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Isaiah’s Passion – part 5
Isaiah 61-62 (62:3-5)
November 10, 2024

We want to pick back up tonight where we left off this morning.

We’ve seen:
#1 THE PROPHET’S COMMISSIONING
Isaiah 62:1-11

Where Isaiah was filled with God’s Spirit and commissioned to preach.

What did he preach?
1) THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION
2) THE GLORY OF SALVATION

We looked at that a few weeks ago.

This morning we turned to the second aspect of Isaiah’s passion.

#2 THE PROPHET’S COMMITMENT
Isaiah 63:1-12

And we are breaking this commitment down into three parts.

1) HIS VISION (1-5)

Isaiah’s vision is vital to understanding his commitment.

He was committed to the commission God had given him.

As we saw in verse 1, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,”

Here was a man who faithfully preached for nearly 60 years
Despite preaching to a blind, deaf, and stubborn audience.

Even when they mocked him, he continued.
Even when they told him to stop, he continued.

This is remarkable and inspiring to us.

For many of us often feel like we are also in a nation
Of blind, deaf, and stubborn people who do not want to hear the gospel.

Certainly we do not have it as bad as Isaiah,
• But we do understand the ramifications of living in our post-modern culture.
• We understand when Paul told Timothy to preach the word “in season and out of season”.
• We do have some understanding of that.

So when we see a man like Isaiah,
Who is in a culture even more closed than ours,
Faithfully preach for nearly 60 years
We are interested in where he found the strength to be so committed.

And that is what we see here in these first 5 verses.
We called it: HIS VISION.
• It is the future end that Isaiah looked toward.
• It is that future end that God had promised.
• It is that future end that Isaiah expected.

He knew what God had promised about a returning nation of Israel.
He knew what God had promised about a righteous remnant.
He knew that God would use his preaching to accomplish it.

And so even though Isaiah had not seen it yet,
He kept preaching faithfully as he looked to the promise.

In short, Isaiah would preach until those promises became reality.

LIKE WHAT?
We saw two this morning.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS REAL (1b)

(1b) “Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.”

• He was not satisfied with hypocritical and phony religion.
• He wasn’t stopping until they were actually redeemed and righteous.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR TESTIMONY IS EVIDENT (2)

(2) “The nations will see your righteousness, And all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name Which the mouth of the LORD will designate.”

• Isaiah was not satisfied with a people who hid their light under a basket.
• Isaiah was not interested in flavorless salt.
• He was going to preach until the people of Israel were shining their light and sharing their flavor all over the world.

There are 3 more expectations Isaiah had for Israel that he worked toward

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR GLORY IS RESTORED (3)

(3) “You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

Isaiah is well-aware of the current condition of the nation.

They were a nation that suffered great affliction because of their idolatry.

Isaiah even knew that in roughly 100 years after his ministry
Israel would be removed from the land and exiled into Babylon.

He saw a nation that was about to lose glory.

He even spoke about it in his preaching.
Isaiah 3:1-8 “For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread And the whole supply of water; The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder, The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter. And I will make mere lads their princes, And capricious children will rule over them, And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable. When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying, “You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler, And these ruins will be under your charge,” He will protest on that day, saying, “I will not be your healer, For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; You should not appoint me ruler of the people.” For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence.”

Isaiah saw a people who had so offended God
That God made a mockery of their political leadership.

He removed men of wisdom and character
And replaced them with unworthy men, women, and children.

But Isaiah also knew that when Israel finally came to their senses
That God would restore the nation with His glorious presence.

Isaiah 4:2-6 “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.”

We saw the promise even recently:
Isaiah 60:1-2 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.”

Isaiah knew that judgment was coming for the people.

But he also knew that God had promised
That one day their glory would return.

He knew that today they were rejected,
But there is coming a day when they will once again be glorious.

“You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

You see words like “crown” and “diadem”
Which are words that speak of a returning monarchy.

There is coming a day when Israel will reemerge
Even as a political kingdom with Christ at the helm.

And we know WHEN that will happen.
• When Israel finally repents and returns, as Peter told us,
• Then Christ will return and He will rule and reign from His glorious throne in Jerusalem.

Isaiah wasn’t going to stop preaching until glory is restored.

And there is a great motivation for us as well.

At what point do we stop calling sinners to repentance?
At what point do we stop preaching the truth that sanctifies?

We stop when sin is totally eradicated and glory has come.

Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

There is coming a day when
We will no longer need to boldly proclaim the words of God.

That day is when the perfect comes.
That day is when glory occurs.

Until that day we strive and we preach and we evangelize
Seeking to pull men from sin and push them on to glory.

Isaiah saw a promise of coming glory,
And he wouldn’t stop preaching until that glory was revealed.

What an encouragement for us.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR MARRIAGE IS HEALED (4)

(4) “It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,” Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; But you will be called, “My delight is in her,” And your land, “Married”;

Well certainly we understand this reference.
Israel, having rejected Christ, and thus been broken off.

Isaiah 50:1 “Thus says the LORD, “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.”

We see Israel, even to this very day in that role of a Gomer
Who abandoned the Lord through idolatry and has thus been sent away.

But we also know that HER RETURN IS PROMISED by the Lord.

Isaiah 54:4-8 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. “For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God. “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer.”

Isaiah went on to say:
Isaiah 54:11-14 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones. “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. “In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you.”

We know that Israel is the LORD’S Gomer.
We know He will bring her back.

We’ve read in Zechariah
• How He will pour His Spirit of grace and supplication over them and they will mourn for Christ and return to Him.

We know that
• God will graft them back in again.
• He will restore them to Himself.

We know that
• “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”.

AND ISAIAH KNOWS IT TOO!
And he won’t stop preaching until it happens.

This is his vision for Jerusalem.

“It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken” Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; But you will be called, (Hephzibah) “My delight is in her,” And your land (Beulah) “Married”; For the LORD delights in you, And to Him your land will be married.”

That is to say that God will return to your land and dwell within it.
• He will return to the land.
• He will marry His bride.
• He will reign with her in glory.

This broken marriage of the Israelites will be healed, God promised it.
Isaiah isn’t going to stop preaching until he hears the wedding bells.

And again, it is a great example for us.

Do we not also know that the elect are coming?

Have we not read what Jesus said:
John 6:37-39 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

Jesus said that every one of the elect will come to Him.
• He knows who they are.
• We don’t know who they are.

But we know that the method through which He calls out His elect to Himself is the preaching of the gospel.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
We preach like Isaiah did
Until every single one of His elect has come home.

And we know when they all come home,
He will bring us all home to Him.

Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

We haven’t seen that day yet, but we know it’s coming.
• We know that when all of His wheat is safely in His barn
• Then He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

We think of:
2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Christ will not come and destroy this world
Until ever single one of His elect are brought home.

• He is patient.
• He is not willing that a single one of His elect should perish.
• But once they all come, He will return.

We talk often about the TIMING of His return in relation to Israel.

We know that when they repent and return
That Christ will return for them to rule and to reign.

But is there any indication anywhere that the salvation of the Gentiles marks the coming of the Lord?

ABSOLUTELY!

Matthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Jesus said the end wasn’t coming
Until this gospel is preached to every Gentile nation.

Romans 11:25-26 “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.”

Paul indicated that Israel isn’t going to return and believe and be saved
Until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.

After that, Israel will return, and then Christ will follow.

Does that motivate your urgency to preach a little more?

• Are you tired of this corrupt and wicked world?
• Are you ready for the King of Justice and the Prince of Peace to reign?

Well He’ll come once Israel repents and returns.
And Israel will repent and return
Once the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.

That makes modern day Isaiah’s out of us all.

We determine not to be silent
Until all of Christ’s chosen have been restored to Him.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR GOD REJOICES (5)

(5) “For as a young man marries a virgin, So your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.”

How much of God’s dwelling with Israel could be described as patient frustration?

• They grumbled with Him at Massah and Meribah and He said, “For forty years I loathed that generation.”
• Through Hosea He asked, “How long shall I put up with you?”
• Eventually He departed from them during the days of Ezekiel.

But even in Isaiah’s day we saw the LORD’S frustration with them.
He wasn’t satisfied with them, He was grieved.

Remember that song of the vineyard?
Isaiah 5:1-4 “Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?”

Do you remember the grief of the vineyard owner
At how pathetic His vineyard had turned out?

When we read on and we learned that
• The vineyard owner abandoned His vineyard and allowed it to be ruined.
• Then we found out that God was the vineyard owner and Israel was the vine.

THE POINT BEING,
There just wasn’t much for God to rejoice over regarding Israel.
• They never listened.
• They never repented.
• He called them false sons.

He was grieved over them until eventually He left them.

We might say the romance was gone.

But Isaiah knew that God had promised that
One day He would draw them back to Himself
And in that day He would rejoice over them.

“And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.”

Some of you know, perhaps most of you, but Zek recently proposed to his girlfriend Lindsay.

If you want a measurement of his excitement.
• On Monday, he had asked me to pray because he was going to talk to her dad.
• Monday evening I looked on the location app to see where he was because I
was curious if he was done and how it went.
• When he showed up on the app he was parked at a jewelry store.
• I texted him, and he said, “Lindsay’s dad gave me his permission!”
• And hour later Zek called his mom and said he was engaged.

That’s what you call excitement.

About an hour after that, they both called to tell the rest of the family
And it was plum nauseating to listen to them.

They were so goofy, gooey, mushy you just wanted them off the phone.

The point is that he is a man who can’t contain his excitement
And rejoicing over having found a bride.

And that type of excitement is what Isaiah uses as an analogy
To explain how God will feel about Israel.

“as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.”

We’ve seen the prodigal father running to meet the wayward son.
• That’s the picture.

Now think about YOUR EAGERNESS FOR THE LORD TO RETURN
And take you home to be with Him.

Think about the joy and excitement of the day
When we attend the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Does it surprise you to know that
Christ is just as excited about that day as you are?

Does it surprise you to know that
He anticipates that day as much as you do?

That on that day not only will you rejoice over Him
But He will rejoice over you.
And we preach until that day comes to fruition.

We know what Christ is doing now:
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Christ is washing us and purifying us to make us worthy to be with Him.

And as those who are committed to preaching the gospel
We understand that this mission is ours.

Listen to Paul:
2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”

Paul’s desire in his ministry was to wash the Corinthians thoroughly
So that they would be the bride Christ desired and deserved.

That speaks then to our commitment to continue to preach as well.

Christ deserves a pure bride.
Christ deserve a spotless bride.

We go out into the world and we preach
That the bride might come home

And when she comes we continue to preach
Until she is spotless and blameless and beautiful just like He wants.

THESE THINGS WERE THE GOALS OF ISAIAH.
He had heard the promises of God.
He knew these things were future reality.
• He knew God would call all her.
• He knew God would confront her.
• He knew God would correct her.
• He knew God would cleanse her.
• He knew God would consecrate her.

And He knew that God would do all that through
The preaching of the gospel of salvation and the glory of salvation.

SO ISAIAH PREACHED.

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet.”

HE WOULD NOT STOP.

We see that his commitment was a result of his vision.
• He could look ahead to the fulfillment of the promises of God.
• And he would preach until he saw them fulfilled.

And again we ask what is your vision?

What is your desire for those you are around?

Will you have the commitment of Isaiah to say,
“I will not keep silent…I will not keep quiet,”

I’m going to preach until my kids
• Are saved, sanctified, and resting in the presence of Christ!

I’m going to preach until my neighbor
• Is saved, sanctified, and resting in the presence of Christ!

I’m going to preach until everyone in this church
• Is saved, sanctified, and resting in the presence of Christ!

THAT WAS ISAIAH’S PASSION.

He had latched on to the promises of God
And he would not stop preaching until he saw them fulfilled.

Colossians 1:25-29 “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

You hear the same commitment don’t you?

There it is church.
Grab hold of the promises of God and go preach them until faith is turned into sight.
• Preach to the lost
• Preach to the redeemed
• Preach to the mature

Preach until:
• Their righteousness is real
• Their testimony is evident
• Their glory is restored
• Their marriage is healed
• Their God rejoices

That was Isaiah’s vision and it fueled his commitment.

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Isaiah’s Passion – Part 4
Isaiah 61-62 (62:1-2)
November 10, 2024

As you know we are here studying Isaiah 61-62
And we are discussing Isaiah’s passion for ministry.

We remember
• This hypocritical man with unclean lips and an impure heart
• Who entered the temple
• And was crushed to the core before a Holy God.

We remember
• God graciously forgiving Isaiah and purifying him from his sin.

And we remember
• God commissioning this prophet to go and preach to a blind, deaf, and stubborn people.

And to Isaiah’s credit he has been faithful.
For almost 60 years Isaiah served as a prophet to the people of Israel.

And although he was maligned as a babbler
And told to stop talking about the Holy One of Israel,
Isaiah never stopped.

HE WAS FAITHFUL.

We are examining that passion and learning a great deal about
What it means to be a missionary in an unfaithful world.

We spent a few services on chapter 61 where we saw:

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

We saw that he was filled with God’s Spirit and commissioned to preach.

The message of Isaiah was clear.
• He preached the Gospel of Salvation.
• He preached the Glory of Salvation.

We traveled back throughout this book and saw
How often Isaiah offered forgiveness to sinners
And how often he revealed to them the glory of salvation.

And as we have noted,
THIS IS A MESSAGE THAT
• Continued to the apostles as Peter preached the same message to the Jews.
• Continues today as we preach that message even to the Jews.
• Will continue even to the end as God faithfully calls Israel back to Himself.

Isaiah was commissioned to preach and he preached.

BUT THIS MORNING we move to chapter 62
And we take a look at the second aspect of Isaiah’s ministry.

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

What we are going to see in this chapter
Is not only the things Isaiah was committed to,
But also the motivation behind Isaiah’s commitment.

You’ll see that he was committed to preaching and to prayer
And certainly we wish to focus on that,

But even more you’ll see WHY he was so committed to those things.

And maybe that is a good place for us to start.

DO YOU STRUGGLE
• With your commitment to preach the gospel?
• With your commitment to pray for the salvation of the lost?

YOU WOULDN’T BE THE FIRST.
There were times when even great men in Scripture
Seemed to struggle here.

Think for a moment about Moses
Leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.
• He climbed the mountain
• He received the commandments of God
• As he was on the mountain the people fell into idolatry

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 you remember that this statement from God
Prompted the intercession of Moses.

Exodus 32:11-14 “Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”

What happened there?
• If you’re not careful you’ll walk away thinking God just had an irrational fit of rage and Moses talked sense into Him.

We know better than that.
• We know that God made promises to Abraham, as Moses pointed out, and God will never break that promise.

COULD IT BE THAT
• God was instead prompting a little intercessory zeal out of Moses?
• God was perhaps teaching Moses’ heart about the necessity of shepherding these suborn people?

Of course He was.
God was motivating Moses to be an interceding shepherd for His people.
(indicating perhaps Moses found difficulty doing that consistently)

We see the same with Amos many years later.
Amos too was fed up with the people he was preaching to.
• One even wonders if Amos was beginning to enjoy the messages of judgment
that he was preaching to them.

And then God approached Amos in a very similar way.
Amos 7:1-6 “Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?” The LORD changed His mind about this. “It shall not be,” said the LORD. Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land. Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?” The LORD changed His mind about this. “This too shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.”

That is a very similar story isn’t it?
You have God pronouncing judgment, the prophet interceding,
And God changing His mind.

Now we know that God is IMMUTABLE.
We know what Samuel taught us:
1 Samuel 15:29 “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

We know what David taught us:
Psalms 110:4a “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind…”

So we know this is not a case of God being fickle
And Amos straightening Him out.

No, as with Moses,
God is motivating Amos to be more than a messenger of doom.
God is prompting Amos to intercede for the people he is preaching to.

Perhaps Jonah would also be a good illustration here
• Who had to receive mercy at the bottom of the sea before he was willing to go and warn the Ninevites
• And even then God had to teach him a lesson on compassion to keep him from desiring their judgment.

ONE MORE EXAMPLE HERE.

John in the book of the Revelation was given the tremendous blessing of witnessing Christ in all His glory and the end of all things.

At one point John was told to eat the scroll he was given.
It simply means he was told to
Fully digest this message of the final doom and judgment.

And he was told that he was going to like what he read.
Revelation 10:8-10 “Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”

As John first digested this message of the doom of the wicked,
John admittedly enjoyed what he saw.

There was something sweet to him about the coming destruction of sinners and the redemption of the world.

But John also said that this scroll which was initially sweet
Became bitter in his stomach.

IN SHORT,
God allowed John to ponder the full ramifications of the coming judgment.
• Yes God’s justice would be poured out.
• Yes sin would be conquered.
• But that would also mean many souls in judgment.

And prompted by this revelation we read:
Revelation 10:11 “And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

John, go preach again.
• Go tell them again.
• Go warn them again.

You see what I am talking about then when I say that
There were times in Scripture when even the prophets or apostles
Perhaps struggled with a proper motivation.

What kept them going?
What kept them preaching?
What kept them praying?

With several of those guys it was the startling horrors of judgment
That prompted them to get up and preach and pray again.

But Isaiah’s motivation was a little different.

I’M NOT SAYING Isaiah wasn’t motivated by the coming judgment to go and warn sinners that he might pluck them from the fire, SURELY HE WAS.

But in this chapter where Isaiah bares his soul
And shows us what pushed him forward
We find that his deepest and truest motivation was
THE PROMISES OF GOD.

Isaiah knew what God had promised to do for Israel
And this promise kept him pushing forward
In order that he might see it fulfilled.

This is a great motivation for you and I as well.

We’re going to break down Isaiah’s commitment here in chapter 62 into 3 segments to help us see it a little more clearly.

1) HIS VISION (1-5)

• This is the goal of Isaiah’s preaching.
• This was the end-game that he looked at.
• This is what he was striving for.

And again to grab that low-hanging fruit we see that his vision
Led him to faithfully preach to the people of Jerusalem.

He said, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,”

There is commitment.
Isaiah clearly articulates that he’s not going to stop.

We know that in chapter 30 that emphatically told him to.
Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

These were a people who had enough of Isaiah’s sermons of salvation.
• They resented being told they were in need of forgiveness.
• They resented the insinuation that they were prisoners in need of freedom.
• They resented the notion that they were somehow broken and needed to be fixed.

And they emphatically told Isaiah that enough was enough.
“Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

PUT YOURSELF IN THAT SITUATION.

Imagine preaching to a people
Who have emphatically told you that they don’t want to hear it anymore.

We live today in a nation that likes to say,
“We can talk about anything except religion or politics.”

Some of you will face such issues in a few weeks at Thanksgiving
Where some family member will try and impose and sanction on you
That the subject of religion is off limits.

WELL THAT IS WHAT ISAIAH FACED.

And yet his response was, “NOPE!”
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet.”

He doesn’t even appeal to the glory of God or the worth of the gospel
As if to say that God deserves to be heard
And His message deserves to be proclaimed, though certainly that is true.

Isaiah says that he won’t stop preaching “For Zion’s sake…and for Jerusalem’s sake”

He will not stop preaching
Because of what his preaching is meant to accomplish for them.

SEE,
• Isaiah has been shown God’s plan for Israel.
• Isaiah has been shown the glory of their salvation.
• Isaiah knows that their salvation will come about through preaching.

So Isaiah will not stop preaching
Until they are saved and experience the glory God promised.

He will not stop, “UNTIL…”
ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE FULFILLED

No go back for a moment and recall his commissioning one more time.

Remember that God told him he was going to blind and deaf and stubborn people who would not hear or see or understand.

And you remember that Isaiah’s response to this clarification was to ask God, “How long?”

Isaiah 6:11-13 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

Isaiah was told from the outset
That his ministry would be long and seemingly unfruitful.

However God also promised
That through his ministry “there will be a tenth portion in it”
• He was promised a remnant that would return.
• He was promised a remnant that would be saved.

Isaiah ignores the banter of the blind and deaf
In favor of the promises of God.

What a message of commitment to each of us!

We don’t know who the elect are.
They could be anyone.

We know that not all people will accept our gospel,
But we preach it for the sake of those who will!

It’s what Paul wrote to Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:10 “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 Isaiah’s motivation as well.
• He knows that God has promised to save some
• And he is committed to preach to them until they are saved.

What an example for the church.

But let’s examine more than that.
• What exactly was Isaiah believing he would see?
• What exactly did Isaiah think God had promised?
• What was the “end game” that he was looking toward that would be the result of his preaching?

You see them there.
Isaiah states one in each verse.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS REAL (1b)

(1b) “Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.”

One thing we learned early on in the book of Isaiah is that
Israel was FILLED WITH RELIGION,
But they were extremely SHORT ON RIGHTEOUSNESS.

We remember chapter 1 and God’s announcement that He was sick of their sacrifices and their festivals and their prayers.

Isaiah 1:13-15 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

Their righteousness was phony.
It was nothing but empty ritual.

Isaiah had said on the day that he was saved
• That he was a hypocrite with “unclean lips”
• And that he lived “among” hypocrites “with unclean lips”.

THAT WAS TRUE.

Israel had no righteousness.
• We remember that parable of the vineyard in chapter 5 when God planted
this vineyard and expected good fruit but received none.

Isaiah 5:7 “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”

ISRAEL WASN’T RIGHTEOUS.

Isaiah preached to offer them the gospel.
He preached that if they would repent and trust in God that He would wash their sins away.
• He promised that their scarlet sins would be white as snow.
• He promised that their crimson iniquities would be like wool.

God would forgive them and God would justify them.
He would impute His righteousness to them.

Isaiah reiterated that very promise in chapter 61
Where he looked to the future of the redemption of Israel and heard them singing:

Isaiah 61:10 “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Isaiah knew that Israel wasn’t righteous, but God had promised that through his preaching a remnant would be.

So Isaiah would not stop preaching “until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation like a torch that is burning.”

He wasn’t going to stop until they repented, trusted,
And were clothed in the very righteousness of Christ.

THERE’S YOU A BENCHMARK CHURCH.

What is the end game of your ministry?
What is the goal of your preaching?

For years in churches it was “decisions”.
• For years all we really wanted was people to walk an aisle and make a decision
and get baptized.

We measured success in decisions and baptisms.
We didn’t care that most of the people we baptized never returned.

That is NOT how Isaiah measured his ministry.
That is not what he preached for.

He preached until he could see righteousness
Pouring out of the people he preached to.

Think about Paul to the Galatians:
Galatians 4:19 “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you”

There’s a goal.
Not to stop until I see Christ in you.

Many years ago when I was still in high school
Our family made a living building cedar log furniture.

We actually got pretty good with a chainsaw.

• One summer we were on vacation in the mountains and saw a man who was
carving bears with a chainsaw out of a log.
• My mom said, “Rory, you should do that.”
• I pointed out that such art was beyond my skill set.
• To which the artist making them replied, “It’s actually easy, you just take a
log and grab a chainsaw and cut off everything that’s not a bear.”

In a spiritual sense Paul said that is what he was doing to the Galatians.
I’m just going to preach and confront and work on you
Until there is nothing left but Christ.

When I see Christ in you, then I’ll stop.

Think about what he wrote to the Colossians:
Colossians 1:28-29 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

• I want you to be “complete in Christ”

He told the Ephesians:
Ephesians 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

Paul said that the purpose of preachers was to see men grow into “the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

To preach until they look like Jesus.

The goal is not church membership.
The goal is not decisions.
The goal is not baptisms.
The goal is righteousness
Oozing out of the lives of those we preach to.

John said:
3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

There’s a motivation for you church.

And is this not something God has promised?
Has He not promised that He is conforming us into the Christ’s image?

Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

1 Corinthians 15:49 “Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”

AND THIS IS WHY WE PREACH.
We preach TO THE LOST that they might be saved, set free,
And conformed to the image of Christ.

We preach even TO THE REDEEMED because
We are not yet completely like Christ and we long to be.

What a missionary vision!
To preach until Christ is formed in you.

But that’s just the first promise Isaiah was counting on.

I WILL PREACH UNTIL…
YOUR TESTIMONY IS EVIDENT (2)

(2) “The nations will see your righteousness, And all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name Which the mouth of the LORD will designate.”

He said, I’m not just going to preach until I can see that you are righteous.
I’m going to preach until everyone can see it!

I’m going to preach until “The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings you glory;”

Again, this was the problem of Israel.
They didn’t shine their light in the midst of the nations.

If you will remember,
Isaiah revealed that they were just like the nations.
Isaiah 2:5-8 “Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made.”

Isaiah had revealed that there was virtually no difference
Between the lifestyle of Israel and the lifestyle of their pagan neighbors.

You could look at the pagans and then you could look at Israel and you’d have a hard time telling which one was which.

Isaiah was going to preach until the difference was obvious.

Do you remember this same problem showing up in the New Testament?

Remember what Paul said to the Jews in Romans?
Romans 2:17-24 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”

Paul said, that they were confident that they were “a light to those who are in darkness” and yet in reality you couldn’t tell the difference at all.
• They opposed stealing and yet they stole.
• They opposed adultery and yet they committed adultery.
• They opposed idolatry and yet they worshiped them.
• They were all talk, there was no light.

That’s exactly what Jesus told them in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

I hope you are detecting His sarcasm there.
Jesus looked at His Jewish audience and said, “You are the salt of the earth”
• The only problem was they were tasteless salt that was only good to be thrown
out.

Jesus looked at His Jewish audience and said, “You are the light of the world”
• The only problem is you are a hidden light.

What good is salt that won’t taste or light that won’t shine?
NOTHING!

To which Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

DO YOU HAVE RIGHTEOUSNESS?
LET’S SEE IT!
Show it to the world!

James 2:18 “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Well that was Isaiah’s point too!
• You may claim to have righteous light, but no one can see it!
• I’m going to preach until your light is evident to everyone!

And incidentally, God had promised that too!
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”

• God had promised that one day His great Light would come.
• God had promised that the remnant would repent and trust in that light.
• God had promised when Israel did that, then their light would shine to the world too!

And Isaiah said, “I’m not going to stop preaching until the light is shining out of you and the lost world takes notice of it!”

We saw it again in Chapter 61:
Isaiah 61:9 “Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.”

God had promised that their salvation
Would be obvious and recognizable to the world around them.

And Isaiah recalls that promise here, even saying, “And you will be called by a new name Which the mouth of the LORD will designate.”

We see that new name later down in verse 4, it is “Hephzibah”
Which is translated “My delight is in her,”

The world will stop calling Israel by names of contempt.
They will start calling her the people in whom God delights.

Their righteousness will be obvious to the world.
And Isaiah says he isn’t stopping until that happens.

And there again is a great missionary commitment.

To not stop preaching until your righteous life
Is absolutely apparent to everyone around you.

Paul told the Philippians:
Philippians 2:14-16 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”

Paul said that he knew he was not laboring in vain
When he saw the Philippians living different from the world.

• When he saw them no longer grumbling or disputing,
• But walking in the love and humility of Christ
• He knew that their light would be shining bright!

That was Paul’s commitment.
To preach until every pagan in Philippi
Recognized that these people were different.

That is certainly my calling and commitment.
• To preach to you until you look different than your neighbors.
• To cover you with the word of God until the bucket comes off and the light
shines forth.

Preaching the word of God is meant to wash off your camouflage.
Preaching the word of God is meant to make you stick out.

That is what kept Isaiah going week in and week out.
That is why he kept preaching.

God had promised that his people would be so righteous
That they would shine like a spotlight in a coalmine.

Isaiah wasn’t stopping until it occurred.

There are 3 more promises Isaiah references here as motivation for why he preaches, but we’ll have to look at them tonight.

But are you beginning to see Isaiah’s vision for Israel?

It actually wasn’t his vision, it was God’s vision
And it was a vision that would be fulfilled through preaching.

So Isaiah committed to preach until it was fulfilled.

What is your vision?
What promise of God is motivating you?

I can tell you immediately the one that motivates me.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

God has promised that His word does not return void,
That His gospel is powerful, and that if I would preach it,
He will use it to accomplish His work.

I cling to that above every wild-hair idea I might have.
That is the verse burned into my heart.

What is the promise you cling to?
• What is the vision you are chasing?

What is your vision for your children?
• What are you hoping to see accomplished in their lives?
• What is the promise that you are clinging to as the end goal you are pursuing?

What is your vision for this church?
• What promise are you clinging to as God’s promise to this church?

What is your vision for our community?
What is your vision for your Sunday school class?
What is your vision for our KFC kids?
What is your vision for our youth?

What promise are you clinging to?
What action has God called you to that you might see it fulfilled?

Are you committed to it?
Are you striving for it?

Isaiah had a vision to see God’s promises become a reality.
So he preached until they became reality.

• That is ministry!
• That is a missionary!
• That is what the Holy Spirit produced in him.

It is a good challenge to us.

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s ake I will not keep quiet.”

Can you say that?
• For my kids sake I will not keep silent…
• For this churches sake I will not keep quiet…
• For this city I will not keep silent…
• For my coworkers I will not keep quiet…

Not until they repent of their sin, trust in Christ,
And Christ is beaming out of them for all the world to see.

That is Isaiah’s vision.
We’ll see the next 3 tonight.

Disciple Still 2024 is a discipleship weekend for adults age 55 and over.

In Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He laid down His life at the cross, He spoke to them about a great many important matters. At this year’s D-Still, we’ll explore four of these in our time together: love, peace, joy and truth. You may recognize that the first three of these occur, in a bit different order, in Paul’s description of the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22. It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling within us, who produces these qualities. A life lived in the power of the Spirit is a life in which we love like Jesus, we know His peace, we carry His joy, and we embrace what He says as the truth.

REGISTER HERE:

While registration is unlimited for the weekend, there are only 50 spots available for the Friday night banquet.

 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

FRIDAY – December 13

• 5:30pm – Registration
• 6:00pm – Friday Night Banquet
• 7:00pm – Christmas Concert with Blake and Jenna Bolerjack

SATURDAY – December 14

• 9:30am – Saturday morning coffee and donuts
• 10:30am – Worship Service
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 1:00pm – Afternoon of fellowship and games
• 5:30pm – Supper
• 6:30pm – Worship Service

SUNDAY – December 15

• 8:45am – Coffee available in the fellowship hall
• 9:15am – Worship service during Sunday School hour
• 10:30am – Corporate Worship with the entire church
• Dismiss at noon

 

 

Pastor Isaac Butterworth

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Dr. Isaac Butterworth, now retired, pastored First Presbyterian Church, Wichita Falls, for more than thirty years. A graduate of Baylor University (BA, 1968), Southwestern Seminary (M. Div., 1972), and McCormick Seminary (D. Min., 1980), he has served three other churches as pastor, all in Texas. Ike, as he is called, and his wife, Jan, have two grown children and three grandchildren. Committed to expository preaching, Ike seeks to present God’s Word in such a way that it may lead to life transformation. An avid hiker, Ike enjoys being in the mountains and walking the trails. He also loves to read, especially in the areas of theology, biblical interpretation, and biblical counseling.

 

 

 

Worship Leader: Colin Lundstrum

Colin has served on staff at Fellowship Church Lubbock since early 2020. Prior to moving to Lubbock, he served as a music minister in West Texas for 6 years. He has a BA degree in biblical studies from Frontier School of the Bible (2009) and is working towards resuming his MDiv in the fall of 2023 from Grace Bible Theological Seminary. He also earned a two-year technical degree focusing on piano and vocal performance from Olympic College (2006) and has received classical training in piano, clarinet, conducting and other interdisciplinary studies. He and his wife, Jessica, have six children; five boys (Seth, Kreg, Lewis, Theodor and Ethan) and one girl (Juliette).

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NIGHT IN CONCERT

Award winning Christian Recording Artists Blake & Jenna Bolerjack will be coming this season LIVE for a Christmas Concert at FBC Spur @ 7:00pm.  Their concert will feature well known Christmas favorites and new songs: a fun, eclectic Holiday mix of Gospel, Pop, Southern Gospel and Classical selections. Listen Online to Blake & Jenna’s Christmas album “Christmas In the Snow” streaming on Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, and Apple Music. Find Blake & Jenna online at: https://linktr.ee/blakeandjenna  or  blakeandjenna.com

 

 

 

 

download here

Isaiah’s Passion – part 3
Isaiah 61-62 (61:3-11)
November 3, 2024

We had a pretty extensive recap this morning, so let’s jump back in tonight.

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

• We know he was commissioned to preach.
• We know that it was the Holy Spirit who gave him the power to do so.

And we are talking about what he preached.

1) THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION (1)

(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;”

And we could throw the first line of verse 2 in with that too:
“To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD”

Isaiah went to sinners, showed them their sin,
And taught them were forgiveness and freedom was found.

2) THE GLORY OF SALVATION (2-11)

We saw this morning that he also came to proclaim:
“the day of vengeance of our God;”

It is the day in which God judges His enemies
And those who persecuted His people.

It is the day that the martyrs of Revelation 6 are crying out for:
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

They are longing for this glorious day
In which our God returns in power and justice to judge the nations.

And the interesting thing to us (as we said this morning)
Is that this day is said to come FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE.

Isaiah says that God commissioned him to preach that message of God’s vengeance “to comfort all who mourn,”

He goes on to say it is:
(3) “To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

And we learn something wonderful here about this coming day of glory.

It is:
A DAY OF COMFORT TO A MOURNING NATION (2-3)

So let’s think on that a little bit.

Who are these mourners and how are they comforted?

One set of mourners are those
Who have grieved over the fallen state of this world
And the sin curse upon it and the rejection of Christ.

LET ME GIVE YOU SOME PICTURES OF THEM.

The first picture of this grief is actually from God Himself.
Genesis 6:6 “The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

We read the same of the wilderness wanderings:
Psalms 78:40 “How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!”

God grieved and mourned over the sinful state of the world which He created.
• It was not pleasant to Him.
• It caused Him to mourn.

And such has also been the case of the redeemed throughout the ages
As they see the growing atrocities and iniquity spreading upon the globe.

Remember when Jacob’s daughter was raped:
Genesis 34:7 “Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.”

• It is a grief over a sinful behavior that ought not to be done and certainly ought not to be tolerated.

THIS GRIEF IS UNIQUE TO THE REDEEMED.
When Jerusalem was at her lowest point of idolatry:

Jeremiah said of them:
Jeremiah 8:12 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,” Says the LORD.?”

You had people in the city who weren’t even bothered by sin.

But the truly redeemed were, and God took notice of them:
Ezekiel 9:4 “The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

Peter spoke about why God rescued Lot out of the midst of Sodom:
2 Peter 2:7-8 “and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),”

• Lot was grieved by the iniquity of his city.

This is one type of mourning that is being mentioned here in Isaiah.
• These are people who do not love the world.
• These are people to whom the world has been crucified.
• They are not like Lot’s wife, looking back at the world she loved.
• They have left it, they hate it, they are grieved by it.

• The rampant immorality that is spreading.
• Sexual perversion.
• Half of the nation literally fighting for the right to kill the unborn
• Drag queens and the mutilation of children
• Drug trafficking
• Gambling and prostitution and pornography
• The gluttonous lifestyle that lives only for its own pleasures

OUR WORLD IS RIPE WITH THE STENCH OF WICKEDNESS.
And there are those in the midst
Who do not celebrate this decay…they mourn over it.

They grieve over what is celebrated.
They grieve over what is loved.

They are people like the Apostle Paul
Who saw the celebrated sin of Corinth and grieved over it.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

You understand the grief.

It is the mourning of the Apostle John in the Revelation when no one was initially found to open the scroll and redeem the earth.

Revelation 5:1-4 “I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;”

Commenting on that passage, W.A. Criswell said this:
“[John’s tears] represent the tears of all God’s people through all the centuries. Those tears of the Apostle John are the tears Adam and Eve, driven out of the Garden of Eden, as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their son, Abel. Those are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and slavery. They are the tears of God’s elect through the centuries as they cried unto heaven. They are the sobs and tears that have been wrung from the heart and soul of God’s people as they looked on their silent dead, as they stand beside their open graves, as they experience in the trials and sufferings of life, heartaches and disappointments indescribable. Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God’s beautiful creation; and this is the damnation of the hand of him who holds it, that usurper, that interloper, that intruder, that alien, that stranger, that dragon, that serpent, that Satan-devil. “And I wept audibly,” for the failure to find a Redeemer meant that this earth in its curse is consigned forever to death. It meant that death, sin, damnation and hell should reign forever in the hands of Satan.” (sited in: MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 1-11, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1999, pg. 165)

This is one type of mourner Isaiah mentions.

But for that person Isaiah has good news!
CHRIST IS COMING!

He is coming with “a day of vengeance”

He will crush the sinner, He will purify the world, He will reverse the curse,
And this kingdom will again be glorious!

BUT THAT IS NOT THE ONLY TYPE OF MOURNER BEING COMFORTED:

We are also talking about the recently saved Jew
Who is mourning over his rejection of Christ
And who longs to be forgiven.

Remember Zechariah?
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.

We are also talking about those Jews
Who mourned not only over the sin of the culture,
But they mourned over the sin of their own hearts.

We heard the promise from Jesus in the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Jesus referred to those who mourned over sin.
• They were poor in spirit with nothing to offer God,
• It was their sin that caused this
• So they mourned over it.

James told the unrepentant to do the same:
James 4:8-9 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.”

And Isaiah is announcing that those mourners too will be comforted.

(3) “To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

“a garland instead of ashes”

• “ashes” represent mourning, as in those who weep on the ash heap.
• “a garland” was a type of crown.

When Christ returns, all those who mourned over sin
And who were broken over the decay…
He will pick them up and grant them a crown.

They will no longer mourn, they will rejoice.

They will receive “the oil of gladness instead of mourning”
• This is their anointing.

They will receive “the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting”
• This will be their new occupation.

Instead of grieving and mourning and weeping and fainting,
They will be rising and praising all their days.

“So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD”

• They are immovable.
• They are steadfast.
• They are righteous and glorious.

All the chaff has been blown away,
Only they were planted and remain.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.”

Psalms 1:1-6 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”

That is what Isaiah sees too.
There is coming a day for all who hate sin and love righteousness
To be lifted up and exalted.

Isaiah 35:8-10 “A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

It is the glorious day of His salvation,
When even this fallen world is saved from the sin that is heavy upon it.

Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

And the result of that day will not be mourning, it will be praise.

Isaiah 12:1-6 “Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

THIS IS THE DAY THAT ISAIAH PREACHED.
It is the glorious day of salvation.

And it is all “that He may be glorified.”

Isaiah preached that day, and we are called to preach it too.
• We remind the world that her rightful King is coming.
• We remind the church that her rightful King is coming.

Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning!

That is part of Isaiah’s message.
A day of comfort to a mourning nation.

BUT THERE IS MORE:
It is more of that glorious restoration
When Israel finally repents and returns.

A DAY OF RESTORATION TO A PRIESTLY NATION (4-6)

The first thing you notice regarding these 3 verses
Is THE REBUILDING of the nation.

But you also notice that all of the rebuilding is being done by the mysterious people known as “They”

• “they will rebuild the ancient ruins”
• “they will raise up the former devastations”
• “they will repair the ruined cities”

This of course fits with what Isaiah already told us:
Isaiah 60:10 “Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you.”

It is foreigners who once desired the destruction of Israel,
Now coming to rebuild her.

Not only that, but they also begin to take care of all the shepherding and farming duties of the people of Israel.

(5) “Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.”

So basically you have foreigners coming in and strangers arriving
To take care of all the day to day tasks for the people of Israel.
• Here, let us rebuild your city…
• Here, let us rebuild your house…
• Here, let us watch your flocks…
• Here, let us work your vineyard…

The big question is, “WHY?”

(6) “But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast.”

They are going to take care of all the details of life
BECAUSE YOU’LL HAVE A BIGGER JOB.

“you will be called the priests of the LORD”

Do you remember when Israel came out of Egypt?

Exodus 19:3-6 “Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

They were always supposed to be “a kingdom of priests”.
• They were supposed to be the evangelists of the world.
• They were supposed to lead men to a right relationship with God.

The problem is that they did not.
• Jesus labeled them as lights under a bushel.
• Jesus labeled them as salt with no flavor.

And even those who did try to be salt and light
Were such a hypocritical and phony form of it that Jesus said
They made people twice as much a son of hell as themselves.

IN SHORT, THEY FAILED MISERABLY AT THEIR COMMISSION.

BUT NOT ON THIS DAY.
On this day, after true redemption through Christ,
Israel will once again be who they were intended to be.

Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Zechariah told us how 10 men will grab the garment of a Jew and say take us to your leader!

It is the coming glory of Israel’s salvation.

When Christ returns it will be:
• A day of comfort to a mourning nation.
• A day of restoration to a priestly nation.

A DAY OF INHERITANCE TO A PUNISHED NATION (7-8)

Here Isaiah speaks of the removal of shame
And the presence of glory and joy for the Israel
When they return to Christ.

(7) “Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.”

Both analogies are clear to us.

The “shame” is the shame of being deported from their land.
• It is the shame of having the glory of God depart from their temple.
• It is the shame associated with having murdered their own Messiah.

The “double portion” is also clear.
• We remember Joseph, the favored son receiving a double portion from Isaac as he divvied out the Promised Land to his sons.

AND THE MESSAGE HERE IS THAT

God will take this nation that has endured so much shame
While dwelling under God’s discipline, and will equal that in glory.

They have had more shame than any other nation
And they will have more glory than any other nation.

All this when Israel returns to Christ.
And Isaiah has been preaching this!

And then we come to verse 8,
Which is perhaps the most difficult of the chapter.

(8) “For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them.”

IT WOULD SEEM THAT
What God is reminding Israel of here is His faithfulness.

Because God loves justice,
And because He hates “robbery in the burnt offering”

He was faithful to subject them to open shame.
• And as long as they remain in rebellion, He “will faithfully give them their
recompense”

But He is also faithful to “make an everlasting covenant with them” that cannot be undone.

So it would seem that the reminder from Isaiah is that
You can trust the promise of God
To restore you fully to a double portion.

He was faithful to punish you as He said He would
And He will be faithful to restore you as He said He will.

All this for Israel when they return and trust in their Messiah.
• A day of comfort to a mourning nation
• A day of restoration to a priestly nation
• A day of inheritance to a punished nation

A DAY OF GLORY TO A RIDICULED NATION (9)

(9) “Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.”

This represents yet another truth
That Isaiah has been faithful to proclaim to the nation.

Upon their repentance and faith in Christ
Then God will bless them to a tremendous decree.

He will do so by
• Putting His glory back in their midst
• By putting glory upon them
• And it will be a glory so significant that they will be recognizable by it.

I think of Moses going to stand before the Lord and then having to put a veil on his face because the glory was so brilliant shining from him.

This will be Israel.
God will shine upon them.

It was the old famous salutation of Israel.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’”

Israel often quoted that blessing but never received it.
But on the day they return to Christ,
His glory will return and illumine them.

And again, this is what Isaiah has been preaching to the people.
This is what God commissioned him to proclaim.

And finally:
A DAY OF WORSHIP TO A RIGHTEOUS NATION (10-11)

(10-11) “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.”

This will be their song!
A song of rejoicing and exultation.

Why? “For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness”

Israel can’t sing it today,
But on the day they come to Christ they will.

The nations will marvel at the glory beaming from them
And Israel will say, “It is nothing less than the glory of Christ imputed to me!”

This is the glorious reality of imputed righteousness that we rejoice in.
One day Israel will too, and they will worship Christ forever
For what He has accomplished for them.

They will be like a decked out bridegroom!
“As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland”

They will be like a beautiful bride!
“And as a bride adorns herself with jewels”

And it will all be the beauty of Christ upon them.

And again Isaiah promises that God will cause it.
(11) “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.”

Does that sound familiar to you?
Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

It is Isaiah’s way of reminding that God fulfills His promises.
If He says you will be glorified, you will be glorified.

Now, all of this is what Isaiah has been commissioned to preach.

God sent him to a blind, deaf, and stubborn people
That he might proclaim to them
Both the gospel of salvation and the glory of salvation.

THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION IS THAT
• God forgives sinners.
• He heals them of their brokenness
• He frees them from their prison
• He lifts them from their affliction

And Isaiah preached that.

THE GLORY OF SALVATION IS THAT
• God glorifies sinners
• He imputes righteousness to them that is not their own
• He causes His glory to abound on them and from them
• He restores them as priests
• He grants them an inheritance
• He gives them comfort from their mourning

Isaiah preached that too.

And Isaiah was faithful even to a nation
That wanted nothing to do with his message.

THIS WAS HIS PASSION.
And we’ve got 66 chapters here to testify that
Isaiah never waivered from the message.

AND THIS IS AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO US CHURCH.
We have been commissioned to the world.

Might I also remind that we are commissioned also to Israel.
We have a very real interest in the salvation of Israel.

But like Isaiah, we also are commissioned
To go in the power of God’s Spirit
And to proclaim God’s glorious gospel of salvation.

• We don’t get distracted.
• We don’t get sidetracked.
• We don’t improve upon it.
• We just proclaim it over and over and over.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Romans 1:14-17 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

THAT IS OUR MESSAGE.
THAT IS OUR PASSION.

ONE DAY CHRIST WILL SAVE ISRAEL.
He will return to restore them and to restore this broken world.
• He will comfort those who mourn
• He will restore them as priests
• He will grant them the inheritance that has always eluded them
• He will restore the glory to them as a people
• He will cause them to worship Him as they have never done before

We look forward to that day!
We hasten it the same way Isaiah did,
By calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus.

ISAIAH DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO THAT CALLING.

What calling is your life devoted to?

This past weekend at Disciple Now we showed those young people the clip from John Piper’s sermon about not wasting their life.

I’m going to close tonight by showing it to you as well.
This is the passion we are called to have.

download here

Isaiah’s Passion – Part 2
Isaiah 61-62 (61:2)
November 3, 2024

It’s actually only been two weeks since we took a look at Isaiah,
But with D-Now thrown in last week it feels more like it’s been a month.

But this morning let’s dive back into this wonderful book.

Two Sunday Night’s ago we began a new sermon from Isaiah.
(We’re still in that evangelistic section of the end of his book)
• This new sermon of Isaiah comprises of chapters 61 and 62.

We called it “Isaiah’s Passion”

It is one of those wonderful texts in Scripture
That takes us deeper than just what the prophet is saying
And it shows us the heart of the man who is preaching.

It reminds me of Paul’s opening chapter to the Romans where we see so much of his heart.

Romans 1:9-14 “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”

You see there a man who is not only commissioned,
But who has a passion to fulfill his commission.

He hasn’t just been called to go and proclaim the gospel.
• He believes the gospel he has been called to proclaim
• And he loves the people he has been called to.

Those two very important realities must be present in any ministry.
If you don’t believe the gospel you preach
Or you don’t love the people you preach to,
You’re not going to be much of a preacher.

THE PROPHET’S PASSION MATTERS.
• Well that is what we are seeing here in Isaiah 61 & 62.
• It is a prophet sharing his heart for the gospel he is preaching
• And it is a prophet with a heart for the people he is preaching too.

Let’s jump back in like this:
TURN TO: ISAIAH 6

You remember the chapter, you remember the commissioning.
• We remember that Isaiah was in the temple.
• We remember that he entered as a hypocrite with unclean lips.
• And we remember that he encountered the Holy One.
• Isaiah was certain he would die, for he was not holy.
• But God in His great mercy atoned for Isaiah’s sin and redeemed him.

It was at that point that Isaiah heard God’s calling
For one to take the gospel to the people.

(READ 8-13)

• Isaiah was called to take the truth of the gospel and preach it to blind, deaf, and hard-hearted people.
• He was promised that if he would do that he would succeed only in proving how blind, deaf, and hard-hearted they were.
• He was told this ministry would never really see much fruit.

But he was promised that in the end a remnant would return.
There was a holy seed.

And what we have seen since that day is:
Isaiah faithfully doing what God commissioned him to do.

We have seen 60 chapters of Isaiah faithfully preaching the gospel
To the most blind, deaf, and stubborn people ever.

He has not relented.
He has not stopped.

• He was mocked in chapter 28 as a babbler.
• He was told in chapter 30 to shut up and stop prophesying.

But Isaiah continued.

You are familiar with Paul’s admonition to Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Isaiah had an “out of season” ministry and yet he preached.

We want to know WHY.
We want to know HOW.

So we are looking at the passion of Isaiah.
• Chapter 61 shows us the Prophet’s Commissioning
• Chapter 62 shows us the Prophet’s Commitment

So to jump back in to our study that we began a couple of weeks ago:

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

When we started this segment and we made just a couple simple observations about Isaiah’s calling.

These were just a couple of nuggets
That sort of sat right on top of the ground for easy picking.

ISAIAH’S COMMISSIONING WAS A PREACHING COMMISSIONING.

He was commissioned:
• “to bring good news to the afflicted”
• “to proclaim liberty to captives”
• (2) “to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD”
• (2) “and [to proclaim] the day of vengeance of our God.”

And I remind you again that this is the commissioning for all of us.
• There is nothing wrong with acts of kindness.
• There is nothing wrong with shining the light of good works.
• There is nothing wrong with feeding the poor.
• There is nothing wrong with clothing the naked.

In fact believers are commissioned to do those things as well,
But none of those things takes the place of the proclamation of truth.

God uses the preaching of the gospel
As the method for calling the elect to salvation.

If men don’t hear the gospel they cannot believe it.
If they do not believe it, they cannot call on Christ.

The calling is to preach.

ISAIAH’S ABILITY AND EAGERNESS CAME FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT.

(1) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.”

We said it several times last time that,
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A MISSIONARY.

John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”

We learn in John 16 even more of the work of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;”

John 16:13-14 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

The Holy Spirit is a missionary.
• So if you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit…
• If you are filled with the Holy Spirit…
• It only stands to reason that He will make a missionary out of you as well.

HE PROVIDES THE PASSION.

We learned also that He provides THE POWER.
The disciples were explicitly commanded by the Lord not to leave the city until they were “clothed with power from on high”

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

God commissions His people to proclaim the gospel and God sends His Spirit to give them the passion and the power to do it.

That’s just a little low-hanging fruit here from Isaiah 61.

BUT FROM THERE we got into the actual message from Isaiah as we looked at his commissioning.

And we see that in regard to preaching,
Isaiah was basically commissioned to preach two topics.

There would be two basic truths that Isaiah would proclaim over and over and over again to his blind, deaf, and stubborn audience.

1) THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION (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;”

We recognized that passage because
It is the one that Jesus quoted as a reference to Himself.

Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

And again we make the point that this final segment of Isaiah is not only Isaiah preaching to his people, but it is actually Jesus preaching to Israel.

He preached this truth to the Jews of His day and He is preaching it still.

And as we have learned recently in Isaiah,
God will never stop preaching this truth to His people until that remnant returns.

Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”

Christ preached this in His day and His children continue to preach it to Israel even to this day and even to the end.

And one day this very message of the gospel WILL SUCCEED
In calling that remnant home to faith in Christ.

ISAIAH KNEW THAT,
He preached it faithfully year after year after year,
Even without seeing any results.

Isaiah believed the gospel God commissioned him to preach,
And being clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit,

Isaiah faithfully took that gospel to the sinners who needed to hear it.
• He brought “good news to the afflicted”
• He bound up “the brokenhearted”
• He proclaimed “liberty to captives”
• He proclaimed “freedom to prisoners”

AND THIS MUST BE THE PASSION OF THE CHURCH.

Our world is corrupt and growing more corrupt by the day.
Our world is vile and sinful and evil and it loves it.

But the world is not benefited one bit by a church that hates them.

Our world needs a church that loves them
And loves them enough to tell them how to
Be restored, healed, forgiven, and set free from their sin.

ISAIAH NEVER STOPPED PREACHING THAT,
Two Sunday nights ago we looked at
Some of that preaching from earlier in the book.

And now THIS MORNING we move forward.
For the gospel of salvation
Is not the only thing Isaiah was commissioned to proclaim.

There was a second thing.
2) THE GLORY OF SALVATION (2-11)

That is to say:
Isaiah didn’t just tell them that
• The gospel could save them
• And deliver them
• And forgive them
• And set them free,

Isaiah actually showed them what such a deliverance would look like.

For sure he spent a great deal of time confronting and engaging sinners.

BUT HE ALSO SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME
EXPOUNDING THE GLORIES OF THE SALVATION THAT HE OFFERED.

Look at verses 2-3
(2-3) “To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

If you are thinking still about Jesus preaching this text in Nazareth
• You know that Jesus quoted the first line of verse 2
• And then stopped without quoting “And the day of vengeance of our God;”

Jesus quoted only that which spoke of His first coming.

The rest of that passage spoke of His second coming.
• That part had not yet been fulfilled.
• That part has still not been fulfilled.

But this is the other passion of Isaiah’s preaching.

He is telling Israel not only of the salvation of the gospel
But also of the glory that follows their believing it.

And we have talked about this so many times,
But it never hurts to show it again.

Listen again to Peter in Acts 3.

Acts 3:17-21 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

Peter reminded the Jews of exactly what Isaiah preached.
That when Israel repents and returns
It will trigger the return of Christ to set up His glorious kingdom.

And let’s talk about this a little more this morning,
If perhaps to gain some more understanding.

You know of those who label themselves as “Amillennialists”
Or “Post-Millennialists” or even “Preterists”.

Those are different views of the end times,
But one thing they all have in common is that
When taken to their logical end, THE CHURCH HAS REPLACED ISRAEL.

And in those views there is a tendency to spiritualize or allegorize much of the Scriptures, especially those of the Old Testament.

I could show you commentaries on Isaiah from men who take everything we’ve been studying about the coming glory of Israel and show you how theologians have replaced Israel with the church and made all of those promises sort of allegory to speak of the church age.

And they would say that everything Isaiah spoke of already happened.
It didn’t happen to Israel, like Isaiah said,
• But rather it happened to the church.

It didn’t’ happen literally like Isaiah said,
• But rather it happened sort of symbolically or spiritually or allegorically.

They would say that the church is now receiving all of the blessings which God promised to Israel in a spiritual sense.

And because there is an uptick on this discussion
I feel it very important to continue to clarify our position.

And look, we can read:
Ephesians 1:1-3 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

And we see there that the church has indeed been blessed
“with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

We can read:
2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

We can see that Christ is in fact the fulfillment of all the promises of God.

HOW DO WE HANDLE THOSE REALITIES?

Well, first of all, YES, the church has received every blessing.
• We are in Christ and He is the fulfillment, and in Him we get it all.

And YES, the blessings we have in Christ are spiritual blessings.

We don’t deny that we are receiving spiritual blessings.

For example:
Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

Charismatic circles would read that verse as proof that there is no reason for a believer to ever get sick.
• And look, Isaiah used the word for physical sickness and physical healing when
he spoke of the atonement.

So is that what we see now?
No, we don’t see that believers never get sick.

We didn’t even see that in the New Testament.
• Paul said he left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Paul said it was “bodily illness” that gave him the opportunity to first preach to
the Galatians (Galatians 4:13)

So was Isaiah lying when he said there was healing in the atonement?
Was Isaiah just speaking allegorically or symbolically?

NO, THAT IS COMING.

Right now we enjoy the spiritual blessing and reality of that.
• We have our souls healed.
• We have spiritual healing.

When Christ comes we will enjoy the physical reality of that.
• In that day there will be no more physical sickness.

Isaiah 35:3-5 “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. 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.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.”

There is coming a day when the blessing upon God’s people
Will not just be spiritual blessings,
But will be physical blessings as well.

Even the prosperity that the false proponents of the prosperity gospel
Are always talking about will be reality in that day.

Isaiah 60:6 “A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And will bear good news of the praises of the LORD.”

And I just show you that again because I want you to understand
1. What we presently enjoy in Christ through the gospel
2. And what we will one day enjoy in Christ when He comes.

ISAIAH SPOKE OF BOTH.

THERE IS A GOSPEL that gives
• Relief to the afflicted
• Healing to the brokenhearted
• Liberty to captives
• Freedom to prisoners.

BUT THERE IS ALSO A GLORY that will give
• A real and present and physical restoration to this world
• And to the people of God.

We currently enjoy one, we still anticipate the other.

ISAIAH PREACHED BOTH.
• Isaiah preached the first coming of Christ in the gospel.
• Isaiah preached the second coming of Christ in the glory.

We have seen the fulfillment of one,
We wait for the fulfillment of the second.

That gives us a blueprint of how we preach to the world.
We preach both as well.
• We preach that Christ came and that in His coming there is forgiveness and salvation.
• We preach that Christ will come again and in His coming there is restoration and glory.

I HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE.

Well, let’s look at this preaching of Isaiah.
He came to preach THE GLORY OF SALVATION

(2) “To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God;”

As we said, this verse marks the transition.
• Jesus quoted the first to speak of His day.
• He stopped before quoting the second half which speaks of His return.

Jesus first offered to sinners “the favorable year of the LORD”

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Christ did not come the first time in judgment.
He did not come to condemn sinners.

In fact, it was Christ who was condemned in His first coming.
• It was Christ who bore God’s wrath.
• It was Christ who became a curse.
• It was Christ who was scourged and rejected and crucified.

He came to offer grace and mercy and salvation to sinners.
He came to purchase salvation for sinners.

That was the gospel which Isaiah and Jesus both preached.

BUT ISAIAH DIDN’T STOP THERE.
He also preached THE GLORY OF THE COMING KINGDOM.

What he refers to as, “the day of vengeance of our God”

This is the day of His coming.
The day when Christ will return on a white horse
And destroy His enemies.

This glorious day of the kingdom
Begins as a day of reckoning for the enemies of God.

This day was preached often in the New Testament as well:

John the Baptist spoke of this day:
Matthew 3:12 “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.”

Jesus spoke of this day:
Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:49-50 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Matthew 24:30-31 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

The apostles spoke of this day:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”

Hebrews 12:25-26 “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.”

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

TURN TO: REVELATION 19:11-21

Those are all speaking about the same day.
It is “the day of vengeance of our God.”

It is the day when the Lord returns
To take vengeance on His enemies
AND on those who have persecuted His people.

We are unequivocally told in Romans:
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.”

THIS IS THAT DAY.

And let me just show you where Isaiah preached this.

In his very first sermon Isaiah said:
Isaiah 1:27-28 “Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end.”

In his second sermon:
Isaiah 2:12-17 “For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,”

These represent the false believers
• They infiltrated Israel from within and sought to lead her astray through influence.
• They are the tares among the wheat
• And the Lord will come and destroy them.

But not just them,
There are also those enemies who afflicted Israel from the outside.
• Enemies like Assyria and Babylon and God will destroy them too.
• You remember all of those oracles Isaiah referened.

Isaiah 10:12 “So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”

Isaiah 14:22-23 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity,” declares the LORD. “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.”

Isaiah 24:21-23 “So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.”

Now I know that is a lot of verses
To chew and swallow there in a really short time.

I simply want to show you that
The preaching of the glory of the return of Christ
Was just as important to Isaiah and Christ and the apostles
As preaching the gospel of salvation.

THEY DID BOTH.
This is the commission.

Isaiah was called to go out and preach to sinners
• The very message of salvation
• And that this message was not optional.

He was to show them
• The glory of the coming of the Lord.
• The danger in rejecting Christ.
• The danger in offending the Lord.

He was to show them that
• There is a coming day of reckoning for all those who refuse and reject God’s offer of salvation.
• And a day of reckoning for all those who afflict God’s people.

There is a coming “day of vengeance of our God”

And look, if you are one who has rejected Christ and you are walking in rebellion of His commands THIS TRUTH SHOULD TERRIFY YOU.

The return of Christ should be the most terrorizing truth in the world.
He will come and crush His enemies.

AND CERTAINLY THAT WAS PART OF ISAIAH’S MESSAGE.

However, that WASN’T the main thrust of his message.

For here in verse 2 we see precisely WHY Isaiah preached “the day of vengeance of our God;”

Do you see why?
(2b-3) “To comfort tall who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD that He may be glorified.”

The chief reason Isaiah preached about God’s “day of vengeance”
WAS NOT to terrify the wicked, thought it should have.

The chief reason Isaiah preached bout God’s “day of vengeance”
WAS to comfort God’s people.

There is a comfort that can only be found for God’s people
In the truths of the return of Christ.

Look at what Paul told the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”

And we will talk about this more tonight,
Tonight we will enjoy that Christ has promised to return and comfort
Those of us who grieve over our sin
And who grieve over the sin of our culture.

BUT THIS MORNING I simply want to encourage you church that we are messengers of both truths.

We are commissioned to go into the world and tell sinners
• How forgiveness can be had through the atoning death of Christ.
• That rejecting Christ will come with a day of reckoning.

We are commissioned to tell the afflicted of God’s people
• Not to fear, for their God is coming with vengeance to deliver them.

This is what Isaiah was sent to preach.
And because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, it was his passion to do so.