Audio of Sermon:
Sermon Notes: Isaiah 2:2-5 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. [3] And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [4] And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. [5] O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Audio of Message:
Israel was in bondage because she had drifted from God. Northern Israel had fallen to Assyria, and Southern Israel was about to fall to Babylon. How did God encourage His people?
He told them of better days to come. He spoke of the Coming Millennial Reign of Christ, a time when peace would rule on the earth.
Let’s meditate on what our Lord said:
Isaiah 2:2 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last days,
the latter days, at the end of the Age
when the old passes and the New King reigns
that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;
the “High Places” will be reserved to our God.
In the Millennial Reign of Christ God will not be incidental, but the focus of our lives.
and all nations shall flow unto it.
God will be revered under the Leadership and Throne of Christ.
Those of His Church shall receive glorified bodies at the Rapture
So that we are able to glorify our God forever!
The Bible speaks of the coming of our Lord and His Rapture of His Church:
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NKJV) For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NKJV) Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
What a glorious day that will be! In those coming days of glory the world will be changed.
Isaiah 2:3 (KJV) And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob;
People will want to gather together in love, glorifying God.
and he will teach us of his ways,
During the Millennial Reign of Christ people will want to hear the Word of God.
They will be taught of God.
and we will walk in his paths:
During the Millennium people will not walk in the paths of darkness nor sin.
We will walk in HIS paths, where our God leads.
for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And Jesus will rule from Jerusalem.
How will the world be during that wonderful time? The Lord tells us:
Isaiah 2:4 (KJV) And He {Jesus Christ our Lord} shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:
Jesus said in John 5:22-23 (NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
All Judgment belongs to the Son. He will rule the world.
What is the result of His righteous rule?
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
War will be ended during the Millennial Reign of our Lord.
Israel was in bondage, first to sin, then to the sinful pagan.
But where God reigns there is nothing but peace.
Where God rules there is fairness.
Where God rules racism is gone.
Looking forward to this great day, God issues a command to His people. He says:
Isaiah 2:5 (KJV) O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
If during the Millennial Reign Christ brings peace,
If in Heaven there is no domination of sin nor or hatred,
If these things are true because we walk in the light of the Lord,
Then let us NOW walk in the light of the Lord.
IF what blesses the world THEN is obedience to the Lord,
THEN what blesses the world NOW is obedience to the Lord.
God’s People Are To Walk In LIGHT, Not Darkness
On Wednesday nights we are working our way through the Book of 1 Corinthians, one of my least favorite books of the Bible to preach through. I didn’t say I didn’t wholeheartedly agree with it – and love it – because My Lord wrote it. But it is a hard book to preach.
The Church in America today is like Corinth, and no one wants to hear the truth.
That makes it hard to preach. But I’ll preach it anyway.
The Corinthian Church had gotten away from Walking in the Light of the Lord and began to let worldliness creep into the Church. The Apostle told Corinth – and the Church today …
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NKJV) I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with SEXUALLY IMMORAL PEOPLE. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or COVETOUS, or an IDOLATER, or a REVILER, or a DRUNKARD, or an EXTORTIONER—not even to eat with such a person.
Sexual immorality is darkness. God calls His people to one man – one woman marriages, just as it was with Adam and Eve. His people are to walk in LIGHT, not darkness. God calls His people away from homosexual, lesbian, transgender, or promiscuous heterosexual relationships. These things are darkness, not light. Come, let us walk together in the light of the Lord.
No believer is to be SEXUALLY IMMORAL – a violation of the 7th Commandment.
No believer is to be COVETOUS – greedy, a violation of the 10th Commandment.
No believer is to be IDOLATROUS – worshiping false gods,
a violation of Commands 1&2.
No believer is to be a reviler – hateful to others. This violates the Law of Love.
No believer is to be a drunkard – a misuser of alcohol or drugs.
And certainly no believer is to be an extortioner – manipulating others for gain.
You say “But truly no believer would do these things”. Believers have, and did. The Corinthians did so. A famous Old Testament example of such things was God’s own King David. David was “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). And David is a perfect example of why we do not walk in darkness.
David COVETED.
He saw another man’s wife.
David EXTORTED.
He took that man’s wife.
David was SEXUALLY IMMORAL.
He slept with that man’s wife.
David was IDOLATROUS.
He worshiped himself and his power.
He did not glorify God.
Then David MURDERED the man from whom
He coveted, extorted, took.
But God punished David.
2 Samuel 12:10 (ESV) Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
the Lord told David.
If you walk in darkness, you will stub the toe of your soul.
If you walk in darkness, you will hurt yourself.
If you walk in darkness, it will hurt others around you.
Remember what you learned in Bible School, that precious Song …
O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little feet WHERE YOU WALK
O be careful little feet WHERE YOU WALK
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little feet WHERE YOU WALK
Worldliness has crept into many Churches today.
Worldliness has crept into many of our beloved Baptist Churches.
Worldliness has crept into our beloved Convention.
The world has taught the Church how to compromise with the darkness, and the Church has listened. Oh Beloved, if you do darkness you will reap darkness. If you do light, you will reap light.
The Church – just like Israel – is called to look forward, to be prophetically minded.
The Church – just like Israel – is called to walk in the light of the Lord.
If we will THEN rule and reign with Him, we must NOW walk with Him.
Walking In Light Is The Normal State Of The Believer
Isaiah 2:5 (KJV) O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
As someone once said:
There is a big difference between an EMPTY profession and a GRACIOUS reality!
The dangerous “hope so” salvation is often prompted by the double minded person. God tells us:
1 John 1:6-7 (NKJV) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
God saves us from the dark world to walk in His world. We who are His are translated beings.
Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJV) {God} has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
The Redeemed are Translated, and the Translated are Redeemed.
And we who are His are Redeemed to walk with Him. “Let us WALK in the Light of the Lord”. Walking implies activity and union. If we walk in the Light we walk WITH GOD and WITH OTHER BEINGS OF LIGHT. As we walk with God, we walk with God TOGETHER.
He said “Let us WALK”. Walk implies continuous activity. The Bible does not say “let us SIT in the Light of the Lord”, but “Let us WALK in the Light of the Lord”. Jesus said “My Father works, so I work”. We walk – we work – with our Father.
We Walk ONWARD With Light There may be times when darkness and depression come in our lives, but we do not live in darkness. Children of light may have times of sorrow.
Psalm 30:5 (NKJV) …. Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
The believer is not to focus on the darkness, but on Christ, our “Dayspring from on High” (Luke 1:78). We lose loved ones. We all suffer the pangs and sorrows of death. But those of ours who have gone on ahead into His Presence are not lost, but held in the arms of Christ. We do not sorrow as the unbeliever does who has no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), but our focus is on Christ. Jesus told us:
Matthew 6:22-23 (NKJV) The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Where is your spiritual “eye” focused? If on the darkness, you will be in darkness. “Come, let us walk in the Light of the Lord”. Has He not promised
John 11:26 (NKJV) And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Then asks …
“Do you believe this?”
If you believe this, then focus on this. Let your life be all of
Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) … LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We Walk Onward In The LIGHT OF GRACE And LOVE
Isaiah 2:5 (KJV) O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
The unbeliever is in the state of darkness.
Ephesians 4:18 (NKJV) … having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
This is where you were, dear believer, but no longer are.
Ephesians 5:8 (NKJV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We no longer hesitate between two opinions, but we desire to walk with our God in His light.
We are to walk loving one another as Christ has loved us.
We are to walk in love with our God, praising Him, magnifying His Name.
We glorify Him, not ourselves, but Him.
We know that the Lord’s Prayer:
Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) …Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. [10] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The Kingdom of God cannot come while His people are walking in darkness. We must walk in the light of His love, caring for one another, loving one another. We are a forgiven people. We are purchased by the Blood of His dear Son. We are His Children. Sin to us is a horror, a killer, a murderer of the innocent, a terror that we will not walk by. As C.H. Spurgeon once said:
“We are no longer bound to this earth! We are borne along by the irresistable force of eternal love. God has achieved His purpose in our blood washed souls; walking in the light we are now in harmony with His master purpose, and we cry,
Father, glorify Your Son!
May the Spirit of God bring you to know the joy of walking in His Light. May God bless you all!
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