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REVIVAL! – part 1
Isaiah 63:7-64:12 (63:7-11a)
November 24, 2024

Tonight we finally begin the segment we have been waiting for.
In some ways we still wait for it.

I’ve told you that I am convinced that Isaiah 50-66 is prophetic of Israel today even to the end.

I think Isaiah saw their rejection of the Messiah, their separation from God, and their prophesied repentance and return to Him.

So far we’ve walked all through that rejection which was articulated in chapter 50 as Israel being divorced and sent away.

We saw it was because no one accepted Christ when He came.

But we have also heard Isaiah relentlessly preach the gospel to them.
He has offered a future to that barren woman, that foreigner, and the eunuch.
He has offered restoration to that forsaken and rejected woman.
He has offered water to the thirsty
He has offered mercy to the broken
He has offered freedom to the captives

And he has promised repeatedly that when Israel returns to the Lord that He will return to them.

We even saw this morning that glorious return when He avenges them against their enemies and redeems them to Himself.

It has all been promised.
And down to this day we still wait for the return of Israel.

Well Isaiah saw that return.

Like Zechariah who spoke of the day when Israel looks upon Him whom they pierced, Isaiah also saw the great repentance and revival of Israel.

And that return of Israel is captured beautifully by Isaiah here at the end of chapter 63 and in chapter 64.

And just for a quick fly-over to make the point.

Look at the moment they become aware of their defection:
(63:16a) “For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us.”

Look at when they realize they have been broken off from God.
(63:17a) “Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You?”

Look at the moment they realize they are lost:
(63:19) “We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.”

Look at the moment they realize that works can’t save them:
(64:6) “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Look at the moment they realize they must submit to God:
(64:8) “But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”

What you clearly see in these two chapters is the awakening of Israel.

Jesus told Nicodemus that before a man could enter the kingdom of heaven he “must be born again”

That is to say God must take that which is spiritually dead and breathe life into it.
He must remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.
He must give life to the dead so that they may see their sinfulness.
He must grant them repentance of their sin.
He must grant them faith to believe and call on the Lord.

That is what this chapter is for Israel.

And might I also say, that we have never seen this from them, even since the days of Isaiah.

We wait for this day.
We watch for this day.

But we are confident that this day is coming!

Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Speaking to the Jews:
Acts 3:25-26 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Paul said:
Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

In short, Israel will one day come to Jesus!

This is what it will look like when they do.

That alone makes this an interesting study since we have repeatedly said that the salvation of Israel is of significant interest to us.

We love that God keeps His faithfulness to them, as it reminds that He will keep His faithfulness to us.

So we certainly watch this scene unfold with eager eyes.

But even more than that, what a great segment of Scripture to teach us the nature and reality of true revival.

So as we study, may it be more than just a prophetic announcement of Israel’s future salvation.

May it also be a penetrating revelation of what revival is, how to know when it is needed, and how to achieve it.

This is going to be a fun study!

I’m going to take this segment and break it down into 3 points, and each major point will have 3 subpoints because I think that will be the clearest way to work through what we see here.

But let’s get started tonight.

#1 A REVIVAL LESSON
Isaiah 63:7-11a

Isaiah’s announcement begins with a history lesson.
He just speaks of what we have seen over and over and over again in the Scriptures.

It is a testimony to the relentless CHECED of God.

That’s how Isaiah starts.
(7) “I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, the praises of the LORD…”

You are familiar with that Hebrew word CHECED.
Some translations refer to it as lovingkindess
Some refer to it as mercy
Some refer to it as love

What it is more than anything is God’s loyalty to those He has chosen to save.

It is more than faithfulness.
Faithfulness suggests that God will keep His promises, which He will.
But loyalty suggests that even when God would be justified in not doing something, He still does it anyway.

And this is certainly the attribute of God that Isaiah wants to point out about God.

It is the attribute of God that allows us to confidently tell sinners that if they repent God will forgive them.

It is the attribute of God that allows us to remind believer, that even when they mess up, God will never leave them nor forsake them.

And here we learn that it is perhaps the attribute of God that gives us confidence in the possibility of revival more than any other.

So Isaiah wants to discuss God’s CHECED.

You see it show up in verse 7 in various ways.

“According to all that the LORD has granted us” – that would be a reference to the grace of God.

“And the great goodness toward the house of Israel” – certainly that speaks of the goodness of God toward us.

“Which He has granted them according to His compassion” – there it is a reference to the compassion of God.

“And according to the abundance of His lovingkindness”

And you can see how Isaiah sort of binds up God’s grace, God’s goodness, and God’s compassion and he places them all under the broader heading of God’s lovingkindness or His CHECED.

Grace and goodness and compassion are all available to us because of God’s loyal covenantal love toward us.

And Isaiah sees that as the foundation stone of Israel’s existence and her only hope in the future.

And Isaiah begins to talk about the past salvation of Israel, which was definitely an exhibition of God’s CHECED.

And if we break this first point down a little further, what we talk about first is the reality of our history lesson:

1) GOD REDEEMED (8-9)

(8) “For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior.”

I suppose you could read that in one sense as though God was incredibly naïve.

Almost like God terribly misjudged Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Like God failed to rightly discern what type of people they were in Egypt.

But of course that it is not at all what Isaiah is speaking of.

God was well-aware of who and what Abraham was when He chose him.
God was well-aware of Isaac and Jacob and every Israelite in Egypt when He chose to save them.

What Isaiah means is that God took sinful people with sinful passion and chose to treat them as though they deserved salvation.

God took a pagan slave trader named Abram and treated him like a righteous man who deserved the greatest blessing ever pronounced.

God took a spiritual dud like Isaac and treated him like a zealot for righteousness.

God took a lying swindler like Jacob and treated him like a man who deserved to father a nation.

God took a rabble of fickle slaves and treated them like a nation of priests.

That is salvation in a nutshell.
It’s what you and I refer to as UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION.

That God chooses unworthy men as though they were worthy.

We think of Jesus looking at Simon and saying, “You shall be called Peter”.
Simon was anything but a rock.
There is not a more “up and down” disciple among the 12 than Peter.

But that is who God is.
He saves sinners and treats them like they are not sinners.

And certainly God did this for Israel.

Furthermore Isaiah speaks of the great pains God took to save His people.

He writes:
(9) “In all their affliction He was afflicted,”

Stop there for a second.
It is the gospel heart of God.

We see God walking with Abram throughout his wanderings and journeys.
We see God approach Abram to discuss the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We see God accompanying Jacob to Padan-aram and back to Canaan.
We see God dwelling with the slaves in Egypt and traveling with them through the wilderness.

Many times their sin grieved Him…
Many times their faithlessness angered Him…

The point being, it was costly for God to save these people.

And certainly all of that was nothing but a foreshadow to the coming Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus who would take on humanity.
It is Jesus who would suffer and take our griefs and sorrows.
It is Jesus who would bear the wrath that we deserve.
It is Jesus who would die in our stead.

And Isaiah recognizes that in regard to the saving heart of God.

God is a Savior who gets down into the pit to save those who do not deserve it.

It is tremendous lovingkindness exhibited by God, and our past is full of expressions of it.

“And the angel of His presence saved them;”

We remember the Passover
We remember the pillar of fire
We remember the cloud of glory

God was not a distant savior.
He was ever present.

“In His love and in His mercy, He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”

And that is certainly the testimony of God’s saving grace toward Israel.

He chose to love those who were not loveable.
He chose to save sinners as though they deserved it.
Thought it was costly He drew near to them and saved them.
He bought them from their slavery and exalted them.
He dwelled with them and carried them all their days.

And that is very understandable to us, for God has done the same things for us.

We recognize and understand what the salvation of God looks like for we have experienced it ourselves.

And Isaiah simply wants to draw our minds back to that reality.

So think about it for a moment…

Galatians 4:1-7 “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Ephesians 2:1-10 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as 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 so that we would walk in them.”

Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

You get the point.
We were unworthy
We were sinful

But God granted us compassion.
He demonstrated His grace and goodness to us by treating us as though we deserved salvation.

Our salvation was costly to Him, as it cost Him the precious blood of His holy Son, and yet He paid that price anyway to redeem us from our bondage.

And since that day God has done nothing but lift us and carry us and be a loyal and faithful God to us.

That is true in every sense of our understanding.

And Isaiah begins by calling your mind back to that reality.

God redeemed

But there is a second lesson here Isaiah wants to call to your mind as well.

2) PEOPLE REBELLED (10)

“But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.”

Despite the measureless loyalty of God given to these undeserving people, gratitude appeared to be in short supply.

They disregarded His goodness…
They trampled upon His grace…
They ignored His CHECED…

And they rebelled against God.

Psalms 78:12-22 “He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap. Then He led them with the cloud by day And all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. Then they spoke against God; They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? “Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?” Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation.”

Psalms 78:40-42 “How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,”

Psalms 78:54-64 “So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained. He also drove out the nations before them And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies, But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel; So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary. He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. Fire devoured His young men, And His virgins had no wedding songs. His priests fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep.”

And that is nothing new to you.
There was no gratitude or loyalty from the people to God.

They never loved Him as they should…
They never obeyed Him as they promised…
“They rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit”

Psalms 95:7b-11 “Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

They responded to God’s CHECED in the most despicable way.

And the brought the discipline of God upon their lives.

We saw plagues in the wilderness…
We saw serpents biting them from the sand…
We saw neighboring nations given permission to persecute them…
We saw Babylon deport them…

Their lack of faithfulness to God and their rebellion against Him brought tremendous discipline into their lives.

They grieved God.
They angered Him.
They betrayed Him.

He would have been totally justified in wiping them out completely and moving on to select a new people.

We know the story of Israel.

But at the same time, it is difficult for us to point much of a finger at them.

How is your gratitude for salvation?
How is your loyalty to God?
How does your faithfulness stack up to His?

Have I ever grieved God’s Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 4:25-32 “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

According to Paul
If I have ever failed to speak truth…
If I have ever lost my temper…
If I have ever stolen anything…
If I have ever failed to share…
If I have ever spoken unwholesome words that failed to give grace…
If I have ever displayed bitterness, or wrath, or anger, or clamor, or slander…
If I have ever failed to be kind or forgiving…

Then I too have grieved the Holy Spirit of God.

I think back to the mindset of God prior to the flood when He said:
Genesis 6:5-6 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

Or I think back to the mindset of God as Israel made a golden calf:
Exodus 32:9-10 “The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

And I can’t help but realize that I have done the same things.

Most of us remember and even willingly confess the sinfulness of our lives when we were lost.

We remember life before salvation and testimonies are filled with stories of wickedness that required the intervention of Christ to deliver me.

We know about the former lives of one another:
Foul language…
Sexual immorality…
Greed…
Idolatry…

And we have shared how Christ saved us even though we were sinners.

But far less glamorous to discuss, and indeed far less spoken about is the sin that I have committed after being saved.

How after Jesus saved me from my sin and set me free, about that time that I relapsed into the old man and was again given over to lust or greed or idolatry or unwholesome speech.

Here I was, a man redeemed!
Here I was, a man set free!
Here I was, a recipient of grace and I still committed the very sins that I was forgiven of.

That is a far less glamourous testimony.
That is far more embarrassing.

After I knew better.
I fell back into that same old sin.

I won’t ask you to share your stories, but my guess is that you know exactly what I am talking about.

And we realize that, like Israel, we also have had the propensity to receive the salvation of God and then rebel and grieve His Holy Spirit.

We too have wandered in the wilderness…
We too have grumbled over manna…
We too have considered returning to Egypt…
We too have complained about Moses and his leadership…
We too have failed to claim God’s promises and enter the land…
We too have embraced that which was under the ban like Achan…
We too have become like the world…
We too have embraced our idols…

We know exactly what Isaiah is talking about because not only have we read it in the Old Testament, but we’ve seen it in our lives.

God redeemed and we rebelled

But there has always been a third part of that story with Israel.

3) PEOPLE REMEMBERED (11a)

“Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.”

What is that?

It was the beginning of the fires of revival.
It was the beginning of God’s awakening of their dead hearts.

It was the grace of God to allow them to recognize how far they had fallen and that they were in need of the lovingkindness of God yet again.

TURN TO: PSALMS 106

That is the cycle Isaiah reminds of here.

We are talking about a people who have always been treated by God far better than they deserve.

We are talking about a people who were loved and redeemed and saved with no merit of their own.

We are talking about a people who then, in spite of that great grace, still rebelled against God and brought discipline into their lives.

But they “remembered”

God allowed them to remember the glories of their salvation and God allowed them to see how far they had fallen from it.

Like the prodigal son, God granted them the grace to “come to their senses” and smell the pigs and return to their Father.

And even though He had suffered in their salvation…
And even though He had been grieved by their rebellion…
God demonstrated His lovingkindness yet again.

His CHECED never fails.
His CHECED endures forever.

And the Psalmist said:
Psalms 106:44-46 “Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.”

It is what we call revival.

Israel’s history is full of those too.

We see them over and over throughout the period of the Judges as the people would suffer and then turn back to God and He would send a Judge to deliver them.

We see them during the period of the Kings under leaders like Josiah who restored the Law to the people or Hezekiah who led them in faith against Assyria.

We see them under Haggai and Zechariah as the people repent and determine to rebuild the temple of God.

We see it under John the Baptist as the people come to the Jordan and are baptized confessing their sins.

We see it at Pentecost when the people grieve over their rejection of Christ and the church bursts forth throughout the land.

Though Israel did not deserve God’s CHECED they have always received it.

And that is the foundation upon which Isaiah will give us the rest of this chapter.

He is about to call Israel to once again “remember”.
He is about to show us the day God will open their eyes yet again.
He is about to show us how Israel will once again return to God and God will save them.

But it is a good reminder to us as well.

When we come to our senses regarding our sin…
When God graciously opens our eyes to the discipline we have been under…
When God mercifully shows us the sin that has grieved Him…

He does so in order that we might confess it and return to Him.

For just like Israel throughout the pages of Scripture we know that God’s CHECED never fails us either.

1 John 1:5-10 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

We do not serve a God who turns a blind eye to sin.
He has never been ok with sin and He never will be.

However, He is merciful to sinners; even when those sinners are those He has already redeemed.

And when we come to terms with our sin and confess them to Him, He promises forgiveness and revival to us again.

That is a testimony to His CHECED
And that is the foundation for why revival can still happen today.

We’re going to stop there tonight and we’ll start looking at the coming revival of Israel next time.

May God show us what revival is, and may He lead us to it.

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The Watchman’s Report
Isaiah 63:1-6
November 24, 2024

We saw the statement last Sunday morning.

Isaiah 62:6-7 “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.”

We listened as Isaiah called on the watchmen of his day
To announce to the nation the truth of God.

They were to follow Isaiah’s lead and preach:
• The Gospel of Salvation & The Glory of Salvation.
• They were to clear the way, build up the highway, and point to the Savior.

They were also called to continually call out to God
• Until God made good on His promise to restore Jerusalem.
• Like the persistent widow in Luke 18 they were to remind God continually until God fulfilled His promise.

In short, it was the watchmen’s job
To remind the LORD and to prepare the people.

Well here in chapter 63, we get THE WATCHMAN’S REPORT

Isaiah, through prophetic eyes,
Is looking over the wall in Jerusalem
And announcing to us what he sees.

It is the day that the people of God have been waiting for.

Isaiah knew this day was coming…

Isaiah 34:1-8 “Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood. And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen will also fall with them And young bulls with strong ones; Thus their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust become greasy with fat. For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

Isaiah knew that one day the LORD would come with vengeance
And destroy His enemies as He liberated His people.

ON THIS DAY, Isaiah saw the LORD after that battle had been fought.

And here, as the faithful watchman, Isaiah reports it to you.

First let’s examine the announcement
Then we’ll discuss it a little more fully.

I’m going to break this down into 3 points.

#1 THE ARRIVAL OF THE GLORIOUS ONE
Isaiah 63:1

Verse 1 gives us the DIALOGUE OF THE WATCHMAN.
• He’s looking over the wall,
• He’s watching for danger or any pertinent news for his people,
• All of a sudden Isaiah sees a figure emerge.

And Isaiah simply hollers at the One approaching, “Who goes there?”

“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah…”

Isaiah sees the figure and He is wearing “garments of glowing colors”

The word “glowing colors” is KHAW-MATES in the Hebrew.
It can be translated “leaven” as in leavened bread.
It can be translated “sour”
It can be translated as “embarrassed” or “red-faced”
It is sometimes translated “ruthless”

It seems the best understanding is
Someone who is showing anger or embarrassment on their face.

That is why some translates translate it “red” or “crimson”
We could say “with garments of bright red color”.

And Isaiah notes that
• He is coming from the south which is where “Edom”
• And her capital city of “Bozrah” is located.

Isaiah also notices is that He is glorious.
“This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength?”

“majestic” is AW-DAIR
It can mean honor or respected or lifted up or partial

This One who is approaching is an exalted One of great importance
And He is marching in great strength.

• He’s not limping…
• He’s not dragging along…
• He’s marching in great glory and a great display of strength…

And He is approaching Jerusalem.

So we’ve got a mighty man of glory rapidly approaching Jerusalem
He’s coming from the south and wearing bright red garments.

And Isaiah rightly asks, “Who is this…?”
Who are you?

And THE ANSWER is immediately given by the One outside the gate.

“It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Isaiah asks, “Who are You?”
And the Man answers, “It’s Me!”

I’m the One who has been speaking to you “in righteousness”
• “I’m the One who has been speaking to you all these years.”
• “I’m the One who has called you.”
• “I’m the One who has commissioned you.”
• “I’m the One who has filled your mouth with My words.”

I am the Holy One you stood before.
I am the One you serve.
“It is I”

AND I am the One who is “mighty to save.”

Isaiah sees this glorious One approach, asks who it is,
And the Man answers, “It’s Me, your Savior!”

This is the One Isaiah saw back in chapter 6.
When Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord”
If you will remember, that was Jesus whom He saw.

John 12:41 “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.”

Isaiah’s entire ministry has been to announce this Holy One to the people.
• Isaiah saw His glory in the temple in chapter 6.
• Isaiah saw His virgin birth in chapter 8.
• Isaiah saw His coming kingdom in chapter 9, 11, 35
• Isaiah saw His humiliation and suffering in chapter 50
• Isaiah saw His crucifixion in chapter 53

AND HERE ISAIAH SEES HIM AGAIN
He is again glorious, but it is a different type of majesty that we see.

And this is a phenomenal reality to us.

In your preconceived expectations of what you will see on the day your Savior arrives, what are you expecting that He will look like?

How are you expecting Jesus to look when He returns?

It almost seems here as though Isaiah was somewhat shocked
At the appearance of the Lord.

He was almost surprised
• By His glory
• And His red raiment
• And His mighty march.

Perhaps Isaiah was startled, even afraid by what he saw.

And that leads to the second question of the Watchman.
#2 THE CURIOUSITY OF THE STAINED GARMENTS
Isaiah 63:2-3

Now that the approaching One has been identified to us as the Lord,
Isaiah has another question.

“Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?”

That tells us a great deal more
About these bright red garments he is wearing.

Isaiah said He looked like someone who had just tread in the wine press.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the outfit of someone who did that,
• But he’s referencing someone who got in big trough of grapes and just started
stomping on them with their feet.
• As the grapes pop you know it splatters up grape juice onto the robe of the one
stomping.
• As more and more grapes are squashed the grape juice begins to fill up the
trough and the hem of the garment is dipped in it turning the robe completely
purple.

So imagine this splattered and saturated garment,
Just covered in the bright red color.

Isaiah says He looks like He has been very busy trampling grapes.
IS THAT IT?

And the Lord answers.
(3) “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment.”

Isaiah asks, “Have you been treading in the wine vat?”
And the Lord says, “Close, I’ve been trampling sinners.”

“I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment.”

This isn’t grape juice, this is blood.

The bright red glowing color of His garment
Is because it is soaked in the blood of His enemies.

HE HAS BEEN IN BATTLE.

But He wasn’t injured, He wasn’t even tired.
• Remember He was “Marching in the greatness of His strength”
• This wasn’t His blood, it was the blood of His enemies.

And because He has come “from Edom” and “from Bozrah”
We know who the victims of His wrath have been.

The Lord has just crushed the Edomites.
• He has trampled them under His feet.
• It is their blood, not His, that covers His garments.

I’m not sure we can even imagine the scene.

What is clear from the text is that
There is another question left to ask,
• In fact the Lord will answer it in verses 4-6,
• But perhaps Isaiah was so dumbfounded at what he had already learned he just stood there with an open mouth.

The obvious question is:
• WHY DID YOU TRAMPLE THEM?
• WHY DID YOU CRUSH THEM UNDER FOOT?

And that is the next question that is answered.
#3 THE EXPLANATION OF EDOM’S DESTRUCTION
Isaiah 63:4-6

Why did You do it?

And the answer is clear:
(4) “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.”

The Lord gives two reasons why He has crushed Edom.
VENGEANCE & REDEMPTION

Let’s start with VENGEANCE.

We hear about vengeance quite regularly.
• Movies like to talk about it.
• We hear about it on the news.
• Politics talks about it.

What we notice is that vengeance is routinely seen as a negative thing.
You hear people say, “We don’t want vengeance, we want justice.”

Justice is painted as the high road
And vengeance as the negative response.

Does it surprise you then to know that Jesus Christ is the God of both?

Certainly He will reign and rule in justice.
• Isaiah has outlined that many times.

But do not let the fact escape your notice that
He is also unequivocally the God of vengeance
And His vengeance will one day break forth.

We’ve read it many times:
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”

• Paul quotes there from Deuteronomy 32.
• It is a passage called “The Song of Moses”
• I want you to read it this morning.

TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 32:34-43

The first 33 verses of this song are Moses prophesying that the children of Israel will continue to be like their fathers.
• They will abandon God.
• They will worship idols.
• And God will punish them with the affliction of the nations.

However, God will also avenge Himself and His people
On those nations that afflict His people.
(READ 34-43)

That is the same vengeance we see delivered here.

Incidentally, this song of Moses will be sung again.

Revelation 14:14-20 “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”

You are familiar with that scene.
It is the Lord trampling His enemies under foot.

Immediately following that scene we read this:
Revelation 15:1-4 “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

Everyone in earth and heaven understands the vengeance of the Lord.
He comes and crushes His enemies under foot
And even heaven rejoices to sing again the song of Moses.

OUR GOD IS A GOD OF VENGEANCE

Isaiah 34:8 “For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

Isaiah 35:4 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

And look, we could spend a great section of time this morning
Doing nothing but reading passages which speak of
The Lord’s vengeance on His enemies.

BUT THE POINT IS:
He has promised that a day is coming
When He will return in glorious splendor
And will crush His enemies under foot.

And the aftermath of such a judgment
Looks like a man who has been treading grapes in the wine press.
• He is covered in blood.
• He is covered in judgment.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?

Why would Isaiah reveal that his generation?

Isaiah reveals it so that you might understand
The love that God has for His children.

I don’t know if you realize this, but
HIS VENGEANCE IS ACTUALLY ROOTED IN HIS LOVE.

But you must have a proper understanding of His love to know how it fits.

God’s vengeance is rooted in His love for His children.

One of the reasons this world has no room for a Jesus who shows vengeance

Is because they have this sort of contorted doctrine
That God unconditionally loves all people
And therefore a God of love would never show vengeance.

Look, God is love; God does love
But you have to understand it to have an accurate view of Him.

God does have a beneficent love for all people.
• That is to say God has “good will” toward all men.
• He desires good for all.

God does have a benevolent love for all people.
• He sends His rain on the just and the unjust.
• It is the common grace that all men enjoy from God.

But there is a covenantal love of God that far exceeds those two.

It is the love which God savingly shows to His own;
A love which the unredeemed do not experience.

IN FACT, the unredeemed not only do not experience that love,
But they experience God’s vengeance.

Let me show you another picture of it.
TURN TO: PSALMS 136

• The NIV translates that passage over and over, “His love endures forever”
• Chris Tomlin sang the famous song of this Psalm and the part that they sing
sounds really good.

“Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King, His love endures forever!
For He is good He is above all things, His love endures forever!”

And it sounds really good, like God just loves everyone
And never gets angry or would dare show vengeance.

But look at what David says later in the Psalm.
(READ 136:10, 15, 17-22)

God was showing love there, but it was covenantal love to His people.
Egypt, Og, and Bashan experienced God’s vengeance.

You understand that even as a sinful man.
• Do you wish evil on any man? You’d say “No”.
• Are you willing to help anyone who is need? You’d say “Yes”
• But what if a guy enters your home and starts attacking your family? “Vengeance”

AND THAT IS THE POINT.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return
And He will show terrible vengeance
On His enemies and on the enemies of His people.

That’s why His garment is red.
That’s what He has done in His anger.

The first time He came in humility to save His children.
The second time He’ll come in wrath to avenge them.

We already read Revelation 14, but look at Revelation 19

Revelation 19:11-16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

There it is again.

Listen to Jesus as He preached on the end:
Matthew 24:27-28 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

It’s as if the disciples asked where this great battle will occur
And Jesus said, “You’ll know when you see all the buzzards.”

Revelation 19:17-21 “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

IT MAY BE SELDOM DISCUSSED,
But it is an inescapable picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is filled with mighty vengeance on His adversaries
And on those who have afflicted His people.

In this case it is “Edom” and “Bozrah”

Why Edom?
You remember them, they ancient enemy of Israel, descendants of Esau.

Do you remember Edom?
Obadiah 1:10-14 “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. “On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them. “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress. “Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster. “Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress.”

Psalms 137:7 “Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it To its very foundation.”

These Edomites joined in the destruction of God’s people,
Cutting down survivors and cheering for the destruction of the temple.

Christ is executing vengeance on them for that.
He trampled them underfoot and their blood splattered on His garments.

“I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath;”

HE SAID “the day of vengeance was in My heart,”
• He fully desired it.
• He trampled them because of His vengeance.

THAT IS THE FIRST REASON FOR HIS TRAMPLING OF EDOM

But there is a second reason why He did it: REDEMPTION
“And My year of redemption has come.”

He did it out of love for His people and a desire to deliver them.

Read it again:
Isaiah 35:4 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

Isaiah 40:10-11 “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. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

Isaiah 52:7-10 “How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the LORD restores Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.”

He is rendering vengeance for the sake of redemption.
He is coming to save His people from their enemies.

We understand what it is to live in a world under Satan’s influence.
• We know what it is to be at constant war with immoral ideologies.
• We know the oppression of Lot who felt his righteous soul tormented as he
lived among immoral men.

And yet we are emphatically told to never take our own revenge.
• We are told to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.
• We are told to respond to their curses with a blessing.
• We are told to pray for our enemies.
• We are told to share the gospel with them.

And that often times puts believers, in a worldly sense,
On the short end of the stick.

Paul said:
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

But we also know that the Lord will not allow it to be that way forever.
Romans 8:36-37 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

THE ONE WHO LOVES US IS COMING.
He will render vengeance on His enemies
And He will redeem and restore His people.

And I think, as His people, we must marvel then and ask:
“What great love does our Savior have for us?”
• He will not allow us to be reproached forever.
• He will not allow us to be hated forever.
• He is coming to avenge us and to deliver us.

All the prayers of all the saints
Who throughout the ages have cried, “How long?”
Will be answered on that day!

He is coming in vengeance and redemption.

But there is one other aspect of His coming that He has been emphatic about and that is that He is doing it ALONE.

(3) “I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me.”

(5) “I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me.”

Isaiah has already alluded to this once.
Isaiah 59:15-20 “Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”

Isaiah already revealed to us that when the Lord comes,
He will execute both vengeance and redemption ALONE.

WHY?
BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE CAN!

Do you remember what we read a moment ago in the song of Moses?

Moses spoke about God’s coming vengeance,
But do you remember why God did it alone?

Deuteronomy 32:36-39 “For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free. “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? ‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place! ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”

Israel had trusted in so many foreign gods…
Israel had trusted in so many foreign nations…
But God does not share glory!

Has that not been the message of Isaiah so many times to this people?

Isaiah 41:10 “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

Isaiah 43:3 “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.”

Isaiah 43:11-13 “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.”

Isaiah 44:8 “‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”

And on and on and on.

When God delivers He does it alone,
Not only because He is the only capable savior,
But also because He alone will receive glory for it.

AND WHAT A GREAT REMINDER EVEN TO US TODAY.

THE CHURCH HAS ONE SAVIOR!

The United States of America cannot and will not save you.
Donald Trump cannot and will not save you.
We appreciate any grace of God
That puts a restraint on the spread of immorality, but that is all it is.

The vengeance that awaits the wicked…
The redemption that is coming for God’s people…
That is only coming from one person and that is Jesus Christ.

He is coming and He is coming in terrible wrath and judgment.
He will trample the wicked under His feet and He will liberate His people.

He is coming and He is coming to save His own.
• He will not come again in humility.
• He will not come again in meekness.
• He will never again be laid in a manger.

He is coming back in vengeance, His recompense is before Him.
He will destroy the wicked and He will do it for His children.

Praise Him for it!
Bask in His great love for you!

Psalms 98:7-9 “Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.”

This morning we do that.
• We stop to anticipate the great and terrible coming of the Lord!
• We rejoice in His vengeance and His justice!
• We bask in His love for us!

Rest in that church!
Amen, Come Lord Jesus!

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Securing the Sheep
2 Peter 1:1-11 (1-2)

As you know, tonight we kick off a new Sunday night study.
We are looking at the second letter of Peter.

And as we commonly do, before we dive into our detailed study,
I sort of like to give the book a little introduction.

I like for you to see the whole,
So that when we go back and start looking at the parts,
You will know more accurately what we are looking at.
(If I dump a bunch of pieces of wood on your floor you would be confused, but if I first show you a picture of a dresser, then the pieces begin to make sense)

(1-2) “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;”

We know here that Peter is the writer,
And we see how he identifies himself.

“a bond-servant”
I’ve told you before, the word here is DOULOS and it speaks of a willing slave.

Its roots are in Exodus

Speaking of a slave who must be set free:
Exodus 21:5-6 “But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.”

It is one who was under the full charge of his master in all things,
And one who was there willingly.

“apostle”
This indicates that Peter was sent by Christ on a special mission
With full authority.

1 Thessalonians 2:5-6 “For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.”

So in one sense, he was a lowly slave,
And in the other sense, he was a divine ambassador.

So it is with all who serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there is obviously more to be learned
About who exactly Peter was.

Peter was formerly known as Simon.
(It was actually Jesus who changed his name to Peter)

He was NOT the first disciple Jesus ever called,
In fact, it was Peter’s brother Andrew who led him to Jesus.

PETER WAS NOT THE FIRST, BUT HE WAS THE LEADER

Matthew 10:2 “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;”

Simon (or Peter) was called “the first”
This is obviously not a chronological reference
Since he was not the first to follow Jesus.

Rather “first” translates PROTOS
“chief”

The same word Paul used when he called himself “the chief of sinners”
Or “foremost of all” sinners.

Peter was the leader of the 12
(that is perhaps why most of the time we see Peter doing the talking)

NOT ONLY WAS PETER LEADER OF THE DISCIPLES,
BUT PETER WAS ALSO GRANTED LEADERSHIP OVER THE CHURCH.

Matthew 16:18-19 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

It was Peter whom the Lord singled out in John 21

Three times telling Peter to “Feed My sheep”

And it is obvious that this was a responsibility that Peter accepted.

On the day of Pentecost
• It was Peter who arose to address the masses
• It was Peter who confronted their decision to crucify Jesus
• It was Peter who gave the invitation for salvation
• And when the early church had issues, they came to Peter
We could easily say that Peter was a man
Who was fully concerned about the flock of God at all times.

He was a true pastor in every sense of the word.

Where Paul was the traveling missionary, continually planting churches,
Peter stayed to take care of the flock.

(This does not mean Peter never went on mission,
He was actually the man who saw the first Gentile convert – Cornelius)

BUT PREDOMINANTLY PETER WAS A PASTOR
This was his duty, this was his charge, and he fully embraced it.

That also helps us understand what Peter said in his first epistle.
1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Peter knew his role as a shepherd of God’s flock.
After all Jesus had said, “Feed My sheep”

And Peter encouraged others in a similar role to do the same.

And so while it should be obvious to us,
It becomes especially clear now that Peter was a man
Who was devoted to the flock of God.

AND THAT IS WHY HE WROTE THIS LETTER.
He writes (1) “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours,”

He is writing to those who have made a profession
To be followers of Christ, just as Peter did.

It was this same group that Peter addressed in his first epistle
As those who were “scattered”,
And Peter wrote to encourage them in their suffering.

And so Peter was a man who was
Fully concerned about God’s flock at all times.

And now, according to 2 Peter
He was concerned for them even after he would be gone.

2 Peter was written just before Peter’s death.

You may remember that our Lord
Had previously revealed to Peter how he was to die.

John 21:18-19 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Jesus told Peter that his life would end with the death of a martyr.

And apparently Jesus has now also revealed to him
That it is time for that death to occur.

2 Peter 1:13-14 “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.”

So here we have Peter,
• The leader of the disciples,
• The leader of the early church,
• A man consumed with the well-being of God’s flock.

And he knows that it is now time for him to die.

This is the end, and this letter holds his final words
Of encouragement to the flock he is about to leave.

When Moses was about to leave he preached Deuteronomy
When Paul was about to leave he wrote 2 Timothy
When Jesus was about to leave He preached “The Upper Room Discourse”
And as Peter is about to leave he gives 2 Peter.

The purpose is clear.
He wants the flock to remain strong, even after he is gone.

2 Peter 1:13-15 “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.”

Every good preacher understands that when he preaches,
He is not just preaching for the invitation
That will occur in the next 30 minutes.

He is also preaching for decisions
That will be made in the next 30 years and beyond.

Every faithful preacher longs to have his flock
Prepared for the moment before it arises.

And that is precisely why Peter is writing this letter.
So that they will be prepared in the future.

Peter is also writing because he knows what is coming.

When Paul gave his final address to the Ephesian elders he said:
Acts 20:29-32 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
Paul knew that when the shepherd is gone
The wolves will try and attack the flock.

He also knew that the only hope for the flock was if
They would stay committed to the truths of God’s Word.

“I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up”

Before Jesus left, He told the disciples:
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

And now before Peter leaves, he sends along the same warning to us.

2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

Peter knew that savage wolves were coming.
He knew that they would try to deceive the flock and devour them.

And therefore he knew that the only hope for the flock
Was to be built up on the word of God.

2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
And so you understand the purpose of 2 Peter.

It was written by a faithful shepherd who is leaving the sheep.
But he desperately wants to prepare the sheep for what is coming.

And just in case you doubt the accuracy of Peter’s prediction.
In 2 Peter 2:1, Peter said false prophets will come,
Secretly introducing destructive heresies.

By the time Jude wrote his epistle, the wolves had arrived.
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

That means for us Peter’s encouragement is very important.

He is telling the flock how to survive
In a world filled with wolves.

His letter closes with:
2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

So tonight, let’s begin our study of 2 Peter
And understand the importance of a true knowledge of God,
So that we are not easily led astray and devoured by the wolves.

I want to start our study by reading the first 11 verses.
(Because these make the first thought,
And you really can’t study any part of it independent from the whole)

READ 2 PETER 1:1-11

If you’ve ever worked one of those mazes some people start at the beginning and try to work their way to the end.

Others have found it easier to start at the destination
And work their way back to the beginning.

That is sort of the approach
We are going to take to these first eleven verses.
(FIRST IN OVERVIEW, AND WE’LL COME BACK IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS TO GET THE SUBSTANCE)

The point of these first 11 verses is clear to us:
THE SECURING OF THE SHEEP
We know that because of verses 10-11
(10-11) “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Peter’s main concern is that none of those he is writing to stumble,
And thus fall away from the faith.

He knows that if they never fall away, then
“the entrance into the eternal kingdom…will be abundantly supplied.”

So he is writing to make sure the sheep are not snared
To stumble and fall away from the faith,
But that they stand strong until the end and enter the kingdom.

This is why he stresses that they make certain that they are God’s flock.

(10) “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you”

In other words,
• You claim to be called by God and chosen by Him.
• You claim to be His child; His sheep.
• You claim to know God.

But you need to stop and make sure that this is really the case.

One of the key phrases in these first eleven verses is the term “knowledge of God” (2) again in verse (3) again in verse (8).

Peter stresses the true knowledge of God
Because there IS such a thing as “false knowledge of God”

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Jesus spoke of those who had a false knowledge,
Made obvious because it did not result in obedience.

PETER WANTS HIS FLOCK TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT IS NOT THEM.

They make certain, by examining their fruit.
(8-9) “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”

Now we will see the specific qualities in a moment,
But it is obvious that Peter is looking at a list of fruit
And telling his readers that if this fruit is not only evident in their lives,
But also on the rise, then they have a “true knowledge of our Lord Jesus.”

On the other hand, if these qualities are not present,
Then they are “blind or short-sighted” and they have forgotten
That the whole purpose of salvation was to purify you from sin.

And so the path is becoming clear.
• We don’t want you to stumble from the faith.
• The way to not stumble is to make sure you are really in the faith.
• The way to know if you are really in the faith is to examine your fruit.

WHAT IS THE FRUIT?
(5-7) “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

These are the attributes that ought to be present in the life of anyone
Who claims to have a true knowledge of Christ.

And as we noted, according to verse 8, these qualities not only need to be present,
But should also be “increasing”.

And so Peter simply asks his readers to examine their lives,
And see if it is obvious that they really do know God.

And that poses for us another question.
WHY ARE THESE ATTRIBUTES GOOD INDICATORS THAT I KNOW GOD?

Today people bank on all sorts of things to prove they know God.
Religious involvement
Participation in baptism
Having prayed the sinners prayer
Family heritage

Many people use those types of things as indicators, but Peter didn’t.

He used “diligence” “faith” “moral excellence” “knowledge” “self-control” “perseverance” “godliness” “brotherly kindness” and “love”.
WHY ARE THOSE THE INDICATORS?
Because you can’t achieve those things in your life by your own ability.
If you have those things it is because God gave them to you.

(3-4) “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

It is God’s divine power that gives us what we need
For “life and godliness”.

And that divine power comes
“through the true knowledge of Him who called us”

It is God who has granted us “His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you become partakers of the divine nature”

All those attributes listed in verses 5-7
Are divine attributes, not earthly attributes.

And therefore Peter says that we should carefully examine ourselves
To see if we have them, and if they are increasing in our lives.

If they are, then we truly know God and we are protected from stumbling, and we can be assured of entering the eternal kingdom.

If they are not, then we have cause for concern, and it is apparent that we are “blind or short-sighted” and need to return to the Lord.

HENCE, THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO THIS COIN
THE DIVINE SIDE – in which God equips us
THE HUMAN SIDE – in which we take full advantage of His equipping

And the result to that is
That we know we are in the faith, and we are kept from stumbling.

So the study of these first 11 verses is clear:
THE SECURING OF THE SHEEP

And in it we learn that
A true sheep is one who knows God and follows God.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
And Peter wants to make sure that all of those who read this letter,
Evaluate themselves in such a way.

WHY DOES PETER BEGIN THIS LETTER LIKE THIS?

Because he is about to die,
And he knows that the wolves are coming.
And he knows that the wolves will exploit with false words and deceive people and lead them away from the faith.

And if those he is writing to do not have a true knowledge of God,
Then they will most certainly be led astray,
And will never make it into the kingdom.

(And we will get into the specifics next time)

SO IN CLOSING, LET ME REMIND YOU

There is absolutely nothing in your life that matters more
Than your relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you are right about everything else, but wrong about that,
Your entire eternity will be in shambles.

SO MAKE SURE IT IS REAL
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

We live in a day where people get routine checkups.
Mammograms
Physicals
Blood tests

If that is true physically, how much more important is it spiritually.
• Getting tested is not always pleasant.
• Getting negative results can be extremely painful.

But how important is it to know the truth
So that it can be corrected while there is still time?

So let me encourage you, put Peter’s advice to practice and “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

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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.