The Glorious Transformation!

Isaiah 32

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 25.

Isaiah 32 describes a Glorious Transformation that would be completed by the work of the Holy Spirit when the people returned to the Lord. God promised to give the people a righteous king, whose rule would bring blessing to the people and prosperity to the land (1-8). While this will be fulfilled perfectly in the coming Messiah, it was fulfilled in part by the righteous rule of two just kings, Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20 and Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23. Illustratively, Isaiah 32:13-18 demonstrates the impact of this Glorious Transformation upon Israel by giving the people a before and after picture of Jerusalem:

For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up; yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city. Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places. [emphasis added]

The key ingredient to the Glorious Transformation is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the very presence of God. The same is true today; apart from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you cannot be born again – regenerated and empowered as God’s witness of His Glorious Transformation.

Seize the moment and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:15-20; cf. John 14:16-17). The Spirit empowers you, as a member of His church, to participate in the ongoing work of transforming stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God bless you!

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YOUTUBE:

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