Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening. We pray, Lord God, that you would bless our time together. Help us to gather our thoughts and our hearts, Lord, that we may be focused and that your word would truly speak to us this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Alright, so if you turn your Bibles to Isaiah 24 and 25. Alright, let me just ask you real quick, and you guys can yell it out or you guys can say to each other, how would you label these two chapters? What's a running theme that you kind of see?

Judgment? Apocalyptic? Okay. End times? Okay. How is it different than the previous chapters? Okay. The scope of the judgment is not limited to one nation or particular, right? It's more broad. Do you notice anything else that's different? Okay. So there's language of restoration mixed in. Okay. Alright, so hopefully you were able to catch that.

And those of you who weren't with us before, obviously you don't have anything to compare with. But up to chapter 23, the judgment was, for the most part, very specific to particular nations, particular things going on. If you look at chapter 24 to probably about chapter 27, the judgment is very broad.

It's not talking to a specific nation or particular event in history necessarily. Although that may be an application, but you see a much more broader apocalyptic, where the judgment is upon the whole earth, all the nations, all the people. And the other part of it is, it gives you the conclusion of it, right?

Where previously we've seen judgment upon the nations, and then it's kind of like on a side note or in between. You say, "Well, the Messiah is going to come. The Messiah is going to come." But here it's almost kind of like the judgment is complete, right? It's not like, "Here's a judgment.

It's going to wait and we'll see what happens." It's like, "This is the end part." So what David said about apocalyptic, where it's like the end, right? And then when the end comes, there's something else that comes. Rejoicing, praising, glorifying, worshipping, right? So what does that remind us of?

What other part of the Bible does that remind us of? Revelation, right? So you look at the book of Revelation, it's not talking about just one particular part. It's talking about the very end, right? So you kind of have the… So it's talking about judgment, but that's what's a little bit different from the previous verses versus this one, okay?

So keep that in mind. The first section of it, verse… Where is it? Verse 1 to 3, or 1 to 5, right? It's, again, emphasis on the scope of the judgment. All right. Okay. All right, so Thursday, verses 1 through 6. How is God's judgment depicted in Isaiah? God judged through Assyria, but now He's judging through natural disaster.

It doesn't mention anything in particular, but again, if you look at the language in verse 1, where the earth is kind of turned upside down, maybe an earthquake, maybe a tornado. And then if you look at verse 4, right, it talks about how the earth mourns and it withers and it languishes.

So if you look at the language of, you know, like the harvest drying out and no more wine, it kind of gives you the picture of some kind of a drought and there's no harvest, right? So again, the judgment is not just one particular nation, another nation is going to come and conquer you.

It's a worldwide judgment, right? So the natural disaster is not just happening in one place. So again, what does that sound like? Book of Revelation, right? The very end times. So again, this is not a fact, but again, the language kind of points to some kind of natural disaster or disasters.

So again, verse 2, it talks about the scope of judgment, right? We talked about that, how if you look at verse 2, it says, "And it shall be as with the people, so with the priests, as with the slaves, so with the master, as with the maids, so with the mistress." So on and on and on, saying that no one's going to be spared from the highest to the low.

Businessmen and people who are lenders and borrowers, creditors and debtors. And then the conclusion of that in verse 3, so they're going to be orderly, right? So this is, you know, I would say maybe not. The language itself may have been toned down, but if you look at what it actually says, actually the judgment is much greater than what he was saying before.

Before it was like, the other nation's going to come, take you captive, you're not going to have any men around, you're going to have lack of leadership. Where he describes it as order destruction, right? Again, you look at the Book of Revelation, the judgment is not something specific. When a third of the world is being wiped out, that's not a particular nation or particular area.

It's talking about massive, right? Either natural disaster or some kind of war, so everybody's going to be affected. And so that's the judgment that we see here, where the whole earth is judged, right? So the devastation is complete and absolutely thorough. If you don't have the sheets to fill out somewhere, it should be sitting around somewhere.

Okay? Yeah, so if you have extra, can you raise your hand? And if you don't have it, raise your hand. Okay, everybody has extra. So if you don't have it, just walk around and you should be able to find it. Okay? On your sheet, I have, again in verse 4, the earth mourns and withers, world languishes and withers.

And again, the people who are high are going to be brought low. And then on your sheet, it has verse 3, but that's not supposed to be there, so just kind of cross that out. I printed it before I was able to cross that out. So again, the emphasis in the scope of destruction, right?

Who's the earth referring to? That was one of the questions that I asked. If you want to say it out loud, you can, or just... Okay, everyone? Is it talking about people? Is it talking about the physical earth? Is it talking about Israel? Is it talking about a specific nation?

So there's a distinction between the earth and the people. Right, okay. So, yes, so I think, again if you look at the language, and if you look at verse 5 also, it says that the earth lies defiled under its inhabitants, meaning that there's a distinction between the people and the earth, right?

So I think it's referring to both. So if you read it carefully, the way that the word earth is mentioned, it's talking about just complete devastation, creation and everybody in it, right? And the reason why is because of sin. So the earth seems to refer to the physical earth and the people in it.

The scope of devastation is going to be absolutely thorough. And this is going to affect everybody, everywhere. Where the previous judgments were very specific to a particular nation because of a particular sin, where this here, the sin is in a larger scale. So what was the earth guilty of?

What was the earth guilty of? It's defiled by its people. The people abused, basically the people abused the earth, right? So there's several things that it mentions. It's transgressed the laws. Again, when we're talking about earth, we're talking about everybody, all mankind, right? Just like it says in Romans 3, 23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So here, when it says earth, it's referring to everything, right?

So what he says in this verse in verse 5, basically he says three separate things, right? He transgressed the law. What else does he say? Okay. And then the other one? Violated the statutes. Okay, if you're looking at the ESV. So, is there a distinction between these three? Is there a distinction between these three?

I won't grade you, it's okay if you're wrong. (Audience) Is there an escalation from law to statutes to the Ecumenical Covenant? It seems like it, right? It's probably referring to the same thing, but it just kind of seems like there's an escalation, a greater degree. And why would Isaiah do that, or why would God prophesy that way?

For what purpose? Emphasis, right? And then the fact that it's done three separate times, and any time the number three comes, you know that it's for the purpose of confirmation, right? Witnesses of two or three, Jesus was resurrected on the third day, right? The Trinity. So, it's a number of confirmation, and you see that escalation three separate times.

And so, up to this point, remember the theme? That the whole point of this section is kind of order destruction, complete destruction, complete judgment for all people, right? Everywhere, including the earth. So, here's, again, just the technical nuances of transgressed is their greed. They broke God's covenant, violated the statues, altered or broken God's covenant, broken an everlasting covenant, annulled or nullified the covenant made with God, right?

And as a result of that, only a few are left, right? The devastation is going to be so great that it's not just one nation, but all the earth, after the judgment is done, only a few are left. If you are a dispensationalist, again, if you don't know what that word is, you don't need to worry too much about it, but what in the Bible teaches this?

That after a great period of something, that so many people are going to die, only a few are going to remain at the end. What theology in the Bible that talks about, like, judgment in such a large scale, and so many people dying, that at the end of it, few people are going to remain?

Well, rapture, we're all gone. Tribulation, right? During the period of tribulation. If you read the Book of Revelations, there's three separate judgments, right? The bowl judgment, the trumpet judgment, the seal judgment, and each of these judgments kind of escalates one at a time. So, there's different interpretation of these judgments, but in the end, basically it's talking about the thoroughness, and the utter devastation that it's going to bring, and at the end of that, so the first three and a half is harsh, and then the next three and a half years is utter devastation, and at the end of that, a few are going to come out of it, right?

So, is this referring to that? I mean, it's an educated guess, but the language seems very similar. Okay. Again, these couple of verses are talking about the creation being judged. It says, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the Son of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay, and obtain the freedom and the glory of the children of God." So again, when the scripture describes when Adam and Eve fell, that the earth itself was cursed, remember?

And he said that part of the curse was that before, he would work, and then they were going to bear fruit, but because of the fall in Romans 3, that it's going to produce thorns and thistles. And then we look at the Book of Romans when it talks about the restoration, he says that part of the restoration is not just the human being, but everything that is attached to the human being, right?

And if you look at Chronicles, in Exodus 23, 10 through 11, God gives a commandment to the nation of Israel that the land is supposed to rest every seventh year, right? That not only the mankind, but the land, they weren't supposed to till the land seven years in a row.

After the sixth year, they're supposed to give it a rest seventh year. If you look at 2 Chronicles 36, 21, and then there's passages in Deuteronomy, where again, these are commandments of giving rest, but at the end, when the Babylonians come and take them into captivity, the reason why, one of the reasons why they're taken into captivity, what God says, is because you did not obey my commandment to obey the Sabbath, and in particular, the land.

And then he says the reason why they're there for 70 years is for every year that they disobey, they're giving it, God's giving it the rest that they didn't give. Okay? So again, the significance of disobedience to the Sabbath is related to the human beings, but also related to the creation.

Okay? So there's a whole theology based on this, about the new earth and new creation. I'm not going to get into that, but again, the reason I'm pointing this out is because the language is similar. Okay? So that's the first section. The first section, chapter 24, verses 1 through 6, is trying to convey the utter devastation, right?

And how it's going to affect everybody. Only a few are going to remain. If you go to the second part, starting from Friday, verses 7 through 16, what is the difference in this section? Which we already mentioned, but to be more specific. There's a glimpse of hope, right? Where the first section is just making sure that you understand that when the judgment comes, this is, you know, no one's going to be spared, very few are going to come out of it, and yet, there's some glimmer of hope.

So what is the fruit of the judgment? Okay? It says it's going to devastate life in every way. So if you look at verse 7, the wine mourns and the vine languishes and all the merry hearted sigh, right? Why would the wine mourn and vine languish? Think about what he said in the previous verse.

Huh? Because of the famine, right? Because of the judgment. And so this kind of describes the… (microphone feedback) I need to invest in a better mic. Alright, so… Yeah, so the language sounds like that because of this famine, it's going to devastate everybody, that there is no fruit to enjoy, right?

So, the description of the judgment, verse 7, the source of joy is going to be dried out, meaning that if there's no harvest, there's no wine, there's nothing flowing, then there's no celebration. Source of joy. It ends with the experience of joy, verse 8 and 9. The mirth of the tambourines are still, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, and the mirth of the lyre is still.

No more do they drink wine with singing, strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. So in other words, because there is no harvest, the source of joy has been dried up, and now there's no celebration. And all, this is all as a result of sin, right? So, obviously it's talking about particular things that's going to happen when judgment comes, but generally speaking, it is a picture of a life in sin, right?

When there is sin and you're away from God, that the source of joy, which is Christ, who is the living water, when He gets dried out, when life gets dried out, then joy gets dried out, right? And then verse 11, there's an utter banishment of joy, verse 11, there is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine, all joy has grown dark, completely, right?

And then verse 10, it causes the city to lie ruined and defenseless. So the first section describes judgment coming, right? What is this judgment going to look like? Devastation, natural disaster. Who's going to come on? Creation, all of the people, right? Physical and the people, right? Because of their violation, because they transgressed the law, because they broken the covenant, and as a result of that, only a few are going to come.

And because of this judgment, joy is going to be sucked out, right? There's going to be no celebration, and they're going to be utterly helpless. But what does the judgment ultimately lead to, and why? We already talked about that. This section, there's judgment, but then there's glimmers of hope.

So we hear language, it is kind of a strange place to hear this language, because it's talking about probably up to this point, the greatest intensity of judgment, but it's intermingled with rejoicing, right? So it's kind of out of place, it's like, oh, you know, you're completely devastating the land, and as a result of that, it leads to praising, right?

So who is this that's rejoicing? Why are they rejoicing? For what? Okay. The people who are rejoicing are the remnant, the few that are mentioned in verse 6, right? After the judgment comes, what it's going to produce is that the people who come out of that, and they're going to see God's glory, one, that they were able to escape that, in other words, that God spared them through this judgment, right?

But secondly, that they saw God's power, and all of a sudden they become greater worshippers. So these few break out into glorifying, praising. There's greater love for Christ, greater glory as a result of that. So in one sense the devastation is leading to destruction, the other sense it also brings revival.

Right? So as the world was judged, the whole earth, and the language again describes it, the west, the east, the end of the earth will rejoice and give Him. So these are all, everybody who has seen that, and has kind of made it out of it, and the few remnant that remains, they will see God as He is, and it will ultimately lead to them giving God the glory from all over.

So again, this revival and praise isn't just coming from one group of people. Right? Just as devastation was worldwide, the praise and glory and worship and rejoicing is also going to be worldwide. Again, in Revelation 21, again, just because the language is similar, "By His light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.

They will bring into it the glory and the honor of all the nations." Again, the language is very similar to the book of Revelations. You guys following so far? Again, if you, in the midst of that, let me go back. 25, or 24, Okay, look at verse 24, 16.

So, he talks about utter devastation, and as a result of that, there's going to be a remnant who's going to go praise God, and revival breaks out. But in verse 16, it says, "I waste away, I waste away, woe to me, for the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed." Who is the "I" here?

And why is he mourning? Take a minute to discuss with your group, okay? Who is the "I" in that text, and why is that person mourning? Because right before that, it talked about rejoicing and revival. Okay. Take an educated guess. >> All right, who is the I? And this is educated guess, if you have a good biblical reason to say what you're saying, I can't argue with you, okay?

Just don't just pick it out of the sky, all right? So who is the I, and once you identify the I, why is he rejoicing? No, why is he mourning? >> >> Do you guys all agree? Is that what you came up with? Did anybody have something different? Sounds good.

>> >> The professor has spoken, so no one wants to refute this. >> >> Okay, I mean, do you guys all agree that it sounds like this is Isaiah, right? You won't even shake your head, okay? >> >> Huh? >> Who are the traitors? >> I think that judgment is referring to all mankind, so I would assume that he's referring not just to one particular group, yeah.

The whole earth has fallen apart. So Isaiah is seeing a, again, Isaiah is seeing something that's gonna happen in the future, right? Isaiah is prophesying about, he's not talking about specifically just then. He's talking about Babylon's not even a superpower yet. He's talking about Babylon, the Persians, and he's talking about the end times.

So he's seeing in the future the devastation is coming. So at the end of that devastation there's glory, but before that glory comes he's seeing all this stuff. I mean, everything that he's seen prior to that is gonna be nothing compared to what's happening at the end. So what it seems like is that even though there's a mixture of, like when we talk about the second coming of Christ, depending on who you are and your perspective, you're gonna rejoice or mourn.

Even as a Christian, you're gonna rejoice or mourn. At one sense, you're gonna rejoice because he's coming. And in another sense, you're gonna mourn because judgment is coming with him, right? So you're gonna rejoice because your suffering's gonna end. You're gonna mourn because suffering for people that you love, right?

It may just begin. So the coming of Christ in his full glory is gonna bring salvation and condemnation. And so that's what Isaiah is seeing all of it. So you kinda see in his prophecy, he's mixed with rejoicing and mourning and rejoicing and mourning all at the same time.

Because he's not at this end where he's experienced all of this and he's like, now it's rejoicing. He's seeing all of it's gonna happen, right? So what will happen to those? Again, he's going back. He's mourning and he's seeing all this terror and the pit and the snare upon you, all inhabitants, right?

The temptation that they may give into is a deliberate snare or a trap, right? And there's gonna be no escape. And those who escape are gonna fall into a pit. Again, the emphasis over and over and over again, that there is no escape for this judgment. Book of Revelation says when he comes, that those who did not know him are gonna climb up to the mountains and hide under rocks, but there is no escape, right?

So when the earth is shaken and the moon and the sun disgraced, what will the Lord do, right? Again, in verse 19, it says, the earth is utterly broken. The earth is split apart. The earth is violently shaken. Again, so it sounds like some kind of natural disaster. And over and over again, it's gonna be utter destruction, right?

The depth of sins of the nation. The kings on earth will be punished, right? And all of this is gonna happen as a result of his glory being revealed. So if you look at the very last verse in 23, he says, "And the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem in his glory will be before his elders." So when God's glory is fully revealed, it will have two responses.

For those who have been covered by the blood of Christ, you are safe, right? Just like when even the Old Testament is saying when Isaiah or even John at the throne of God's throne, you know, it said, "Woe is me, woe is me," right? Because they feel terror in his presence.

So remember we talked about the propitiation is basically covering over God's wrath that you and I deserve by the blood of Christ. So those of us who've been clothed by the righteousness of Christ, when his glory comes, it means we're drawing near to life, right? But those who have not been covered by the blood of Christ, when his glory comes, it means condemnation, fear, and terror.

And so that's how it's described in verse 23. His glory is going to be so magnificent, right? He says, "The moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed." Why would they be confounded and the sun ashamed? S-U-N, not S-O-N. Oh, is it too low? All right. Is it because of that or is it just too low?

Because of that? All right. So if I move that, you guys can see it? Huh? You want me to do more work? I'm already tired. I'm just kidding. Okay. I just wanted to know so next time I just don't do it this low. Okay? Huh? You want me to move that too now?

You want me to read it and move it? All right. His glory will be before his elders. Actually, what I was saying is actually not up there. So why is the moon confounded and the sun ashamed? S-So the moon and the sun are known for giving out light, right?

When Christ comes and He reigns, He will shine so brilliantly that He's going to cause basically anything else in the universe to feel ashamed in comparison. Did you get that? So His glory is going to be so magnificent that the moon and the sun are going to be embarrassed in the presence of its glory.

Right? You see, like you throw your big shot in the basketball court and then Stephen Curry shows up being like, "Oh!" Right? So that's verse 23. When He reveals His glory, that everybody who thought that He were glorious are going to be confounded and embarrassed. Right? That's how magnificent His glory is going to be.

Right? And so, how does Isaiah describe this judgment? Again, remember I told you like back and forth, back and forth. So he sees His glory coming, he sees the judgment and he mourns. But then he also sees the glory in verse 1, chapter 25. What does he, how does he describe it?

What version are you using? NIV. Does NIV say faithful and… What? Oh, OK, OK, bottom line. OK. Alright. I got wonderful. He calls it wonderful. So you would think that, he says, "Oh, you've done some wonderful things." And then in verse 2, he breaks out and says, "Because you wiped out the heap, fortified city, ruins, foreigners, palaces, and cities." And all of that is completely gone, right?

To never be rebuilt and then he sees that as wonderful. Right? Again, because I think what Isaiah is seeing is His glory. Right? Isaiah is seeing His glory. So there is a beauty of His glory, but there's also terror in His glory. Right? And so he sees it back and forth.

Those two things can never be separated. God's terror and His grace are never separated. Right? So when you look at the cross, the cross… I mean, obviously for us, when we look at the cross, we see redemption, we see love. But for the world, the cross, if understood correctly, should also produce terror.

Right? If you look at that and say, "Well, God's holiness is so devastating that the only way to redeem us from sin is that God Himself, Son of God Himself, have to absorb our sins and that's how terrible His wrath was or is." So the cross is not just something that produces warm feelings.

It's also the greatest magnification of His terror. Right? Remember we talked about that when Dr. Harris came and talked about darkness and the glory, where God wasn't turning away. He was actually approaching His Son, right, to put the wrath upon Him. Right? And remember in every situation that he talked about, when God comes to ratify a covenant, He puts people to sleep because they can't stand before His glory.

So when did God… when was God the most magnified at that time? When did God actually appear? You know, again, we think about that scene when it goes dark and people say, "Oh, He turned away because He couldn't see." In actuality, remember, Dr. Harris was seeing that. I think he did a great job explaining that to us.

That it makes more sense that He actually was drawing near, not drawing out. Because He had to ratify that covenant and He had to do it. Right? So His terrifying presence, because He was coming, had to be darkened or else everybody in there would be devastated. Right? So again, we're looking at Him coming and He looks at His glory and He sees wonder.

Oops. Did I do that? Oh, it's just that. There's no way to fix that. Is that because the connection? Joe? So what's… So the next question is… Did you mess with the connection? So we can't fix it. But that sometimes happens even during worship. So we can't fix it.

Alright. So Isaiah calls God's judgment wonderful. These are plans that God had from of old. Okay. What did this judgment accomplish that has Isaiah praising Him? It says God has led the strong people to glorify God. It's like God basically takes all the successful, proud people of power, of influence that He's going to humble and He's going to turn it upside down.

And then all of them will submit to Him. Just like it says in Philippians 2. Right? That because He humbled Himself became nothing. God exalted Him to the highest place. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so that's the scene that we see here.

Right? Every tongue confess. Every knee bowed confessing He is Lord. And so He sees that when His full glory comes that all this vying to who's the superpower? Is it China? Is it America? Who's going to have the influence? Is it going to be Donald Trump? Is it Clinton?

You know it's like all of that stuff is going to be wiped out because they're the moons. They're the sun. Right? In our generation they're the billionaires. They're the rich. They're the famous. They're the influential. But when God's glory comes all of them are going to be humbled. And in His presence nobody can boast.

Right? And so Isaiah is seeing that and that's causing him to break out in praise. Right? The ruthless nations will fear Him. Right? That all this terrorism trying to bring fear upon the generation when His full glory comes the most ruthless people will end up fearing Him. Not them.

But the flip side of that because of this judgment He says the protection for the poor and the stronghold to the needy and the distressed and shelter from the storm and the heat. So again you're going back and forth. You have terror to those who are in sin and oppressing but again He is a deliverer to those who are being oppressed.

Right? And that's what the glory of God does. So the final scene that we see in Isaiah 25. Okay? Not the final scene but at least in this section. Again just the verse I think captures that section well. "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning.

I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debaters of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom. It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." Right?

And again this is something that we need to be careful about because even in the pursuit of Christ sometimes we seek wisdom above brokenness before Christ. You know what I mean? We kind of measure someone's spirituality based upon how much they know, how much they can articulate and sometimes if we're not careful we're taking the competition and personal ambition of the world and you're just doing it in the church in the name of Christ with the Bible and theology.

Right? Experience. Right? If you're influential and if you look at church history that's what ruined the church. You have men, in particular men, who have taken their worldly ambition and just applied it in the church. Right? And so again this is a constant reminder to us that the greatest spiritual maturity is not the one who's greatest in the eyes of man.

Right? And I think, you know, I shared with some people, I think one thing that Harry shared coming back from India, you know, that was really encouraging to me where he, I think, I don't know the exact words but he basically said that, you know, he thought that the great men that he looked up to were all preachers and theologians who articulated and had influence and then going to India he's people who have nothing.

If they die there's no celebration, nothing. And these are giants of faith that nobody knows about. Right? Because, simply because they have genuine faith. Right? And so again all of this, even though it's talking about in times, it's a reminder to all of us that our greatest passion and pursuit is to become less and less, not more and more.

Right? To become less and less. Less visible, less arrogant, less boasting and more Christ. Right? What will the Lord do and say in this mountain, and again this mountain is referring to the restoration of his kingdom, his second coming. You can call it heaven, you can call it new heaven, whatever it is.

He said there's going to be plenty of food and wine. There will be no more death. Tears will be wiped away forever. Approach of his people will be taken away. Right? And the savior will be their God. What does this sound like? Revelation, and I'm going to show you a verse in a minute.

Chapter 24, remember the devastation that he talks about? The source of joy. Right? The joy itself, it's going to be utterly wiped away. So if you take what he says here, it's in contrast. Right? The devastation that's going to come because of sin is going to be wiped out, and then once the judgment is complete, then he's going to restore.

Right? And he's not just restoring us back to where it was like in the Garden of Eden. This is a question that somebody asked years ago, and I thought it was a good question. If Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden, what is the guarantee that we're not going to fall in Heaven?

Just think about it for a minute. Don't say anything. Okay? If Adam and Eve, when they were sinless in the Garden of Eden, fell because Satan came and tempted, what prevents us in our eternal state from falling again? Basically, are we starting over, and then are we… No one to tempt?

But Satan fell. Okay. But could another tempter take his place? So there's a possibility. Was he not? I don't know. All right. So let me just play the devil's advocate, okay? So does that mean then, because God didn't provide his full protection of his presence, that's why they fell?

So in Heaven, because there's a fuller presence of his glory, which he didn't give at the Garden of Eden. So is that what's going to be the difference? But God withheld that at the Garden of Eden. All right. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Clearly it's different, right? Clearly it's different.

Where in Adam and Eve, God warns, "If you do this, you're going to die." But in the eternal state, he says, "Death has no sting." Right? Death will be done away, it will be forever. Right? Somebody had a... Okay. So the second state that we'll be in, we would only fall if Christ can fall.

Because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right? Where the new wine cannot be in old wine skin, so he made us new. And then the Holy Spirit came, we were baptized and covered by the blood of Christ. That's the state that's different. And we became like him in his resurrection.

Right? So the second state, when he's talking about the eternal state, our eternal state is going to be beyond what it was at the Garden of Eden. At least that's the way it's described in the scripture. So when we talk about all of this, all of this is not temporary.

And you better not screw up this time. Right? This is all permanent. It's at the end of his glory that this is the state that God's going to bring us in to eternity. Right? Again, that's why when we talk about his glory and we talk about the final state, that this is unlike the other things that he's been talking about.

Where he says that judgment is coming, he restores them, but then they fall. He judges them, restores them, falls. He's talking about the end. Right? So there's this mixture. So if you're looking at that, if you're Isaiah and the prophet's looking at this, you see that the final state coming.

You can't fully make it out. But you see what's coming. But you see all the devastation in between that's going to get us there. Right? And so that's kind of like the mixture of emotion you see in chapter 24 and 25. And I think that's the state even for Christians.

Right? There's a part of us that rejoices over our salvation. There's a part of us that eagerly waits for a second coming. But there's also a part of us mourning because we know what that means. Right? You say, "Why isn't he coming?" Because God is gracious and he's giving plenty of time for people to come to Christ.

And that's why he says, "Until he comes, what are we to do?" Until he comes, take the gospel to the remotest part of the world. Right? Because along with this joy, there's devastation coming all at once. Right? So, again, that's a state. What Isaiah is feeling is what every Christian ought to be wrestling with on a daily basis where there's rejoicing and mourning at the same time.

Right? Okay. Again, the last part of it is going to take us back to the Moabites. Okay? They always judge because of their pompous pride. And again, Moab is just one example. Again, it's not just Moab. Remember that why is he judging? It's over and over and over and over again.

It's the same thing. It's their pride. It's their pride. It's their pride. Right? It's your desire to elevate yourself. It's your desire to be like God. It's your desire to be better than others. He said that God is going to humble. So when the scripture says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, applies to every generation, every man, at all times.

Because the underlying sin that causes all this stuff, division in the church, you know, marriage issues, everything that we know, the underlying problem is pride. Right? So if you think about it, like why did Jesus, why was he so harsh with the Pharisees? On the surface, they are the ones reading the Bible.

They're the ones going out witnessing. They're the ones memorizing scripture. They're the ones fasting. They're the ones giving. These tax collectors did nothing. They betrayed their nation. But he was most angry with the Pharisees. Right? He said, "Oh, maybe because they were leaders." True. I mean, that's part of it.

There's stricter judgment. But his anger toward them was beyond that. Right? It wasn't just because, "Hey, you leaders, you guys should have set a better example." Then I would think that he would come and say, "Okay, you guys have some things you need to work on." Right? "You need to set a better example." In fact, he just said, "This is all completely rotten." Right?

And you see the encounter with Nicodemus in chapter 3 of John, and you see the encounter with the Samaritan woman. He's kind of like coaxing and bringing her along. And then with Nicodemus, he says, "You have to be born again. What you're thinking is completely wrong. Your way is completely wrong." Right?

Because underlying the greatest sin that keeps us from God is our own pride. Right? So even in the context of reading the Bible, and doing religious things, and serving the church, and even evangelizing and doing all this stuff, if it is filled with pride, if this is what's ruined mankind, if there's any sin that God is more sensitive to than anything else, I would think it would be this.

Because he keeps mentioning this over and over and over. Every nation, every person, right? Every church is this. Right? So I don't think it was by accident that Jesus came as a servant. Because you guys are all trying to be somebody. Now he's going to become nothing. Even to the very end, the disciples are like, "Oh, who's going to sit on the left or the right?" The very last thing he does is he washes their feet.

Right? So he's doing exactly, because he knows what's in their heart. He knows that even in the context of following Jesus, like they're competing with one another. And Jesus is going exactly the opposite direction. Right? So if there's any sin that God is more sensitive to, it's this. It's our pride.

Because that's where all this stuff stems from. Right? Alright. Alright, the end. Alright, if you guys can take some time to pray and to, again, discuss with your group. If you have any questions about your small group or maybe I put you in the wrong place, just let me know.

Alright, bye now. Thank you.