WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.040 We are working our way through the first section of Isaiah, chapters 1 through 39, and here 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:10.080 we are, 21 to 23 is our big text tonight. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:16.280 From chapter 13 to 27, there are three cycles of prophecies. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:22.480 Last week we looked at 13 to 20, this week 21 to 23, the second cycle of prophecies. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:26.600 And they're all talking about the same things in different ways. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:31.320 Last week we looked at the fact that 13 to 20 is all about the day of the Lord. 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:37.679 And the day of the Lord is God's promise that one day He's going to kick evil out of 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:43.439 this world, that He's going to knock every bit of rebellion, disease, death, disaster, 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.120 hell that's in the midst of earth, He's going to knock it out forever. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:48.760 That's the day of the Lord. 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:50.359 And it's coming. 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:55.000 And tonight it's the same idea, the same theme is in place. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:56.480 He's talking about that day. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:00.719 He said it a couple times in the reading, the day of the Lord. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.439 But there's also a greater focus. 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:04.560 You see, there's something very similar. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.719 It's so similar, in fact, that the structure is the same. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:14.799 So in the first set of oracles, it began with a prophecy against Babylon, chapter 13. 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:19.079 Tonight the second set of oracles, it begins with a prophecy against Babylon. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:22.400 In the first set of oracles, the fourth prophecy was against Israel. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:27.840 Tonight the fourth prophecy that we read, the Valley of Vision, is against Jerusalem. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.040 So it's completely parallel, these cycles. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.040 And tonight the big emphasis, you probably saw the one famous line in this whole section. 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:40.320 Fallen, fallen is Babylon, verse 9. 00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:48.080 And Isaiah is coming and saying Jerusalem, it is certain that Babylon is going to fall. 00:01:48.080 --> 00:01:52.320 And that means a lot more than just what it looks like on the surface. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.679 And that means we need to hear it, that Babylon is going to fall. 00:01:56.679 --> 00:01:57.679 And here's the three reasons. 00:01:57.679 --> 00:02:03.799 One, because it teaches us to beware of the spirit of Babylon that's in you, that's in us. 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:09.199 And then secondly, Isaiah says, come out of the city of Babylon. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:14.759 And finally, it's because God is building a greater city than the city of Babylon. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:15.759 That's the idea here. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:21.359 All right, so first, beware of Babylon that's in you. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:28.000 Now last week we said, same thing this week, Babylon is a place in the Old Testament, an 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.040 empire, but more importantly, it's a spirit. 00:02:32.040 --> 00:02:33.640 Babylon is a principle. 00:02:33.640 --> 00:02:36.640 Babylon is a symbol, it's an idea. 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:40.920 And Isaiah is getting at that when he titles this oracle. 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:46.040 Did you see the strange cryptic title, the wilderness, the oracle concerning the wilderness 00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:48.680 of the sea, chapter 21, verse 1. 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:53.159 So he's talking about Babylon, but he calls it the wilderness by the sea. 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:57.200 The word wilderness also can be translated just desert. 00:02:57.200 --> 00:03:01.560 And the reason he's doing that is because Babylon is about to become the greatest empire 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:02.640 in world history. 00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:08.200 So right now we're in the 700s, and Assyria is the dominant power, but Babylon is on 00:03:08.200 --> 00:03:12.040 the rise, and they're about to become great. 00:03:12.040 --> 00:03:16.800 And the way Isaiah writing in the 700s, before Babylon will even become the world empire, 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:22.240 after they ever become great says they're going to be a wilderness by the sea. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.120 Great cities are often by seasides. 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:30.280 And he's saying Babylon, oh, you think of it as this great city by the seaside, but 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:32.480 it's about to become the desert. 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:34.240 It's about to get wiped away. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:38.600 That the Babylonian empire before it ever begins is already dead. 00:03:38.600 --> 00:03:39.920 It's already knocked out. 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:41.760 That's why he uses this cryptic title. 00:03:41.760 --> 00:03:45.960 And that's exactly what he's talking about in this oracle. 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:47.800 He's trying to say two things. 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.599 The first is this. 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.640 He's talking in this very cryptic prophecy. 00:03:53.640 --> 00:03:57.640 If you read it with me, you probably line by line were thinking, I'm not sure what he 00:03:57.640 --> 00:03:58.640 means. 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:00.280 That's how I felt when I first read it. 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:01.400 I'm not sure what he means. 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:06.480 But then you see the key is you got to understand the historical context. 00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:11.800 And the first thing Isaiah is doing is he's talking here to the leadership in Jerusalem. 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.560 Hezekiah is the king at the moment. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:20.399 And Hezekiah is a good king, but something terrible has happened. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.560 Hezekiah had led Israel very well, Jerusalem very well. 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:30.079 But all of a sudden, as Babylon began to rise, they sent emissaries to Hezekiah. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:31.079 And you can read about it. 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.439 Verse five, it says they ate at the dinner table. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.439 And Isaiah, you see, Isaiah is seeing it. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:40.600 He's seeing these Babylonian emissaries sitting down with Hezekiah at the dinner table. 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.800 And Isaiah is writing this prophecy at the moment and saying, Hezekiah, Babylon is not 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:47.560 going to make it. 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:51.960 In other words, he's saying, don't marry political Babylon. 00:04:51.960 --> 00:04:54.200 Don't become part of her empire. 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:55.840 Don't take on her army. 00:04:55.840 --> 00:04:58.120 Don't welcome the shield that she offers. 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.480 He says it over and over again in this text. 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.439 And he's saying with the Old Testament, what God has said throughout the whole Old Testament, 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:12.120 if you make an alliance with political Babylon, then you have to accept her gods too and her 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:18.120 culture that you can't do this without also becoming Babylon at the very same time. 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:22.240 And you see, just look down at verse five, he says, they prepared the table, they spread 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.360 the rug, they eat and they drink. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.680 And he's saying Babylon has shown up at your door. 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:30.439 She's prepared a great table for you. 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.159 She's spread the rug for you, Hezekiah. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:38.160 And she said, look, if you'll just adopt our culture, if you bow down to our leadership, 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.040 we will make you great. 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:41.880 We'll protect you. 00:05:41.880 --> 00:05:45.320 And so the first thing he's saying is, don't marry political Babylon, but it's something 00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:46.320 more than that. 00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:47.320 That's not really the main idea. 00:05:47.320 --> 00:05:51.960 You see, the second thing is he's talking to Hezekiah, he's talking to Jerusalem, but 00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:56.120 he's talking to every single person that could read this text. 00:05:56.120 --> 00:05:57.680 This is what God is saying. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:04.800 And he's saying, you've got to beware of Babylon because Babylon is not just an empire. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:06.439 It's a spirit. 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.120 It's a principle. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.400 Where is the spirit of Babylon? 00:06:11.400 --> 00:06:13.680 Where's the principle of Babylon? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.800 And he's, as they're saying, it's not just a historical empire. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.759 Hezekiah, the problem is, is that Babylon is in your heart. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.800 And he's saying that what's happened is that, you see, the external circumstance, the Babylonian 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.000 empire is just a circumstance. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.079 It's the circumstance that's knocked on your door and said, come and embrace our culture, 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:35.180 embrace our gods. 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:39.520 But what's actually happening is Hezekiah has been exposed because Babylon is deep down 00:06:39.520 --> 00:06:41.360 in his heart. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.400 What is the spirit of Babylon? 00:06:42.400 --> 00:06:52.240 The spirit of Babylon is whenever profit, security, and self-interest crowd out trusting 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.319 in the true God. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:01.360 It's anytime that maximizing profit for all sake, for protecting yourself no matter what, 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:07.800 being independent, self-reliance, self-interest crowd out the fact that you've been made to 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:13.560 trust in the true God, the God who will really protect you from Assyria, whatever circumstance 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:15.360 you might be facing. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:19.920 You see, it's not just that Babylon has come knocking the empire, the political entity. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:25.680 It's that Babylon came and drew Babylon out of the heart of Jerusalem, that Babylon, the 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:29.680 circumstance, exposed the reality that was going on in the inside. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:37.600 We quoted last week from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author of the Gulag archipelago, the great 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.000 storyteller of what really happened in the Russian Gulags in the early 20th century. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.000 And remember what he said? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:49.920 He said, the line between good and evil runs not through classes, not through nations, not 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:55.120 through races, but through every single heart. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:59.120 And Isaiah is writing this article and saying, Hezekiah, the leadership of Jerusalem, human 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:03.120 being, Babylon is in you. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.920 And when a Babylonian circumstance, a culture, an idol, comes and hits you, attacks you from 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:13.360 the outside, it's very easy to let it draw the Babylon that's in your heart right out. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:14.960 And that's exactly what's going on here. 00:08:14.960 --> 00:08:19.439 You see it, we'll close this point and move on, but in verse one and two. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:24.759 Right after he announces the oracle, he says, as the whirlwinds and the negev sweep on, there 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:27.400 were tornadoes in my hometown this past week. 00:08:27.400 --> 00:08:29.240 And here it's talking about tornadoes. 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:35.159 As tornadoes whirlwinds in the desert, spin around as strong as they are, so it comes 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:36.560 from the wilderness. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:41.759 And comes up like a tornado from the south, from the desert, from a terrible land. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.839 In verse two, the traitor will betray the destroyer destroy. 00:08:46.839 --> 00:08:51.679 As bad as a whirlwind in the desert is, so the traitor has come into your living room, 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.599 spread out a table before you and the traitor is going to betray you. 00:08:54.599 --> 00:09:01.359 In other words, it's saying that if you embrace Babylon, you're going to be empty. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:09.399 You know, whenever you say, I want to maximize my profits, I want to secure my strongholds, 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:14.480 I want to live my life according to my own desires, I want to protect myself. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.360 And I'm independent, I can do it. 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.000 You see, he's saying something. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.560 He's saying the traitor will always betray. 00:09:21.560 --> 00:09:23.800 You'll be left empty. 00:09:23.800 --> 00:09:27.399 You'll actually experience a miniature day of the Lord in your own life where all of 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:32.039 a sudden you realize I pursued what I wanted to pursue and I have nothing. 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:33.039 I'm empty. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.759 I've got money, but I don't have hope. 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:36.240 I've got security. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:40.959 I've got fences, but I don't have joy. 00:09:40.959 --> 00:09:45.399 You see, the traitor of Babylon and your desire of life lived apart from God will always 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:46.759 betray you. 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:48.840 And that's exactly what he's saying here. 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:57.960 I said that last week I mentioned that yesterday, March 25th was the International Tolkien Reading 00:09:57.960 --> 00:09:58.960 Day. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:05.720 I hope that you celebrated that because March 25th is the day that Sauron was defeated in 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:11.000 the Lord of the Rings, the day that Frodo dropped the Ring of Power into Mount Doom. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.840 You know, the Ring in Tolkien's narrative is the symbol of the Babylonian spirit. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:24.680 The Ring is the symbol of self-interest, power for power's sake, profit at all costs, unleashing 00:10:24.680 --> 00:10:28.920 one's personal desires with no checks and balances. 00:10:28.920 --> 00:10:30.080 That's the symbol of the Ring. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.240 And whenever the moment came at the beginning of the story for Bilbo to hand over that Ring 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:41.240 to Frodo, when Gandalf said, Bilbo, it's no longer yours to bear, it's time for Frodo 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.759 to carry this Ring to its destination. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:50.559 What do you remember if you've read the books, seen the movies, you remember what Bilbo said? 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:51.559 He was confronted. 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:53.639 He said, you know, they tried to take the Ring away from him. 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:54.639 What did he say? 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:59.200 He said, after all, why shouldn't I keep it? 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.200 It's mine. 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:01.200 I found it. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.720 What business is it of yours to take what is mine? 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:10.279 And that is, so Tolkien understood, well, that is the spirit of Babylon. 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:18.919 It's to say, the Lord made me, I've been given the gift of my time, my talents, my money, 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:19.919 my treasures. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:24.519 You see, everything that you have in life, you're dependent upon somebody else for. 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.720 And ultimately to God, but then the Ring, the Babylonian spirit comes up and says, after 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:32.159 all, isn't it my body? 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:33.159 Isn't it my time? 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:34.159 Isn't it my money? 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:35.159 Isn't it my treasure? 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:36.919 Can't I do with it what I want to do? 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:40.240 And that's the Babylonian spirit. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.840 And that's what Isaiah is prophesying about here. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:49.240 Now, secondly, briefly, the main idea here is that Isaiah is trying to tell us we've 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:53.399 got to come out from Babylon, get out of Babylon, he's saying. 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:57.240 You know, in other words, don't let Babylon, the Babylon in your heart overtake you. 00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:58.840 Get out of Babylon. 00:11:58.840 --> 00:11:59.840 How do you do that? 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.639 Well, in order to say how we can do that, that's the real point tonight. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:08.840 Let me just be a little more specific about what the Babylonian spirit is in two ways. 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:15.680 And you see, he's talking about it here, but Babylon shows up from Genesis to Revelation 00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:19.399 and to really know what this Babylonian spirit is in detail. 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:25.360 The key place is Genesis 11, where Babylon first started the Tower of Babel. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:31.480 And they say it in one line, the Babylonian spirit, let us make a name for ourselves. 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:35.040 The Babylonian spirit is epitomized in the one line of the Tower of Babel. 00:12:35.040 --> 00:12:37.680 Let me let us make a name for ourselves. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:39.919 And it's not just the fact of self-interest. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.519 It's not just the fact that I want to do what I want to do with my stuff, my body, my things, 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:45.519 my goods. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.439 It's something more than that. 00:12:47.439 --> 00:12:51.000 And you see, they said, I want to make a name for myself. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:57.039 And what they were saying in that moment is, I want to be able to define my own identity 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.919 without reference to God. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:05.359 Let me see, the word name in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, really refers to somebody's 00:13:05.359 --> 00:13:06.359 essence. 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.919 It's not just this vocalization of a way to call someone. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:11.800 It's actually something that means more than that. 00:13:11.800 --> 00:13:16.480 It means who they really are, deep down, all the way to the bottom, their essence. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:21.159 That's why any time God got a hold of somebody in the Old Testament, He would rename them. 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:22.659 You've got a new essence. 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:23.659 You've been changed. 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:26.000 You've got a new purpose in life. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:27.960 And they said, we want to make a name for ourselves. 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:34.639 We don't want to have our essence, our nature, what even a human being is defined by God. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.000 I want to be able to define it for myself. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.480 You see, the Babylonian spirit is when you say, I want freedom from God to be able to 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:47.360 identify myself the way I want to identify myself. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:52.600 And does that sound, oh boy, Genesis 11 is so modern. 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:53.720 Does that sound like today? 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:57.080 But it's the spirit that goes all the way back to the beginning. 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:59.960 It's authenticity, as we call it today. 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:05.200 I have the right to define who I am, my identity comes from the inside, not the outside. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:09.120 This week, I went to a school assembly. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.120 A school assembly in Edinburgh that I'm connected to, a school I'm connected to. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:18.840 I'm connected to this school in four different ways. 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:22.879 And I won't name the school, but four connections. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:28.120 The theme of the assembly for one of my children was I am me. 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:32.639 And at the end of it, they sang Katy Perry's Firework. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:39.039 So my children go off to school and they, six year olds learn Katy Perry songs. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.600 I found out it's what they've been up to. 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:47.080 Katy Perry in Firework, she says, baby, you're a firework. 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:48.960 Show them what you're worth. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:54.799 And the whole point of the song is you've got to embrace your freedom. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:59.319 When your freedom is this, you get to decide who you're going to be. 00:14:59.319 --> 00:15:01.959 And nobody else can tell you that. 00:15:01.959 --> 00:15:07.120 And the Bible comes and says, actually, that's the Babylonian spirit. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.359 That God made us a certain way, that He gets to tell us who we are, that He gives us our 00:15:10.359 --> 00:15:14.599 mission and our purpose and our nature and commands and tells us how to live and the 00:15:14.599 --> 00:15:19.799 way to be, the manner in which we should be what we are. 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:21.399 Now that's not the final. 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:25.039 You see, the first thing is the Babylonian spirit is self-interest. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:26.360 It's to maximize profits. 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:27.959 It's to build an empire. 00:15:27.959 --> 00:15:29.240 It's to be utterly independent. 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:34.480 The second thing is to be able to identify your own essence, to be free from God in 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:35.480 that way. 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.000 But there's one more before we move on. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:39.000 And it's difficult. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:40.720 We read about it in Isaiah 22, 14. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:44.679 It's the very end of the passage that we read, this oracle against Jerusalem. 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:50.360 The last thing that the Lord says, He says to Hezekiah in Jerusalem, the iniquity that 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:57.759 you've caused, what you've done in your sin, will not be atoned for until you die. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.360 So He says, what you've done is not forgivable. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:03.600 Oh boy. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.639 The iniquity that you've done cannot be atoned for without your death. 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:12.399 Now that's what the prophecy is to the Jerusalem leadership. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.039 What is this unforgivable sin? 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.440 And you've got to see it. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:18.440 It's so important. 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.680 It's exactly the Babylonian spirit, and it's back in verse 11. 00:16:21.680 --> 00:16:24.720 This is the unforgivable sin, and it's cryptic. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.200 You've got to really look for it, or you might have missed it. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:28.360 And it's this. 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:34.840 From verse 9 to 11, He says, you know, Assyria had come knocking at Jerusalem's door. 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:40.880 Assyria had made a camp outside Jerusalem some years before this, not long before this. 00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:43.560 And they had said, we're going to take you, we're going to destroy you, you're going to 00:16:43.560 --> 00:16:45.800 become our slaves. 00:16:45.800 --> 00:16:47.560 And He records what happened here. 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:54.639 They cut off the waters that led into Jerusalem and effectively forced Assyria to leave because 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:56.759 they were thirsty. 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.519 Hezekiah had done this. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:05.480 And it's saying here in verse 11, sure, you cut the waters off, but you did not look to 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:10.200 Him who really did it or see Him who planned it long ago. 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:14.440 In other words, it's saying, Hezekiah, you're now sitting at the table with Babylon thinking 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:17.059 you're the one who stopped Assyria. 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:18.960 But I did, God did. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:19.960 He truly did. 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.639 And here's what Alec Matier says about this unforgivable sin. 00:17:23.639 --> 00:17:24.639 What is it? 00:17:24.639 --> 00:17:32.240 He says, it's to believe this, that if I can't save myself, then I cannot be saved. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:36.639 You see, Hezekiah had come to believe that if I can't save myself, I'll take matters 00:17:36.639 --> 00:17:38.039 into my own hands. 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:42.200 I'll marry political Babylon because if I cannot save myself, then nothing can save 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:43.200 me. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.919 The Lord can't even save me. 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:53.480 And you see, in other words, the unforgivable sin here is to reject the Lord outright. 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.960 As we saw last week, it's to actually choose hell. 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:03.080 It's to fail throughout the entirety of life to say, I don't need to depend on God. 00:18:03.080 --> 00:18:05.360 I can be completely independent. 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:10.279 It's to reject the cry of helplessness and say, Lord, I'm helpless before you. 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:11.480 I depend upon you. 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:12.480 I need mercy. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:16.759 You see, it's to reject the offer of the mercy of God. 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:20.440 And He says, this is what's unforgivable. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:21.920 It's to reject the Lord outright. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:23.880 It's to choose Babylon. 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.319 It's to choose hell. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:32.559 And Isaiah's coming at the end of this and saying, okay, look, Hezekiah, Isaiah, leadership 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:40.880 in Jerusalem, friend tonight, come out of Babylon, reject Babylon, the Babylonian spirit. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.880 It's in every single one of our hearts to be independent, to be self-interested at the 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:51.880 point where we neglect the fact of who we really are, made to trust in the living God. 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:54.920 Let me move on, but I want to say this. 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:56.960 What's wrong with this spirit? 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.800 The spirit of freedom, the spirit of independence. 00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:04.120 And we can't say tonight everything that's wrong about it, but let me just say one or 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:06.760 two things that's wrong with it. 00:19:06.760 --> 00:19:08.320 One of the ways to get out is this. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:15.519 This line, fallen, fallen is Babylon shows up four times across the Bible. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:20.960 Here Jeremiah 51, Revelation 14, and then Revelation 18. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:28.159 You see, Isaiah 21 shows up again at the very end of history, Revelation 18. 00:19:28.159 --> 00:19:33.720 And in Revelation 18, John the prophet cries out, fallen, fallen is Babylon. 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:37.319 It's a vision given him by one of the angels. 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:42.200 And we learn there why this won't work, the Babylonian spirit. 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:52.319 See, John there says, John says, look, God is going to wipe all selfishness off the map. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.279 And so come out of Babylon, reject the selfishness. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:56.279 That's in you. 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:57.279 Be dependent on the living God. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:03.279 But more specifically, there in Revelation 18, John calls the Babylonian spirit the 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:10.680 harlot of history, and it says, it says, you know, she's the harlot. 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:15.000 She's, it's pleasure for a day, but it leaves you empty. 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.680 It leaves you miserable for a lifetime. 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:24.279 And you know, you're wooed into utter self-interest, but you're left experiencing these miniature 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:27.799 days of the Lord throughout your life, where you realize all of a sudden everything I've 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:32.599 lived for, I've built my life in my independence and my freedom, but I'm left empty. 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:34.119 And Charles Spurgeon talked about this. 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:39.000 He said, the reason the Babylonian spirit will fail you is because it's living a life 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:40.759 that is not real. 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:44.119 It's an illusion that you're not independent, you're dependent. 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.199 You're not free from God. 00:20:47.199 --> 00:20:49.559 You're entirely his subject. 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:54.279 And so he said, it's like trying to build a life where you're standing on bursting bubbles. 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:58.039 Every step you take is like standing on a bubble that's waiting to pop. 00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.039 It's empty. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.039 It leaves you empty. 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:04.720 That means the other big reason is this, it's a life without joy. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:07.399 It's a life without joy. 00:21:07.399 --> 00:21:13.079 We don't have time to develop tonight, but it doesn't take very long for anybody to learn 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:21.200 in life that a life devoted to themselves entirely is a life without joy. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:31.279 Real joy comes, real joy comes in the loss of your own self to a greater mission. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:33.519 That's where real joy comes from. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:40.200 A life that is fully alive is one that is lived for the kingdom of God. 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:44.440 And that means that the life of independence is one without joy. 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:51.039 And that's why people have never been so comfortable in human history as now, and people have never 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:57.799 been so free to define themselves in their own essence as today is right now. 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:02.839 And yet people are more lonely and more sad than ever before in human history. 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:09.039 And that's because the loss of divine, divinely determined identity and mission is the loss 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.119 of meaning. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.599 And the loss of meaning leaves you without joy. 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:18.200 Now let's close our time. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:26.160 He says here, Isaiah says, Revelation 18 says, come out of Babylon, my people. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.400 Why? 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.200 Because God is building a better city. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:34.200 There's a better way, a better city. 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:39.480 The book of Isaiah and the book of Revelation are actually largely the same message. 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.120 When you read them side by side, you see that they're saying very similar things, and they're 00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:44.960 saying really two things. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:50.160 God is going to fall, and the spirit of self-interest will fall, and God is doing something better 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.160 than that. 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:53.120 He's building a greater city than that. 00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:58.799 And that's why in chapter 21, verse 3, Isaiah, it says, this is one of the key moments of 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.960 Isaiah's own emotions in the book. 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:05.640 He says, I'm filled with anguished pangs have seized me. 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:08.039 He says, I'm like a woman in labor. 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.440 And the reason he says that is because he's looking out at what's happening. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:18.120 Jerusalem embraced political Babylon and knowing that this means the end of Jerusalem. 00:23:18.120 --> 00:23:19.120 He knows. 00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:24.519 He says, this is so painful for me because I know what we're going to give birth to here, 00:23:24.519 --> 00:23:25.519 destruction. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.960 We're going to fall because of this. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:33.039 Isaiah and Revelation say the same thing, fallen, fallen is Babylon. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:36.720 How can a person come out of Babylon? 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:37.720 That's the message tonight. 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.559 How can you come out from Babylon? 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:45.759 And the way to do that is that you've got to see the big picture. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:53.879 Imagine that you have all the money you need to go build your perfect holiday home by the 00:23:53.879 --> 00:23:55.799 seaside. 00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:02.079 Maybe that's on the West Coast or the East Coast or the French Coast or the Italian Coast, 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:04.279 wherever it may be. 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:09.799 And you've got all this money to build this holiday home right on the beach. 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:11.879 You're the architect. 00:24:11.879 --> 00:24:12.879 You're the plumber. 00:24:12.879 --> 00:24:14.279 You're the electrician. 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:15.680 You're the carpenter. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:16.879 You're all of it. 00:24:16.879 --> 00:24:21.159 Some of you have been all those things in your past and you know what I'm talking about. 00:24:21.159 --> 00:24:27.079 It sounded great when you started, but you've laid the foundation and it took longer than 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:29.039 you could have ever imagined. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.720 It rained so much you could never get the machinery in. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:36.720 And you finally got the frame up and you've put the roof on and it's time to start running 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.880 the wires and putting the plumbing lines in and all sorts of things. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:47.079 And every day, you know, your fingers are bleeding and you say to yourself, why did 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:48.079 I do this? 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:54.000 You know, you're so tempted and then you're hammering that nail right through the wood 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:59.559 and all of a sudden the sunset starts to come down upon the seaside. 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:02.120 And you say, I remember again. 00:25:02.120 --> 00:25:05.079 You know, you've never nailed faster than in that moment. 00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:06.360 I remember what I'm here for. 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:07.599 I remember why I did it. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:13.319 Look, you've got to see big pictures because you walk out into the world every day and 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:18.959 the objective temptation of Babylon is there to draw the subjective temptation of Babylon 00:25:18.959 --> 00:25:21.759 out of your heart. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:25.199 And you've got to see the sunset at the seaside, which is the big picture. 00:25:25.199 --> 00:25:29.519 You know, why is fallen fallen is Babylon mentioned in Revelation 18? 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:30.519 And it's because of this. 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:37.079 Babylon falls in Revelation 18 and Revelation 19 and 20, God says, and salvation has come 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:38.799 for you. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:43.440 And Revelation 21 says, and now there's a better city coming down than Babylon. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.920 And Revelation 22 says, and now I'm going to let you eat at the tree of life. 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:48.599 See, that's the big picture. 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.879 Isaiah is trying to get you to see the big picture. 00:25:52.879 --> 00:25:58.720 Don't marry Babylon and don't let Babylon overtake your spirit because there's a better 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:01.120 city than that. 00:26:01.120 --> 00:26:04.240 The tree of life is the very last thing we read about in the Bible, that when Babylon 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.920 dies, the tree of life comes. 00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:13.120 And you remember, Babylon starts in Genesis 11, no, Babylon starts back in Genesis 2 and 00:26:13.120 --> 00:26:17.160 3, where the original tree of life set. 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:24.120 And there Adam was told, if you choose God, if you choose the Lord, he had freedom. 00:26:24.120 --> 00:26:26.680 Choose the Lord and I will give you the tree of life forever. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.480 I'll give you the city of God. 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:32.160 And he said, I want to make a name for myself. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.039 And he chose Babylon in that day. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:41.080 Now the theologians recently have reconnected to an idea that the early church fathers talked 00:26:41.080 --> 00:26:42.920 about. 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.920 And that's that in that moment when Adam chose Babylon, he had another choice that came to 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:48.120 him. 00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:49.920 And that second choice was this. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.279 God came into the garden and he said, what's happened here? 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:54.279 Where are you? 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.000 What have you done? 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.279 Why did you go this way? 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.960 And Adam right then had a decision to make. 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:01.960 What would he say to the Lord? 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:06.119 And when you read the rest of the Bible, you start to get a logic in place. 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:08.839 When the Lord comes to you and says, what have you done? 00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.319 You should do one thing. 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.759 You should, you should, what did Adam do? 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:16.759 God said, what have you done? 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:21.119 And he said, the woman did it. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:25.839 But when you read the New Testament, you realize that if we were to have a true Adam, if there 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:33.599 were to be a second Adam, he would be one, he would be one who would give his life because 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:36.279 of the spirit of Babylon for the sake of his bride. 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:40.720 Now, Adam stood there with his bride and he just blamed her. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:43.679 He embraced Babylon and he blamed his wife. 00:27:43.679 --> 00:27:50.319 But if there was a second Adam who would come for his bride, you know, not the city of Babylon, 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.919 but the New Jerusalem, the bride of Jesus Christ, he would come for his bride and he 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.840 would say, you know what, I will swallow the Babylonian spirit for you. 00:27:57.840 --> 00:28:05.519 Now, what if Adam would have said, take me, let her live, give her the tree of life, give 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.160 her the city of our Lord? 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:09.440 Is that what he was meant to do? 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:15.480 But oh boy, we have a second Adam who came and said, I will swallow everything that Babylon 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:19.840 has brought into this world for your sake so that you can get out, so that you can come 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:23.519 out of her, so that you can have the city of our God, so that you can eat of the tree 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:24.519 of life forever. 00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:29.919 Now listen, that means that all sin can be forgiven, that you can become a Christian. 00:28:29.919 --> 00:28:32.639 That's the choice that stands before you tonight. 00:28:32.639 --> 00:28:39.559 Choose the dependence that you're invited to upon Jesus Christ this evening, not Babylon. 00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.799 And you'll have joy today, you'll have life forever. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.159 Now, let me close with this. 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:52.240 In some sense, it's enough to say that the difference in Babylon and not Babylon is being 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:54.560 in Christ with Christ following Jesus. 00:28:54.560 --> 00:28:56.040 But let me close by saying this. 00:28:56.040 --> 00:28:59.880 This is what Isaiah was really talking about in Isaiah 21. 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:06.320 He understood something, and that's that you can be a Christian and Babylon can get deep 00:29:06.320 --> 00:29:09.560 down in your bones at the same time. 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:17.799 Isaiah loved the Lord, he was a believer, and Babylon got into his bones. 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:21.359 And you see, that means there's a call on us tonight to realize that we have the choice 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:23.679 in the Christian life between two cultures. 00:29:23.679 --> 00:29:30.599 You know, you can't get Babylon out of Edinburgh, but you can go into Edinburgh and witness 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.519 to a better city, the city of God. 00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:39.519 And so maybe it's your workplace, one writer talks about it like this, maybe at your workplace, 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:44.599 everybody is absolutely obsessed with the spirit of Babylon. 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:48.960 They'll stab people in the back to get ahead, that all that matters is I make money, I get 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:49.960 ahead. 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.879 I don't care whether I'm making a product that helps people or not. 00:29:51.879 --> 00:29:54.839 I don't care whether I'm making this a better place to live. 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:58.160 I don't care whether I'm really building a decent society. 00:29:58.160 --> 00:29:59.639 I'm here for profit. 00:29:59.639 --> 00:30:04.960 That's the spirit of Babylon, but you can create a different culture or its relationships. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.559 The spirit of Babylon and the city tonight. 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:14.799 If this person does not fulfill my needs and help me reach my personal goals, I'll walk. 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.839 I don't care how long we've been committed to one another. 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:17.839 It's about me. 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:19.839 It's about my goals and my dreams. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.440 That's the city of Babylon. 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:24.899 And so here's a diagnostic question. 00:30:24.899 --> 00:30:27.799 Because of the mercy of God in your life, and we'll close with this, because of the mercy 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:37.119 of God in your life, do the people that you interact with day after day know you as unusually 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.759 loving, unusually gracious, generous, compassionate, and as a Christian? 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:54.239 You see, come out of Babylon in your heart so that you can go back into Babylon and witness 00:30:54.239 --> 00:30:58.759 to the city of our God and the way that you love and the way that you give and the way 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:02.879 that you share and the way that you wear public faith. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:09.040 Why? Because Jesus Christ has already died for your Babylonian heart. 00:31:09.040 --> 00:31:14.320 And that means that you've now got power to live for the city of God. 00:31:14.320 --> 00:31:15.320 Let's pray together. 00:31:15.320 --> 00:31:24.160 Lord, we ask that you would help us to live as great witnesses to the city of our God, 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:29.480 that you would rip the Babylonian heart out of us because of the power that we have in 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.079 the spirit of Jesus Christ resurrect us in our desires. 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:34.920 And we give thanks, Lord, that we have hope. 00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:37.299 We give thanks that one day we can eat at the Tree of Life. 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:39.920 We give thanks that we will see Jesus. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:42.440 We give thanks for a better city. 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:46.519 And so we give thanks that as we look out at the beauty of our city and so much that's 00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:52.319 good, that you witness to it and we can too in the way we live. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:58.720 So send us from this place with the power to be people who love and are gracious and 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:02.440 compassionate all because we've experienced the mercy of our God. 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:04.000 Let me pray this in Christ's name. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:31.160 Amen.