to Isaiah 2:19-21, where will people try to hide from the "terror of the Lord," and what will they do with their valuable idols on that day?
6. What is the final command and follow-up question that the prophet Isaiah gives to the reader in Isaiah 2:22?

Interpretation Questions

1. The sermon explained that the promises in Isaiah 2 are partially fulfilled now in the Church. In what specific ways does our church community function as the "mountain of the Lord," where people from various backgrounds can come to be taught His ways and learn to walk in His paths?
2. The people of Judah trusted in "silver and gold" (wealth) and "horses and chariots" (military power). What are the modern-day equivalents of these things that we are most tempted to trust in for our security and confidence instead of God?
3. The sermon used the analogy of a slow-acting ant poison to describe the subtle danger of trusting in ourselves and the world. Why is this a fitting illustration for how sin and misplaced trust work in a person's life?
4. Prideful self-trust can seem like a small or private sin. Based on the sermon and Isaiah 2, why does God view it as a "massive sin" that warrants such a terrifying and comprehensive judgment?
5. The sermon repeatedly stated that Jesus is our only safe refuge. How did Jesus's life of perfect trust in God, and His death on the cross, make Him the only effective shelter from the judgment we deserve?

Application Questions

1. The sermon used the image of a clenched fist to describe a good desire that has become a "must-have" idol. What good thing in your life (a relationship, a career goal, financial security) are you currently in danger of clenching your fist around so tightly that it replaces your trust in God?
2. When was the last time you faced a significant disappointment and were tempted to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and rely on your own strength rather than becoming more prayerfully dependent on God?
3. The sermon challenged us to feel a sense of urgency about sharing the gospel. Name one specific person in your life who needs to hear about the coming judgment and the glorious future available in Christ. What is one practical step you can take this week to "tell them to come"?
4. Think about the story of Florence Chadwick swimming in the fog. What specific "fog" (a difficulty, doubt, or temptation) is making it hard for you to see the reality of God's promises right now? What is one thing you can do this week to deliberately fix your eyes on Jesus through that fog?
5. The Bible says God "disciplines those he loves" and that we should be restful in His love during trials. In what specific area of your life do you need to stop anxiously striving and instead consciously choose to rest in God's fatherly care for you?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Genesis 49:8-12: Read the original prophecy where Jacob foretells that a ruler to whom the nations will belong would come from the tribe of Judah, a promise that Isaiah builds upon.
2. Hebrews 1:1-4: This passage declares that God, who spoke through prophets like Isaiah, has now spoken definitively in these "last days" through His Son, Jesus, confirming the sermon's teaching.
3. Proverbs 3:5-8: This passage provides a direct command to trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding, perfectly summarizing the antidote to the sin Isaiah condemns.
4. Revelation 21:1-4: This passage provides a breathtaking vision of the new heavens and new earth, the ultimate fulfillment of the "glorious future" and eternal temple that God promises His people in Isaiah 2.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Fear of Missing Out on Heaven (Isaiah 2)

II. God Has a Glorious Future for His People (Isaiah 2:1-5; Genesis 49; Hebrews 1)

III. Stop Trusting in Man (Isaiah 2:6-22)

IV. Don't Take Your Eyes Off the Glorious Future God Has for You

Detailed Sermon Outline

Fomo the Urban Dictionary defines FOMO as the fear of missing out. The fear of missing out is a state of mental or emotional strain caused by the fear of missing out on an exciting occasion.

Having trouble understanding fomo? Let me use it in a sentence.

Even though he was exhausted, John's FOMO got the best of him and he went to the party because he didn't want to miss out. As funny as it may sound, fear of missing out on something is something that we all deal with, whether with things small and inconsequential or with things that are large and meaningful. And for most of us, our fomo, our fear of missing out, will cause us to remove whatever impediments stand in the way of preventing us from being involved in some event or some party or some wondrous thing that we want to be a part of.

I wonder do you ever have FOMO when it comes to heaven?

Do you ever have the fear of missing out on heaven and all its glory? Is there anything that you can do today to ensure that you don't miss out on heaven? That's a question I'd ask you to ponder this morning as we look at the Bible. We find ourselves today in Isaiah Chapter two in week two of a five week study through the first five chapters of Isaiah. So let me invite you to open up your Bibles to Isaiah Chapter two.

If you're using one of the Red Pew Bibles, you can find Isaiah chapter two on pages 567 and 568 as you're turning there. Let me go ahead and provide some background to our text this morning. Isaiah the prophet was a man called by God to deliver God's message to the Israelites living in the southern kingdom of Judah in about the 8th century BC roughly right around there, you'll notice if you look down at your passage. We're going to be looking at this text a lot, so I'd encourage you to have your Bibles open this morning. You'll notice in verse one that Isaiah sees a word.

Look at verse one with me. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The word that Isaiah saw can concerning Judah and Jerusalem. So last week I mentioned that the Bible doesn't offer a whole lot of information about how someone like Isaiah would receive these messages from God. This one appears to be something like a visible word.

Yet even if we don't know exactly how he received this visible word, we can know that it was a message from God. That is clear from the text and we can also know that the contents of that message are are also clear, as we'll see in the text this morning. We also see in verse one that the message is for Judah and Jerusalem. So we should remember that about six or seven hundred years earlier, before Isaiah wrote this, the nation of Israel had been brought by God out of slavery in Egypt and were brought after a time into the promised land of Canaan. And through the course of these six or seven hundred years, the nation transitioned to being ruled by kings.

First King Saul, then King David, and after David came his son Solomon. And then after Solomon passed, the nation split in two. There was infighting, kind of civil disputes, and it split into two. You had the northern kingdom of Israel full of Israelites, its capital was Samaria. And you had the southern kingdom of Judah, full of Israelites, and its capital was Jerusalem.

So in the sermon you might hear me talk about the nation of Judah, the nation of Israel or Israelites. If you hear me say that, understanding that I'm referring, please understand that I'm referring to the Israelites who were living in the southern kingdom of Judah to which Isaiah was speaking. So let me go ahead and read chapter two for us and hear what God has to say to us in His Word. Please follow along as I read the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. And many people shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.

Their land is filled with idols. They bow down to the work of their hands to what their own fingers have made. So man is humbled, and each one is brought low. Do not forgive them. Enter into the rock and hide in the dust.

From before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, the haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the Lord of Hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low. Against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, and against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills, against every high tower and against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low. And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

And the idol shall utterly pass away, and people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground. From before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty when he rises, terrify the earth. In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs. From before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

This message of Isaiah, chapter two is heavy, and it is simple.

God has a glorious future for you, so stop trusting in man. God has a glorious future for you, so stop trusting in man.

The first thing we see in verses 1 to 5 is that God has a glorious future for his people. Look with me at verse two. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills. What God is promising here is to establish a new dwelling place where for his presence in Jerusalem the temple was the place. It was the house of the Lord where God's presence dwelt.

It was God's home. And so when God promises a new mountain and a new house, he's promising a new dwelling place for his presence, a new temple. And this dwelling place will be preeminent Notice the descriptions Isaiah gives. It will be established as the highest the mountains. It shall be lifted up above the hills.

It will be an awesome dwelling place, far surpassing all others. None will compare to God's future dwelling place. And not only will this place be preeminent, but it will also be filled with peoples from every nation. Look at the end of verse two and beginning of verse three. And all the nations shall flow to it.

And many peoples shall come like the rivers flow towards the magnetic pull of the ocean. Slow the nations will flow like a mighty river towards God's majestic mountain. And why will they go there? Look at verse 3. Let your eyes fall down to that word, for they will come for or because out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord.

From Jerusalem the nations will come to this majestic mountain, to the preeminent presence of the Lord, because God's Word is proclaimed there. And we see in verse four that not only is his Word present there, but he personally rules and governs his people. No more human judges, no more human kings, but God Himself will rule among them. And look at the reforming effect that his rule has on his people. They go from being a warring people to a peaceful people.

They take their weapons of warfare and beat them into gardening tools. God's majestic mountain, his preeminent presence. Where his Word goes out will be like a return to Edom, where man returns to his original state like Adam and evil in the garden with God. But when? When will this happen?

When was this promise going to come true? Look with me at the top of verse 2. It shall come to pass in the latter days or the last days. This phrase should have set off alarm bells for the people of Judah. Because when he picks up this phrase, the latter days, Isaiah is reaching all the way back to Genesis 49.

It's there in Genesis 49, at Jacob's death, that Jacob calls to his sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, and he says, gather around me, so I can tell you what is going to happen in the latter days or the last days. And he goes from son to son, blessing them and telling them what will happen in their future. And then he gets to Judah, and he says to Judah, listen to what he says to him from Judah. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him. And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples or the nations.

Isaiah is reminding the house of Judah of Jacob's promise that from them would come a ruler who. Who would Rule in such a way that he would bring about the obedience of the peoples like we see here in our passage. And that's why I think you see, Isaiah pick up the name of Jacob in these verses. Look at verse five. He doesn't call them the house of Judah anymore.

He says, oh, house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. He's reminding them of the promise given to Jacob that in the latter days God would bring forth a ruler who would come from the tribe of Judah and who would speak and embody the proclamation of God's word and would rule over his people personally. And he would come in the latter days or the last days. And those latter days spoken of in Genesis 49 and in Isaiah 2 and in other places in the Old Testament were ushered in through the life, death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement of human king Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules and reigns presently from God's right hand. The author of Hebrews understood this in chapter one, when he said, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. For the word shall go forth from Jerusalem and out of Zion shall God's law be proclaimed. Jesus Christ. Friends, Jesus Christ is the true house of the Lord. In Jesus God's glory and presence fully dwelled.

The temple that was the house of the Lord in Isaiah's day in Jerusalem only pointed forward to the true dwelling place of God. In In Jesus Christ. The temple was where the tablets of the law were kept. But Jesus Christ is the true word of God. The temple was a place where God met and spoke to his people.

But now we meet and hear from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The temple was the place of sacrifice where the forgiveness of sins was obtained. But now we go to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Israel went up to the mountain where the temple was to celebrate and worship the Lord. But now we worship in spirit and truth through the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of where we live.

For Jesus said, you will not go to this mountain or that mountain, but they will come to me to worship God. But even more amazing than that, we the Church, by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ, have been united to Christ as his body, and through that have become the house of the Lord, the place where God is pleased to dwell. The house of the Lord is now the church, the body of gathered saints who are united to Christ in his body, the true dwelling place of God. The church is the place where God's people being taught his ways through the preaching of the Word are being reformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It's the place when we look down at the text and all the nations say, let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

This is where we come to hear from God in His Word, to be taught his ways and to learn how to walk in in his paths. Friends, see this. The promise that came from Jacob is nearly 4000 years old. It's nearly 4000 years old. And this 4000 year old promise is being fulfilled in our presence today, right here, right now.

Truly God is keeping his word. Look around this room, friends. Are not the nations present here? And not just here at chbc, but at other gatherings of bodies of local believers in this district and not only in this district, but also in Maryland and Virginia and not only in Maryland and Virginia, but across the United States and not only across the United States but in Canada and Central America and South America and and Africa and Asia and Central Asia all across the world. God's Word is being proclaimed in the church and the nations are flowing to it.

The nations are flowing to it. So we can hear His Word and walk in his light.

And what's even more amazing than this, brothers and sisters, is that the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. God has a glorious future for you. Your best life is most certainly not now. God has greater plans in store because God's promise through Isaiah that's being fulfilled in our presence in the building of the church.

The new house of the Lord only foreshadows the true and eternal house of the Lord that is to come. Heavens and the new earth. Friend, you can't lose sight of the fact that in the midst of this sin ridden world, God is taking us believers in Jesus as living stones. As living stones and making us into a new temple where he and we will dwell forever.

That's the promise that Isaiah is pointing forward to in this passage. This church full of redeemed sinners, people who struggle in a multitude of ways, people who are dead tired and want to be anywhere else but here right now is being made into an eternal home for God. The likeness of which that we cannot comprehend. I remember just last fall our staff took a trip. The staff here at the church took a trip to the museum of the Bible.

We took a tour of the building that the museum of the Bible is being built into. It will become the museum of the Bible. And that tour was a hardhat tour, which basically means that it was a dangerous tour because large and heavy things could fall on your head and kill you, right? Because it was not only possible that hard and heavy things would fall, but the place was not even close to being done. While the building was obviously large things weren't where they were supposed to be.

Our tour guide kept saying, this is eventually where these exhibits will be. And then this awesome exhibit will be over here. You're going to have to picture it because right now it's just empty, cavernous cement. All we see are wires hanging down over there, piles of bags of cement over here. There's men up there drilling and hammering away.

But seriously, conceive of it. This place will one day become an awesome museum. Friends, in the same way, you may look around at the church body that God has chosen and all you see is a mess, right? You see your friend over there? He's like a bunch of wires hanging down right?

Now you see your other friend, they are a bag of cement. Someone needs to add some water to that person. And seriously, if we're honest, if we saw ourselves how God sees us, we would say, yeah, I am. Those hanging wires and that bag of cement. But friends, the God who created the universe has the power to sanctify all the other sinful people you see in this congregation.

And you yourself, probably the great sinner of all, he can sanctify us, and he is making us into an eternal temple. It will be far surpassing anything that we could ever imagine. In God's eternal temple will be a multitude of people from every tribe and tongue. I wish you had my view right now. I get to look at this congregation and see how many nations are present in this room.

How many brothers and sisters from around the world have heard the gospel and said, yes, the Lord Jesus Christ reigns. And at the heart of this temple where we are going will be the king of kings, the lamb who was slain before all time, the lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lord Jesus Christ will rule and reign over his people. No longer will the nation suffer the hateful divisions that plague us in this world. No longer will we be divided against one another, but we will be a one people united by one spirit, worshiping in the one temple of God to worship the one true God.

Friends, that is where we're headed. That is what this promise points to. If you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ today, you, friend, have a glorious future. God has a glorious future for you.

So stop trusting in man. Look back with me at the passage that brings us to point two, Stop trusting in man. I want you to look down real quick at verse 22. Verse 22 summarizes and crystallizes the message of the rest of the chapter. It is a bite sized piece of teaching that is packed with profound truth.

Verse 22, stop regarding man. In whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? And when Isaiah says to stop putting your trust in man, stop regarding man, what he means is don't look to man or his creations to ultimately fulfill your desires. When he says to stop trusting in man, stop regarding man, what he means is don't look to man or his creations to ultimately fulfill your desires. And the rest of the chapter that we just skipped over gives us two reasons.

He gives us two reasons. And those two reasons are going to be my sub points of this second point. Stop trusting in man. And the first sub point is because God judges those who trust in man. Because God judges those who trust in man.

And because God's judgment will be awful. Because God's judgment will be awful. So why should you stop trusting in mankind? Because God judges those who trust in man. Look at me at verse six.

For you have rejected your people. The house of Jacob, the very same people that Isaiah is beckoning to participate in the new dwelling place of God, have forfeited their invitation and have been rejected by God. And why? Why would God do this to his very own people? Keep going in verse six.

Because they are full of things from the east. The east in the Old Testament represents the kingdom of so the Tower of Babel was built in the east. Babylon was founded in the East. So when God rejects them because they're full of things from the east, he's rejecting them because they are full of things from the world. Look at how he repeats this idea of being full of the world.

Verse 7. Their land is filled with silver and gold. Verse 7 Again, their land is filled with horses. Verse 8. Their land is filled with idols.

God's people who were supposed to be different from the world, whose lives were supposed to show off his glory by the way that they trusted in him and walked in accordance with his ways. Those people had become just like the world. And it's not just that they were worldly, it's that they were trusting in these things. Notice the two things he keys in on in verse 7. Their wealth.

He refers to their silver and their gold and then their military prowess. He refers to their horses and their chariots. So the Bible never expressly condemns these things. As evil in and of themselves. But think about what they represent.

What do wealth and military power represent? Provision, power, security, confidence. I'm sure we could come up with more. It's not that God is condemning them for having these things. He's condemning them because those things have become their source of provision, power, security and confidence.

The people who were to trust in and depend on God for all that they needed had come to depend on the things the rest of the world trust in for power, provision and security. And the reality and the folly of all this is captured in verse 8. Look down at verse 8. Their land is filled with idols, things their own hands have made, and they're bowing down to them. The irony of this is hard to swallow.

The people of God, unable to face the pressures of life on their own, turn not to the living God to find their power, their comfort, their confidence, or their security. They turn to things that their own hands have made, their own fingers crafted these idols. They are but wood and metal. And it's not like the nation of Israel just turned away from God in one fell swoop. This happened over hundreds of years.

They didn't just wake up one day and decide to say no to the living God and yes to the rest of the world. It's that time after time when they were presented with the opportunity to trust in God or man. They chipped away at their trust in God by putting their trust in the world until it got to the point where they no longer even trusted in Yahweh. He was simply a byword in their mouths. The effects of trusting in man and his creations are insidious.

They're not easily recognizable, right? So we even looked last week. These people from a human perspective are doing well. They're full of silver and gold and full of chariots. They have lots of money and lots of power.

But what God says about them in verse nine is that their trust in man and in his creations has humbled them and brought them low. Right? This isn't the good type of humbling that the Bible often talks about. It means they're being debased, corrupted, degraded, and they can't even see it. They can't even see it happening right before them.

My wife and I recently moved into a new house. And as with any new move, there were minor issues along the way. One of those issues that we had was an ant problem. It happened a couple weeks after we got in the house. And if you've ever had an ant problem, then you know how hard they can be to get rid of right.

They're tiny and there's thousands of them. How am I supposed to defeat this army? Trust in God, right? Lord help me. So we started researching the different types of ant killers.

And we landed on a liquid poison that touted itself as the best because it attracted the ants, allowed them to feed on it, but it didn't kill them immediately. Instead, they would take the poison with them back to their colony. They would infect all the others, and then the ants, as an entire colony, would die. Brilliant. Don't know why I didn't think of that.

I'm just here smashing one after one, you know, one after. Right. Thank you for that wisdom. Right. So I went to the store and I bought this ant killer, set up the traps, and then I got to watch like a little boy with amazement.

After I set out the liquid, they came. And they came in abundance. They circled around the little traps, they fed on the liquid and the poison, and then they went about their business like nothing was wrong. But within a few days, all of them were completely gone. They had no idea that what seemed like a good idea to them, that brought them no immediate harm was actually the thing that was going to kill them.

I can't help but think of how trusting in man rather than in God is similar to that poison. It's so subtle.

I can leave this church and trust in man the rest of this day. Probably nothing is going to happen. I can go on tomorrow, continue trusting in man, look to others for affirmation, look to serve myself in this life. Things may not happen to me, but in the end, I am drinking the poison that will ultimately kill me. Friends, when you trust in yourself and you trust in the world and what it has to offer rather than the one true and living God, immediate harm may not befall you, but you are drinking the poison that will corrode your entire faith.

God does not look down kindly on those who trust in themselves.

So as Christians, we want to think about how to think about this topic. Well, this is a vast topic. I could ask you today, what are you trusting in other than God?

It's almost too vast of a question to ask, right? I don't know. What does it even mean to be trusting in something other than God? How do I know if I'm doing it? One helpful image that I've seen came from a counselor.

He talked about desires, wants, needs, must haves. And he used the image of the closing fist desire. You can have in your hands a good thing to desire. There's nothing wrong with needing more money if you need to make more money. There's nothing wrong with needing or wanting a better house if you need to move your family out of the house that you're in.

But what happens when that want becomes a need and that need becomes a must have? What is that thing that your fist is clenched around in the middle of your hand? Is it a relationship that you want? Is it a job that you must have? Is it the affirmation of a friend?

A spouse, a boss? What is that thing inside your claw fisted grip? When you open that up and see what's inside of it, you'll find what you're trusting in. You'll find what you're putting your confidence in. So we don't want to just think about what are those things that we are putting our confidence in.

But think how we can daily fight against putting our confidence and our trust in man and his creation. And how can we do that as Christians and the place that we need to look for that answer is in the Bible. And we see that the Bible is gives us some very simple and clear ways to fight against putting our trust in the world and putting our trust in God instead. First, be aware. Be aware.

You do recognize that every single day that you get up out of bed and you walk into the world, there are two voices calling out to you. Proverbs chapter nine. The woman Wisdom and the woman Folly. What's interesting About Proverbs chapter 9 is that they are set right next to each other. The woman Wisdom pulls up her seat and she calls from the high places.

The woman Folly pulls up her seat and she calls from the high places. And she is, according to Proverbs, loud and she calls people in to engage in her deceits. And what happens when you feast on her deceits? You go down to the pit. So you must be aware.

The Bible says that each and every day when you wake up in this world, you are going to be called out to by things that are beckoning you to put their trust. Put your trust in them. Be aware. One path leads to life. That is the path of listening to and heeding God's call.

And the other path leads to death. Second, be dependent. Be dependent. Again, the Proverbs call us to a godward dependence. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

So most of us have faced disappointments in this life and the danger of those disappointments is that they can push you to rely more and more upon yourself. This thing didn't happen to me. I'm going to make it happen. The next time I am going to pick myself up by the bootstraps and I am going to get the job done. Because these disappointments have come from God.

And you must be sovereign. I am going to take care of myself, God. I am not going to let these things hurt me anymore. And I will protect myself. I will make sure to pave my own way.

That is not the path of life. That is the path of trusting in yourself and in this world. Be dependent on God we need to trust in God's word over our own wisdom. Even when his ways seem unbelievably tough to understand. And because they often can be, we need to be third.

We need to be prayerful, be aware, be dependent, be prayerful. We should daily be calling out to God for help and trusting Him. One of my favorite practices every single day is that when I get up in the morning, the first thing out of my mouth is, God, help me. I need help today. I've watched how I've chosen the woman folly time and time again over you.

And I've seen the pain that it's caused in my own life. Help me to choose the path of wisdom today. Help me to trust not in myself, but to trust in you. Teach me what that means today. Help me to rely upon you.

I need your help. We need to be calling out to God for help each day. And when we do that, we can be restful. Be restful. Rest in God's love for you.

Right? When we face the difficulties of life on a daily basis, sometimes we can wonder if God even cares. But we must remember that God brings us through difficulty for the purpose of of lovingly disciplining us to make us more like Jesus. Right? Your difficult trials are not hatred from God.

He disciplines and prunes to them. And you can know why he loves you. Why? Because we can trust his word. The Lord disciplines those he loves.

As a father, the Son he delights in. Even in the midst of trials. God sticks closer to you than a brother. And he uses those challenges to shape us. Those trials are not times for us to trust in ourselves and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.

They're times for us to rest in God's unfailing love. And what's amazing about his unfailing love is that he shows it to a people who fail regularly. Yet we don't need to face the same type of rejection that Israel suffered. We don't need to fear it because Jesus Christ came and perfectly trusted in the Lord with all of his heart. He followed the Lord even to death on the cross to pay the penalty for all of us who put our trust in ourselves rather than in God.

Even when we continue to fail to trust the Lord as we should, the Lord through Jesus Christ still shows his unfailing love to us. Because Christ perfectly trusted in God, and we have been united to him by faith and sealed by His Spirit, we no longer need to fear the judgment to come on all those who continue to persist in trusting themselves. And we see in our passage that that judgment will be awful, stop trusting in mankind, because God's judgment will be awful. The remaining verses envision a future judgment that is awful in its scope and in its experience. It is awful in its scope and in its experience.

It's a future judgment. Look at verse 12. For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud. And no longer is Isaiah envisioning a future period of time, like he does here at the beginning of the chapter when he talks about the last days. The form of the word that he's chosen refers to a specific day, a future fixed point in time when the Lord will bring an awful judgment.

A day is coming when the present order of things will be overthrown by the Lord, and it'll be awful in its scope. Scan your eyes over verses 12 to 17. What word do you see repeated there? Against the Lord will come in opposition, and he's coming in opposition against everything that is lifted up and exalted in this world, everything that man, in his prideful rebellion, has chosen to trust in and worship instead of the one true God. We can look at these verses and we can just reread them for our own days.

For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low against all the redwoods of California, lofty and lifted up, and against all the sequoias of Colorado, against Mount Everest and against the Alps, all those uplifted hills, against every Burj Khalifa and against every Fort Knox, against all the battleships and destroyers of the nations, and against all the cruise liners. That's what he's saying here. The loftiness of man, the haughtiness of man that has been building his kingdom apart from the Lord will be brought low, and it will be awful in its experience. Consider again how these verses describe what this will be like in that day. Look again with me at verse 20.

In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship to the moles and to the bats. To enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliff from before the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.

Do you let that sink in, that reality that is coming? Mankind, who inhabits secure homes inside of impenetrable cities will run for the hills, looking for the hills and the rocks of the hills to fall upon them, to hide them from the terror of the Lord. They will seek refuge in man made shelters. They will seek refuge where, wherever they can. All of which will prove to be ultimately ineffective.

And all of this will come about because of man's pride and arrogance in rejecting God. All because of man's trust in himself.

It seems like such a small thing to require such a cataclysmic judgment. Is it a small thing? On January 28, 1986, much of the world watched in horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds into its flight. The entire crew of seven perished in the explosion. During its investigations, NASA discovered that the disaster occurred all.

All because gaskets were installed that weren't able to handle the cold temperature. The gaskets failed at takeoff and were the direct cause of the explosion that followed. Small, insignificant things, seemingly that caused a major explosion. Friends, things that may seem small to you and I can often have massive consequences.

Our pridefully trusting in ourselves may seem small to us, but in God's eyes it is a massive sin requiring a massive judgment. Because the truth is, while pridefully trusting in ourselves may seem small to us, it is at the heart of all human sin, rebellion against God. It is the root of the century that we have all eaten from and experienced and planted ourselves in our own lives. If you're here and you're not a Christian, I am very glad that you're here. And I recognize how hard a passage like this may seem.

How it may seem like it makes God come across as wrongfully angry and overreactive. But friend, nothing could be further from the truth in this passage. God's anger at our trust in ourselves is appropriate and his reaction is perfect. You see, mankind's great problem is sin. And sin is rebellion against God.

And at the heart of rebellion against God is a choosing to trust in our own ways. Or rather than trusting in God's ways and going our own way rather than God's ways. It is, at its root, a failure to recognize that God is God and that we are not. This was at the heart of Adam and Eve's sin in the garden when they chose to trust their own wisdom rather than God's. The fruit looked pleasing to the eye and it seemed wise for them to eat from it, right?

Even though God had said not to eat from it. And it has been at the heart of mankind's sin ever since then. It has been at the heart of mankind's sin ever since then. You see, you don't have to go out and commit grievous acts of sin to be the type of person that requires God's judgment, Right? You can just smile very politely and say, I don't believe God exists.

I don't believe Jesus is Lord. That is what it can sound like to reject God and to trust in yourself. As simple and pleasant as that sounds, it has devastating consequences. And because of our trusting in ourselves rather than God, we have brought God's right condemnation upon ourselves. But God, in His great love and mercy sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ in into the world to live the perfect life of trusting God and to go to the cross to bear the wrath of God for our sins of not trusting him as we should.

And after he was crucified and buried, he got up from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice and that he now freely offers forgiveness for all the sins of all who would turn to him from trusting in themselves and put their trust in him, the living God. And that same Jesus who got up from the dead taught the very same thing as Isaiah about the coming judgment that we see here In Isaiah chapter 2, Luke 23, Jesus teaches that man will hopelessly flee from the coming judgment. And they will hopelessly flee because you cannot possibly hide from the God who created the mountains and the hills, who at a word can cause the mountains and the hills to be dispelled. He is the One who created the galaxies and universe, and running from him is the height of futility. You cannot run from Him.

There is nothing more foolish in this world to do. God sees all, is in all places, and will find all who have not trusted in Him. And what's worse than that is that even just the revealing of his very presence at, the revealing of his very presence at, everything that we have put our trust in will hopelessly fade away and the folly of it will be shown. Look at what happens to the idols when God appears. They are immediately cast aside because they are seen to be what they really are, powerless statues made by the hands of men.

When the true God appears on that last day, all other things will appear as they truly are. When God appears on that last day, all other things will appear as they truly are. And the things that mankind has put his hope in apart from God will appear as worthless. The only place you will be able to hide from God is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will be your only safe refuge and shelter in that day. And you can flee to him today for protection from the coming wrath of God because He offers his protection freely for all who would turn from trusting in themselves and turn to trust in Him. So turn today I plead with you. If you are not trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, come to him for protection and refuge and forgiveness of sins. Because God's judgment that is coming is awful.

You will not be able to hide from is awful.

To my brothers and sisters in Christ. What do we do with this reality? What do we do with this reality?

What we tell others we should tell others. We should warn them of the coming judgment. If you're here and you're not a Christian and Christians have bothered you over the years to talk to you about the Lord Jesus Christ, this is why we want to talk to you. Because there is an awful judgment coming for all mankind because all of us have sinned against God. Is there an urgency, brothers and sisters, to your desire to have gospel conversations with your friends, with your family, with your co workers?

Is there an urgency there? And if not, look at this passage with me. Tell me why there shouldn't be. It is coming. As sure as his promise to fulfill his mountain house of the Lord is taking place here in our presence and building the church.

His promise to bring judgment is true and it's coming. Is there any urgency to your desire to share the gospel with your neighbors and your co workers?

The Bible is clear. The end of all things is near.

This judgment that Isaiah describes and that Jesus predicts is near.

Where is your sense of urgency? Where is it, brothers and sisters? We should warn others to flee from the coming judgment of God. And also, and also we should tell them of the glorious future that God has for those who trust in Him. When you share the gospel with others, you should be telling them about both realities.

You're not just avoiding God's condemnation and judgment. You are being welcomed into his eternal presence and fellowship. That is the glory of the Gospel. The promise that God is fulfilling by saving people from all nations is open to you today. If you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, you have a glorious future awaiting you.

Look in verse three. If this prophecy is coming true in our day and the nations that are flowing to the mountains are us who are coming to the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of His Word. Look in verse three at what the nations say when they're on their way to God's dwelling place. They say, come. And who are they telling to come?

Other people. They're on their way to God's mountain and they're looking at other people saying, come. Come to the place where God's law is proclaimed, where his word is heard. Come to the place where all true teaching occurs. Flee from all the false philosophies of this world and the emptiness of them, and come to the mountain of the living God.

You have a glorious future awaiting you if you turn to Christ and come. This reality is for all those who've trusted in Him. When you're sharing the gospel, brothers and sisters, are you warning of the coming judgment and telling them of the glorious realities that await all who turn from sin and trust in Christ, tell them to come. My brothers and sisters, God has a glorious future for you. God has a glorious future for you.

I know that the temptations to trust in this world are all around and I know that they are hard not to give in to. But know this, that just as God's judgment is near, so is the welcoming into his glorious presence. God's glorious future for you is.

Do not give up on trusting him. On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick attempted to become the first woman to swim the 21 miles across the Catalina Channel from Catalina island to Palos Verde on the California coast. The weather that day was challenging because the ocean was ice cold and the fog was so thick that she could barely even see the support boats that followed her. Yet even as bad as the conditions were, she decided to give it a shot, expecting the fog would lift as she went about her 21 mile swim. Hour after hour passed, she swam and the fog never lifted.

Her mother and trainer followed her in one of the support boats, encouraging her to keep going. Keep going, Florence, they said. She kept going and going, but at about the 15 hour point, she began to doubt her ability to finish the swimming and told her mother she didn't think she could make it. Then at 15 hours and 55 minutes, she had to stop and with huge disappointment, she asked her support crew to take her out of the water. Because of the fog, she couldn't see the coastline, so she had no idea where she was.

She soon found out though, because not long after getting out of the water into the boat, the fog started to break and Florence saw that she was less than a mile from the coast. She could have certainly reached it if she had just stayed in the water a few minutes longer. Later, she told a reporter, look, I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land, I know I could have made it.

Friends, don't take your eyes off the glorious future God has for you. Though this life may seem long and difficult and the temptation to trust in yourself and to trust in the world leaves you feeling like you're shrouded in fog, where you are headed is glorious and worth every trial and every teardrop along the way. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ and keep trusting Him. You don't want to miss out on the future God has for you because you turned to trust in yourself. Soon enough the fog will lift and Christ will appear, and his appearing will be glorious.

Pray Heavenly Father, we come before you humbly and soberly, recognizing that we have failed in so many ways to trust in you, and we plead your forgiveness once again. O Lord, forgive us for not trusting in you. Help us to do so more and more as we leave from this place and in the days to come. I pray, Father, that we would be sobered by the clarity with which you describe that final judgment, that you would encourage and urge us to have a sense of urgency in telling others about the Gospel.

We pray, Father, that you would save many through this word. We pray, Father, that you would have mercy on us and preserve us. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ and to hold fast to him until his glorious appearing. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.