"The New Zion" Sermon: Isaiah 33:13-24

“The New Zion”

[Isaiah 33:13-24]

August 11, 2019, Second Reformed Church

            Last week, we began to look at what Isaiah says to King Hezekiah and the people of Judah as they await the attack of the Assyrian Empire and King Sennacerib.  The Assyrians and Judah had made a treaty to fight against the Syrians, but when the Syrians were defeated, the Assyrians betrayed Judah and turned against them.

            And Isaiah explains that God is exceedingly gracious towards the remnant.  The people of God will be saved – Jesus has paid the debt for all of the sins of all of the people who will ever believe in Him and credited them with His perfect keeping of the Law, so all we who believe – the remnant of the earth, will be saved – even if we die the most horrible death in our bodies. 

            Also, we saw that the wicked – those who never believe savingly in Jesus – the Savior – will be judged and punished to the extent that sin against the Holy God deserves.

            Isaiah continues to speak and talks of the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem by God from the Assyrians – we will remember that King Sennacerib and his armies encamped outside of Jerusalem and sent word to King Hezekiah that they were going to destroy the city if he did not surrender.  They were the nation that could not be beaten at that time – they rejoiced with haughty taunts about how their god had laid low all the gods of the nations and would do the same to the God of Judah.

            And we remember what happened:  while the Assyrian army slept that night, the Angel of the Lord went out among the Assyrian army and killed 185,000 soldiers, so when the army woke up, they were surrounded by dead people.  Sennacerib and the remaining men retreated to Assyria, where Sennacerib was murdered by his sons, and the nation of Assyria collapsed and was defeated by the Babylonians.

            And so we turn to our text and see:

First, our sin proves the necessity of God’s sovereign act of salvation.

“Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might.”

God calls on all the people of the earth to hear about the defeat of the Assyrians – how the larger part of their army are killed while they slept outside of Jerusalem – to be attentive to what has happened – to be stricken and impressed and awestruck by what the God of Judah has done.  Hear and understand the power of the God of Judah.

This is the God we serve – this is the God Who came to earth in the Person of Jesus for our salvation – this is the God Who spoke everything into existence and can return anything and anyone to dust by His Word.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are the One Almighty God.  Do we take time to think about the things God has done in Holy and Almighty anger and judgment, and then consider our faithfulness and obedience?

When Ananias and Sapphira sold some land, they came with money to the church, and they told Peter that they were giving the full sum of the sale of their land to the church.  But they lied – they kept back some of the money for themselves, and God the Holy Spirit killed them on the spot for their lie.  Do we take our sin seriously?

There were unbelievers in the city of Jerusalem – just like there are in the church today, and they were shaken when they heard what God had done to the Assyrians:

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: ‘Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?’”

Fear overcame those people in Jerusalem – as it should those in the church – who do not actually believe in God and the Savior He has sent, but want to be part of the church because it looks good, and it is a tax deduction, and people help each other, and your learn how to be a good person.  No, the unbelievers who were pretending in Jerusalem were overcome with fear because they realized that God’s call to holiness – God’s call to obedience – God’s being the Almighty Judge of all of Creation is true – God takes sin and disobedience very seriously.  And they were afraid – very afraid.  Because they did not believe, and they understood that God promised eternal hellfire for all those who never believe, and now they believed this – that God will torment them forever!

And it’s a problem, how do you become right with the Holy God?  How do you become right with the God Who says you must keep the Law and you must never sin – you must be holy and righteous?

The unbelievers know who can be right with God – who can escape the eternal torment of the Justice of God:

“He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.”

The one who is right with God and escapes eternal judgment is the one who keeps the Law perfectly and never sins.  The person who shakes his hands to make sure they are not involved in anything that is wrong – who stops his ears to make sure they are not involved in gossip or lies or anything else  -- who shuts his eyes to keep from delighting in evil or pursuing evil – who always does what is the highest and most beautiful and right thing before God.  This person will receive bread and water every day – this person will receive his daily bread – this person will never lack in need.

What they understood – what made them fear for their eternal lives – is something that many in our country don’t believe anymore – God requires holiness and righteousness, and none of us make the cut.

The author of Hebrews writes, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, ESV).

How many people will see the Lord who are not holy?  None!

Paul writes, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one’” (Romans 3:10-12, ESV).

God says, in our fallen state, “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5b, ESV).

How then can we become righteous and holy and earn salvation?  We can’t.

How can these words be true for us:  “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment’” (Revelation 21:6, ESV)?

Paul explains:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:6-11, ESV).

While the remnant – while we – hated God – while we were enemies of God – God chose the remnant of Jerusalem and Judah and Israel and of all He would cause to believe throughout time and space – and ordained that God the Son would come to earth in the Person of Jesus and live that we would be righteous and die that we would be holy – through Him Alone.

The Psalmist tells us:

“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10, ESV).

            Remember the history recorded in the Bible.  Remember how God killed 185,000 Assyrians.  Remember how God killed Ananias and Sapphira.  Remember the Holiness and Righteousness of our God, the Judge of the Creation, being thankful for all He has done in saving you – if you are a believer – and being in fear if you are not, because He will have all our of debt to Him paid one way or another.  And let us fear for those around us who do not know that our sin proves the necessity of God’s sovereign act of salvation.  Tell your family and friends out of love for them.  Salvation has to be God’s work alone.

Second, the New Zion is a place of holiness, and physical, mental, and spiritual health.    

In the New Zion – the New Jerusalem –

“Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.”

Isaiah tells them that when this life is through and when the New Zion comes, all we who believe will come face to face with a king Who is greater than Hezekiah – the King of true and complete and lasting beauty – complete holiness and glory unmarred by sin.

John describes Him, “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Revelation 1:12-16, ESV).

Do you long for sin and evil to be torn away?  To be removed from you like a cancer that seeks to draw you into the depths of damnation with it?  Do you hate the sin that still clings to you?

It will be a shock to be sanctified – to be wholly glorified – to be washed clean – to no longer be able to sin again.

When the Assyrians were gone, those in Jerusalem were terrified:

“Your heart will muse on the terror: ‘Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?’ You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.’”

The people of Jerusalem didn’t know what happened.  All of a sudden, the enemy was gone.  No one was plotting against them.  The people who had so arrogantly boasted of Jerusalem’s destruction were gone.  The people who spoke in unknown tongues were no longer crying out to the people of Jerusalem.  It was silent.

They will not be allowed in the New Zion – in the New Jerusalem.

God tells us:

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8, ESV).

The people who do these things and never repent – never believe in Jesus for salvation, will be excluded from the New Zion.  And it will be shocking, because we are so used to sin and death and evil that it seems normal to us.  For a second, it will seem like something is missing, and then we will realize that everything that is good and real and true is before us in the Kingdom.

We are called to look forward in hope to the coming of the New Zion – which, unlike the Tabernacle in the wilderness will be immoveable.

We will remember that the Tabernacle – the place of worship for Israel in the wilderness – was a large tent that was set up and staked down as they moved from place to place, but it was not permanent – it was moveable – it was a temporary structure for them to worship in – just as this sinful world is only temporary – it fell due to our sin – but it will be redeemed and restored due to the work of Christ Jesus.

As the author of Hebrews writes, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14, ESV).

“Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.”

We can have confidence in knowing that we will never be apart from Jesus in the Kingdom – in the New Zion.  It is eternal, unchangeable, immoveable.  It is assured.  We have confidence – assurance – of where we will be and the good and the glory of that place.  We should long to be there and hope to be there and look forward to being there.  The God Who never changes will be there.  And the Creation will be healed and made right forever.  And we will be changed and made right forever – never more to sin or be effected by the results of sin.  There will be no spiritual suffering or mental suffering or physical suffering.  All of our iniquity is pardoned in Jesus Christ.

Though we still have this life to live with the good and the bad – evil and sin from others and by our own hands.  May we repent and strive after holiness and righteousness.

The New Zion is a place where it is impossible for evil and sin to enter – it is banished and blocked and excluded.  Though the rivers and streams are broad and safe, they cannot come in.

“But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.”

It is a place of safety and justice, because God the Lord is the Judge and the Lawgiver and the King.  He gives the Law.  He judges our compliance with the Law.  He executes judgement with regards to the Law.  And He cannot be unjust in any of His dealing with us.  Besides being the Holy God, He is our loving Father, and our Savior, and the God who enlivens us to spiritual life and salvation.

 “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”

After King Sennacherib and the Assyrians came against Jerusalem and were defeated by God, the people of the city were unable to function properly due to shock, exhaustion, and stress.

“Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out.”

But God gave them the spoil of the dead Assyrians.  When the people understood that the Assyrians were dead and that the king and the rest of his army had retreated back to Nineveh, they went out among the 185,000 and took the things and the money that they had left behind.  Everyone in the city took part in enjoying the spoil, even the lame.

“Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey.”

Yet, on that final day, when the New Zion comes, all we who believe will inherit the fullness of the Kingdom and be glorified and sanctified, receiving the fullness of the blessing of God – and that will include the banishment of all physical and mental and spiritual sickness.  All will be well.  All with be right.  None will be in pain.  All will be healthy.  All will be as it was before the fall, but better – never able to sin again.

“And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.”

Let us pray:

Almighty God, help us to understand that Yours Alone is the salvation – and what a great and gracious gift Your Salvation – through Your Son – is.  Help us to look forward with great hope to the coming of the New Zion – the restoration of the Creation. And may we not be afraid to tell others Who Jesus is and what He did.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"The Returning King" Sermon: Isaiah 33:1-12

“The Returning King”

[Isaiah 33:1-12]

August 4, 2019, Second Reformed Church

            What do you do when your friend betrays you?  What do you do when your government steals from you?  What do you do when your family is sick or dying or warring with each other?  What do you do when every outcome you can think of looking forward is bleak?  What do you do when you have no idea what to do?

            You remember that you are a member of a monarchy.  We serve King Jesus Who is King over all of Creation.  And because we know Who He is, we trust Him that He will return and keep the promises He has given to us.

            Isaiah continues to prophesy to King Hezekiah about the coming attack by the Assyrian Empire, and he comforts Hezekiah and the people with the words that we read this morning.  And he comforts us even as we have times of walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

            God tells us through Isaiah:

            First, the King will be gracious to the remnant.

            God addresses the Assyrians:

            “Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy,     you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.”

            “You are a great destroyer, Assyria – and you have not been destroyed – not yet.  You are a betrayer – you made an alliance with My people and betrayed them – turning on them rather than going on your way.  But your reign of destruction will only last so long – I will only permit it so long – you will only accomplish My plans so long.  You will be destroyed.  You may think you are the greatest con artist there is, but you will be betrayed, and then it will be all over for you.”

            Sin, evil, death – are temporary.  The fact of this life is eventually – whatever it is that is causing you pain and distress – eventually, it will either get better, or you will die – and that’s not me – or God – being flip.  God tells the Assyrians that the day will come when He will take them out – the unbeatable Assyrians will no longer exist.

            No matter how down you are this morning, it will either get better, or you will be with Jesus.  God is completely in control – the Sovereign King of the universe.  The great, giant, awful thing coming over the horizon will not last forever – God will not allow it to last forever.  Because Jesus has defeated sin and death and the devil, and there will be no sorrow or evil or pain in His Kingdom.

            And this isn’t a kind of stoicism that says, “oh, well, it is what it is, que sera, sera, whatever will be will be.”  No, this is a belief is a Sovereign, Saving God Who has promised to restore the Kingdom and throw all of the vestiges of sin out forever.

            And the reaction to this news – for Hezekiah – is to pray:

            “O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.”

            “O Lord, be gracious to us – the remnant of Your people – the elect of God.  Be gracious – give us what we don’t deserve – give us the opposite of what we deserve.  We are waiting for You –  waiting on You to come back to make everything right – to glorify Your Name in all the earth.  Be our arm – our strength – every morning.  Be our salvation in every time of trouble.  Save us every morning and for all of eternity.”

            If you think about yourself and where you are in life, you know you need God’s Grace every morning!  I need God’s Grace every morning.  I am not able to make everything turn out good and right and glorifying to God every moment of every day – and that’s not a cop out.  I can barely control myself – it is a struggle for me to strive towards holiness and righteousness and obedience to God in every aspect of my life – much less every other person in the world and all the things that happen in all of Creation – I am not able!

            Peter was in the courtyard waiting to see what would happen to Jesus – Jesus Who he knew in the flesh and Who had taught him for three years – the Man he confessed as God the Savior – and it only took three servants of the high priest asking him if he knew Jesus for Peter to curse and deny Jesus.

            God is our strength.  God is our salvation.  God gives us His Grace – especially in the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit so we are now – through His work – able to do what is right and pleasing to God.  We need the Grace of God to live right for even a moment.

            Isaiah continues by telling Hezekiah:

            Second, the King will be abundant grace to the remnant.

“At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.”

The Assyrians are used to getting their way – of conquering – of taking what they want and putting the gods of the nations to shame.  Other nations run at the sight of the Assyrians, but they are like bugs – gathering what they have conquered – jumping on it – rolling on the cash strewn across their beds.  They are nothing before the Holy God!

The greatest military force – the most wicked men and women – the devil, himself – are no more than bugs before God.  The things that seem so huge and out of control to us – God has no problem with – taking care of them as He sees fit.

This is how our King is described:

“His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude” (Daniel 10:6, ESV).

And we are told by the Psalmist, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3, ESV).

And we are told what He will do:

“The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.”

Isaiah tells Judah that the Lord their King is greater than the Assyrians are and will give them justice and righteousness, stability, and an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge – in the Lord, because the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.

Our King is exalted – He is God – there is no one greater than He – and His promise to His people is that Zion – the New Jerusalem – the Holy Kingdom – will be filled with justice and righteousness.  Everything will be right and everyone will perfectly obey the Will of God.  Everyone in the Kingdom will rejoice that our God did not let any sin go unpunished, but is Holy, Holy, Holy.  Our times are stable – in the Lord our King – no matter what it may look like in the world.  Everyone in the Kingdom will be in awe of the work of the Son in His life and death that saves us.  If you think you are amazed by the Grace God gave us in Jesus – no, it’s much more than that.  As much as you understand, it is more.  As much as you weep and rejoice and thank God, it is more.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, ESV).

God shows the greatness of His Love for His people – the elect – the remnant – by giving us abundant grace.

He has given us the fullness of salvation in His abundant grace.  He chose us before the world began, and He saves us through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, and He saves us and brings us into His Kingdom eternally.

Paul writes to the Colossians that he writes about his work:

“that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3, ESV).

Apart from the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, Christ is a mystery, but once He indwells us by the abundant Grace of God all who believe have an abundance of wisdom and knowledge.  God leads us in knowing Christ and all the truth of God revealed in His Word – that He would be glorified and we would be filled with His joy.

            Paul tells the Corinthians, this is knowledge and wisdom, and it is here that we find the treasure of Zion – the truth of salvation alone through Jesus Christ:

            “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (I Corinthians 1:20-31, ESV).

Abundant grace is yours if you have received salvation in Jesus.

Third, the King will give the wicked justice.

            “Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man. The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.”

            All is not well immediately – justice is often waiting for the return of the King.  And God shows Isaiah what would happen – although the Assyrians would not conquer Jerusalem – there would be blood.

            Judah thought she had an agreement – a treaty – with the Assyrians, but, once the Syrians were defeated, Sennacherib trained his armies upon Judah, and the heroes of the people were slaughtered, the envoys of peace were dismayed, there was economic disaster – no one wanted to travel the roads for fear of the Assyrians killing them or taken them into slavery.  The agreement between Assyria and Judah was broken.

            “History has been made – they will destroy all their nuclear weapons.”  “They’ll never betray America again.”  “They will never violate human rights again.”  “Everyone has been trained so racism will come to an end.”  “You can trust me.”  “Would I lie?”

            Everything’s fine until Brutus, and Judas, and Benedict Arnold, and lesser known liars and betrayers betray.

            Isaiah draws a rough outline of the nation to show that the whole created order is affected by the systemic lies of humans:

Lebanon with its great trees and lush valleys is reduced to brown fields, Sharon’s acres of blossoms are dead flowers fit for the furnace, the trees of Bashan and Carmel are dead.

It’s nothing new – it is?  From the Garden of Eden to the words of Paul, “For the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23a, ESV).

Sin leads to death.  That’s the problem that every merely human being has.  And those who never believe are the true living dead and they will live their death forever.  Still, they will receive justice.

“’Now I will arise,’ says the LORD, ‘now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.’”

God, the King, says that the day will come, when He will come in power and justice, and if the wicked will not exalt Him – if they will not lift Him up – if they will not worship Him – He will do it Himself.  He will lift Himself up over them.  He will exalt Himself over them.  They will writhe in agony as they see that He is the One Who is worthy of worship.

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Revelation 1:7, ESV).

God says that the Assyrians have conceived chaff.  We remember chaff – Jesus speaks about the wheat and the chaff – chaff is that light, papery skin that is beaten off of the seed that is worth nothing except to be burned in the fire.

God says that the Assyrians have become pregnant with chaff – with valueless, weightless, nutritionless junk.  And they give birth to stubble.  Stubble is more junk – the pieces of the wheat plant that are left after the stalks have been cut down – the roots and a bit of stalk above the ground.

As much pain and suffering that evil people bring upon the earth – and our own sins – its value is nothing.  All the works that anyone does in wickedness are worthless – good for nothing but the fire.  Again, the works of the wicked – the works of the unbeliever – the works done in sin – no matter how noble they may seem – amount to garbage.

Their breath – with which they aim to destroy others – like a fire-breathing dragon – backfires and sets them on fire – and they will be burned with such an intense heat for all of eternity, it will be as though they are reduced to lime.

They will be like the thorns that spring up – do we remember why thorns spring up?  There were no thorns in the Garden of Eden. 

God curses Adam:

“And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19, ESV).

When the King returns, the wicked will receive the justice they deserve.

Until that day, we are to serve our God and King in thanks for His grace towards us – His abundant grace towards us.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, there are so many things competing for our anxiety and fear, help us by the wisdom and knowledge that the Holy Spirit gives us to rebuke the devil and the feelings and doubts he would stir up in us.  Help us to be a people who run to You in prayer that You would intercede and give us Your Grace.  Help us to be thankful in the midst of all of our trials and look forward in hope to the return of the King, justice for the wicked, and the fruit of eternal grace fully ripened in us in the Kingdom.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.