Perfect Peace
Notes
Transcript
Introduction and Context
Introduction and Context
Isaiah has been telling us about the Day of the Lord
Only his glory will be seen
He will invite his people to his mountain where we enjoy this abundance of life
Isaiah 26 tells us more about that day
1-12: Security
1-12: Security
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
We have a strong city
It's hard to appreciate the value of a good wall today. If you were facing off against an army I'd like a big one to hide behind.
Alone - people feel so exposed without four walls when a bear is walking around
The walls are made of God's salvation
In Isaiah's day actual walls surrounding Jerusalem were worthless. These walls are not safe because they are as more high and a football field thick. They are made of goods salvation.
We have two ideas that help us understand that salvation
God provides peace through protection and eliminating the enemy
5 For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. 6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.”
10 If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord. 11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. 12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.
Judgment is a good thing
I'm glad the Nazis were crushed
I'm glad Osama bin Laden is dead and not still hanging out in a cave somewhere
I'll be glad when God creates the new heavens and earth and I don't need a lock on my door at all!
God provides peace by providing a level path
7 The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. 8 In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. 9 My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Driving to Nashville - straight and level path for 7 hours
This provides perfect peace
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Complete, safe against everything. All the enemies are defeated and you don't need a lock on the door.
We don't have Assyrians bearing down on our walls, but we're far from perfect peace
We're apparently the most anxious generation
Dropping out or failing college and carrying the debt
Crippling medical debt
Rising cost of living
AI displacing jobs
One embarrassing moment immortalized and viral online
And how do we find out way out of that anxiety?
Drugs, porn, endless distractions
How often do you feel better after all of that? How often less?
We need to leave that all behind. The people who enter into that strong city are the faithful
2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
If we're going to turn to him, he wants it all. Or walls are his salvation and nothing else.
The people who desire God above all else, who see the majesty of God
If we don’t see the glory of God we’re led to follow something less glorious
Previous Masters
Previous Masters
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. 14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. 15 But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
We've had other masters, but they've all been forgotten
Because they all died
Because their remembrance were wiped out
It's not accident that Pharaoh is unnamed in the book of Exodus
The whole point is that the people will know Yahweh
All of these world leaders and big influencers are ultimately forgettable
How many of the thousands of kings and queens kings can you name? How many of the 45 presidents?
Most can name about 8-10
They can't keep themselves from perishing, what hope can they offer you?
Follow anybody you want, they've shown you where that path ends up
Follow Buddha and die like him.
Muhammed is dead.
Karl Marx - dead
George Washington - dead
The atheists like to set up 'the .' All these religions are dead along with their followers.
graveyard of the gods
I have to wonder if they realize that atheism leads to the same exact end
And we can't help ourselves either.
16 O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. 17 Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; 18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
Like a pregnant woman always in labor, never giving birth
That's what life is without God's perfect peace - always on the edge of feeling like you've made it, only to find that you need more
The Hedonic Treadmill - You think this will finally push you over into life, into satisfaction, and it does for a moment until you return to baseline happiness
We're just giving birth to the wind - going through all the toil, thinking that we're making life, only to find emptiness in the end
Where is your peace?
Is it found in the walls of stuff you've built up?
Death still creeps in. You've not stopped it, only delayed the inevitable.
Is it in the people who guide you?
They're not leading you anywhere but to the grave
Is it in your own self-sufficiency?
All your hopes and expectations for life are going to be empty wind
The walls come down, the people die, and you will never produce life as you wanted it
Only God is going to be the one to provide life
19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
Not just eternal life, but a life worth living right here and now
Because we have the resurrection:
Death is just a phase
I'm going to the grave to get up later
I'm going to be given life that I could never produce on my own
Conclusion
Conclusion
God is inviting you into perfect peace
You don’t have to worry about enemies stronger than your walls
A peace that isn’t distressed about death
A peace that you could never find on your own
You can find that peace by responding in faith to Jesus
