download here

Isaiah’s Passion – Part 7
Isaiah 61-62 (62:10-12)
November 17, 2024

I realize it’s been a little bit of a lengthy journey working through these two chapters where we have taken a look at Isaiah’s passion.

But certainly we can all agree that we need lengthy looks at such topics.

One thing the church cannot afford to do
Is grow apathetic in regard to our missional mandate.

We are left here for this purpose,
To declare the glorious excellencies of Christ to the world.

It is very easy to get consumed with so many other jobs and activities,
• But when we lose sight of that one main job it really causes one to wonder what we are doing.

So it’s good to get a look at the passion of a man
Who faithfully preached for nearly 60 years
To one of the most difficult congregations any many has ever faced.

• They were blind
• They were deaf
• They were stubborn
• They mocked him
• They told him to stop
• They never repented
• They refused to believe

AND YET ISAIAH PUSHED FORWARD.
We need that kind of endurance.
We need that kind of passion in our lives.

And so it is a blessing to examine these two chapters of Isaiah
AND BE REMINDED OF
What the Spirit of God can do in the heart of His people.

Isaiah was a hypocrite.
• He was a man of unclean lips who lived among a people of unclean lips.

• But one encounter with the living God…
• One commission by the Savior…
• And the equipping of the Holy Spirit…

• Turned him from hypocrite to prophet and a faithful one at that.

We need that same work of revival in our lives.

WELL TONIGHT, as good as it has been,
LET’S BRING THESE TWO CHAPTERS TO A CLOSE.

We’ve seen:

#1 THE PROPHET’S COMMISSIONING
Isaiah 61:1-11

We saw that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach.
His preaching was relentless and he focused on two main subjects.

A. The Gospel of Salvation
B. The Glory of Salvation

You can go back through the book and see that:
• Isaiah was relentless, even repetitive.
• He never strayed, he never waivered,
• He just preached sermon after sermon after sermon on the gospel and the glory of salvation.

#2 THE PROPHET’S COMMITMENT
Isaiah 62:1-12

We began to talk about the things that fueled his commitment to the ministry.
• Where did he find the strength?
• Where did he find the encouragement?

A. HIS VISION (1-5)

We learned that Isaiah never took his eyes off the prize.
• He heard what God had promised to do through his preaching
• Even though it may be seemingly slow in coming, Isaiah never let go of that promise.

He would preach…
1. Until Israel’s Righteousness Was Real (1b)
2. Until Israel’s Testimony Was Evident (2)
3. Until Israel’s Glory Was Restored (3)
4. Until Israel’s Marriage Was Healed (4)
5. Until Israel’s God Was Rejoicing (5)

God had promised all of those things.
God still promises all of those things.
Isaiah used those promises as motivation to never quit.

He believed God to be faithful.
• That belief gave him the needed strength to keep preaching for nearly 60 years.

B. HIS PASSION (6-9)

Isaiah was certainly filled with a vision of God’s fulfilled promises,
But Isaiah was also filled with a God-given passion for the job.

When the Holy Spirit indwells a person, passion comes with Him.
You see it in all the prophets and saints of old.
• The Holy Spirit becomes like a “fire in the bones” as He was to Jeremiah.
• Paul said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”
• He said, “I am under obligation” and “I am eager”

And we understood that
It wasn’t only God’s promises that fueled Isaiah,
But it was also God’s Spirit who fueled him
By giving him the necessary zeal to endure.

And Isaiah was specific about what this Holy Spirit zeal was for.
1. To Preach Without Resting (6)
2. To Pray Without Ceasing (7)
3. To Proceed Without Wavering (8-9)

Such zeal and such fire from Isaiah
Could only come from the indwelling Spirit of God.

And so we learned that that if you want to be faithful in ministry.
If you want to be committed to the task.

Then you need vision and passion.
• You need to understand the promises of God
• And you need to be filled with the Spirit.

Lacking either one of those will have devastating effects
On your faithfulness to your calling to proclaim the gospel.

But Isaiah was filled with both
And he was able to preach to blind, deaf, and stubborn people for nearly 60 years.

Well there is one more thing we look at TONIGHT
As we understand the commitment of Isaiah.

We saw his vision
We saw his passion
3) HIS MISSION (10-11)

(10-11) “Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples. Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

What we mean here is that Isaiah had a clear understanding
Of exactly what God called him to do.

Yes he knew that God was going to restore Israel to Himself.
• That was the fueling vision.

Yes he knew that men were called to preach without resting and to pray without ceasing.
• That was his Spirit induced passion.

But that also begs the question:
Preach what?
Pray for what?

And certainly our churches need clarification on this today as well.

The American church sends many to the mission field this very day
Who are faithful to go BUT confused on what to do when they get there.

Far too many think the main mission is HUMANITARIAN.
• They are consumed only with meeting physical needs.

I know they talk like they are using such missions as a gateway to share the gospel, but I’ll be honest, I’ve been a part of several such mission ventures and most of them stop short of gospel sharing.

• They hand out food…
• They hand out clothes…
• They render some medical care…
• And quite possibly that comes with a “Jesus loves you”,

But they stop far short of proclaiming the actual gospel of repentance from sin and faith in the finished work of Jesus.

• Very few are ever fed and told to repent of their sins.
• Very few are ever clothed and called to leave their pagan religion.
• Very few are ever treated medically and told about the finished work of Jesus
on the cross.

THAT SIMPLY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
We certainly do not begrudge physical care,
Especially from a nation and church as wealthy as ours.

But there needs to be a revived commitment
In the real mission of preaching the gospel.

Others go and preach, but they preach A FALSE GOSPEL.

Of all the things that the United States of America imports and exports
The absolute worst of them all is the prosperity gospel.

And you can talk to African after African (the men I am most involved with)
• And they will all tell you that this prosperity gospel is a curse
• Which has been exported from our nation to theirs.

THIS IS ALSO UNACCEPTABLE
And so it’s not enough to go, there must be preaching.
And it’s not enough to preach, it must be truth.

So while we appreciate Isaiah’s vision
And while we appreciate Isaiah’s passion
We need to know more.

What exactly was he told to preach
And what exactly was he told to pray for.

That is where this segment comes to a close this evening.

You actually read in verse 11 these words, “Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, “SAY…”

• We find here what the message is.
• We find here what the prayer request is.

And we find what Isaiah was committed to his entire life.

And I want to break this down a little more too,
Just to understand the intricacies of the mission.
WHAT IS THE MISSION?

PREPARE THE WAY (10)

(10) “Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.”

There is a literary clue there in that verse
That helps us clarify the point a little better.

Two commands are repeated.
That is a literary clue meant to cause us to focus on what is important and the message we dare not miss.

• “Go through, go through the gates”
• “Build up, build up the highway”

This isn’t difficult to grasp.

We found out this morning up in verse 6

That Isaiah is speaking to the remnant.
• He had told “You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves;”
• We discussed that and understood it better as, “You who make mention of
the LORD” or “You who know the LORD”

Isaiah was calling the remnant who know the LORD
To wake up and never stop shouting
The message of the watchman to the people.

Well, it is that same remnant that Isaiah is addressing here in verse 10
When he tells them, “Go through, go through the gates…”

Anyone want to guess the word we’re going to focus on?
“Go”

“Go through” is one word in the Hebrew (AW-VAIR)
It means “to pass over or by or through”

And that is exactly what we have been called to do.
Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 10:7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

It is the equivalent of us in here tonight saying,
“Get up, go through the door”

• Certainly we are commanded to gather…
• Certainly we are commanded to worship corporately…
• Certainly there is plenty of reason to meet here as the church…

But we don’t stay here all week.
We get up, we go out the door, and we do the work of missions.

There is a hands-on approach that is required here.
• Isaiah is NOT ASKING the remnant only to pray for the lost.
• Isaiah is NOT ASKING the remnant only to financially support his ministry.
• Isaiah IS ASKING the remnant to go.

And when we go we see the command, “Clear the way for the people;”

Isaiah speaks as though there are obstacles and stumbling blocks
That are in the way hindering people from coming to Christ.

THIS IS WHY
We can’t just sit in the church and tell them to “come join us”.
• There are barricades…
• There are barriers that must be removed so they can come.

LIKE WHAT?
And don’t go WOKE on me here.
• When I say barriers to people coming to church I am not talking about racial barriers or gender barriers or socio-economic barriers.
• It’s not that the church is too mean or too conservative so people are blocked from coming.
• Those are not barriers.

THE BARRIERS SCRIPTURE MENTIONS ARE
The barriers of sin that hinder men from drawing near to God.

When Jesus spoke of stumbling blocks
He referenced men’s SIN as the problem.

Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!”

The stumbling blocks that keep men from Christ
Are those that the world places.
It is love of the world and sinful pleasure and fallen thinking.

Think about the wealth of the Rich Young Ruler
• That caused him to flee from Christ.

Think about the pride of the Pharisee
• That caused him to reject the call.

Even when Jesus speaks to John the Baptist in jail,
• Who is confused as to why he is in prison,
• And doubting whether or not Jesus is in fact the Messiah.

Matthew 11:4-6 “Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

John was about to stumble over his suffering.
He was about to stumble over his pre-conceived ideas of who the Messiah should be.

And there are many more such stumbling blocks
That hinder our world from trusting in Christ.

Even as believers we are told
That in order to faithfully follow Christ
• We must throw off such hindrances or stumbling blocks.

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

Jesus told Peter that he was a “stumbling block” to Him
• Because Peter was setting his mind on man’s interests instead of God.

SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE POINT.
• This world has hindrances that keep them from embracing Christ.
• This world has hindrances that keep them even from coming to the church in
order to hear about Christ.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
• We “go through, go through the gates,”
• And we “clear the way for the people.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
• It means we confront stumbling blocks!
• It means we tear down those walls built up against Christ.

Listen to Paul:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

We take the truth of God
And we confront those fortresses that are built up against Christ.
• We confront the sin that traps and ensnares man.
• We call for repentance.
• We offer freedom.

We see this in Jesus
Every time He approached a Pharisee and said, “Have you not heard..?” or “Do you not know..?”

He was destroying fortresses and speculations
That He might present the truth of the gospel.

Hopefully you are already here in your mind
Picturing the ministry of John the Baptist.

Isaiah prophesied about him back in chapter 40.
Isaiah 40:3-5 “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

That is what John did wasn’t it?
• We see him in the gospels confronting men for their sin
• And calling them to repentance
• He was removing stumbling blocks that would prevent men from following Christ.

Matthew 3:5-10 “Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:10-14 “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Now, doing any of those things which John commanded
STILL WOULD NOT SAVE THOSE PEOPLE.
You can’t be saved just by giving up your coat.

So what was John doing?
• He was breaking down stumbling blocks.
• He was removing the things that would keep those people from following Jesus when Jesus walked by.

WE DO THIS.

We go out these doors and we confront the sins
And the backward thinking of the culture
That keeps them from the glorious Christ.

AND THEN WHAT DO WE DO?
We “Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.”

WHAT IS THIS HIGHWAY?
• Earlier Isaiah called it “the highway of holiness”.

We lift high the righteous standard of God.
We reveal to men that type of men that God demands them to be.

We call men to “be holy” as He is holy.
We call men to be righteous and pleasing.

Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount
• And explained in detail the very righteousness of God
• And then told people, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

We preach the Law of God
• Which identifies the perfect and practical holiness of God
• And we bid men to measure their lives by it.

Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler,
• “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

NOW, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
Are we suggesting that they can save themselves by their works?
Of course not!

• We are revealing to them a standard that can only be fulfilled in Christ.
• We are showing them God’s expectation which is beyond them in every way.

WHY?
• So that when Jesus walks by, and we say, “Behold, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world.”
• They will run to Him.

We remove the barriers and we build up the standard.
THIS IS WHAT ISAIAH CALLED THE REMNANT TO DO.

1. Go through those doors,
2. Crush the stumbling blocks
3. And lift high the holy standard.

This is the work that we commonly refer to as PLOWING.
• Prepare the heart for the gospel.

So we PREPARE THE WAY
Then we PREACH THE PROMISE (11)

“Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

Can you hear the call of John the Baptist here again?

Isaiah 40:9-10 “Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.”

Matthew 3:11-12 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

That is also the calling you and I have.
1. We go out to these sinners whom we have confronted in their sin.
2. We go out to these sinners whom we have confronted with the holy expectation
of God.

And at that point they should be totally broken…right?
They should see God’s righteous expectation
And that their sin had caused them to fall short of it.

• They should be poor in spirit and mourning over their sin.
• They should be meek in their attitude and hungering and thirsting for the
righteousness which they do not have.

And once they reach that point what do we say?

WE SAY, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

Do you want to see when John the Baptist did this?
John 1:29-37 “The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”

THAT’S IT ISN’T IT!
We show men their need for a Savior
And then we point them to that Savior!

We show them who He is and what He has done.

• We reveal to them that He is the fulfillment of the righteousness which they
seek.
• We show them how He fulfilled the righteous requirement of God for their sin.
• We show them how He is the Lamb of God, slain at Calvary as the
punishment for their sin.
• We show them how He will accept them if they will follow Him.
• We show them how He is returning and will reward all those who deny
themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.

But we also show them that it is NOT OPTIONAL.
• For this same King who will gather the wheat into His barn will also burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire.

“His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

THAT IS THE MESSAGE.

First we go out and PLOW
Here is where we PLANT THE SEED
• We break up that hardened ground, we remove those rocks,
• Then we cast the seed of the gospel.

AND LOOK,
• We know that some of it will fall on hardened soil (so did Isaiah.)
• We know that some will fall among the weeds (so did Isaiah.)
• We know that some will fall among the rocks (so did Isaiah.)
• But we also know that some will fall on the good soil and it will bear fruit.
• We know that the remnant will be saved.

And this was the driving passion of Isaiah.
• He was a spiritual farmer!
• He was devoted and committed!

AND HE CALLED THE REMNANT TO JOIN HIM IN THIS EFFORT.
He called us to also go through the gate, break up the rocks,
And plant the seed of the gospel.

Equipped with the gospel…
Filled with the Spirit…
We are called to go and do the same things Isaiah did.

The prophet who said, “Here am I, send me”
Now extends his hand to you and says, “Will you join me?”

What a calling!
What a passion!

But there is still one more aspect to his ministry.

He prepared the way
He preached the promise
PRESENT THE REDEEMED (12)

“And they will call them, “The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord”; And you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.”

This is what we call HARVESTING

Jesus told us the fields were white for harvest.

Here Isaiah speaks of those who,
By the sovereign prerogative of God,
Have responded to the call.

• They have repented of their sins.
• They have called upon the name of Jesus.
• They have denied themselves, taken up their cross, and are following Jesus.
• They are clothed in the imputed righteousness of Christ.

And who are they now?
• They are “The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord”
• They are called “Sought out, a city not forsaken”

They are the people whom Christ purchased,
• They have been found and called and returned to Him.
• They were sought and they were bought.
• They have not been abandoned, they have not been forsaken.

Christ came for them and Christ saved them.
And He used the remnant, armed with the gospel,
And powered by the Spirit to do it.

And we find that this has been A RESCUE MISSION.
There has been a search for the lost children of God,
And Isaiah was commissioned to go and help find them.

• He was eager to go, for God had saved him,
• He asks you to join him in the efforts of calling God’s children, Christ’s bride,
back to Him.

WHAT A CALLING!

And how marvelous will it be on that day,
• When a lost sinner repents and trusts in Christ,
• And you are able to bring that redeemed sinner, estranged from his father,
• Back home to Him.

What a blessing to part of the mission!
What a blessing to part of the search!

Can you see why Isaiah was so emboldened?
Can you see why Isaiah was so passionate?

He was on a mission to bring God’s children back to Him,
And it didn’t matter how many times he failed,
He was fueled by the promise of his success.

See, our mission is NOT a losing mission.
Our calling is NOT failing calling.

Oh sure we will face rejection.
Sure, we will face blind, deaf, and stubborn people.

But at the same time we are armed with the promise:
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Paul said it like this:
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.”

Paul knew the end result was triumph!

William Barclay wrote:
“The highest honor which could be given to a victorious Roman general was a Triumph. To attain it he must satisfy certain conditions. He must have been the actual commander-in-chief in the field. The campaign must have been completely finished, the region pacified and the victorious troops brought home. Five thousand of the enemy at least must have fallen in one engagement. A positive extension of territory must have been gained, and not merely a disaster retrieved or an attack repelled. And the victory must have been won over a foreign foe and not in a civil war.
In a Triumph the procession of the victorious general marched through the streets of Rome to the Capitol in the following order. First came the state officials and the senate. Then came the trumpeters. Then were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land. For instance, when Titus conquered Jerusalem, the seven-branched candlestick, the golden table of the shew-bread and the golden trumpets were carried through the streets of Rome. Then came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships. There followed the white bull for the sacrifice which would be made. Then there walked the captive princes, leaders and generals in chains, shortly to be flung into prison and in all probability almost immediately to be executed. Then came the lictors bearing their rods, followed by the musicians with their lyres; then the priests swinging their censers with the sweet-smelling incense burning in them. After that came the general himself. He stood in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was clad in a purple tunic embroidered with golden palm leaves, and over it a purple toga marked out with golden stars. In his hand he held an ivory scepter with the Roan eagle at its top and over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. After him rode his family; and finally came the army wearing all their decorations and shouting lo triumphe! Their cry of triumph. As the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the cheering crowds, it made a tremendous day which might happen only once in a lifetime.”
(cited in MacArthur’s commentary of 2 Corinthians, pg. 68-69)

Paul knew that triumph was coming for him.
• There was no chance that Christ would not receive the spoils of His conquest.
• There was no chance that Christ would not receive the reward of His suffering.

Paul wasn’t put off by those who rejected.
• He wasn’t discouraged by those who did not respond.
• He knew why.

2 Corinthians 4:1-4 “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

He was not put off by the blind, he knew what was going on.
He knew the gospel ended in glory.

SO DID ISAIAH.
• He knew the remnant was coming.
• He knew Christ was coming.
• He knew the kingdom was coming.
• And he was going to be a part of it!

DO YOU SEE THE PASSION?
DO YOU SHARE THE PASSION?

DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER?

As John Piper asked in that sermon clip I showed you last Sunday, “Do you want your life to count?”

Do you want to be one of those who presents the lost to Christ?
Do you want to celebrate in the triumph?

• Then go out the door, and start plowing the field.
• Go out the door and start planting the seed.
• Go our the door and find Christ’s lost bride.

No one is happier at the harvest
Than the one who did the work to produce it.

download here

Isaiah’s Passion – Part 6
Isaiah 61-62 (62:6-9)
November 17, 2024

You know we are in a segment examining the heart and ministry
Of this prophet we know as Isaiah.

#1 THE PROPHET’S COMMISSIONING
Isaiah 61

Where we saw his commitment to preach.
• The Gospel of Salvation
• The Glory of Salvation

#2 THE PROPHET’S COMMITMENT
Isaiah 62

We are seeking to understand his commitment
To preach the gospel for nearly 60 years
Even though his congregation was blind, deaf, and stubborn.

LAST SUNDAY we looked at the first explanation.
1) HIS VISION (1-5)

We simply realized that Isaiah was
Incredibly fueled by the promises of God.

HE KNEW God had promised to:
1. Make Israel righteous
2. To make Israel the light of the world
3. To restore Israel’s glory
4. To return and restore His marriage relationship to Israel
5. To once again make Israel a nation God rejoiced over

Isaiah knew that was where God was taking the nation.

HE ALSO KNEW
That God would use his preaching as the method in which that marvelous future would be brought about.

So Isaiah’s vision of God’s fulfilled promises
Was a great means to fueling his commitment.

We said that we need to fuel our commitments in the same way.

We need to understand things like:
• God’s elect will all come, and Christ will lose none
• That the day of the Lord will come
• That once the gospel is preached to all nations the end will come
• That Christ will save Israel
• That Christ will return to reign on His glorious throne in Jerusalem

Those are the types of promises that can fuel our ministries as well.

When we know that our efforts will succeed and not fail
It is so much easier to persevere in an “out of season” type culture.

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Well, still on the topic of Isaiah’s commitment,
Let’s look at another thing that fueled that commitment.

His vision
2) HIS PASSION (6-9)

(6-9) “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, “I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.” But those who garner it will eat it and praise the LORD; And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.”

I realize the overarching theme of these chapters is the passion of Isaiah,
But here we get to take a more detailed look at it.

I think I would begin here by simply making sure we understand
The difference between PASSION and OBLIGATION.

Or maybe we should say, the difference between ZEAL and DUTY.

Certainly we understand the Christian duty; the Christian obligation.

We’ve read:
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I think of Paul telling the Romans:
Romans 1:14 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”

Or what he told the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”

Those types of statements would definitely fall under
The “duty” or “obligation” category.

We know the command. We know the mandate. We know what we’ve been told to do.

And as those who have surrendered our lives to the service of Jesus Christ, such a mandate should be enough.

I am not minimizing at all the fact that
Our Lord has clearly articulated for us the work we are to be doing.

But at the same time we do understand that
We can at times disregard mandates and commands.

The Lord has commanded all believers to the mission,
But we know that not all believers are obedient to that command.

• They have the knowledge, but they lack the passion.
• They have the mandate, but they lack the zeal to carry it out.

Isaiah had both, and it is his zeal that we want to better understand.

There is obviously a difference between duty and zeal.

Paul, for example, clearly had an obligation,
But it was his zeal that caused him to carry out that duty.

We remember him telling the Romans:
Romans 9:1-3 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”

He told the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 12:15 “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?”

He told the Philippians
Philippians 1:8 “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Those aren’t just statements of obligation or duty,
That is passion, that is zeal.

He told Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:8-10 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

That is man who is not only commanded to preach,
But who will burst if he doesn’t get to.

We think of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 20:9 “But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.”

And as we have said, this same passion was evident in Isaiah.

Isaiah 62:1 “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.”

So I hope we understanding the point here.

• It is one thing to have the mandate.
• It is one thing to have the command.

• Anyone can read the Great Commission.
• Anyone can read Acts 1:8 about going to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and
the world.
• Anyone can be told that they cannot hear without a preacher.

But what is it that causes those commands to penetrate the heart of a person and consume them with the mission?

THAT IS PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Remember, (61:1) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me…”

It was the Spirit of God writing the words of God on Isaiah’s heart
That produced in him the passion that was necessary.

THAT PASSION IN ISAIAH WAS CLEAR.
For nearly 60 years he hasn’t stopped.

And what we have here in verses 6-9 of chapter 62
Is Isaiah seeking to stir up that passion in you.

• He is going to preach to you this morning.
• He is going to challenge you.
• He is going to exhort you.

It is his hope that the Spirit of God will also fill you and embolden you
To be zealous for the things of God.

He is going to show you what passion looks like.

AND THIS IS NEEDED.

For no one could argue that the American church
Has a wealth of Bible knowledge.
We have more access to more resources than anyone in the world.

We are heavy on knowledge, what we need is zeal.

I had great conversations with Brother Stephen Muigai this past weekend.
We spoke of all the benefits that we have as the American church.
• We can read books on anything, it’s all available.
• Swahili on the other hand, which represents over 200 million people, have nearly none.

They have no resources, but they have zeal; they have passion.

I’ve told you about Brother Charles Masanja in Tanzania:
I can still hear Charle’s voice in my ears saying “We will go from village to village and town to town and we will not stop until we spread the gospel everywhere.”

That is zeal.
That is a fire in the bones.

This is what Isaiah has; this is what he wants to see in each of us.
And I dare say, this is what the American church needs.

C.H. Spurgeon, “If you never have sleepless hours, if you never have weeping eyes, if your hearts never swell as if they would burst, you need not anticipate that you will be called zealous. You do not know the beginning of true zeal, for the foundation of Christian zeal lies in the heart. The heart must be heavy with grief and yet must beat high with holy ardor. The heart must be vehement in desire, panting continually for God’s glory, or else we shall never attain to anything like the zeal which God would have us know.”

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT ZEAL.

Let Isaiah show us what true zeal looks like.
By this we can discern whether or not we have it.

There are 3 things we learn here as we listen to Isaiah speak about passion.
The first two are commands, the third is an encouragement.

PREACH WITHOUT RESTING (6)

(6) “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves;”

In that verse we first recognize a spiritual reality.

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen”

Certainly we are going to make a spiritual application out of this,
But just in a simple sense we understand what a “watchman” is.

This is a man who has been appointed to stand on the wall of the city,
And he has one job.
• He is to watch for approaching danger.
• He is to identify any pending threats to the city.

People down in the city are protected by the wall, but the wall limits visibility,
So someone has to stand on the wall and watch what’s going on outside the city.

There is only one main requirement for a good watchman,
THAT IS VIGILANCE.

They have to care enough about the people to stay awake and stay alert.
• Their task isn’t overly complicated.
• They don’t have to fight off an enemy.
• They don’t have to devise the plan of defense.
• They don’t have to rally the troops.

Their one job is simply to recognize the threat and report it.
That is the basic job of a watchman.

And this job became ILLUSTRATIVE of a faithful prophet of God.

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent.”

Here God speaks of a watchman,
And it is obviously one who has seen a threat
For “All day and all night they will never keep silent.”

• A watchman has no need to report unless he has seen a threat,
• But in that case he is responsible to make sure that his report is heard.

This was the chief analogy God used in his calling of Ezekiel.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 3:16-21

• Ezekiel came roughly 100 years after Isaiah
• Where Isaiah saw this danger from a distance, Ezekiel saw it with his own eyes.
• And he was called to operate as a spiritual watchman.
• God reiterated that same message to Ezekiel again in chapter 33.

But you understand the role of a watchman.

And we see then WHAT they do,
And HOW they are measured.

A good watchman – “all day and all night they will never keep silent.”

We realize that Isaiah was also a watchman, and a good one.

For he said:
Isaiah 62:1 “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.”

A good watchman announces the danger until the people listen.
They never stop ringing that bell until the people respond.

Isaiah understood the call.
And as we have said, he was passionate about the call.

And what Isaiah wants is that same passion from you and me.

He says, “You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves.”

I think that is a little bit of a misleading translation there.

“remind” translates (ZAW-KHAIR)
And it can be to remind, but it is also translated “make mention of”

As in:
Isaiah 63:7 “I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has granted them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.”

The ESV translates this verse:
“You who put the LORD in remembrance…”

The KJV translates it:
“ye that make mention of the LORD…”

And this seems to be the idea here.

God has placed watchmen
Not to remind Him of the coming judgment,
But rather, as those who know God, to remind everyone else.

It follows the question we have asked the last couple of weeks.
At what point do you give up proclaiming the gospel?
At what point do you stop warning the wicked?

• When do you give up on the salvation of your children?
• When do you give up on the salvation of your coworker?

The message here of Isaiah is “take no rest for yourselves;”
Do not grow tired or weary.
Do not stop out of frustration or exhaustion.

As John was told in the Revelation, “prophesy again…”

Paul told Timothy
2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

This was the zeal of Isaiah
And he now bids that this become your zeal too.

He is asking those who have seen the coming danger
And who know the truth of the coming judgment, to sleep later.

Wake up!
Get up!
And go warn the people.

IT SPEAKS OF URGENCY.
It speaks of SELF-SACRIFICE.

• When was Jesus ever too tired to minister to the people?
• When did He ever send them away for a time of self-care?

He was passionate.
He was zealous.

And it is not a good look on the American church
When we do not share that zeal.

BUT WHAT DO YOU DO if you don’t have that kind of passion?
What do you do if it’s just not in you to have that kind of zeal?

Well, where did Isaiah’s zeal come from?
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”

Zeal comes from the Spirit.

SO WHAT ARE YOU SAYING PREACHER?

Are you saying that if I’m not zealous to share the gospel that I don’t have the Holy Spirit?

THAT COULD DEFINITELY BE IT.
• We know the Holy Spirit is a missionary,
• And one of the reasons you don’t share could very well be that you have never yielded your life to Christ
• And been indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

If that is you, then you need to repent and yield your life to Jesus Christ,
Believing in His work on your behalf,
So that you will receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.

THAT COULD DEFINITELY BE IT.
• I’ve been to many cemeteries in my life but I’ve never heard any of them having conversations.
• The dead don’t speak to one another.
• And that is true in evangelism.

Now, while it could be that you are unredeemed,
That is NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE.

It might not be that you don’t have the Holy Spirit,
It might be that He doesn’t have you.

YOU MIGHT BE WALKING IN THE FLESH

Do you remember Paul’s command?
Ephesians 5:18-21 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”

It might be that you need to be filled with the Spirit.

That DOES NOT MEAN that you don’t have the Holy Spirit, or that you don’t have all of Him.

What it means is that you have not given Him all of you.
You are walking in rebellion or idolatry or iniquity or laziness.

The issue might be that you need to repent of sin in your life,
Start letting the word of Christ dwell within you richly
And watch how the Holy Spirit turns your apathy into zeal.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE KEY,
A lack of zeal indicates a lack of His influence in a life.

Isaiah calls you to get up, you who know the LORD,
And “take no rest for yourselves.”

He wants you to preach without resting.
That is passion; that is zeal.

That’s not all he wants.
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING (7)

(7) “And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

First it was to take no rest for yourselves
And here it is a call to not let God rest either.

Jonathan Edwards wrote:
“It is very apparent from the Word of God that he often tries the Faith and patience of his people, when they are crying to him for some great and important mercy, by withholding the mercy sought for a season; and not only so, but at first he may cause an increase of dark appearances. And yet he, without fail, at last prospers those who continue urgently in prayer with all perseverance and “will not let him go except he blesses.”
Sited in: (Ortlund, Raymond, [Preaching The Word Commentary: ISAIAH; God saves sinners; Crossway Publishers; Wheaton, IL; 2005] pg. 416)

Raymond Ortlund told a story about a WWII concentration camp survivor:
“Otto Kristian Hallesby was a Norwegian theologian who resisted the Nazis during World War II and suffered for it in a concentration camp. He understood what it meant to pray all the way through until God answers. He said that prayer is like mining. Prayer is like boring holes deep into the rock of human hearts. It’s work. It tries our patience. We can’t see results. But in God’s time, he places the dynamite and lights the fuse, and the rocks crumble. God has called us to give him no rest until he makes a revived church the praise of the earth.”
(ibid. pg. 416)

I realize there is a sense in which badgering God can seem irreverent.

But what the saints of old have recognized is that
Often times God uses these lengthy times of prayer
To focus us and grow our faith.

The fact of the matter is that HIS WORD TELLS US to “give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

We think of the traveling friend:
Luke 11:5-8 “Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

Certainly we remember that persistent widow:
Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The issue there is clear.
GOD IS TESTING OUR FAITH.

He’s looking for a Jacob
• Who will wrestle and refuse to let go until God grants the blessing.

He’s looking for the person who truly believes
• That when we ask God for a loaf He will not give a stone
• And when we ask God for a fish He will not give a snake.

He’s looking for the person who will latch on to what Jesus taught:
Matthew 21:22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Or again:
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

Or again:
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

He’s looking for the person who believes what James said:
James 5:16b “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

He’s looking for the person who believes what John said:
1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

AND THIS IS PASSION!

Could this be another area of lacking passion in the American church?
A lack of commitment to pray for revival?
A lack of commitment to pray for the lost?

• HAVE WE NOT LEARNED the doctrines of grace?
• HAVE WE NOT LEARNED about total depravity?
• HAVE WE NOT LEARNED that man is dead in sin and must be awakened
even to hear the gospel?

Since only God can awaken the dead,
It seems we should be more consistently asking Him to do it.

Someone would then respond and say, “Well if God is sovereign and He is choosing who to save then it doesn’t make sense that I should pray. He’s already decided what He’s going to do.”

“WHY PRAY IF GOD IS SOVEREIGN?”

But as R.C. Sproul once answered, “Well it certainly doesn’t make much sense to pray if He’s not!”

WE SERVE A GOD WHO IS SOVEREIGN.
• We serve a God who can in fact do whatever He desires.
• There is no request we can present to God that is too big for Him.
• There is no sinner we can lift to Him that is beyond His reach.

THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE.
It has never been about God’s ability or God’s willingness.

Jesus highlighted for us what the problem is
Regarding our commitment to pray.

In that story about the persistent widow Jesus asked,
“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

• The issue is a lack of faith.
• The issue is a lack of belief.
• The issue is a lack of passion and zeal.

Isaiah said, “give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Don’t stop until God does what He promised to do.
Don’t fall asleep…
Don’t get lazy…
Be focused, be vigilant, keep watch and pray!

And again we have to ask ourselves

Does my passion show up in my preaching?
Does my passion show up in my praying?

If it is absent, I must ask God to work repentance in my heart and fill my heart with the word of God that I might be filled with the Spirit.

These are the secrets to Isaiah’s longevity and commitment.
He was filled with the Spirit and the Spirit provided passion.

That passion allowed him to preach with resting.
That passion allowed him to pray without ceasing.

PROCEED WITHOUT WAVERING (8-9)

(8-9) “The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, “I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.” But those who garner it will eat it and praise the LORD; And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.”

Here we come back again to Isaiah’s view of the promises of God.

What happens when I preach and preach and preach and no one listens?
What happens when I pray and pray and pray and nothing happens?

Do I just give up?
Do I determine that it’s just never going to happen?

No, you remember something.
“The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm…”

Who is at God’s right hand?
Who is the mighty army of the Lord?
• That is Christ.

What did God swear?
What did God promise?

“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored. But those who garner it will eat it and praise the LORD; And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.”

And we are back again to those wonderful Millennial promises of God.

• It was the day Isaiah greatly anticipated.
• It was the day when Israel was dwelling securely with her Messiah.

No longer is Israel raided and plundered by her enemies.
In that day Israel will be restored and Israel will be blessed.

GOD SAID HE WOULD DO IT.
GOD SWORE HE WOULD DO IT.

So you go and tell the people that He is going to do it.
“Take no rest for yourselves” as you go and announce His promise.”

And you go to God in prayer and give Him no rest until He does it.
“And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Hold Him to His promises and proclaim them everywhere.

2 Timothy 1:8-12 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

This is why Isaiah was able to be committed.
• This is why he did not burn out in ministry.
• This is why he did not retire and give up his post.
• This is why he did not fade out and disappear.

He was faithful for nearly 60 years to the ministry God called him to
AND IT WAS BECAUSE
He was armed with God’s promises.
He was filled with God’s Holy Spirit
And the Spirit filled him with zeal to see those promises fulfilled.

• He would preach without rest.
• He would pray without ceasing.
• He would proceed without wavering.

The American church needs this passion restored.
We need this commitment renewed in us.

We need to feast on God’s Word
Until we are filled with the Spirit
And dripping with His passion and zeal for the lost world around us.