The Reign of the King - [Isaiah 2:1-5]

Well, you know, millions and millions and millions of Christians and unbelievers have read the

Left Behind series written by Timothy LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

In fact, I used to see guys, you know, for those who don't know, I used to work in a... my last job was working in a jail.

It's a little bit different, but... One of the guys

I worked with and I'd known for a long time, I mean, he had just been around for a long time.

And he was carrying this book, you know, one of the Left Behind books around. And I knew that he wasn't a

Christian. And so I said, Roy, why would you want to read that book? Everybody's reading it, you know, kind of thing.

And I thought, OK. But it's been a genuine phenomenon.

In fact, some time ago there was a magazine that did a little bit of an interview.

Oh, I remember the story now, too. This is a fake interview with Timothy LaHaye.

And they said it was coming from the Left Behind Ranch in Colorado. And I'm going, well, after all the money he's piled up behind those books, he probably does have the

Left Behind Ranch. But pretty funny stuff. But anyway, I saw Tim LaHaye one night on the

Benny Hinn show. And they're sitting there in the studio and they're just chatting back and forth.

And Tim LaHaye says, well, Pastor Benny, as you've no doubt taught on many occasions, and then he proceeds to give the gospel.

And I'm like, I'm pretty confident that Benny Hinn has not given the gospel all that many times accurately.

So that was just weird. But some time ago I went and did to CBD's website, and I did a search of their website for Left Behind paraphernalia.

And I found 150 items, including Spanish editions, an

End Times chart, graphic novels, in other words, comic books, a board game.

I don't know how that works exactly. Dude, you've been left behind. And something mysteriously titled an underground kit.

Now, the kit is advertised this way. Now your kids can play along with Judd, Vicky, Lionel, and Ryan.

This awesome member's kit includes The Vanishings, the book that started it all, a pocket -sized

New Living Translation New Testament, an ultra -cool digital watch, army -style dog tags, so that you leave something behind,

I guess, when you leave everybody behind, a compass keychain, which is a great conversation starter, a computer mouse pad, an interactive

CD -ROM, and a mission binder with a witnessing guide and daily journal. And that can all be yours if the price is right.

But there is a fascination, and like I said, this goes for even unbelievers, there is a fascination with the future.

Now, I think there's a danger for believers because it can turn into headline hunting. When I first got saved,

I went to a Bible study, and that's all they did. They just studied the end times, and I was there for probably a year, and I just thought,

I have to go somewhere else. Sadly, that's how I wound up at Mike's Bible study, but I'm kidding.

But there is just a real fascination with the end times, and people want to figure it all out.

In fact, I remember I was so excited. There was a Q &A Sunday night, Grace Community Church, and I was first in line.

They have three different sections, like one there, one there, and one there, and I was first in line over here.

So I thought, man, I'm going to get to ask my question. And the fact is I was asking because there was a little bit of a dispute and wanted to get the official

John MacArthur view on things. The first guy, so I'm the second guy, and you can look it up.

It's still on tape, man. I'm immortalized now at Grace Community Church. But the first guy gets up, and he says,

Pastor John, I wonder if you could explain how Benjamin Netanyahu fits into the end times scenario.

And John's just like, and he gave a very gracious answer, but I just thought, what in the world?

You're asking a Bible teacher to speculate on essentially something that nobody can know.

But there's just a real curiosity, a real interest in end times, and people actually,

I think, are too fascinated with it. But tonight, as we look at Isaiah 2, verses 1 to 5, we're going to see some eschatology, a look into the future, as it were.

And the dean of my seminary, the seminary that Mike graduated from, Dr. Mayhew said that the book of Revelation can be summed up in two words.

Anybody know what those two words are? Jesus wins.

And our passage tonight can be summarized in two words as well, which is Jesus reigns.

Let's read the text. Isaiah 2, and we're going to read verses 1 through 5.

The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and say, come. Let us go up to the mountain of the

Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.

For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and they will render decisions for many peoples.

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.

Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the

Lord. Now Isaiah wrote in a time of idolatry, injustice, and compromise in Israel.

The nation had been divided, if you recall your history, into two parts. Israel in the north, and Judah in the south, two kingdoms.

Where Isaiah focused his time in the south, and that's primarily what we're going to be looking at tonight.

And tonight, or during Isaiah's lifetime, Israel was carried off into captivity by the

Assyrians, and Judah would escape that same fate only because the angel of the

Lord shows up, and slaughters 185 ,000 or 186 ,000

Assyrians, I think it's 185 ,000. You can look it up and get back to me on that. But he slaughters them right outside of Jerusalem.

The book of Isaiah has more Christology, more Christology than any other Old Testament book.

It's also quoted more in the New Testament than any other Old Testament book. So if you want to better understand the

New Testament, Isaiah is a great book to learn. Isaiah as a writer has been called the

Shakespeare of the Old Testament. He's just a literary giant.

Chapter 1, which we taught some of a while back, is in essence a summary of the book.

Israel is involved in sin and rebellion against God, and yet he offers them forgiveness. He offers to spare them from his terrible judgment.

The chapter ends with God promising to refine Jerusalem, purging it of all wickedness.

Well, let's see what the Shakespeare or what light the Shakespeare of the Old Testament can shed on end times for us.

This evening we are going to look at two aspects of Christ's millennial reign, so that you might be encouraged to live more holy lives now.

One might look at the message Isaiah gave to his own people as this. Our God, Yahweh, reigns in the end, so you ought to live in light of that truth now, in the here and now.

There are two critical promises of Christ's millennial kingdom in this passage that ought to encourage you to personal holiness.

First, the Lord's house will be exalted, and secondly, the Lord's authority will be supreme.

Because these things will surely come about, there's no doubt about it. You are compelled, you are commanded to live in a righteous manner in this life, right now, so that you will be not on the outside looking in when

Christ sets up his kingdom on earth. Chapter 2 begins with an introductory note, and it shows that there's been a shift in focus from the judgment and cleansing that ends chapter 1, where he promises to purge

Jerusalem of its wickedness. Again, the text says, the word which

Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now, it's unusual for a prophecy to begin this way.

The word which Isaiah saw, the son of Amoz saw, usually in the Old Testament, the word of the

Lord came to, fill in the blank, the prophet's name. But this is an extraordinary word of God.

It's so powerful, he doesn't just hear it, he actually sees it. Grammatically, the use of the definite article in the

Hebrew is indicative of the word of Yahweh. It leaves no doubt about its authority and authenticity.

The Hebrew verb saw, translated saw, can be associated with a prophetic vision.

So what Isaiah sees is, it's crystal clear, it could not be any clearer.

It is not just a word from God, it is as if he's watching a movie from God. Now, because Isaiah, as I mentioned earlier, prophesied, he did his work in the southern kingdom of Judah, it is only natural that it should be focused on Judah and Jerusalem.

And this passage is a prophetic look into the future of the southern kingdom of Judah in general, and the focus is on Jerusalem.

Now, why do I say that this is about the millennial reign of Christ? Well, I think that will become evident as we look at it.

There's absolutely no other time that God's Messiah will reign on the earth, and this is an earthly reign.

Revelation 20, verse 4, tells us that Jesus will reign for 1 ,000 years. And it hasn't happened yet, but it's going to happen.

This is a matter of hermeneutics. Does Revelation 20 say a long time, or does it say 1 ,000 years?

And, in fact, in Isaiah 2, if you study and you read a number of commentaries, you're going to find that there are three views.

One is not so common, but the three views are basically, as we will walk through this, the mountain of the house of the

Lord, that mountain or the temple mount, is, according to some commentaries, it is the church, that the church will be exalted.

The other one is that it is the temple, the mountain of the Lord, the temple, Jerusalem, will be exalted.

And the third one is that it's Salt Lake City, and that will be exalted. But that's the Mormon view, so just kind of ignore that one.

I did find that pretty interesting, though. When I was doing research for that, I thought, how bizarre. What would make you think that Salt Lake City is going to be?

But I think if you read this passage, it's pretty hard to get away from the idea that this is what it says, that the mountain of the house of the

Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, that it's talking about the temple mount, that it's talking about a mountain in Jerusalem instead of some other place.

If Isaiah received a vision of the church being exalted and lifted up, how would he explain that by saying the mountain of the house of the

Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains? I just, I can't go for that. Literal interpretation demands that we read it, and unless there's some extraordinary circumstance, we take it at face value.

And there is really nothing other than a New Testament understanding that would force us to say the mountain of the house of the

Lord is the church. With that said, the first critical promise that we have here is that you should live holy lives now because the

Lord's house will be exalted. Verse 2. Now will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the

Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the

God of Jacob. Now it will come about is an absolute statement of fact.

It can be relied upon. There is no doubt in Isaiah's mind as he writes this, that this is absolutely going to happen.

It's not possible. It's not maybe it could happen, can't be ruled out, could go either way.

He says it with absolute clarity that this is going to happen. The Lord's house will be exalted, he tells us, in three different ways.

It's going to be exalted with regard to a particular time, a particular height, and it's going to be super popular.

It's going to be exalted in popularity. With regard to time, it's going to be exalted in the last days.

Now, what are the last days? Well, obviously, it refers to, from Isaiah's perspective, well, it's not obvious, but it refers to the furthest possible days that he can envision.

Now, an Old Testament prophet, he can see the end, and he can see where he is now, but he can't see necessarily everything in between.

So there may be a lot of valleys and peaks in between, but he can see where he is, and he can see the end right there.

But he says that this is at the very end of time. And this is the only time that this phrase occurs in the book of Isaiah.

In the Old Testament, when it occurs, it means the end.

From the very end of time or the end of the tribulation forward. Ezekiel 38 .16

says this, Now Gog, G -O -G, is the leader of a confederation of countries that will attack

Israel near the end of time. Gog most likely carries the idea of high, exalted, or supreme one, based on Numbers 24 .7.

It refers to a person described as a prince from the land of Magog, who is the final antichrist.

That's what MacArthur says. Now, have we ever seen this? Have we ever seen an invasion of Israel by a number of nations so that God would be sanctified in the eyes of the

Israelites? I don't think so. I think this is still a future event.

In addition to the Lord's house being exalted at a particular time, Isaiah tells us that the Lord's house will be exalted above all others.

In other words, it's going to be the highest of all mountains. Verse 2 again, Now, first of all, what is the mountain of the house of the

Lord? I've said it. It is the Temple Mount. It is the place where Jesus will physically dwell and will physically reign.

It will be the seat of his government. With the theocracy reestablished, the reign of mankind overthrown,

Psalm 2, verse 6 says, Now, that it will be established as the chief of the mountains means that it will literally be the highest place on earth, the head of all mountains.

Now, how can that be? Is this some kind of 10 .5 earthquake? No. What's going to happen, though, is

God is going to redo the geography. The area surrounding it will be lower in appearance because Jerusalem will be so lifted up, so high, so exalted.

Zechariah, chapter 14, verses 9 and 10 says, Again, an eschatological reference.

So, there you have it. It's going to be lifted up. Everything else is going to be lowered all around it. But not only will the

Lord's house be exalted in time and height, but it will also become a massive attraction.

We think of that. We go, how can that be? How can it be so popular? Why would people be lining up for it? If we think back in time, if we went all the way back to the

Tower of Babel where God supernaturally dispersed the people by confusing their tongues and dispersed the people and they spread out over the whole globe, what we have here in Isaiah 2 is basically a reversal of Babel.

Instead of dispersing them, he's going to gather them together. It says in verse 2,

All the nations will stream to it. Just as he supernaturally separated them at Babel, so he will supernaturally gather them now.

The picture is that of a stream running uphill. That's the idea.

That's how we know it's going to be a supernatural work because streams don't work uphill, and in that same way, people don't normally flock to the house of God.

It will be a center of worship. It will be a center of worship for Jews. In Isaiah 27, verses 12 and 13,

Isaiah writes, And it will come about in that day that the Lord will start his threshing from the flowing stream of the

Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one,

O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the

Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. So it's going to be a day where there's going to be a gathering of Jews where they are going to go and they are going to worship at the holy mountain in Jerusalem, and it's also going to be a day or a center of worship for the

Gentiles. Isaiah 56, verses 6 to 8 says,

Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him and to love the name of the

Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even those

I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

The Lord God who gathers the dispersed of Israel declares, Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.

So in this kingdom of the Messiah, in this kingdom ruled and reigned by Christ, the

Jerusalem temple will be the focal point for worship of the Lord by people of all ethnic backgrounds.

Jesus cited a problem there when he cleansed the temple in Matthew 21 because the

Jewish leaders had made this a commercial venture.

They had started selling things and he said, what did he say to them? He said, this is to be a house of prayer.

It's that same kind of idea. But can you just imagine lines of people waiting to go to the temple of God, waiting to go to Jerusalem, the holy mountain, the lifted up mountain.

But that's what's going to happen. Now that we've seen the first promise of Christ's millennial reign in Isaiah 2 that the

Lord's house, the temple mount will be exalted, let's look at the second. The Lord's authority will be supreme.

Second part of verse 3, that he may teach us concerning his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples.

Now there are four offices in which the Lord will exercise supreme authority. He will be the supreme teacher, governor, judge, and peacekeeper.

Now it's true that the Lord's authority is absolutely ultimate now.

But he doesn't run every single aspect of the affairs of men in the sense that everything is going the best it possibly can.

And yet that will be the case during the millennial kingdom. We know that God has for a time, he has delegated the authority to men and governments.

Daniel 2 .21 tells us that it is God who changes the times and the epics.

He removes kings and he establishes kings. And what that means for us today is that we can know that whoever wins the election is exactly who

God wants to win the election. Whatever government exists is exactly what government

God wants to exist. As a result, we have Romans 13 .1, let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.

I used to, when I would take the, I had to talk to the inmates who had disobeyed and were going to be going to disciplined cells.

And frequently, not all the time, but frequently they would have a Bible. And so I would say, do you read that Bible?

Because usually they were going to discipline for disobeying an order from one of the deputies who worked for me.

I'd say, do you read that Bible? And they'd say, oh yes, yes I do, senior. And I'd go, if I were you,

I think I'd review Romans 13 because I don't think you can really do what you've been doing here.

You know, oh thank you, senior, I'll do that. You know, or what's it say in Romans 13?

Read it for yourself, you know. But Jesus will be the supreme teacher.

It says here that he may teach us concerning his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

The nations, the non -Jews, it's the goyim, streamed to Jerusalem to learn from Jesus.

Now in light of the age of tolerance in which we now live, how weird is that to think about? Absolute truth is the one absolute you cannot declare.

Of course, if someone tells you you cannot declare absolute truth, they've just declared an absolute truth and you can go from there, but that kind of gets all muddled up.

But people wanting to know the truth, people from all around the world wanting to know the word of God, people accepting that there is only one truth, that's just beyond our ability to really grasp nowadays.

That's not how this world works. But their desire will be for obedience to his ways and his paths.

And that's just not how people think today when they want to do their, they want to have their own way, they want to be free from God, they want to be free from any authority, they want to be free from any implication of the truth.

But the Hebrew wording here implies a desire to learn the moral law of God, to reflect his moral character.

They're not seeking mere knowledge, these nations are not really just looking for facts, they're not looking to fill out trivia books, they're not looking for post -graduate degrees, they want to know so that their lives will be changed, so that they'll stop living ungodly lives and that they'll live godly lives.

Jesus will be the supreme teacher, he'll also be the supreme governor, he will be the absolute center of authority.

Verse 3, second half of it says, for the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the

Lord from Jerusalem. The Torah, or the law, or instruction of Yahweh will go forth from Jerusalem along with whatever else is necessary in terms of governing, in terms of promoting prosperity and peace among the nations, of controlling the entire world.

The second half of verse 3 is repetitive and it's meant to emphasize the consolidation of authority in Jerusalem, often in Hebrew to stress an idea that the idea is repeated again and again.

So that's the idea here, he's just stressing how much authority is going to be invested in Jerusalem.

The law and the word of the Lord are parallel just as Zion and Jerusalem are parallel.

So this is a bit of poetry, a picture of Christ ruling here, and the picture is of him ruling as the absolute sovereign.

No Congress, no Supreme Court, no political parties, an absolute theocracy.

Just as it was in the beginning, so it will be in the end. God ruled by divine fiat in the beginning and he'll rule again the affairs of men by divine fiat in the end.

Jesus will also be the supreme judge. Verse 4, and he will judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples.

The Hebrew verb judge is only used of God and it refers to his giving law, deciding controversies and executing perfect justice, perfect justice in every aspect of life, civil litigation.

Well, I don't know that there'll be any lawsuits, but he will rule equitably among every single person.

If there's a dispute between two peoples, two people, Jesus will resolve that. He'll resolve any kind of religious disputes.

It's hard to think that there'll be many doctrinal disputes at that point when we have God on the earth.

He'll resolve all political drama, all social disputes. That's what he'll be doing.

He'll arbitrate perfectly any disputes between nations which may arise. Now, imagine a judge who knows what's right and cannot rule any other way.

We don't really see that very often these days. What an amazing concept to actually know what is right, to know the truth and to not have any choice about ruling the correct way.

That's what Jesus will do. There will be justice. It will be absolute perfect justice.

He will establish a perfect standard of conduct and fairness. And the disputes that are now resolved by force, read wars or lawsuits or sending the police or whatever, will be settled by the supreme judge.

He will be the supreme teacher, the supreme judge, and he'll also be the supreme peacekeeper.

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they learn war.

This is kind of the end time verse that everybody likes. They'd like to think that somehow, whether it's the

United Nations or some other international entity, that somehow mankind on its own can reach a point where we make this true ourselves, where we will hammer our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks that will do away with the weapons of war.

That would be great. It just won't happen. There's a lot of talk today in the

Middle East about a lot of things. The Inifada, meaning the Palestinian uprising against Israel.

There's talk about Al -Qaeda, terrorism, the Oslo Accord, the roadmap to peace, the

West Bank, all kinds of things. However, in Christ's millennial reign, the reasons for fighting evaporate.

There won't be another religion. Islam won't be there. There'll be no more cares about oil, money, land, or injustice.

So they'll be hammering their swords to plowshares. They'll be working, doing what they're supposed to do. The tools of warfare are no longer needed.

Instead, resources are used for productive means. Plowshares says that they're going to mush their swords into plowshares.

Plowshares are the bits that break up the ground. You put your plowshare on the plow.

You hook up your team of animals, and you drag that plowshare through, and it breaks up the ground. The idea being that no longer are you going to need to make weapons.

You're going to be able to make farm equipment. You're going to be able to do the things that sustain life, that make life possible.

It reminds me again, just an amazing attitude that people would have in the jails.

They would say to me, they'd say, well, you know, I'm your job security. Without me, you wouldn't have a job.

Well, it's the same kind of thing here because there's not going to be a need for military, and there won't be a need for police officers, quite frankly, but without me, you wouldn't have a job.

Well, actually, I would tell them that's not actually true. Without Adam, I wouldn't have a job.

Without the fall, I wouldn't have a job, but you are really not that big of a concern to me. But there will be no need for weapons.

Just imagine what kind of world we'd live in if there was no army, no disputes, nothing like that.

It also says that they're going to turn their spears to pruning hooks. Pruning hooks are what are used to trim trees.

And again, why would you prune a tree? Because when you prune that tree, obviously you're going to get a more fruitful tree.

It's going to bear more fruit. So the overall image is that weapons of destruction are going to be turned into means of great provision.

There's going to be no more preparation for war. Every reason for conducting war has been eradicated to the extent that nations no longer even train armies to fight them.

Why? Why would they need to fight? What we're looking at is a world that is totally unlike anything that we've ever known.

A world with Jesus Christ reigning and ruling from Jerusalem, establishing perfect peace, teaching people who actually want to hear the word of God, who want to apply it to their lives.

In light of the sureness of Christ's coming reign, as evidenced by these promises that the Lord's house will be exalted in time, height, and popularity, and that the

Lord's authority will be supreme, that he will be the supreme teacher, supreme governor, supreme judge, and supreme peacekeeper, in light of all those things, we need to live as if we believe them.

So how do you apply this information? Look at verse 5. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the

Lord. Now this phrase, house of Jacob, is used by Isaiah eight times, and only nine times by all the other prophets in the

Old Testament. Frequently, or let me just say that the idea here, the focus is,

Isaiah is talking to his people, house of Jacob, Israelites. You've heard all this, you've seen what is coming, what

I've told you that the Lord will do in the end times. Now I am calling on you, he says, to walk in light of that great promise.

And frequently that's what happens when great truths are given to God's people, they are exhorted to holy living.

Israel is commanded to live in light of what they know, because Yahweh, their sovereign

God, will reign one day on this earth. Isaiah saw this vision, and he saw it as being applicable to the

Jewish people of his day. So he exhorts them to walk in the light of the

Lord. And if that was true thousands of years ago, how much more for us living now? How much closer are we to the end than Isaiah was?

Isaiah's message was simple. There is coming a day when our God will reign and all others, even those idols you seek now, as I said they were an idolatrous people, they sought after these false gods, they had worshipped in concert with the people around them, they attempted all the time to idolatry.

All these false gods, all these false religions will all be banished, they will all be put aside.

So you, Israel, put aside your sinful ways and live for God now.

And that exact same message applies to us. We know that Jesus Christ is coming back.

We know that he is going to establish his kingdom here on earth. The question is, are we going to be caught unaware?

Are we going to be caught not ready? And why wouldn't we, in light of the fact that we know that we serve a sovereign

God, why wouldn't we live in light of that now? Why wouldn't we put off every sin and encumbrance and everything that keeps us from a holy living?

The end is very clear. The end time picture is very clear. It's not one that you can pick up in a newspaper.

It's not one that you can pick up by watching the news. It's not one that you can even get by asking

John MacArthur for his opinion. But the end is clear. Jesus wins and Jesus reigns.

And it is the height of foolishness not to live every moment in light of this truth with urgency and with holiness.

Let's pray. Lord, we anticipate the day that you will do away with sin, that you will do away with every false religion, that you will establish your kingdom here, that you will rule and reign in majesty,

Father, with equity. It is almost unfathomable to think about a world without the weaknesses and the flaws that we see here day in and day out.

The injustice, the lack of love, the intolerable and unspeakable crimes, the wickedness that runs rampant.

And yet, Lord, you are going to make everything right. You are going to set everything the way it should be.

You are going to reestablish your rule and your reign on this earth. And we praise you for that.

Father, make us a people that would not be headline hunters, that would not be so fixated on trying to figure out the end, that we don't serve you now.

Father, knowing that you win in the end, knowing what you will do in the end, Lord, just use that to spur us to holy living now.

Knowing that the days grow ever shorter, that every day is precious and that ought to be used in your service.

Father, would you use Bethlehem Bible Church? Would you just wind us up?

Father, would you just make us a people that are just devoted to your holy name, to living holy lives, to proclaiming your goodness, to proclaiming your sovereignty, to proclaiming your forgiveness and proclaiming your love to a lost and dying world.

There is coming a day where repentance will no longer be possible, Father. Would you just give us that sense of urgency to live in the here and now?