ISAIAH 332008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 33

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. In Matthew chapter 6, you don't have to turn there, Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 and 20, Jesus asks the question, where's your treasure? He actually doesn't ask the question, it's my question. But he makes some comments about treasure. And he tells his disciples, those who follow him,

Don't store up for yourselves treasures on this earth. Why? Well, because here, the treasures that we store up, well, they can corrode and become corrupt. Moth can destroy and rust can destroy those treasures that we would store up for ourselves here on this earth. Instead, Jesus says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth does not corrupt, where rust does not destroy.

The treasures in heaven are eternal, they're guaranteed, they're secure. It's an inheritance that's undefiled and incorruptible that fades not away, Peter says. So Jesus says, lay up your treasure in heaven, but then he goes on to say, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And so he's instructing us to be very careful about where we place our treasure, where we place importance and value in.

on things. If it's on the things of this life, well, those things that we have made so valuable in our hearts are going to be very disappointing because they will be destroyed. They will not last. But if we make most important to us and most valuable to us the things of eternity and the things of God's kingdom, we will have treasure stored up in heaven. We will have something that is secure that lasts and that will not fade away.

So Jesus' encouragement and instruction is to place our hearts, our values, the things that we think are so important, we're to place those things on the things of eternity. That our heart would be captivated by eternity and not captivated by this life, by worldly goods, by material things. Here in Isaiah chapter 33, we're dealing with a similar situation, a similar teaching and a similar principle.

Where is your treasure? In Isaiah chapter 33, we're still dealing with the nation of Assyria. There's been a great threat that's been coming upon the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. There was...

The nation of Assyria, the armies of Assyria that were coming down and they were conquering all of the territory around Judah. Even the northern part of Israel, the northern kingdom was conquered and removed by the king of Assyria, by the armies of Assyria. Assyria has been conquering all over. And there's just a little tiny piece of land, it's called the land of Judah,

where Jerusalem is and several other prominent cities, but primarily Jerusalem, Assyria is now setting his eyes on Jerusalem. He's saying, I'm going to come and get you. Now, God has promised that Assyria would not conquer Jerusalem. He's made the promise that there will not be that battle. They won't build a siege mound. They're not going to be successful in their attempt to take Jerusalem. But Assyria...

Well, Assyria, the king of Assyria, if we asked him where his treasure was, he would have to reply in honesty that it wasn't in eternity. But his treasure was the things of this life. And we see that here in chapter 33. Let's look at verses 1 through 4. It says, Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered. And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you.

When you cease plundering, you will be plundered. When you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you.

Verse 2,

Here in the beginning of chapter 33, God is still talking about Assyria. We dealt with Assyria last week in chapter 32. God promising again that Assyria would not be successful. Now as he's talking about Assyria, he's using the word plunder quite a few times. He says, woe to you, sorrow to you, a pronouncement of judgment to you, who plunder though you have not been plundered.

And who deals treacherously even though they have not dealt treacherously with you. In other words, Assyria, as they're coming down, they're plundering and they're dealing treacherously, but they haven't been plundered. They haven't been dealt treacherously with. So it's not retribution. It's not justice. It's not that they have had some iniquity or something committed against them and now justice is being performed.

Instead, no, they're just getting rich off of everybody else. They're chasing after everyone else. You know, at that time, there wasn't the ethics of war like we have ethics of war today. Remember World War II, Adolf Hitler decides to take over the world. This is basically what Assyria was doing at all costs.

Seeing whoever had what he wanted, the treasures and the valuables that he wanted, he would just go after them, conquer the people, steal and take all of their goods, their treasures, and bring them back and keep them for himself. It was his plunder. But also, at the same time as he was plundering all of these nations, he's dealing treacherously. What does that mean that he was dealing treacherously?

Haley's Bible handbook provides a pretty good description of the Assyrian Empire, the treachery that they dealt. Haley says, "...they practiced cruelty. They skinned their prisoners alive, or cut off their hands, feet, noses, ears, or put out their eyes, or pulled out their tongues, and made mounds of human skulls, all to inspire terror."

This is why Jonah, remember when he was called to go to Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria, he said, no way, Lord, because I know that you're going to be merciful and I know that you're gracious. And Lord, they need this punishment. They need this judgment that you're pouring out. And so he fled, trying to escape the call to go to Nineveh. But God says...

Woe to you. You plunder even though you haven't been plundered. You're dealing treacherously. And in the end, you're going to reap what you sow. You will be plundered, God says. And when you're done dealing treacherously, when your time's up, then you are going to be dealt treacherously with. And then in verse 2, I like verse 2. It kind of throws in a quick, short interlude for the rest of us who are not plundering, though we've not been plundered. He says, O Lord, be gracious to us.

Be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. So our prayer in the meantime, for Judah, for Isaiah, as he's writing these things, Lord, be gracious to us. You're going to wipe them out and there's going to be some heavy destruction upon them, but Lord, be gracious to us. We're waiting for you. Our hope is not in the things of here. We're looking to you for salvation, Lord.

Then he goes on, back to Assyria, the people shall flee. When you, that's the Lord, when you lift yourself up, they're going to flee. The nations will be scattered. He tells Assyria that their plunder shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar as a running to and fro of the locusts. He shall run upon them. Talking about these insects that would devour the crop. I learned something today about locusts. Locusts can eat insects.

An equal amount of food to their own body weight each day. You ever tried doing that? I can eat 20 pounds a day. That's pretty good. No? Maybe 10 times that? I don't think so. The locusts, can you imagine? Locusts, you know, when locusts come, it's not maybe like we see a grasshopper today. Oh, look how cute. You know, it's one grasshopper. No, when the locusts would come, it would be the swarms that would turn the skies dark.

There would be an innumerable amount of them, each of them eating their own body weight of food each day. You can imagine how quickly it would be devoured, how quickly it would be consumed. And it's why that plague was so feared. It still is feared today.

Throughout Africa, they still have threats and warnings and fears that there would be a swarm of locusts, an unusual amount. Just a couple of years ago, there was a big threat that there would be. And so what God is saying here is, look, you think you're plundering. You're massing all these things up for yourself. You're storing up all these treasures here on earth. And they're going to be wiped out.

Very quickly. Just as the locusts come through and then there's nothing left. All that you've amassed, what you've spent your whole life building up and chasing after, it's all going to be gone, quickly consumed and will not last. Again, the question is, where is your treasure? Because we can do the same thing. Spending our whole life amassing things of this life, things of this world. Building up our treasures here.

I was joking with... I don't know who I was talking to. It was earlier today. And I know that's a long time ago, so it's hard to remember. But I was talking about computers. We lost Cisco's computer and we lost pretty much everything that was on the hard drive and it was all of the bulletins. And I was talking about the importance of backing files up and how I have backups on my laptop of my files and that if I would lose that...

Well, it would be like my life accomplished nothing. I have all of the messages that I've taught, pretty much. There's a few that I hand wrote, but for the most part, all my messages are on there. All the things that I've studied, the classes that we've done here, and just so many things.

So much that's on there. And if that was all suddenly gone, it would be like my life was for nothing in some respects. Like, I don't have anything to show for it, you know, the past 29 years. There's nothing left. There's nothing to show for it. And in the same way, if we consume ourselves with treasures of this life, it's going to be like that.

At the end of your life, it's going to be like your hard drive crashed and you just have nothing to show for it. There's nothing there, nothing of value because, well, the things of this life won't last. Jesus says, don't store up your treasure here. The king of Assyria is plundering, storing up treasure, chasing after things, in a sense, disregarding what God has commanded and his laws and his principles. And he's going to pay the price.

All of the treasure that he thinks he's amassed is going to be devoured very quickly. Look at verse 5 and 6. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness, wisdom and knowledge. Will be the stability of your times and the strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

So here we find again where the treasure of the Lord is. The Lord alone is exalted, not Assyria. Assyria is exalted in Assyria's mind. The king of Assyria and Sennacherib, he's exalted himself. We'll see that in a couple of chapters as we get into the account of when Assyria actually comes against Judah and he makes blasphemous claims against God, showing that, hey,

I've beat all the other gods. Your God's no different. I'm going to mow you down just like I did all the other peoples and their gods. He has exalted himself. But the reality is the Lord is exalted. He dwells on high. And he has filled Zion with justice, righteousness, wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. These are the treasures of God.

These are the treasures of God. This is what's valuable to God. And this is what we need to chase after. Justice, righteousness, wisdom, and knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. We talked about all of these things very much in the book of Proverbs over and over and over again. These are the things that, well, we need to value and we need to place importance on these things, not the things of this life. And as we do, our treasure we'll find will be in heaven.

As what's important to us is justice and righteousness, wisdom and knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. What are those things? Justice and righteousness, we know it's rightness. It's God's rightness. It's doing what's right in God's eyes. Obedience to God, living by His principles. Wisdom and knowledge, we talked about that so much in Proverbs. It's not about IQ or intelligence. It's about a relationship with God.

It's about hearing from Him and being obedient to Him as He speaks to us. Wisdom and knowledge is about putting His principles into action. Learning of Him. The fear of the Lord, Proverbs says, is to hate evil. To run from evil. To flee from evil. To despise evil. These are the things that the Lord treasures. These are the things that the Lord values. And if we will place our values, if we will commit our hearts to these things,

we will be laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Because the Lord is exalted. Not us. Not you. Not me. Not those who amass great wealth here. Not those who have the most popularity and get on TMZ. No, the Lord is exalted. He's the one who's high and lifted up. He's the one who has the final say. It's only His opinion that matters. He's the only one that counts. Verse 7.

Surely their valiant ones, this is talking about Assyria, Assyria's valiant ones shall cry outside. The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. The highways lay waste. The traveling man ceases. He has broken the covenant. He has despised the cities. He regards no man. The earth mourns and languishes. Lebanon is shamed and shriveled.

Sharon is like a wilderness and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. Here is Assyria is coming against Jerusalem, coming against Israel, threatening these things against God. God says, oh, no, you don't. I'm exalted. You're going to cry. You're valiant ones. You're going to cry like little babies. You think you're so strong, but you're going to weep bitterly. Talking about the destruction of Assyria, the highways lay waste, the traveling man ceases.

Can't travel any longer as Assyria is out there. It's too dangerous. It's too frightening. Assyria has done great damage. In fact, the earth mourns and languishes over this damage. And so God says in verse 10, Now I will rise, says the Lord. Now I will be exalted. Now I will lift myself up. And here once again we see somewhat of a dual fulfillment of these prophecies.

The immediate fulfillment is there as Assyria is threatening Judah and God is promising that he will protect them, that he will wipe them out and we'll see that. He destroys the army completely in one night. But he's also speaking prophetically of the time that is to come when God will come and establish his kingdom here on this earth, preceded by the tribulation period, a period of judgment period.

Judgment as if by fire. Look at verses 11 through 13. The Lord says...

Now, I will be exalted. I will lift myself up. This is the time, God says, where men will bow to me. Where men will know that I am the King of kings and Lord of lords. That I am high and lifted up and nothing else is. Now, he goes on to talk about fire and the burnings of lime and the people really being judged by fire.

Sometimes it can be difficult for us to understand these words of judgment of God. But as I often share, if we don't understand God's judgment, we don't understand man's rebellion. Judgment is always against pride. In Isaiah chapter 2 verse 12, it tells us that the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low.

Assyria is lifted up in pride. Assyria is lifted up and exalting itself above God as demonstrated by its words, pronouncing itself that it was going to conquer Jerusalem in spite of what God said.

It was demonstrated by its attitude and that it plundered with no regard, not thinking it was ever going to get caught, ever going to catch up to them. They didn't have to restrain themselves, thinking that they were above God's laws, that there would never be retribution, that they would never be punished for their crimes, for their sin.

They exalted themselves. They were exalted. And God's judgment is upon everything proud and lofty, everything that is lifted up. And it shall be brought low. And so just as Assyria lifted up itself, it will be brought low. In fact, it was brought low. Very shortly after it tried to attack Jerusalem, God wiped them out. And then there was Babylon. And you know what happened with Babylon? Babylon became high and lifted up. Remember with Nebuchadnezzar?

He exalted himself. Look at this great kingdom for which I have built, even though being warned of God to exalt God and not himself. He failed. Babylon, high and lifted up, also experienced the judgment of God because God alone is exalted. Kingdom after kingdom, nation after nation, even to this day, those that exalts himself against God will be brought low.

Ultimately, with the tribulation period, the judgment of God in the end, we'll see the ultimate fulfillment of these things. But still today, we see the reality of these principles in nations and kingdoms, but also in individuals. And so again, I ask you, where is your treasure? Do you place value in the things that God values? Does your treasure and God's treasure match up?

Do you consider the same things important, the same things valuable? His treasure is justice and righteousness, wisdom and knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Are these things your passion, your desire? Because to make anything else our passion, to amass wealth, to amass those things and let those things consume us, to be consumed by materialism, to be filled with the things of this life,

And those are what are so important to us. Those things are what we're really living for. It's a demonstration that we have exalted ourselves against God. That we consider ourselves above being judged, corrected, rebuked by God. We consider our ways better than His ways. Our thoughts better than His thoughts. But are not His ways higher than our ways? We need to humble ourselves.

If we exalt ourselves, we will be brought low. God says, I will rise. I will be exalted. I will lift myself up because that is his rightful place. He is high and lifted up. And so everything else will be as chaff, as stubble before the fire. The people shall be like the burnings of lime, like the thorns that are cut and burned in the fire.

And so he calls out, he says, here you who are far off, what I have done and you who are near me, acknowledge my might. This is what God is asking for. This is what he desires. It's not a great demand. He calls us to acknowledge his might, to acknowledge the truth that he is God, to acknowledge the truth that he is exalted. It's to humble ourselves before him, to recognize, Lord, you are God. What you say is what matters. Your ways are better than my ways.

to acknowledge His might. Hear, you who are far off, what I have done, God says. Hear what God has done. He's judged the Assyrian army, many other nations and empires, because they have exalted themselves against Him. And so God's promise is, He's going to raise up Himself, and this Assyrian army that has exalted itself against God will be brought low. They'll be burned like fire, just a sweeping fire that rages through quickly,

And that's what took place. Again, we'll see that in a few chapters in Isaiah. Isaiah recounts for us the things that take place as Assyria comes against Judah. But now as we go on into verse 14, he focuses attention within Jerusalem. He says in verse 14, "...the sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites."

Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings?

Verse 15, he who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. Bread will be given him. His water will be sure. So now he says the sinners in Zion are afraid. Yeah.

Zion, this is Jerusalem. And can you imagine? There's this threat. This army has blasphemed God and is coming against. And it seems like they're going to consume you because they've wiped out everyone else and they way outnumber you. And then you see the righteousness of God. God raises Himself up and He wipes them out. Now, it should be that there would be great rejoicing within the city. Our enemy's been vanquished, but...

He says, look, the sinners in Zion are afraid. As a person witnesses the judgment of God, the justice and holiness of God, as we see God's righteousness, it shines the light on our hearts and our own wickedness. And often when we see the judgment of God, it causes, well, those who are in sin to fear. Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites. Those who are just faking it,

Those who are just pretending to be spiritual, pretending to have a relationship with God, fearfulness has seized them because they look and they see, look what God has done. He's exalted himself. For the righteous, it's exciting. It's something to rejoice over when God exalts himself. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. But for the sinner, for the hypocrite, for the one who's just pretending, oh, it's fearful. It's something to be freaked out about. Put yourself...

In the church's shoes after Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead. Never mind, Lord, I won't be a hypocrite. I won't do it. Same thought, same concept. They saw the judgment of God on this hypocrisy. They saw God exalted when these people tried to exalt themselves above God. And they dropped dead on the spot. It's in Acts chapter 5 if you want to look it up. Caused the sinners to be afraid. Fearfulness for the hypocrites.

They say, who can dwell with this devouring fire? Hebrews chapter 10 tells us that our God is a consuming fire. I'm sorry, it's Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31 tells us it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It's a fearful thing. And talking about sin and talking about hypocrisy, it is a very fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Who can dwell with

With the devouring fire. Who can dwell with the consuming fire? Who can last with his everlasting burnings? He goes on to answer. Here's the one who can last. Here's the one who can dwell. In response to those hypocrites who are saying this. He says, he who walks righteously, speaks uprightly, despises the gain of oppressions, refuses bribes, stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, shuts his eyes from seeing evil. This is the person who,

We'll be able to dwell with God. I would challenge you to take some time and meditate on verse 15. This week, just read it over a couple times each day and see what God would show you. We know it's not by works that we are saved. And yet we know that when Christ has come into us, when He's transformed us, when we're walking in this spirit, we'll put to death the lusts of the flesh. We won't gratify the cravings of the flesh. And our lives will be transformed.

And so it's not that we walk righteously and so we are saved, but it's because we are saved that, well, we don't walk the way that we used to. It's an evidence of our salvation because God has changed us. And so these are areas that we can check. How's my relationship with God? And the issue is it, well, okay, speaking up rightly, I haven't really been speaking up rightly, so I just got to watch my words. No, the issue is our heart. And when we're out of line in these areas...

We need to get right with God. We need to repent. We need to check our heart with Him and dig deeper in our relationship with Him. These are the evidences of a person who's been transformed, been born again. The evidences of a person who's walking in relationship with God. And this person doesn't have to fear when judgment comes. I don't have to fear. Not because I'm righteous. No, but because I've put my faith in Jesus Christ and He's transformed me.

He's changed me. I'm clothed in his righteousness. So I walk righteously. Oh, yes, I fail. But when I confess my sin, he's faithful and just to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Who can dwell with God? Who can dwell against amidst this consuming fire? Does the second coming, the end times, does it freak you out? Are you a sinner? You hypocrite? Does the coming of Jesus Christ cause you to fear or cause you to rejoice? Rejoice.

It's a good indication, a good check for our hearts. Where do we stand? Also, verse 15, something I was thinking about. It's talking about who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, shuts his eyes from seeing evil. And I just thought, what if we applied this verse to our watching of television, the videos we watch, the clips that we watch on the internet, the radio stations we listen to.

What if we applied these things? Stops his ears from the hearing of bloodshed. You know, there's some things going on right now on YouTube. The girls who have been caught because they jumped this other girl so that they could put the video on YouTube and things like that. And those things get a quick audience. Hundreds of thousands of views. But I would ask, have we shut our eyes from seeing evil? Do we chase after it?

We're going to see some evil in this life because there's sin and we see devastation. But do we seek after those things? There's the new one that was out today. I heard about it on the news. Some lady spewing out all kinds of things about her divorce and defaming her husband for the world on the World Wide Web now. Did you watch it? Have you stopped your ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut your eyes from seeing evil?

Just some things. I don't know. Take it and you seek the Lord and allow God to speak to your heart. But I would ask you to meditate on verse 15. Because it goes on to say in verse 16, "...He will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. Bread will be given Him. His water will be sure."

The one who's had their heart changed by God and is not chasing after the evil and the things of this world and is walking uprightly because of their relationship with God, they're going to have a secure place. Their treasure is not here on earth. Their treasure is in heaven and it can't be destroyed. His defense will be the fortress. His bread will be given to him. He's going to have his needs met and his water will be sure.

As we walk in relationship with God, I think it was one of the authors of Proverbs or in the Psalms that the author said, I haven't seen the righteous begging bread. As we walk in relationship with God, He's going to establish us. He's going to protect us. He's going to meet our needs, both temporary but more important, eternally.

And so, if our treasure is in heaven, then we don't have to worry about being like Assyria and having all of the treasure that we've amassed then suddenly wiped out and destroyed. No, we have something that's secured for us. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. If it wasn't so, I would have told you. Hey, if I go, I will come again to receive you unto myself that where I am, you may be also. We have a secure position, a secure place. We get to dwell on high.

If we follow Jesus Christ. If he's our Lord and Savior. Let's go on verses 17 through 19. He says, Verse 19.

Here God goes on to tell them, you're going to see the king. You're going to see God work. They will see a land that is very far off. In other words, they're going to see Judah, they're going to see Jerusalem, Assyria that is, and it's going to be very far. They're not going to be able to get to it. It's going to be unattainable.

He says, you will not see a fierce people. You're not going to see them. They're not going to come into the city. They're not going to come in. They're not going to breach the wall. Isaiah 37, 33 tells us they're not going to build a siege mound. They're not going to shoot an arrow into the city. God's going to deal with them. He's going to exalt himself and lift him up. He's going to judge them before that would ever take place. They're going to see God work. And let's finish it off in verses 20 through 24.

He says,

But there the majestic Lord will be for us, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will sail, nor majestic ships pass by. For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will save us. Your tackle is loosed. They could not strengthen their mass. They could not spread the sail. Then the prey of great plunder is divided. The lame take the prey.

An inhabitant will not say, I am sick. The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity. Here again we see prophecy that was fulfilled immediately when Assyria was destroyed, but ultimately will be fulfilled when the coming of Jesus Christ takes place, the second coming when he establishes his kingdom on the earth. He says, look upon Zion, look at Jerusalem.

The mountain that Jerusalem is built upon. The city of our appointed feasts. This is where we've appointed that we are going to have our feasts. This is where we'll sacrifice to the Lord. He says, your eyes will see Jerusalem a quiet home. Right now they're freaked out. They see this army coming. God says, you're going to see it a quiet home. He was going to deal with Assyria. During the millennial period, we'll see the ultimate fulfillment. Jerusalem will be the home of peace. The quiet home.

A tabernacle that will not be taken down. God says, look, they're not going to destroy it. Now, throughout Israel's time in the wilderness, before they came into the promised land, God gave them the tabernacle. That's where they came to meet with God. That's where they came to offer the sacrifices. And wherever they went, whenever they moved, they would take up the tabernacle, take up the tent stakes, pack it all up, move it. And then when God told them to camp, then they would all set it up again.

But God says, Jerusalem is the permanent place. That's it. It will not be taken down. No longer will this tabernacle be moved. This is the place where I've put my name. Its stakes will never again be removed, he says. Its cords will not be broken. But there the majestic Lord will be for us. A place of broad rivers and streams. There God is going to bring peace. There God is going to establish his kingdom. There it's going to be a quiet home. We can be assured that

It's going to be established in Jerusalem. It's not going to change. God's not going to set up his kingdom in New York or Los Angeles. His focus, his purpose is and always has been Mount Zion. The place where Abraham was tested to see if he would sacrifice Isaac to the Lord. The place where David sacrificed when the angel of the Lord was bringing the plague upon the people. The place where the temple was built.

The place where the Lord had placed his name is Jerusalem. And so it will not be changed. You will see it a quiet home. He says the prey of the great plunder is divided. The lame take the prey. The lame take the prey. It's going to be a place of peace. And he says the inhabitant will not say I'm sick. It's going to be a perfect kingdom. A quiet home. This millennial kingdom that God created.

is establishing. He says the people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity. Now for you and I this evening, this is something that although this will ultimately be fulfilled during the millennial period, this is something that God wants to do for each of us individually as well. We talked about that last week. God is going to bring peace in the millennial period, but for us this evening, Jesus said, I leave unto you peace, not as the world gives, but peace I give to you.

The inhabitant will not say, I am sick. Now, this is not talking about physical healing for us necessarily. But spiritually, God will forgive your iniquity. The sinner that's fearful, that's freaked out, who can dwell among this God of consuming fire? Your iniquity can be forgiven. All of these things are found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And we have, as a relationship with Jesus Christ, a secure treasure, a secure place. We will dwell on high. We have something established for us that is incorruptible, that will not fade away. And I close with Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28. The author of Hebrews says, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken...

Let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. The author of Hebrews says, look, we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This kingdom, this quiet home, this place that God is preparing for us, it cannot be shaken. It cannot be taken. If we will humble ourselves and exalt Him instead of us, if we will acknowledge His might and recognize that He is God,

We have in store for us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And the author of Hebrews says, therefore, since we're receiving this kingdom, here's what we should do. Let's serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Let's have grace. Let's receive the grace of God and serve him. Let's do what he's called us to do. Let's reach out and minister to others. Let's share with our co-workers. Let's share with our families.

Not because we're worthy, not because we're righteous, not because we're, you know, Mr. Goody Two Shoes or whatever, but because of grace, because of His goodness, because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken, cannot be taken. Jesus said, don't fear man who can only kill the body, but fear God who can kill the body and cast the soul into hell. Fear God because He's a consuming fire. We need to recognize that He is God. Acknowledge His might. Exalt Him.

And as we let Him be the Lord of our lives, that doesn't mean we just cower in fear in our church seats. No, what it means is then we go serve. It means we're obedient to what He puts upon our hearts. It means we serve Him with reverence and godly fear. Are you obedient to the Lord this evening? The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a worship song. And I challenge you, I encourage you to just allow God to challenge your heart in these things. If you need to be forgiven of iniquity, confess your sins to God.

If you've been exalting yourself or chasing after the things of this life, laying up for yourselves treasures here on earth instead of treasures in heaven, repent. Exalt God instead of yourself. Be obedient to Him. Let's use this time to check our hearts, to worship the Lord, to exalt Him with our praise, to exalt Him with our worship, with our words, with our songs. Let's use this time to put God in His rightful place in our hearts as we worship Him together. Amen.

Let's worship the Lord.