The Work Of The Spirit

The Judgment of Sin and the Need for the Spirit

Amen. Please turn to Isaiah 32. We're going to be finishing up Isaiah 32 this afternoon. I'm just saying about thanking the Lord. We thank the Lord for the good things He does, the good gifts He gives.

He has given a wonderful gift in Jesus Christ. And the Father and the Son together have given us a wonderful gift in the Spirit. So today's message will be about the work of the Spirit. So when you have that, Isaiah 32, please stand for the reading of God's Word.

We'll begin in verse 9. And the preaching text will begin in verse 14. Rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech. In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women, for the great harvest fails.

The fruit harvest will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease. Shudder, you complacent ones. Strip and make yourselves bare and tie sackcloth around your waist. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briars.

Yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city. For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted, the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks, until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.

And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field, and the effect of righteousness will be peace.

And the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, and secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. And it will hail when the forest falls down, and the city will be utterly laid low.

Happy are you who sowed beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today with your Word open before us, asking that you would speak to us from this Word, that you would tell us more of the secret things that were not at one time revealed to man, but now have been through your Word.

We pray that you would show us invisible realities, the realities of your Spirit, and that you would grant us believing hearts and eyes of faith that we might see this reality more fully. And we pray that you would teach us to appreciate the wonderful gift of the Spirit and of His work.

In Jesus' name, Amen. There are many people who live their lives a dry and arid way, not enjoying life, or maybe they have some superficial joys in life, but much is lacking. The fruit of the Spirit is lacking.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are wonderful things that give life to man. But because of sin, people do not enjoy this joy, this fruit of the Spirit.

Because of sin, people live without this. However, God, in His wonderful plan of salvation, has not only given His Son, but He has given His Spirit to enliven us, so that we do not just enjoy knowledge of the truth that we have been forgiven, but He has given us so much more than that, so that day by day, as we grow in sanctification, as we grow in holiness, we may enjoy the work of God, and we may live fruitful, happy lives.

Not happy in the sense of a worldly prosperity, but happy in the sense of having everything that God has determined is good for His children, and everything that He has determined as good for us, is indeed good for us, and there is not one thing outside of that, that we lack, that is good for us.

The Desolation of Jerusalem Under Judgment

And so, let us come to this passage with an eager expectation of appreciating this gift of the Spirit. Beginning here in verse 14, it says,. For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted, the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks.

This is describing the effect of sin on mankind. Specifically, the effect of sin on Jerusalem. The effect of sin is that the palace will be forsaken. The city will be destroyed. It will be evacuated. It becomes a den forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks.

You know, I've brought up this image several times before because it comes up often in Isaiah, but it's so appropriate. During the early days of the pandemic, there were headlines about how so many coyotes were being seen in San Francisco because the city had just become evacuated.

There were few people coming outside, and so wildlife was beginning to take over the city in ways that were unexpected. Now, that was just a small picture of what it looks like to have the judgment of God.

You know, you remember the fear that was around at that time, and it had this effect of even animals taking over the place where men dwell. And this is what God describes as taking what belongs to man and handing it over to the beasts of the field because of sin.

And this is all very surprising to hear pronounced on Jerusalem because these same things were pronounced before in chapter 13 on Babylon. It said in chapter 13, verse 19, in Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations. No Arab will pitch his tent there. No shepherds will make their flocks lie down there, but wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures.

Their ostriches will dwell, and their wild goats will dance. Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant places, in the pleasant palaces. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged.

So this judgment that belongs on the worst enemies of God on Babylon is now being pronounced on Jerusalem. This is the result of sin. A lot of people think that they have a right to some sort of status with God, either by where they grow up, maybe by what church they belong to, maybe by the culture that they are a part of.

But none of these things actually grants anyone any status with God, any guarantee to live in happiness with Him. Rather, it is only through forgiveness of our sins, only through that forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ that we can enjoy this.

So do not be fooled as the people of Jerusalem were, that just because they had been labeled as God's people, that they would be able to dwell with Him forever. His presence being there in Jerusalem, His destruction of that city being His evacuation from that place, speaks of it being a joy of wild donkeys.

Job speaks of donkeys loving arid places. You know, this is not just describing animals taking over a fruitful place. This is talking about it becoming a fruitless place, about it becoming a desert, dry and arid.

And this is what man's life like is because of sin. It becomes dry, it becomes arid, it lacks the true joy of the Spirit. It lacks the vitality that leads to patience and kindness. It lacks the Spirit of God.

This is what it looks like to be dead in sin. People think that they can work their way out of this deadness of sin, but there is nothing that man can do to revive himself. How can one be born again? It is only through the Spirit of God.

So if you are trapped in sin, if you are trapped in a joyless existence, do not look to yourself to revive yourself out of this. You can only look to God Almighty. You can only look to Him, to His Son, to His Spirit to give you life, to give you joy.

The Spirit Poured Out From on High

So it continues on in this verse, verse 15. It says, until, until this finally happens, until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field and the fruitful field is deemed as a forest.

So it speaks of this time when the Spirit will be poured out from on high. God Himself giving of Himself that man might be enlivened and have joy and righteousness. It speaks of God removing that judgment that was spoken of in the previous passage.

The previous passage speaks of the judgment that comes because of sin. This passage talks about that judgment being removed by the work of the Spirit. It speaks about Him being poured out from on high.

The picture is supposed to be of a rain coming on the field so that the plants grow and the crops grow. And there was in Jerusalem a famine at this time in part because of the warfare because they weren't able to tend to the crops the way they wished to.

So this is a very, very real imagery that's being described here. But that literal imagery applies to us metaphorically. It is true that because of sin we live arid lives, but because of the Spirit we can have a joyful, a fruitful, a lively life.

And this comes in context of this whole chapter. As we've read this chapter it's important to not forget how it began. It began, behold a king will reign in righteousness and princes will rule in justice.

This all comes about because the king. Because the king has come to reign, because this Messiah comes and he gives his Spirit to man, man is able to live true life. To no longer be dead in sin, but to have the life given by the Spirit of God.

And if you have read scripture you know that in Acts 2 this is fulfilled at the day of Pentecost when the Spirit is poured out on the church. And the church through the work of the king and through the king sending out princes to grow his people, the wilderness becomes a fruitful field.

Suddenly out of nowhere the church arises numbering in the thousands and then even more and more until we are where we are today. And the gospel has reached many lands, still reaching more and more, but it has reached, the church is larger than it has ever been before and that is because of this work of the Spirit.

And it is a wonderful thing to see in light of the context of the desert land. You know I was, when I first moved here, I came here from Virginia, I was very confused by the climate. I did not understand how everything seems so desert-like and yet all the lawns were so plush and green and you could walk on them and sometimes they'd be wet.

I did not understand this. And then finally I realized, oh people have irrigation systems here. I had never encountered these before. This is what it looks like for the Spirit of God to operate in this dead world, this dead world that is desert for donkeys.

God has enlivened the church with His Spirit making this green field in the middle of a desert. And how does this come about? How does one receive this Spirit? God grants the Spirit as a gift. It comes through, He comes through repentance.

It says in Proverbs 1 verse 23, if you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my Spirit on you to make my words known to you. You see what's being outlined here? Prophetic imagery, poetry, hard to understand.

But a king comes in verse 1 and it describes the effect of the king and then it goes back to talk about the sin of the people and then it describes until something changes, until the king does his work.

The king does his work of sending out that Spirit. And how does that Spirit work? When is that Spirit given? Proverbs 1 verse 23 tells us, people repent. The king subdues and changes the hearts of his people so that they repent.

And then as they repent, he pours out his Spirit from on high so that they are not merely, well the work of the Spirit is also to regenerate, to turn one's heart. But beyond that, they have this outpouring of the Spirit so that they are even further equipped to do the work of God, to experience the joy of eternal life in a way that is not enjoyed even by, in a way that is very special even in human history beyond what you see in the Old Testament.

Now, I believe that the saints of old were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You know, this is not something that's just the New Testament truth. There's a lot of people out there who will teach that, well there was no, there was no indwelling in the Old Testament.

The focus on some of the language, some of the language in the Old Testament talks about the Spirit resting on someone. Like you see him resting on Saul and then he leaves Saul. The Spirit's work was necessary for someone to submit to God.

Without the Spirit, people cannot submit to the law of God. They need the Spirit to submit to the law of God. The Spirit indwelt people even in the Old Testament and there are several passages we could look at if we wanted to delve more deeply into that.

But what is unique in the New Testament is not the indwelling of the Spirit that always existed. What is unique and what Isaiah is prophesying is the outpouring of the Spirit that has happened upon the church.

Him being available in a fuller measure that we might be further equipped apart from the way God had worked in previous times where He appoints and anoints people by His Spirit, especially for the work of prophets, especially for the work of priests, especially for the work of kings.

And now Christ is our prophet, priest, and king and we under Him are a royal priesthood equipped by that outpouring of the Spirit in a way that was not enjoyed by the saints of old. And so we have, we have that Holy Spirit in such a full measure.

And Christ says at the end of His, of the Lord's prayer, He tells us that if God gives good gifts to His children, how will He not give more of His Spirit if we pray for His Spirit? This is the conclusion of that whole, of that whole teaching in Matthew is that we should be praying for the Spirit of God.

He could sum up that prayer in many different ways, but our Father who is in heaven, et cetera, et cetera, what is that prayer? It is to pray for the Spirit of God. He is the one that will remove that judgment, remove that arid climate, fill us with that irrigation of His work.

Just one note on the meaning of this passage. It says, the fruitful field will be deemed as a forest. That was said back in 2917. And the idea is that it will be so lively, the Spirit will work so wonderfully that that which before was considered fruitful will now be considered as something that has no fruit at all, because the standard will have changed so drastically.

Righteousness, Peace, and Trust Forever

It says in verse 16, then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

My people will abide in the peaceful habitations and secure dwellings and in quiet resting places. So not only does the Spirit remove judgment, remove the afflictions that have come on man by His work, but then He also establishes justice, He establishes righteousness, so that the people of God no longer just feel the effects, no longer feel the effects of sin, but on top of that, they are able to begin living righteously.

And this is what the Spirit does, the Spirit sanctifies His people so that they may live righteously. And we have seen before how this passage is talking about a spiritual society that is infused with the goodness of this King who leads.

I'm very sorry, I don't know what's going on with my throat right now. Maybe some of you have been impressed by First Chronicles that we've been, as we've been going through First Chronicles, it's been talking about how David led the people.

And you know, this past week we looked at the mighty men, and there was one, there was one mighty man who had said, struck down a lion on a snowy day, thank you, appreciate it, struck down a lion on a snowy day and killed a giant who had a spear like a weaver's beam.

And what is this a picture of? That's what David had done, isn't it? Killed a giant with a weaver's beam, struck down a lion. The King, the point of this passage and the way the Chronicler is telling it, and the way he's telling it in a lot of aspects, this isn't the only passage that's relevant, is that this King, this David, is such a good King that he is inspiring the people to be like him.

Our King, this King of verse 1, this King is so, is so excellent that he is able to do the people turn their hearts away from sin and toward him so that they become, begin becoming like him. And in the repentance he is granting them and outpouring that spirit that they might become more righteous, more sanctified, more equipped to do his work, warriors in his kingdom, killing giants that have spears like a weaver's beam, tearing down lions on a snowy day.

Says the effect of righteousness will be peace and the result of righteousness quiet and trust forever. You know, this is a comparison to what was said in chapter 30 verse 15. It had said that there is peace and quietness and trust, but the people were not willing, the people were not willing to simply rest and trust upon the Lord.

But here now, after the work of the Spirit, the people will be able to trust and rest upon the Lord. They will have the victory that comes that way. Just to read that passage, it said in verse 15, 30 -15, for thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and in trust shall be your strength, but you were unwilling.

Now the work of the Spirit is to make the people willing. They might grow in righteousness. It says the result of righteousness, quiet and trust forever. You know, this forever compares to the forever that we had seen earlier in verse 14.

It said they will become dens forever, but now we have a contending forever that changes that, so that those who had previously lived arid lives because of their sin are now able to rest and trust in their Savior forever.

Spiritual Warfare, Hail, and the Triumph of God's People

So if you are plagued by sin, if you are plagued by anxiety or anything like that, the answer to these things is the Spirit of God. You need the Spirit of God. He is the one who gives rest. He is the one who gives trust.

You know, turn to your Maker and pray for more of that Spirit. It is another thing, you know, relating this to another thing that our church is going through. Several of the people here are going through the counseling training, and one of the things that I've been really impressed by in the training is how it frequently points out that because we have the Spirit of God, we have a guarantee that we can work through any issue of sin, any issue of conflict.

There's no reason why we should despair and be concerned that we may not be able to. If we are resting upon the Spirit of God, who is able to do such miracles, then certainly we can go through whatever trial has been placed in our way.

It says in verse 18,. This is a picture, once again, that's used several times through Isaiah. A lot of the things being spoken here are echoing things from earlier in Isaiah. The forest falling down, the city being laid low, these represent the proud, the proud things of the world, proud and arrogant things, and they get crushed by the Lord as He pours out from on high hail.

As He loves His people. See, God, let me speak of God's attributes. God's attributes are all one in Him. He is simple. He is not made up of parts, and so His attributes are all one within Him. When we speak of His love, because He loves what is good, what that implies is that He has a lack of love for that which is not good.

That lack of love we call hatred. He hates that which is evil. And so the Spirit not only takes away the effects of judgment, but then reverses judgment on the enemies, because as God loves His people, He then hates the people's enemies and destroys the people's enemies.

There's a serious spiritual battle going on right now. There's all kinds of demonic activity in the world. You might not be trained to think of it as being demonic, or maybe you're hesitant to use those labels, since there's a lot of people that would just throw that word around it at anything and everything.

But the Bible tells us that there is a real spiritual battle going on right now, and what we need is real spiritual help. And the only answer to that is to have the Spirit of God taking judgment away from us and turning it instead on our enemies.

God is not—it speaks of Him as a shield, speaks of Him as a tower, but that is not all that He is. He is not a warrior that just has defensive utilities. He is a strong and mighty King who is able to destroy.

He has a sword, and He will destroy. He will destroy every spiritual enemy of His people, ultimately. And as we trust in the Spirit, we will see those victories now. It says at the end, happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

Happy are you who sow beside all waters. What does that mean? If you sow beside the waters, the water supplies your crops. It is—you will experience, yeah, health and life in your crops. And so when it speaks of the Spirit being poured out from on high, it is using this imagery of rain, it is using this imagery of water.

Even with hail, you know, that is that water being turned into solid so that it might destroy. But as you sow beside the water, as you are in the vine that is Christ, receiving that living water of His Spirit, happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and donkey range free.

What that means is you have so much supply, have so much goodness that you can even allow your livestock to go into your crops and eat the field. Now, most people would never do that. You only have so many crops.

You can't just let the ox and the donkey go eat all your good corn, go eat all your good grain. But what this is describing about is such a fruitfulness that it doesn't need to be contained to yourself, but can be given in supply to others.

What it is talking about is not just the joy that is for you personally, but a joy that is overflowing for others as well. What God is offering here in this passage is not something just for you selfishly, but something for the whole church to enjoy and to spread.

And so you may ask yourself about your spiritual battles, how they may be won, and how the Spirit may help you, but also be asking yourself who it is that you could be overflowing into. Who is it that as you have sowed beside waters, are you willing to let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free?

Are you willing to trust God in this way with your spiritual blessedness? You know, there's a lot of people who say things like, well, let me say this, a lot of people feel too taxed to be around others.

Can you be so supplied with the Spirit that it is something good for you to be able to be around your brothers and sisters in Christ and to pour into them and feel that you still have more to supply? You know, that is what this is describing here.

You know, as we face issues in evangelism, reconciliation, sin, lack of joy, any of these issues, they may be all amended by the Spirit who has been poured out. We no longer live in the era where the Spirit was held back and was a timely trickling stream, but the dam has been burst open.

The Spirit has been poured out from on high. We may enjoy all these things. He is easily accessible to us, and Christ urges us in the Lord's Prayer, after the Lord's Prayer, to pray for more. If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

How much more? I urge you to pray to God for more of His Spirit. You might further enjoy this Christian life, that you might be so full that you are able to let the ox and the donkey roam free, that you are not just enjoying what you need to make it through the week, but that you are overflowing and aiding others with this work of the Spirit.

This is a wonderful promise that gives us an answer for every trial and every obstacle. It may feel simplistic. Maybe your trials are very complicated. Maybe you don't know how you get through them, but the Spirit of God knows.

He is the mind of Christ. He will supply every need. Simply ask. Let's pray, and let us, as we pray here today for the remainder of our time, be praying for more of the Spirit. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you knowing that you give good gifts to your children, and we come today knowing that the Spirit, He is a wonderful and good gift, and so we ask for more of Him.

We thank you that He indwells our hearts by your by your kind election toward your people, but we ask that you would pour Him out more abundantly upon us, that we might be ever supplied to do your work, and to do your work in such a way that we do not need to restrain ourselves or withhold, but can go eagerly with an assurance that we will have all that we need.

In Jesus' name, amen.