(4) "The Church and the Messiah" Sermon: Isaiah 61:10-11; 62:1-12 (video) - YouTube
Sunday, June 25, 2023
"The Church and the Messiah" Sermon: Isaiah 61:10-11; 62:1-12 (manuscript)
“The Church and the Messiah”
Isaiah 61:10-11; 62:1-12
June 25, 2023 YouTube
We see, first, that the work of
salvation is God’s.
The
“I” in this text is Isaiah – the remnant – the Church – all three. This “I” is one who needs to be given
salvation – so it cannot be the Anointed One – the Messiah.
The
gift of salvation causes all believers to rejoice in the LORD and to exult in
God. There is no greater gift than what
the Messiah has done to save all believers throughout time and space. Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13, ESV).
Last
week we saw the vision of the priest, Joshua, wearing dirty clothes and those
clothes being replaced with clean clothes, symbolizing the Messiah’s removal of
the stain of sin from everyone who will believe.
God,
the Savior, clothes His people with garments of salvation and the robe of
righteousness. He covers them and gifts
them salvation and righteousness.
And
then salvation is compared with the ceremonial clothing of the priests – robes
and headdress – turbans. The priests
wore a special set of clothes kept only for their work as priest – they were
holy unto God – and they were never worn any other time. The priest and his clothes are paralleled to
the bridegroom, and the bride comes with diamonds around her neck. Salvation is
like marriage in that is a holy work reflecting the righteousness the Messiah declares
upon His people and the beauty of the marriage – of the work of God in the
salvation of His people.
John
writes, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like
the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying
out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and
exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride
has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen,
bright and pure’— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation
19:6-8, ESV).
Then,
the parallel is draw between a garden and righteousness and praise:
“For as the earth brings forth its
sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord
GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
Just as the earth brings plants to
sprout, and the garden causes what is sown to sprout, so the Lord God brings
righteousness and praise to sprout and causes righteousness and praise to
sprout – in His people – before all the nations – so they will witness the work
of the Lord.
Does this remind us of anything?
“And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout
vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is
their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth
brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds,
and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And
God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12, ESV).
Here we see Divine power and
care. Just as God, in the beginning, caused
plants to sprout and grow with surety, so God causes all of His people to sprout
– to be given life by God – to grow and mature – to know assurance of salvation
because God is the One who does it and causes it to be so.
Since
the work of salvation is God’s, we can be assured that the Messiah has done all
that is necessary and applied it to the remnant – the Church – so salvation is
secure.
Second,
Zion – the Church – is the Anointed One’s chief care.
This
section begins with the Messiah telling the remnant – through Isaiah – that He is
ceaselessly active for the sake of Zion – Jerusalem – the Church. His chief care is for the remnant to embrace
the hope of restoration – that Jerusalem will be rebuilt – and the Messiah will
bring it and them to its promised fulfillment.
“For
Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be
quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a
burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your
glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will
give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal
diadem in the hand of your God.”
The
remnant is not returning to Jerusalem in silence – in despair – in
frustration. The Messiah is calling out for
the sake of Zion – Jerusalem – the Church.
The Messiah will call out through Isaiah and His people until the world
sees how bright their righteousness is – brighter than the brightest candle or lamp
– the brightness of their rightness and morality that they and we have as a
gift from God. He will cause the world
to see that the salvation of God that He gives through the Messiah to His
people is a blazing torch – greater than the fires of the idols and of all the
created order – even the sun – there is nothing brighter that the Person and
work of the Messiah that saves His people. So, all the nations and all the
kings of all the world will be made to see the righteousness and the glory of
the remnant of God. God glorifies
Himself by saving a people for Himself, and all the people of the world will
see His Glory through His people and most fully on the final day when He comes
in the effulgence of His glory. The
remnant will return to Zion – Jerusalem – and the fullness of God’s light will
show Who He is and who He has made all we who believe.
And
the Lord will give His people a new name. Names identify us and show who we are
as distinct from one another. God takes
His people and gives us a new name.
What
is the significance of a name? Being
given a new name? A name signifies a
person’s identity – but something more than a label – a sense of the essence of
the one named. The new name also indicates a new status. Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some
of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written
on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (Revelation
2:17, ESV).
This
name also indicates a change in the worth of the remnant – as Isaiah records,
we shall be a crown of beauty, a royal diadem, in the Hand of the Lord. The
Church becomes a sign of the royal worth of the Anointed One. God, the Savior, gives us salvation and
righteousness and holiness and makes us shine so the nations will see us and be
drawn to the light so He will be known as worthy – as the Royal King above all
kings.
“You shall no more be termed
Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be
called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in
you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so
shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so
shall your God rejoice over you.”
Again, the Messiah proclaims that there
will be a restoration of the Creation – just as a man and a woman get married
and everything is new and beautiful – so shall everything be made new and beautiful.
Paul writes, “For the creation waits
with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was
subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in
hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption
and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21,
ESV).
This is what God will do.
In the meantime, God sets up watchmen
on the walls of Jerusalem, and on the sheepfolds of His chosen:
“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have
set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who
put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest,”
The job of the watchman is one of
continual observation – guarding, praying, not resting, but always being ready
to shout the alarm and fight against those – with the other soldiers of God –
against those who would breach the walls and attack the remnant – the Church.
Since the Garden of Eden, the people
of God – the Church – have been attacked by unbelievers and the powers of
darkness and the devil. Jesus
distinguishes between those who attack the Church and Himself, “The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it
abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV). These thieves come into the Church – into
Jerusalem – through false teaching, heresy, and false doctrine. How many of our churches, through ignorance
or lack of care allow false teachers into the church with a smile? Zion – Jerusalem – the Church – is being
destroyed by our allowing unbelievers into our pulpits and positions of
teaching. Faithful ministers who believe
the whole Bible is the Word of God are the best remedy to those who are let in
against the cries of the watchmen.
“and give him no rest until he
establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.”
The Chief Watchman is Jesus, the
Messiah, and He will not rest – He will not take His eyes off of the remnant
out of the world who are His – until they are delivered out of this world and
brought into the New Jerusalem on the New Earth.
For now, He sends the Holy Spirit to
indwell all of His people – Isaiah, the remnant, all true believers – the
Church – that they would preach the Messiah until His Church is glorious on the
last day.
The
remnant – the Church – is the chief care of the Savior, and it ought to be in
all ways and in hope for all we who believe.
Let us be active in proclaiming the Gospel and watchful with our Lord
over those who would come with lies against God and His Word.
Third,
Zion is coming.
“The LORD has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm: ‘I will not again give your grain to be food for your
enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored; but
those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it
shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.’”
The LORD swears by His right hand and
mighty arm. What does this mean?
The author of Hebrews writes, “For
when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to
swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’
And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than
themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So,
when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the
unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that
by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who
have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope
set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope
that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a
forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:13-20, ESV).
When we swear, we swear by something
greater than ourselves. There is nothing
greater than God, so God swears by Himself.
So, in the Power and Strength of God, He swears.
God swears by Himself that the bread
and the wine that had been stolen and consumed by those outside of Jerusalem
would no longer be taken by the enemies of Zion. It will all be for those for whom it is
intended. The Lord will be praised, and
they will eat in the courtyards of the Temple.
The bread and the wine are only for the people of God, and they will no
longer be consumed by the wicked. This
is in the New Jerusalem. The remnant has
a glimpse of this in the return to Jerusalem, and we have a glimpse of it
knowing the Savior has come, but the final Zion has yet to come when all things
will be made right.
And so, God tells those people – not
nations – but people out of every nation throughout time and space – He tells
them, “Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build
up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the
peoples.” Remove every obstacle that you
might put in the way of someone believing in the Messiah. Get out of the way and move everything out of
the way. Rather, lift up a signal – lift
up the flag of the Anointed One – the Messiah – the Savior. Let everyone know that He is here, and He is
bringing Zion in its fulness for His remnant.
Then we have three “beholds.” Three times here, the LORD says, “Look! See what’s happening! Take notice!”
“Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to
the end of the earth:” Pay attention!
Listen up! Our LORD is the God
who proclaims His message from one end of the Creation to another.
“Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
your salvation comes;” Look! See what’s
happening! God is bringing salvation to
Zion – to all those believers – to the remnant.
“behold, his reward is with him, and
his recompense before him.” Look! Hear what is said! The Messiah Who saves and brings the New
Jerusalem to earth has His reward with Him and His recompense with Him. What does that mean?
They effectively mean the same thing
here: The reward Jesus receives and the payment for His suffering – in this
context – are the people of the New Jerusalem.
“And they shall be called The Holy
People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City
Not Forsaken.”
Several chapters earlier in Isaiah we
read:
“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has
forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’ ’Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may
forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of
my hands; your walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:14-16, ESV).
Jerusalem is not a holy people, but
God is making them holy. The Church is
not a holy people, but God is making us holy. Jerusalem was not redeemed, but
now she is redeemed. The Church was not
redeemed, but now she is redeemed. Jerusalem
appeared forsaken, but she has become sought out by all who are drawn by the
Savior. The Church appeared forsaken,
but she has become sought out by all who are drawn by the Savoir.
Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.
I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are
not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So
there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:14-16, ESV).
As Zion was conquered and Israel was
taken off into captivity, she believed that God had forsaken her. She did not recognize that God was discipling
her, and she cried out that God had forsaken her. But God says that it is more likely that a
mother would forget that she has a nursing child than for God to forget – or
forsake – His people. They are engraved
on His Hands and the walls of Zion are before Him – He cannot forsake the
people He sent His Son, Jesus, to save – to bring into the New Zion.
Salvation
is the work of the Savior. The Church
and its holiness must be a chief care of all the saved. Zion is coming.
“He who testifies to these things
says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20,
ESV).
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the hope
and the call You have given us. We thank
You that our salvation is the same salvation that You give to all Your people –
including the remnant that would return from exile in Babylon. And we thank You for the call to work hard to
keep the Church striving for holiness.
Help us to find faithful ministers.
Let us encourage them to preach Your Word Alone in all its fulness. And help us to cast out any who would teach
lies and heresy. And we thank You for
the hope that Jesus has prepared a place for us, and one day, we will see the
New Jerusalem – the glorified Church on earth with Jesus on the throne in its
center. And we ask these things in
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sunday, June 18, 2023
"The Messiah and the Church" Sermon: Isaiah 61:1-9 (manuscript)
“The
Messiah and the Church”
Isaiah
61:1-11
June
18, 2023 YouTube
After talking about the future of Israel – the incorporating
of the Gentiles into Israel – all those true believers throughout time and
space – how God will bring them into the light and transform them – all we who
believe, he turns to looking at the office of the Messiah and the prosperity of
the Church.
First, the office of the Messiah.
Isaiah begins this section with words that will be familiar
to many of us:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD
has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of
the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who
mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of
praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
The remnant would understand that as they heard these words
– as the remnant returns from exile – they are first about Isaiah, and his
preaching before, during, and after the exile.
Making known to them the sin that caused them to go into exile, the discipline
they had to suffer. They understood that
the mission – the office – of Isaiah as Anointed One – was that of the man God
chose to indwell with God the Holy Spirit to speak God’s Word to the people. In
the return to Jerusalem, he preached comfort and deliverance to the people –
without neglecting God’s need to be just and punish sin – and that all these
things, with the restoration of Jerusalem, are done to glorify God.
We will remember that this is the section that Jesus read
from in the Temple to announce the beginning of His ministry:
“And
he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he
went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found
the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and
sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began
to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. ‘And
all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from
his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4: 16-22, ESV).
Jesus is announcing that He is the fulfillment of the
office of Messiah – of the Savior.
Whereas Isaiah is a type – or picture – of Who the Messiah would be –
Jesus is announcing that He is the fulfillment of this text – He is the Savior
that all of the Scripture speaks of and promises.
Jesus reads the texts and says that God the Holy Spirit
indwells Him. He is the Savior – if you
understand the Scripture, He is fully God and fully man in One Person, and He
is indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
We will remember:
“Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John
would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus was
baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were
opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming
to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 13-17, ESV).
We’ll
only take time to note one thing here:
The Holy Spirit rested on Jesus – God the Holy Spirit came and indwelled
the Person, Jesus, in His humanity.
And Jesus announces that He, as the Anointed One, as the
Messiah Who is indwelled with God the Holy Spirit, His work is “to proclaim
good news to the poor, …to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor.”
As the people listened to Jesus, they would hear Him say
that He came to preach to them and to deliver them from evil and its effects,
and “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The year of the Lord’s favor was understood to be the Year of Jubilee –
as commanded in the Old Testament. That
Law said that the nation of Israel had a national clock, and over the years,
people went into debt, some even became servants to work off their debt, and
these debts were worked on for forty-nine years according to the clock of the
nation, but on the fiftieth year – the Year of Jubilee – all debts were
forgiven, all property went back to its rightful owner, and so forth. Jesus came to pay all the debts owed by all
those who would every believe.
John the Baptist understood what Jesus was saying, still he
had his doubts, so, while he was in prison, he makes sure he had not been
mistaken, and Jesus makes reference to our text:
“The
disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of
his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?’ And when the men had come to him, they
said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, “Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?”’ In that hour he healed many people of
diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed
sight. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf
hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And
blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:18-23, ESV).
Jesus’
answer to John is, “Yes, I am the Messiah.”
Now, notice, as Jesus reads the text in the Temple, He stops
short: He read up to, “to proclaim the
year of the LORD’s favor,” but He doesn’t read the second part of the couplet:
“and the day of vengeance of our God;”
Why?
Jesus is alerting His listeners – including us – that the
office of the Messiah – the Savior – His Work would not be fulfilled in His
first coming. From the Incarnation and
Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension,
we see the first section of our text Jesus comes to heal and set free all those
who will believe in Him.
Remember what Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might
be saved through him (John 3:17, ESV). In Jesus’ first coming, He did not come
to condemn the world, but to fulfill the Scripture about Him for the sake of
the announcing of the Gospel and its effectiveness. When Jesus returns, it will be in judgement
against all those who never believe.
When Jesus does return, He will comfort all of His people
who mourn. He will take away their
ashes, faintness, and deep sadness, and He will dress them in festal clothes,
making them glad and full of praise – all who believe in Jesus as Savior. And God will plant them as oaks of
righteousness – the strength of the righteousness of God’s Own will be greatly
strong, and all these things will be done so God will be glorified.
The office of the Messiah includes initial foreshadowing
like Isaiah’s preaching to the captives before they leave and as they return to
Jerusalem – assuring them that the promises of God will come to pass, and
finally, this text is fulfilled in the two comings of Jesus the Savior. First, He comes to heal and free His people
from their sin, and when He returns, He will punish those who never believe and
transform His people and bring them into His kingdom.
Second, the prosperity of the Church.
Again, this is a text we interpret in layers: first in the days of the return of the
remnant to Jerusalem, and then, as Jesus told Peter, “And I tell you, you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV). The Church in the days of Isaiah – believers
in the Savior to come – and the Church – believers from the days of Jesus –
will grow and be brought into the Blessedness of God because God so wills it to
be.
As the remnant returns to Jerusalem, Cyrus tells them and
all the nations around Israel, that the nations will work to rebuild Jerusalem
and the nation and provide everything they need to be fully restored. And, so, of the Gentiles we read:
“They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up
the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations
of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners
shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;”
Paul writes, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed
they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual
blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings”
(Romans 15:27, ESV).
God promises the remnant through Isaiah that the Gentiles
of the nations around them will not only rebuild the nations, but be shepherds,
plowmen, and vinedressers for them. They
shall care for and raise the livestock and produce of the nation.
Jerusalem – the nation – will be changed as far as who she
is and what she will do:
“but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they
shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;”
Although not every person of Jerusalem could function as a
priest of the Temple, each one of them could point to the necessity of
sacrifice for sin and for the preaching of the whole Word of God.
How do we bring this relationship into the understanding of
the Church as we know it today – believers in Jesus, the Messiah?
Without getting into a full exposition of this verse, let
us understand that there is and will always be a distinction between believers
and non-believers, as John says, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the
first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years”
(Revelation 20:6, ESV). And Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9, ESV).
In Isaiah’s day, the remnant is promised, “you shall eat
the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your
shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice
in their lot; therefore, in their land they shall possess a double portion; they
shall have everlasting joy.”
In the remnant’s return, they would find themselves with
far more than they had ever had before the exile. And God continues this provision
in the Church today, so all we who believe savingly in Jesus – the Church – are
more prosperous that we could ever imagine.
Do we doubt that? I could say, “if the Church is more
prosperous than I could ever imagine, why don’t we have central air? Why don’t we have a pipe organ? Why isn’t the building in perfect shape? Why aren’t the pews full?“ And so forth.
God may bless the Church with physical things – He does at
various times and in various locations – but the prosperity of the Church is
best found in reading the Bible, learning Who our Triune God is, obeying Him in
all that He has said, and proclaiming the Gospel to the world – from which
work, the Holy Spirit will bring every one God intends to save into the Church
and His Kingdom. That – above all
physical things – is prosperity. Though
God does bless His people with physical prosperity as well.
“For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I
will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their
descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge
them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.”
God is a God of justice, and so, Jerusalem was sent into
captivity. God gives justice for sin, but
in His Mercy, not what we deserve.
Rather, God makes a covenant with Israel – with the Church. As Paul explains, “And in this way all Israel
will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will
banish ungodliness from Jacob’; and this will be my covenant with them when I
take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27, ESV).
The Church is prosperous from Adam through Isaiah and
Jerusalem and through all those who will ever believe savingly in Jesus throughout
time and space. God blesses His Church physically,
but even more so, spiritually, as He provides for justice for sin and the
salvation of all of His people – bringing them as treasure into the Church.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for showing us in Your Word the
mercy You show to Your people after their discipline – as we see in the return
of the captives to Jerusalem, and the deliverance of God’s people in the first
coming of Jesus. We thank You for showing us that You Bless Your Church and
will bring all of Your elect through our sin and the evil in the world that we
would be saved, and You would be glorified. Help us to live lives pleasing to
You – lives of obedience, as we remember Your office and work of the Messiah
and in the prosperity of the Church. In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Monday, June 12, 2023
"Your Light Has Come" Sermon: Isaiah 60:1-22 (manuscript)
“Your Light Has Come”
Isaiah 60:1-22
June 11, 2023 (You Tube)
In chapter 59
of Isaiah, we saw that Israel thinks they have been sent into exile because God
is unable to help them, but they are wrong – their sin sent them into exile.
God is Merciful and Just, and in God’s Justice, sin must be paid for in kind. This is not fully completed in their exile,
but the seriousness of their sin is made clear to them. As the chapter ends, God says He will save His
people, He will redeem His people, He will save His chosen, and remember the covenant
He made with them through all generations.
And the
future of Israel will look like this:
First, the Light and the Glory of
the Lord has come.
“Arise, shine, for your light has
come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall
cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon
you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”
Israel had been in a pagan land – in
darkness – for her sin. They were in the
darkness that covers the earth – even today – the thick darkness that covers
the people who do not believe, and God raises His Light and His Glory among
them – and they see it. God delivers
them from captivity and brings them back to Jerusalem – to the City of Zion.
But Who is the Glory and the Light
that they see when they return to Jerusalem?
Zechariah prophesies:
“And you, child, will be called the
prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to
give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because
of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide
our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79, ESV).
And we see very quickly that the fulfillment
of God’s promise to Israel does not all come to pass at once. They are freed from captivity. They return to Jerusalem. God’s Light and Glory is among them, and they
recommit themselves to the covenant God made with them. But the fullness of the Redeemer in Light and
Glory as Zechariah prophecies does not come for some hundreds of years.
“And nations shall come to your
light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all
around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall
come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall
see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of
the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”
Nations and
kings will be drawn to the light of the Redeemer that is seen in Israel – in
all those who believe in the Savior.
They will come from all around the world.
These are the
Gentiles – the non-Jews. The people of
Israel are a witness to all the other peoples of Who Salvation is. And the Gentiles will continue to come until
the end of the age – as Jesus says, “They will fall by the edge of the sword
and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot
by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24,
ESV).
Also, the
sons and daughters of Israel will return from captivity, and the world – the
Gentiles – will see this miracle that Cyrus – remember Cyrus? – would let
Israel return and instruct the nations to give Israel everything they need to
rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
“Moreover, I make a decree regarding
what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house
of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the
royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever
is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven,
wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be
given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices
to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons” (Ezra 6:8-10,
ESV).
The Light and the Glory of Lord have
come in delivering Israel from captivity.
It also comes in the Person of Jesus, Who saves all those who will
believe until the end of the age – from the Jews and the Gentiles.
Second, the Gentiles and their
sacrifices are accepted.
“A multitude of camels shall cover
you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They
shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of
the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of
Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
and I will beautify my beautiful house.”
Believing Gentiles were only allowed
in the outermost part of the Temple.
They could not engage in the regular worship and offering of sacrifices
that the Jews did. But the day would
come – as we see here – when Gentile believers and their sacrifices would be
accepted in the Temple alongside the Jews.
The Gentiles and Jews are equal before God in their Salvation in Jesus
Alone.
Paul writes, “For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring,
heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:27-29, ESV).
No matter who
you are or where you have come from, if you believe savingly in Jesus – the
Gospel – you are one with all other believers in Christ, and you are welcome – with
all other believers – to come into the throne room of God to worship.
Third, the
nations come with joy.
“Who are
these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? For the
coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your
children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the LORD
your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.”
Have you ever
watched the clouds moving along through the sky? Or a dove – or another bird – flying
down to land on a windowsill or some other perch? The nations around Israel are
moving towards Jerusalem – all those who believe – are joyfully longing, both
physically and spiritually to experience being in Jerusalem – in Zion. They come expectantly from near and far –
from the coastlands near Israel – all the way to Tarshish in modern Turkey.
The nations come
from far and near, bringing the children of Israel that had been lost to the
many exiles and captivities they had endured.
The nations bring their silver and their gold to offer up to God in
sacrifice and praise and worship. They
expect to meet with God in a special way in Jerusalem, so they come rejoicing
in the Name of the Lord because the Holy One of Israel has caused them to
believe and become one with Christ and His people. And because God has made them beautiful.
In Zechariah
3, a vision of the high priest Joshua is given where Joshua is pictured as
wearing filthy clothes – his sin had made his clothes filthy. We are born
sinners, and we are filthy throughout our being because of it. In Zechariah 3, Joshua is dressed in
beautiful, clean robes, and all those who believe in Jesus savingly are
cleansed and made beautiful. If you
believe, you are beautiful.
Since God has
changed us in this way, doesn’t it seem right that we – like the nations –
should come to worship joyfully, expectantly, ready with our sacrifice of
praise and our gifts of thanksgiving?
Fourth, repentance
leads to humble action.
When Israel
was taken into captivity, the Temple – among other structures – was destroyed. But when King Cyrus freed the Jews and sent
them back to Jerusalem, he commanded that the nations should give them
everything they needed to rebuild – as we saw earlier.
“Foreigners shall build up your
walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but
in my favor I have had mercy on you. Your gates shall be open continually; day
and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of
the nations, with their kings led in procession. For the nation and kingdom that
will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. The
glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify
the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The
sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who
despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the
LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
God justly struct
Jerusalem in His Wrath and sent them into exile, but in His Mercy, He brought a
remnant back – as He promised. Even
today, God is bringing His remnant to Himself out of all the peoples of the
earth, and He will bring us – and them – in through the gates to Zion until the
last of the remnant has returned, and then His Wrath will be loosed on all the people
and nations who rejected Him.
Jesus says,
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life” (Matthew 25:46, ESV).
All those who
persecuted believers and then came to believe themselves will come into the
church – into Zion – humbly – and they will seek to support and beautify His
Temple – and that includes all of us, does it not? Yet, all we who have believed will be made
holy and glorified, and we shall all be “the City of the Lord, the Zion of the
Holy One of Israel.”
Fifth, God
promises His people transformation.
“Whereas you have been forsaken and
hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy
from age to age.”
Israel had been hated, Jerusalem had
been destroyed, everyone avoided it, and the people were sent away into
captivity, but God brought them back, and God will bring the whole remnant He
intends to save back, and He will make us majestic and a joy forever and ever –
not just majestic and a joy to each other, but to God. God will make the remnant a people worthy of
Him until the last day.
“You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am
your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I
will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood,
bronze, instead of stones, iron.”
God promises – as the Lord and
Savior and Redeemer of His people – that the greatest of nations, the greatest
of people will provide the sustenance of Jerusalem. God will provide more than
is asked for – gold instead of silver, and so forth.
John records how it will be in the
perfected Zion: “Then the angel showed
me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne
of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on
either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2, ESV).
“I will make your overseers peace and
your taskmasters’ righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation
or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and
your gates Praise.”
Israel will come out of a time of
violence and death and destruction, and God promises that – at the end of the
age – their overseers and taskmasters will no longer be the people who
oppressed them all of those years, but peace and justice will reign over them. Violence, devastation and destruction will no
longer occur in Zion – in the land of the remnant – the people of God. Rather, the city of the remnant will be
within Salvation and Peace.
Can you believe it? Do you believe that God will gather the
remnant into the New Jerusalem at the end of the age and there will be no more violence,
devastation, destruction? When we turn
on the news for five minutes, do we still believe this will be?
In the New Jerusalem – I don’t think
there will be TVs or news programs, but if there was a news program to watch,
it would be all glory and worship to God our Lord and Savior and Redeemer for
bringing us into Salvation and Peace through Jesus Christ.
Peter writes, “But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed.
“Since all
these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in
lives of holiness and godliness, waiting
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they
burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:10-13, ESV).
Everything –
including all we who believe – will be transformed and made glorious.
Sixth, God’s
people will be righteous.
“The sun shall be no more your light
by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be
your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more
go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting
light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be
righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the
work of my hands, that I might be glorified. The least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten
it.”
The sun and the moon won’t be the
light in the New Jerusalem; the Lord will be our light.
There are cultures that worshipped
the sun and the moon among other natural objects – and we know that God’s
people gave in to worshipping pagan gods – like we worship money and power and
so forth, but in the Kingdom, there will be no delusions about what is true and
glorious.
John writes, “And night will be no
more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their
light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5, ESV).
And the people of God – all those
who believe after the exile – and all believers throughout time and space –
will be made righteous. God has chosen a
remnant for Himself, and when the time of trial has ended for all of us, God
will make us righteous us for His sake – that He would be glorified.
This is not something we do, as John
tells us, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13, ESV).
And, again, Paul writes, “For by
grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is
the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV).
And we have no need to fear that
God’s will for His people will be kept from coming to pass: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a
good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”
(Philippians 1:6, ESV).
There is good
news for the people of Israel – Jerusalem – Zion – the remnant who are God’s
chosen people. After we have endured
discipline, God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus, will bring us into the New
Jerusalem and make us righteous to live with Him in peace and joy
forevermore. So, let us not lose hope,
and let us tell everyone the Gospel – that God came to earth in the Person of
Jesus, lived a perfect life under God’s Law, suffered and died for all of the
sin of all of His chosen, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His throne
at the right hand of the Father – and God will bring the entire remnant to
Himself by Himself and for Himself. May
all glory be His.
Let us pray:
Almighty God,
we thank You that You did not let sin and its consequences be the end of
humanity. We thank You that You have
chosen a remnant for Yourself from all people throughout time and space, and
though we need discipline, You will bring us – righteous – into Your Kingdom on
the last day. For it is in Jesus’ Name
we pray, Amen.
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