WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:30.989 sermon. God Bless. I love the vision of Isaiah, 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:33.770 the son of Amos. Isn't it a wonderful book to 00:00:33.770 --> 00:00:38.549 read? I hope you enjoy reading that. In the year 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:42.630 that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated 00:00:42.630 --> 00:00:45.729 upon his throne. Isn't that wonderful? So glorious. 00:00:45.990 --> 00:00:48.850 Then that's chapter six, chapter seven. The virgin 00:00:48.850 --> 00:00:52.869 shall conceive and bear a son and shall call 00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:59.100 his name Emmanuel. And then chapter eight, Assyria 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:03.740 is going to invade, chapter nine, for unto us 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:08.019 a child is born, unto us a son is given. We have 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:10.920 a pattern here. We have a pattern of judgment 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:15.079 and salvation and judgment and salvation. And 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:21.079 it goes back and forth. Our text today is Isaiah 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:26.140 chapter 22, 1 through 14, is from a group of 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:31.579 four oracles of coming judgment. Chapter 21 tells 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:34.859 of the judgment of the wilderness of the sea, 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:40.920 Babylon. The judgment on Edom, which is called 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:45.840 Duma, deep, utter silence. One Hebrew scholar 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:51.299 translates Duma, the silence of death. Then the 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:54.859 judgment on Arabia and now the oracle concerning 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:59.319 Jerusalem the valley of vision I'm going to read 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:03.480 just a couple verses From this I'm not going 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.700 to read the whole section again But I hope that 00:02:06.700 --> 00:02:09.740 you have your Bibles and can follow along Isaiah 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:12.919 chapter 22 I'm going to read from one and two 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:15.879 and then verse five from the English Standard 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:20.560 Version The oracle concerning the valley of vision. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.460 What do you mean that you have gone up? All of 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:26.900 you to the housetops who are full of shoutings 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:32.780 tumultuous city exultant town and verse 5 For 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:36.659 the Lord of hosts has a day of tumult of trampling 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:39.580 and confusion in the valley of vision a battering 00:02:39.580 --> 00:02:42.759 down of walls and a shouting to the mountains 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:47.379 Let's pray Blessed Father, thank you for your 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:50.819 word. Thank you for your prophets. Think of Isaiah 00:02:50.819 --> 00:02:54.879 and Ezekiel and the words we've heard from them 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:58.680 this morning and the way that you have pointed 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:02.300 to Christ through them and the way you are revealing 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:05.740 him to us today, even through their words, we 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:08.479 pray now, Holy Spirit, that you will come and 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.939 be present here in this place among us in the 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:15.159 preaching of your word, that you will work through 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:19.699 my feeble words and work good things in our hearts 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:23.300 pertaining to life and salvation in Jesus name. 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:31.189 Amen. So I became a member of Susquehanna Valley 00:03:31.189 --> 00:03:34.969 Presbytery in February. They had the meeting 00:03:34.969 --> 00:03:38.150 February 21st at Proclamation down in Mount Joy. 00:03:38.849 --> 00:03:42.870 And when I came into membership of Susquehanna 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:46.469 Valley Presbytery, I also was added to the session 00:03:46.469 --> 00:03:50.629 of Valley Presbyterian Church, which is a church 00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:54.819 plant of our Presbytery. up the river in Sealance 00:03:54.819 --> 00:03:59.379 Grove and it's a very young church plant and 00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:01.580 they have a borrowed session at this point and 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:05.060 they needed another teaching elder on their session 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:10.620 and so I'm able to serve in that role. Shelly 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.139 and I have only been able to attend services 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:15.379 up there a couple times. We're hoping to get 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:19.879 up there, continue to go up as we're able, but 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:22.720 last Sunday I was able to preach at up at Valley, 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:26.680 and I was thinking about preaching up there, 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.819 I thought of their name, and I asked Tom Hartman, 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.600 who has been here worshiping with us, he's one 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.060 of the founding elders. has anybody preached 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:40.639 about the name Valley?" And he said, no, nobody 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.579 says. So it's like, okay, great. And it's like, 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:46.420 all right, so we got the Valley of Dry Bones 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:49.079 in Ezekiel. We've got the Valley of the Shadow 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:53.459 of Death in Psalm 23. They're pretty much famous 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:57.279 Valley texts, but I wanted to bless them with 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.319 something. uplifting about their name and so 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.600 it's all the Valley of Vision. So that was the 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:08.980 text I used for them at that sermon. And then 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:12.519 Peter, while I was just about finishing up that 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:17.000 sermon, Peter said, can you preach on the 24th 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.519 at Second City? And I said, only if I can preach 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.779 the same sermon. because it takes me a long, 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:25.079 believe it or not, it takes me a long time to 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:29.079 prepare a sermon. And he said, well, it is Pentecost. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:30.980 And I thought, well, this will be an unusual 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:34.920 Pentecost text. But I think it might tie in. 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:37.959 Let's see if it ties in by the time we're done 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:43.720 here. Why does the Lord call Jerusalem the valley 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:47.019 of vision? You know, it's like. Babylon's the 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:51.040 desert of the sea, and Jerusalem's the valley 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:55.160 of vision. Well, why is it called a valley? I 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:56.759 mean, you think Jerusalem's up on a mountain, 00:05:56.899 --> 00:05:59.579 right? It's up on a hill. Well, the Mount of 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:04.779 Olives is 300 feet higher to the east of Jerusalem, 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:07.720 and Mount Zion is to the south. It's higher than 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:12.120 the city of Jerusalem proper. So Jerusalem can 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:17.139 appear to be a valley. And Isaiah's own home 00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:23.100 is said, Josephus says that Isaiah's home was 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:26.959 in the valley between the two main hills of Jerusalem. 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:30.120 So the prophet's home was in the valley. So it's 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.399 like, well, this is the valley of vision because 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:35.959 the prophet sees the vision in Jerusalem, in 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:38.779 his home, in the valley. But I don't think the 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:43.899 Lord is mostly talking about geography when he's 00:06:43.790 --> 00:06:47.310 Names Israel the valley of vision a valley is 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:51.029 a deep shut -in place a solitary place in the 00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:55.410 depths of our valleys The Lord shows us the heights 00:06:55.410 --> 00:06:59.790 of his glory in the valley We find a paradox 00:06:59.790 --> 00:07:04.750 the way down is the way up the repentant soul 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:10.550 has the victory I Think we tend to undervalue 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:14.680 our valleys even to waste our valleys to miss 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.660 what the Lord is doing in our lives in this world. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:22.680 In the Valley of Vision, we see first the judgment 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:26.579 of God, not in the order of verses, but I think 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:28.800 in the thrust of the passage. As Jason read it, 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:30.899 it's like, this is a passage about judgment. 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:33.420 It's like, yeah, it kind of is a passage about 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:37.980 judgment. God removed the defense of His people 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:42.790 and He brought their enemies to them. Elam and 00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:46.029 Kerr are coming, verse 6. These are just two 00:07:46.029 --> 00:07:48.910 of the many nations that composed the Assyrian 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:52.730 army. Jeremiah 49 tells us that the warriors 00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:56.230 of Elam were greatly dreaded as bowmen. You know, 00:07:56.269 --> 00:08:01.470 these are scary enemies coming against Israel. 00:08:02.550 --> 00:08:05.730 People of God in Jerusalem attempted to escape, 00:08:06.170 --> 00:08:10.839 but but destruction was coming and was assured. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:13.740 They attempted to escape. How did they attempt 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.600 to escape? What do we see in our passage? They 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.379 attempted to escape by frantic self -salvation. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.439 They were making every preparation. Verse eight 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.160 says that, in that day, you look to the weapons 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.839 of the house of the forest. What's the house 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.319 of the forest? We've heard of that before. Many 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.939 of us have read about that. The house of the 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:34.559 forest. Solomon built the house of the forest. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.960 It was an armory of Jerusalem. He used cedars 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.120 from Lebanon and he made four rows of cedar columns 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:44.279 so that when you walked in, it looked like you're 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:46.320 walking into a forest. It gave the image of a 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.840 forest. You saw the breaches of the city of David 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:52.940 were many, and you counted the houses in Jerusalem. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.860 Which of these houses can we spare? How many 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:58.940 can we spare? And you broke down the houses to 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:03.009 fortify the walls. You collected the waters of 00:09:03.009 --> 00:09:05.389 the lower pool. You made a reservoir between 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:08.850 the walls for the water of the old pool. You 00:09:08.850 --> 00:09:13.309 did all that you could to prepare. That isn't 00:09:13.309 --> 00:09:17.490 bad in and of itself. That's a good thing. They 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:23.710 also attempted escape by mindless escapism by 00:09:23.710 --> 00:09:29.379 partying. It's kind of like singing and dancing 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:32.799 while the ship was sinking, the Lord asked, why 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.039 have you gone up on the housetops? And I thought, 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:37.879 you know, gone on the housetops. Well, why did 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:39.960 they go on the housetops? You think, well, maybe 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:42.860 so they can see if the Assyrians are here yet. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:45.340 But I think that would be on the wall. You go 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:50.179 to the wall and you see better. As I was reading 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:51.860 different commentaries, it's like, well, they 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:54.740 went up on the houses to celebrate. That's where 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:59.500 they had parties on their housetops. The Lord 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.120 of hosts of the armies of heaven called for weeping 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:06.360 over sin. He called for mourning and they responded 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:09.080 with killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, steak 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:12.679 and lamb chops for everybody. Let's eat, drink 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.740 and be merry for tomorrow we die. Eventually 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:21.740 they tried to escape by fleeing Verse 3 all your 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:24.519 leaders have fled together without the bow They 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.620 were captured all of you who were found were 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:32.600 captured though. They had fled far away Isaiah 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:37.139 saw this vision and he said in verse 4 therefore 00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:42.720 look away from me that I may weep bitter tears. 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:46.159 Do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:51.039 of the daughter of my people." Such a terrible 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.159 thing to see the destruction coming because the 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:59.700 destruction was assured. The fate of Jerusalem 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:04.379 was fashioned long ago. Verse 14 the Lord of 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:07.179 hosts has revealed himself in my ears. Surely 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:11.379 this iniquity will not be atoned for until you 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:17.659 die Says the Lord of hosts Brothers and sisters 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.899 we live among a people who do not believe in 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.919 the coming judgment of God in General people 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.100 are not worried about that and they're not thinking 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:32.620 about that. I have a friend in Wilmington that 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:37.139 I go out to eat with once in a while or every 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:41.860 once a month or so. He's Jewish by ethnicity, 00:11:42.059 --> 00:11:46.159 which he comments upon almost every time we're 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:51.500 together, but not by religion. And I've been 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:54.419 preparing this sermon for a long time. And as 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:57.659 I was thinking about it and talking with him, 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:00.220 I said, you don't believe in judgment coming, 00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:03.250 do you? And he said, I don't believe in God. 00:12:03.529 --> 00:12:06.649 You know, he said, but I'm still a moral person. 00:12:06.730 --> 00:12:09.370 It doesn't mean I'm immoral. It's like, OK. And 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:12.250 they want morality, but they don't believe that 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:15.129 there's anyone ever going to judge whether this 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:18.429 morality was adequate or not or anything like 00:12:18.429 --> 00:12:22.830 that. Which to me is so sad, because if you don't 00:12:22.830 --> 00:12:25.809 have a view of God's judgment, how do you have 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:29.669 a view of Christ's salvation? Because the salvation 00:12:29.669 --> 00:12:34.779 comes Judgment is the first word in the story 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:40.720 of salvation. There's an elephant in the room 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:45.539 here for you biblical scholars. The Assyrians 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:49.000 did not end up destroying Jerusalem, did they? 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:52.320 It's like Isaiah talks all about this and Assyria 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.679 was coming, but they didn't end up destroying 00:12:54.679 --> 00:13:02.269 them. I believe the prophetic view captures the. 00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:06.830 the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon centuries 00:13:06.830 --> 00:13:10.549 later as well. In fact, I think it goes on to 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.690 even include the destruction of Jerusalem by 00:13:13.690 --> 00:13:17.830 the Romans after the time of Christ. Jesus foretells 00:13:17.830 --> 00:13:32.450 this in Matthew 23. chicks under her wings, and 00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:35.409 you were not willing. See your houses left to 00:13:35.409 --> 00:13:38.590 you desolate. Not one stone of the temple was 00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:43.009 going to be left upon another." In our text, 00:13:43.250 --> 00:13:47.629 we see a real irony, great attention given to 00:13:47.629 --> 00:13:50.909 military readiness, but a complete disregard 00:13:50.909 --> 00:13:54.210 to the sovereign God who controls the situation. 00:13:55.669 --> 00:13:59.110 Begs the question, is there such a thing as taking 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:03.940 prudent measures without looking to God? Is that 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:10.179 even a thing? Valleys can be very difficult places 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:14.059 in our lives, and I know that there are many 00:14:14.059 --> 00:14:16.200 valleys of just talking with a sister on the 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.580 way in about some of the struggles going on just 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:24.100 this week. I've been in a fairly dark valley 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:28.899 in my work situation since February, which to 00:14:28.899 --> 00:14:31.980 me is a long time. I applied for a different 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:34.639 position at work. It would have been a promotion. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.600 They gave the job to my coworker who was my partner. 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:43.919 We were both managers in one program and he got 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:47.299 that job and I was left doing both of our jobs 00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:53.500 which was more than challenging for me. And then 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:57.240 As he entered into his new position, his second 00:14:57.240 --> 00:15:00.980 day on the job, they brought in security. They 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.779 walked him out the door. He was fired. They changed 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:06.360 the locks. He could not come back in. It's like, 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:08.840 oh my goodness. It's like, what in the world? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:15.440 So it's been a difficult time, which I am finally 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.600 recovering from. I felt a level of comfort, I 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.700 guess it was about two weeks ago, that I hadn't 00:15:24.700 --> 00:15:27.759 had for a long time. And I was sitting there 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.240 thinking back and I thought, you know, it was 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.740 kind of like being dropped off for the first 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:39.580 day of kindergarten. Don't know if you remember 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:41.860 being dropped off for the first day of kindergarten. 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:44.879 I don't think I do but I can bet I have a feeling 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.860 from that I think I still remember the feeling 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:52.139 it's like this is terrible. This is never going 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:59.139 to work but Yeah, it ends up being okay I've 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.419 been working in Wilmington since my heart condition 00:16:02.419 --> 00:16:05.019 came to light a little over three years ago three 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:08.500 years ago this month Shelly and I were walking 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:12.940 through my small apartment in Wilmington in one 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:15.220 of the oldest apartment buildings in Wilmington 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:18.240 and Shelly said this was going to be a good place 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:24.700 for me and I thought no This is not going to 00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:29.759 be good But yeah, it has been it has turned out. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.840 It is a good place. It's a good place for me 00:16:33.769 --> 00:16:37.669 We tend to hate our valleys, don't we? We tend 00:16:37.669 --> 00:16:41.289 to hate these valleys. Brothers and sisters, 00:16:42.070 --> 00:16:45.409 let's not waste the valleys in our life that 00:16:45.409 --> 00:16:48.570 the Lord is leading us through. In the Valley 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:50.809 of Vision, we see the judgment of God and we 00:16:50.809 --> 00:16:55.070 see the Lord Himself. The Lord is a warrior. 00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:59.590 The Lord has taken away the covering of Judah. 00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:03.549 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:06.450 and trampling and confusion in the valley of 00:17:06.450 --> 00:17:10.349 vision, a battering down of walls. Instead of 00:17:10.349 --> 00:17:14.029 the tumultuous shouts of partying in verse two, 00:17:14.589 --> 00:17:18.589 there's going to be the tumult of war coming. 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:24.609 Exodus 15 the song of Moses Moses says it very 00:17:24.609 --> 00:17:28.789 clearly the Lord is a warrior the Lord is his 00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:31.089 name Pharaoh's chariots and his host have been 00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:34.309 cast into the sea and his chosen officers were 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:38.829 sunk in the Red Sea as a warrior the Lord is 00:17:38.829 --> 00:17:44.430 fighting Against his people is he fighting against 00:17:44.430 --> 00:17:49.119 is that what we're seeing in Isaiah 22 So we 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.480 think of the parable of the minas or the talents 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:56.960 going through at the end of that parable. He 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:01.859 says, ask for my enemy who didn't want me to 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:05.539 roll over him, bring him here and slaughter him. 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:10.279 The Lord is fighting against his enemies. and 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:14.880 against our enemies. And John 8, Jesus was talking 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.279 to the Jews who had believed in him. And they 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:21.599 said, we are offspring of Abraham. We have never 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.220 been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:29.410 you will become free? We're free now. But Jesus 00:18:29.410 --> 00:18:32.069 says, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who 00:18:32.069 --> 00:18:36.309 practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does 00:18:36.309 --> 00:18:38.750 not remain in the house forever. The son remains 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:41.410 forever. So if the son sets you free, you will 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:45.190 be free indeed. The Lord is fighting against 00:18:45.190 --> 00:18:49.130 the sin in our lives. He's fighting against his 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:53.269 enemies and our enemies. We see the Lord Himself, 00:18:53.430 --> 00:18:57.240 the warrior and the shepherd. Shelly and I were 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.259 blessed to attend the Quaker Town Conference 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.900 on Reformed Theology last November in Quaker 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:08.400 Town, Pennsylvania. And it's a wonderful conference 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.819 every year. Maybe we can get a, maybe we'll put 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:14.400 a flyer up this year and some more of you can 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:19.200 come. But Philip Rankin was there and... He was 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:24.019 talking about his trip to Africa. One of his 00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:27.779 former students was a Maasai warrior. It's like, 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.640 well, how cool is that? You have a student that's, 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.460 I was just talking with Jed about his students 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:34.200 in the end of the year and doing the same thing. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:37.420 One of your student is a Maasai warrior. So he 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.059 went to Africa with him, with this young man 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:46.099 and he was staying in a tent and it was dark. 00:19:46.269 --> 00:19:48.970 and there were lions about. He could hear the 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:52.569 lions and he could not see the lions because 00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:57.690 it was dark. And there was a certain, now I'm 00:19:57.690 --> 00:19:59.910 doing this all from memory so details might not 00:19:59.910 --> 00:20:01.769 be exactly right if you can find it written somewhere, 00:20:02.109 --> 00:20:04.990 but I couldn't find it written anywhere. In any 00:20:04.990 --> 00:20:07.349 event, he was in the tent and he had to get to 00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:09.910 the main tent at night and he thought, I do not 00:20:09.910 --> 00:20:14.619 want to leave my tent and he ended up of a necessity, 00:20:14.900 --> 00:20:17.240 leaving his tent. When he got to the opening 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:21.759 of his tent, a messiah warrior met him and escorted 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:27.579 him the whole way to the main tent. That's what 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:32.619 we need. We need a warrior shepherd, a shepherd 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:39.529 who is strong, who is a warrior. The Lord shepherded 00:20:39.529 --> 00:20:41.950 his people not to destruction, he shepherded 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:45.509 them to deliverance. At that time, with the Syrian 00:20:45.509 --> 00:20:50.970 invasion, they didn't come. The Lord led good 00:20:50.970 --> 00:20:55.009 King Hezekiah to repent. He tore his clothes, 00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:57.190 he went to the house of the Lord, he humbled 00:20:57.190 --> 00:21:00.410 himself and he prayed, and the Lord fought the 00:21:00.410 --> 00:21:05.269 battle for his people. The Lord spoke through 00:21:05.269 --> 00:21:10.039 Isaiah. In chapter 37, she despises you. She 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:12.940 scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion. Whom 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:15.400 have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.819 you raised your voice? Against the Holy One of 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:24.440 Israel. The Lord is shepherding his people through 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:28.230 the valley of the shadow of death. David wrote 00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:32.210 in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. He makes 00:21:32.210 --> 00:21:36.930 me lie down. He leads me. He restores my soul. 00:21:37.269 --> 00:21:41.289 He guides me in righteousness. Even though I 00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:44.069 walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:49.730 I will fear no evil for who's with me? Is it 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:54.930 he is with me? No, it doesn't say, he does this, 00:21:54.930 --> 00:21:57.549 he does that. It doesn't say, he is with me. 00:21:57.809 --> 00:22:02.529 It says, you are with me. It turns to the personal, 00:22:02.670 --> 00:22:06.450 the second person pronoun, not the third person, 00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:10.630 not someone out there is with me. You are with 00:22:10.630 --> 00:22:15.250 me. You are with me. My good shepherd, you prepare 00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:18.230 a table for me. You anoint my head with oil. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:23.000 In the valley of vision, we see the Lord. Whatever 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:25.440 we do in this world, brothers and sisters, we 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.759 have to do it with an eye to the Lord. In the 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:32.519 valley of vision, we see judgment, we see the 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:35.960 Lord, and we see a glimpse of the future. And 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:38.460 this is not the same thing that I preached up 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:41.640 in Valley Presbyterian, because we see a glimpse 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:45.019 of Pentecost. It's like I was thinking after 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:49.079 Peter talk to me. It's like, well, you know, 00:22:49.140 --> 00:22:51.339 what's the Valley of Vision all about? The Valley 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:53.960 of Vision is the Lord spoke to his prophets in 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.839 the Valley of Vision, which he called Jerusalem. 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:03.460 And what happened at Pentecost? The first Christians 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:08.039 were told, remain in... the valley of vision 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.079 until you receive power from the Holy Spirit. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.779 So they were gathered, they had remained in Jerusalem 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:21.660 until the Holy Spirit came. Brothers and sisters, 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:25.240 the new covenant is better in every way than 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:28.559 the old covenant. The new covenant in Christ's 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.160 blood is better. You know, the wages of sin is 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:33.740 death. We know this. People all over the world 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:35.799 know this. There are sacrifices in all kinds 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:39.519 of religions because they know that sin must 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:42.900 be atoned for. Judgment is coming and they need 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:46.839 to be separated from your sins somehow. The good 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:48.880 news starts with this. In the Old Testament, 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.940 there were bloody sacrifices made all the time. 00:23:52.339 --> 00:23:55.740 Bloody sacraments, bloody sacraments were observed, 00:23:55.900 --> 00:24:00.220 circumcision, and it's been replaced as a sign 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:03.619 of seal in the church. The bloody sacrament of 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:09.940 circumcision replaced with baptism and the bloody 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:15.960 sacrament of The Passover has been replaced with 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.460 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Think of 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:22.819 the sacrifices throughout history. You think 00:24:22.819 --> 00:24:27.779 of the thousands and thousands of sheep and bulls 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:32.480 and rams that were sacrificed, tens of thousands, 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:38.039 millions, and the New Covenant has said no more. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:41.640 We don't need any more of shedding of the blood 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:44.519 because, praise God, the blood of Jesus. The 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.319 blood of the sheep and the rams never satisfied 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:50.259 the wrath of God. It was just pointing forward, 00:24:50.420 --> 00:24:53.740 just tutoring us, helping us to see we need a 00:24:53.740 --> 00:24:57.380 covering for our sin. We need a substitute for 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.859 our sin. And praise God, in the new covenant, 00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:04.819 Jesus Christ has come as the real sacrifice, 00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:07.380 the one who takes away the sins of the world. 00:25:07.529 --> 00:25:10.390 everyone who had faith in the Lord from the beginning 00:25:10.390 --> 00:25:15.609 of time, from Adam and Eve on. In the Old Testament, 00:25:16.670 --> 00:25:18.569 just a couple other ways, the New Covenant is 00:25:18.569 --> 00:25:21.150 better than the Old. In the Old Covenant, it 00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:24.289 talked about the meek inheriting the land. In 00:25:24.289 --> 00:25:26.670 the New Covenant, it says the meek will inherit 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:31.470 the whole earth. Jerusalem was the center of 00:25:31.470 --> 00:25:33.829 the earth and people came to Jerusalem to see 00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:36.920 the laws and to see the worship and come to to 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:40.119 understand God. But now the Valley of Vision 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:43.279 is taken out everywhere because the Holy Spirit 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.900 is poured out on all of the people of God. And 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:49.380 the Valley of Vision, it was out into the whole 00:25:49.380 --> 00:25:57.480 world. So I was thinking about Sears and Roebuck 00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:02.950 this week. Sears and Roebuck really changed America 00:26:02.950 --> 00:26:05.509 the Sears and Roebuck catalog you could be sitting 00:26:05.509 --> 00:26:09.450 in your house in Nebraska and see something in 00:26:09.450 --> 00:26:13.569 that catalog and you could order it and pay for 00:26:13.569 --> 00:26:18.109 it and It would be delivered to they'd put it 00:26:18.109 --> 00:26:20.890 on the train and bring it to your post office 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:25.750 What an amazing thing Don't even get me started 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:34.240 on the Amazon I Talk about that too much, but 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:39.000 God the Father loves the story of Jesus Christ. 00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:42.740 God loves the character and the story of Jesus 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:45.940 Christ. He loves that Jesus humbled himself. 00:26:46.140 --> 00:26:50.829 He left the throne. Isaiah saw him there on the 00:26:50.829 --> 00:26:54.250 throne. He saw the Lord surrounded by the burning 00:26:54.250 --> 00:26:57.309 ones, the seraphim crying, holy, holy, holy. 00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:00.910 He loves the character of Jesus of Nazareth. 00:27:01.549 --> 00:27:05.890 And Jesus left that and he came and he was born 00:27:05.890 --> 00:27:09.690 of a poor virgin girl. He grew up in the valley 00:27:09.690 --> 00:27:14.109 of this world. God the father made a plan for 00:27:14.109 --> 00:27:18.079 salvation. to save the world through Jesus Christ, 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:21.420 God the Son. God the Son produced the salvation 00:27:21.420 --> 00:27:24.559 by His perfect obedience, His perfect character 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:29.440 and His sacrificial death on our behalf. But 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.779 we can believe this. How does this get applied 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:37.519 to you and me? We're still sitting in our house 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.240 in Nebraska. We saw the thing in the catalog. 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:44.240 We ordered the thing. How does it get to me? 00:27:44.269 --> 00:27:49.789 to us. It gets to us by the Holy Spirit. The 00:27:49.789 --> 00:27:52.750 Holy Spirit is the delivery. It's the train bringing 00:27:52.750 --> 00:27:54.789 it to the post office, bringing it towards the 00:27:54.789 --> 00:27:58.450 Amazon driver coming to your front porch. That's 00:27:58.450 --> 00:28:01.549 the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to bring 00:28:01.549 --> 00:28:05.410 us to life, to apply Jesus Christ and all of 00:28:05.410 --> 00:28:08.970 His benefits to you and me. I love the quote 00:28:08.970 --> 00:28:13.180 from Calvin in the bulletin about The fact that 00:28:13.180 --> 00:28:17.420 they aren't private gifts for Jesus. They're 00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:21.019 gifts that God gave Jesus for us. And they're 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:24.400 applied to us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:29.440 who is the giver and is himself the gift. We 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.819 receive the Holy Spirit himself, the Spirit of 00:28:31.819 --> 00:28:35.740 Jesus. Friday morning, I was busily trying to 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.380 get everything done so that I could go home. 00:28:39.769 --> 00:28:42.670 one of our schedulers came in and sat down in 00:28:42.670 --> 00:28:45.809 my office and I think he was trying to figure 00:28:45.809 --> 00:28:48.690 out if I'm really a Christian or not because 00:28:48.690 --> 00:28:53.369 he is a believer and I'm glad he came in and 00:28:53.369 --> 00:28:58.970 we were talking and he told me his story a little 00:28:58.970 --> 00:29:01.769 bit. I believe he said it was 30 years that he 00:29:01.769 --> 00:29:06.309 was an alcoholic and a drug addict and he came 00:29:06.309 --> 00:29:10.369 to a crisis point in his life. And he said, I'm 00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:13.109 done with this. And he said, I got to go to church 00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:15.529 somewhere. And he ended up in an apostolic church, 00:29:15.950 --> 00:29:17.990 an apostolic church. And he said, I want to be 00:29:17.990 --> 00:29:21.529 baptized in Jesus' name. And they said, we'll 00:29:21.529 --> 00:29:24.109 do it. And they baptized him in Jesus' name. 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:27.069 And he ended up, I don't understand, I didn't 00:29:27.069 --> 00:29:29.710 understand all the details. He ended up in the 00:29:29.710 --> 00:29:34.190 back seat of a car of people that he had just 00:29:34.190 --> 00:29:38.000 met. taking him to Baltimore from Wilmington, 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:41.420 and they wanted him to be baptized in the Holy 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:46.940 Spirit. So they took him to Baltimore and the 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:49.900 matriarch there determined that he was ready 00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:52.339 to receive the Holy Spirit. And so he was baptized 00:29:52.339 --> 00:29:55.059 in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. And 00:29:55.059 --> 00:30:00.460 he continues that way today. And I thought, you 00:30:00.460 --> 00:30:03.200 know, I don't really want to go there, but the 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:07.089 Holy Spirit orchestrates all of our lives, believe 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:09.849 it or not. And it's like, this is the first time 00:30:09.849 --> 00:30:12.390 anyone has walked into my office and told me 00:30:12.390 --> 00:30:15.490 that they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and 00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:18.170 were speaking in tongues. The first time anyone 00:30:18.170 --> 00:30:21.690 has told me that. And it's like, the two days 00:30:21.690 --> 00:30:26.250 before I'm preaching on Pentecost, how the Holy 00:30:26.250 --> 00:30:31.200 Spirit wants me to tell you that. And I'm not 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:34.380 saying that you should go to Baltimore or anything 00:30:34.380 --> 00:30:38.220 like that. I am going to say the Holy Spirit 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:42.440 moves as He will, and we do not control the Holy 00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:45.680 Spirit. We, by the grace of God, Lord willing, 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:48.920 are controlled by the Holy Spirit. And the more 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:51.579 we're controlled by the Holy Spirit, the happier 00:30:51.579 --> 00:30:57.740 we are and the better our lives are. The Holy 00:30:57.740 --> 00:31:00.880 Spirit works as He will and praise God, miracles 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.420 still happen, especially when you go into third 00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:07.039 world countries and you see where they are believing 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:11.140 in demon activity and demons are cast out regularly 00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:14.660 and things like that. But the Holy Spirit does 00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:23.759 what He will. As we, I was reading through, a 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:28.240 Jeremiah Burroughs sermon. It's like, how do 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:32.380 you get a Jeremiah? Well, we get the, what's 00:31:32.380 --> 00:31:34.579 that called, Shelly, that booklet that we get? 00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:39.339 Free Grace, the Free Grace Broadcast. booklet 00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:42.440 and it has a lot of Puritan things in it. Jeremiah 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:47.059 Burroughs died in 1647 and I don't read a whole 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:49.279 lot of Puritans but I do read summaries of what 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:52.740 they said and this is from the Saints happiness. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:57.859 The soul of man is capable of an immediate joining 00:31:57.859 --> 00:32:02.039 with God. You will say God is infinite and I 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:08.819 am finite. His human soul was finite. Jesus' 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:13.799 human soul was a finite, created thing. I'm missing 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:18.380 up my reading here. Yet the infinite and finite 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:21.420 may be joined together. Who was the God man? 00:32:21.859 --> 00:32:25.920 His human soul was finite, a created thing. Now 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:33.609 don't confuse finite with... Mortal we have immortal 00:32:33.609 --> 00:32:36.349 souls. We have our souls that are immortal, but 00:32:36.349 --> 00:32:40.009 they're not infinite and Jesus in his humanity 00:32:40.009 --> 00:32:43.730 had an immortal soul that was finite a Created 00:32:43.730 --> 00:32:47.190 thing and yet what a conjunction Christ's soul 00:32:47.190 --> 00:32:51.210 had with his divine nature The fitness of the 00:32:51.210 --> 00:32:55.269 soul the finiteness of the soul of man does not 00:32:55.269 --> 00:32:59.240 hinder the immediate touch of the infinite God 00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:03.299 Himself. We can be touched by the infinite God 00:33:03.299 --> 00:33:09.440 Himself. Our souls can be changed by our union 00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:12.599 with God Himself through the power of the Holy 00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:17.859 Spirit. It's capable of more immediate revelation 00:33:17.859 --> 00:33:21.720 of God, one that we will fully experience when 00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:24.940 we are with Him in heaven. In the present, we 00:33:24.940 --> 00:33:29.619 see it already. We see a union with Christ that 00:33:29.619 --> 00:33:32.960 because of the Holy Spirit, we have union with 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:36.460 Christ. We can say, Jesus is in my heart. We 00:33:36.460 --> 00:33:39.400 can call out to the Father, Abba Father, just 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:44.259 like Jesus called out Abba Father. But we have 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:47.730 hope for so much more. when we are in His presence 00:33:47.730 --> 00:33:50.890 and see Him as He is, we will change to be as 00:33:50.890 --> 00:33:54.390 He is and we will know a union with Him that 00:33:54.390 --> 00:33:57.690 we can't even imagine right now. Praise God. 00:33:57.829 --> 00:34:00.029 What a thing to hope for. What a thing to look 00:34:00.029 --> 00:34:03.769 forward to. So judgment is coming on the world 00:34:03.769 --> 00:34:07.230 for the believer in Christ. It has already been 00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:11.510 born by Jesus Christ. The valley of vision is 00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:15.440 the church. It is the Holy Spirit people. We're 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:18.579 in the valley of vision, as it were, because 00:34:18.579 --> 00:34:22.260 of the Holy Spirit in us. In this life we're 00:34:22.260 --> 00:34:25.460 living, we see Jesus made a little lower than 00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:28.880 the angels, but now crowned with glory. We see 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:32.559 him coming again so that we might be where he 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:40.460 is. One thing I thought, I know there are I'm 00:34:40.460 --> 00:34:42.820 going to end with this. There are souls that 00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:46.900 struggle and say, I'm not sure. Do I have the 00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:51.300 Holy Spirit myself? And I have three sisters 00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:56.699 and one of my sisters had that struggle herself 00:34:56.699 --> 00:35:02.280 when she was younger. How do I know if the Holy 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:05.079 Spirit's in me? Well, brothers and sisters, do 00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:09.119 you love the character and story of Jesus Christ? 00:35:10.179 --> 00:35:13.099 If you love the character and story of Jesus 00:35:13.099 --> 00:35:16.159 Christ, that's a gift of the Holy Spirit, because 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.179 the world does not. They do not love the character 00:35:19.179 --> 00:35:24.360 of Jesus Christ. They do not love the story of 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:28.420 Jesus Christ. Take heart, brothers and sisters. 00:35:28.940 --> 00:35:33.079 Embrace the Holy Spirit and His work. Do the 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:35.679 things He leads you to do. Do the work that He 00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:40.079 brings you to do. Let's pray. Blessed Lord, thank 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:45.980 you for these texts. Isaiah, the second chapter 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:50.219 of Acts. Psalm 23, so many texts that all tie 00:35:50.219 --> 00:35:53.179 together and that your whole word fits together 00:35:53.179 --> 00:35:56.059 and points us to Jesus Christ, our good shepherd, 00:35:56.199 --> 00:35:59.219 our warrior that we need to fight our sins and 00:35:59.219 --> 00:36:03.639 our enemies and your enemies. Thank you for bringing 00:36:03.639 --> 00:36:06.960 this, bringing us together under your word today. 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:10.280 We pray that we will take it home with us and 00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.159 that we will be people who do love the story 00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:18.090 of Jesus Christ, love the of Jesus Christ and 00:36:18.090 --> 00:36:20.929 are being changed by your Holy Spirit more and 00:36:20.929 --> 00:36:24.230 more into the character of Christ. In whose name 00:36:24.230 --> 00:36:25.730 we pray. Amen.