WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:06.719 Sacred Bible in your book of Isaiah, the book of Isaiah and chapter 60, chapter 60. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.400 You don't have a Bible, there's Bibles in the pew in front of you, and you can take one of those. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:18.239 And if you don't have a Bible, you can have one of those and take it with you home as our gift. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.120 But in those pew Bibles, around page 650, you'll get close to Isaiah chapter 60. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:29.920 I don't have the exact page in front of me, but right around page 650, you'll get there. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:44.079 In the 16th century, reformers in Geneva adopted a motto that summed up their hope and their conviction. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:52.159 And that motto in Latin, post tenebrus lux, means after darkness, light. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:59.520 And they carved those words on church walls and they carried those words about in their heart. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:10.159 Because they believed that after centuries of darkness, God had brought the dawn of the light of the gospel once again. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.519 After darkness, light. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:32.239 That he had once again pierced the world's darkness with the light of the gospel. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:43.920 But post-tenebris looks is not just a symbol for a past day, it's emblematic of what God does. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:51.519 The world might seem dark, but God always breaks through with light. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.640 And this is the story that we've just celebrated by way of Christmas. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:17.919 After centuries of waiting, after generations of longing, after the silence of exile and the shadow of sin, Christmas tells us that the light is broken in, that the word has become flesh, that Christ has been born, that the dawn has come. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:25.599 And the Christmas tells us that that light is not just a feeling, a religious sentiment. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.120 It's a person. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:42.960 That light is Christ, that eternal Son who stepped into our darkness and who took on our flesh, and that entered into our world, and that bore our night, so that the dawn of his light might shine in our soul. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:50.879 John put it this way in John chapter 1: In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:57.199 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:10.879 John is telling us that the light that Isaiah promised is not a distant glow, but a present reality, the very light of God Himself wrapped in human flesh. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:12.800 And so Christmas. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:25.120 Christmas is not just a story of a baby in a manger, it's a story of God breaking into our world, invading it, and doing something wonderful, astounding, miraculous. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:27.439 The incarnation. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:45.680 But the world still feels like it's in darkness. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.360 The headings that we read every day, they haven't changed. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:56.560 The griefs that we carried into December still lay heavily on our heart. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.560 They haven't magically lifted. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:04.960 The ache of our waiting, of our longings, of our wondering. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:07.439 They're still with us. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.599 So what does it mean to us now that the light has come? 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:17.839 Well, Isaiah helps us answer that question. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:25.600 In Isaiah chapter 60, he speaks to a people who know darkness, who have felt the weight of sin and exile. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:30.319 And he tells them that God is a God who keeps his promises. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.680 And we'll look at this in chapter 59 and verse 21. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:47.600 Isaiah spoke these words to Israel, a people in exile, a people who were, well, covenantly faithless and unfaithful and were bearing covenant judgment. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:58.319 But he lifts up their eyes and shows them something new that they are to arise because their light has come. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.519 And so Isaiah chapter 60, and we'll begin in verse 21 of Isaiah 59, so I mean that verse also. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:08.240 But Isaiah takes us on a journey. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:19.839 He takes us on a journey from the whispers of light into the dawning of the day, into the recognition that that sun that rose will never set. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.920 It'll be an eternal day, forever. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:27.279 Because Christmas is not the end of the story. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:29.680 It's actually just the beginning. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:43.279 The incarnation is the dawn of God's light, the beginning of the fulfillment of promises He made long ago, and the opening up of a new horizon that will never see the sun set on it. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.519 So let's follow this journey as we go through this passage. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:52.800 Let's see this never-ending light as it moves from promise to fulfillment. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:57.680 And let's understand what it means for us after Christmas. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:05.360 The first point I want us to understand is that God's promises, God's covenant-keeping promises, secure his people. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:12.399 And Isaiah lifts our eyes toward the dawning horizon of Isaiah 59, verse 21. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:18.879 And let's look at it with this question: Where does God begin this hope? 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:29.120 What is the first truth that God wants his people to understand when he does bring in the fact that the light is going to break through? 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.079 Verse 21 of Isaiah 59. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:54.480 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord, my spirit who is upon you, and my words that I've put in your mouth, they will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children's children from now on and forever, says the Lord. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:00.399 Now, as we've noticed over the past two weeks, Isaiah 59 is a heavy chapter. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.040 It's heavy with darkness. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:14.319 The truth is stumbled, justice is turned back, sin has separated people from God, and even those who stand from for righteousness are oppressed. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:21.360 Prophet in Isaiah 59 paints a picture of moral collapse. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.399 He paints a picture of spiritual helplessness. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:32.160 The people here are not just merely in darkness, they've caused the darkness. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.240 They've contributed more and more to that darkness. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:40.800 Their covenant breaking has brought them to this very point. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.839 And it feels hopeless. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:56.959 But right at the end of this chapter, right at the smack end of it, God speaks and he says, As for me, my covenant is with them. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.160 Isaiah doesn't start with us. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:04.879 He doesn't start with our response. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.560 He doesn't start with our repentance. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.160 He doesn't start with our faith. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:10.399 He doesn't start with us at all. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.680 He starts with God. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:30.319 And before he ever says, like we'll see in verse 1 of chapter 60, arise and shine, before he even gets to those words, he wants to anchor our hearts in God's faithfulness to his promises that makes rising possible. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:39.519 You see, the approaching dawn that we'll look at in verse 1 of chapter 60 is the result of chapter 59 and verse 21. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.799 God is faithful. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:55.759 Israel may be faithless, but God is here putting the stamp of his person on this verse, and he's saying, You may be faithless, but I am not. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:57.440 I am not. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:04.480 Their covenant breaking is not going to cancel God's covenant-keeping ability. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:15.679 His spirit, as he says here in verse 59 or 21, his spirit will remain, his word will endure, because his promises stand forever. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:30.080 And so he's telling us that this dawn that we're about to discover doesn't begin with human repentance and God's response to that, but with divine initiative and resolve. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:36.879 This light breaks in because God wants to bring light to undeserving people. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:43.759 Now Paul picks up this verse in Romans chapter 11, interestingly. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:47.679 This will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:50.639 He says it in chapter 11 and verse 27. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:10:02.480 And Paul here is reading Isaiah's promise with a Christ lens, with a focus on the gospel, that through Jesus and Jesus alone will their sins be removed. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:13.600 And it's no wonder then that we read in the book of Acts, chapter 2, that the Spirit is poured out, because his spirit will not depart, as it says here in Isaiah 59. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:19.840 Because the promise is not dependent on human performance, but on God's initiative. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.919 This promise keeping God is going to secure his people. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:38.799 So swimming was a 12 months out-of-the-year thing that we did. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:45.039 But I didn't just toss them into the water and say, you're on your own, start paddling. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:55.360 I held them, taught them how to move, and they were secure in that water, not because they were able, but because their dad held on to them. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:03.360 And here God is telling us that we are held by God's promise-keeping character. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.200 What is the significance of what Isaiah is whispering to us here? 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:28.000 Well, when you feel the weight of your inconsistencies, when your spiritual strength seems all withered, when your grip on God feels like it's nothing more than trembling weak hands, we know what that's like, right? 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:33.200 Your security doesn't rest on how strong you can grip God. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.559 It rests on God who keeps his promises. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:44.720 Because he says, As for me, my covenant will be with you. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:52.879 His spirit remains, his word is here, and his promises endure. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:12:07.039 And before he wants us to know these words of command, arise, shine, he wants us to have imprinted in our soul those words of his promise. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.720 So let's move to the second point. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:17.039 Because Isaiah wants us to see the light rising out of this verse. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:22.480 This light that's breaking the darkness, that's anchored in the God who keeps his promises. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:24.639 And that brings us to the second point. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:31.440 Not only does God's covenant-keeping promise secure his people, but God's light breaks the darkness. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:40.879 And if the first word of this dawn is, as for me, then the second word is light is come. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:52.960 And God will not only secure his people, but here we find that he awakens us, that he not only promises to act, but it that he breaks into the darkness with glory. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.600 Look at verses one and two. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.600 Arise, shine, why? 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:07.120 For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord shines over you. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:17.279 For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples, but the Lord will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:26.399 Now Israel had been living under the heavy shadow of sin and judgment. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:33.759 They knew the darkness of injustice and the darkness of idolatry and the darkness of exile. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.360 They knew because it was the darkness of their own sin. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:43.039 But Isaiah is now telling them arise and shine. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:44.960 Why? 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:53.200 Because God Himself is breaking in with His light and His glory. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:00.799 The command to Israel here is not to generate light, but to reflect it. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.399 Because it's God's light and God's glory. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.200 Because this is the dawn of God's activity. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.879 Now, what is he talking about here? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.440 Well, the New Testament makes it unmistakable what he's talking about. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:23.759 We looked at a passage uh just a few days ago, Christmas Eve service, Luke chapter 2. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:37.919 And there Micah helped us understand that there was this motif of baby, the anticipations of babies being born, until there was one baby born and no longer any more anticipations. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.559 Well, there's an older man who goes into the temple. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.240 His name is Simeon. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:54.799 And Simeon is guided by the Spirit, and in fact, in just a few short verses, three different times the Spirit is mentioned. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:59.519 Now, to me, that's whispers of Isaiah 59, 21 all over it. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.639 But he's told to go to the temple. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:03.600 Why? 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.919 So that he might see the Lord's salvation before he dies. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:23.120 Not knowing what to expect, other than he knew that God had promised him by the Spirit that before he expired and left this earth, he was going to see God's salvation. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.679 And so the Spirit says, Today's the day. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.440 Go to the temple. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:33.440 So he goes to the temple and he's look looking around. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.600 What is he going to see there? 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:42.240 Is he looking at the movement of the priest as they go about their priestly duties? 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.240 Does he look at the altar with the burning sacrifices? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.720 Does he wonder what might be moving behind the curtain? 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:55.039 What is he going to see when he goes to the temple? 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.080 He sees a baby. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:06.080 And in Luke chapter 2 and verse 28, it says that Simeon took up the baby Jesus in his arms. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:13.759 And he says, Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:16.320 As you promised. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.840 For my eyes have seen your salvation. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:34.960 And to make it an explicit connection to this passage, you have prepared it before the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory over your people Israel. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:37.840 Do you hear the light and glory statement there? 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.559 That's Isaiah 60. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:51.039 No wonder it said right after that that Jesus' father and mother were amazed at what he said about the child. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:52.960 Yeah. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.200 Yeah, they would be amazed. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:00.240 Matthew, that's Luke. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:07.119 Matthew quotes Isaiah when he says, The people who live in darkness have seen a great light. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.640 And he tells us exactly where that light shines. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.759 In Galilee, in the ministry of Jesus, in the true light of the world. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:25.200 And if two of the apostles who wrote the gospels isn't enough, let's offer a third. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:31.359 John says, the true light that gives light to everyone coming into the world. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:43.440 And the word became flesh, and the flesh and dwelt among us, and we observed his glory, the glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.599 Light and glory. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.000 Light and glory. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:52.400 Light and glory. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.599 Matthew and Luke and John. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:14.160 And Paul in Ephesians chapter five pulls this passage into the discussion of the church in Ephesus and says, Get up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:23.519 This light that Isaiah is prophesying, it's not just a metaphor. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.359 It's not just a mood. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.720 It's not just a spiritual feeling. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:37.680 I was lying in bed Christmas morning, and Royal put on this speech. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:42.160 And it, you know, and it talked about, oh, the wonder of Christmas togetherness. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.640 And oh, the delight of expressing giving and kindness. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.720 And I said, what kind of drivel are you listening to? 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:58.079 Well, it was a speech from one of the royal royal members in the UK. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.720 And I said, turn that thing off. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.640 That was horrible. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:09.519 Christmas is about Christ. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:15.039 Because the incarnation is the dawning. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.920 And the ministry of Jesus is the spreading of that dawn. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:25.119 And the resurrection is the blazing light of that dawn. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:29.759 And that light is covering his people right now. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.240 Arise, sleeper, and Christ will shine on you. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.880 Isaiah's vision begins with Israel, yes, but it doesn't end there. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:45.359 It moves toward the one who is himself the hope of Israel, Jesus. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:55.920 And then it extends into all of those within Jerusalem and Judea who would believe, and into Samaria, and then to the uttermost ends of the earth. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:59.039 But I'm getting ahead of myself. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:10.720 The believing people in Israel are the remnant and radiant people, and that remnant and radiant people become a global people. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:14.799 This is Isaiah's picture. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:25.440 Breaking the power of sin's darkness, dispelling despair, awakening people to new life. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:31.279 And this is why he tells us arise and shine. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:34.960 Now let me say that again strongly. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:37.359 This is not because you feel strong. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.359 This is not because you've got it all together. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:46.559 This is not because the world around you has somehow just gotten brighter. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.759 It's because your light has come. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:51.920 It's come to you. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:58.799 The command that Isaiah states and that Paul repeats in Ephesians is not a burden. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.200 Arise, shine, like the drill sergeant used to yell at me. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:05.680 He didn't say arise. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.480 My dad used to say, get up, sunshine. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.359 Yeah, well, the drill instructors never said sunshine. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:11.839 They just. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.519 And the sun was still an hour away before he told me to get up, too. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:19.119 Matter of fact. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:22.319 This is not a command that's barked out to us. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.839 It's an invitation. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.160 It's an invitation for us to actually step out of our old patterns of darkness. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:36.160 To step out of those things into the light of the presence of Christ Himself. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.559 To reflect His glory in a world that is still dark. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.119 To offer hope when the headlines don't have any. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.319 And to be joyful even when the circumstances are heavy. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.880 This is not shining because we have to try harder and do better. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:03.359 We shine because the one who is light is shining on us. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.400 And we're mirrors of that light. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:09.680 And that leads us to point three. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:14.720 And like I said, I was getting ahead of myself a little bit, but this passage is full. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:25.119 Not only is God's covenant-keeping promise secure his people, and not only does God's light break the darkness, but God's light draws the nations. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.680 And we'll see this in verses three to five. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:38.160 You see, the light that shines here, that shined in the temple, and Simeon saw it, it doesn't stop there. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:39.839 It spreads. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.920 And when it spreads, it draws and it gathers people. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:53.839 And the glory that is awakening Israel, that has come to them from God Himself, is going to be a magnet that draws the nations also. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.640 Now let me just pull out some of the phraseology of this term. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.400 Nations will come to your light, kings to your shining brightness. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:14.319 Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and rejoice, because the riches of the sea will become yours, and the wealth of the nations will come to you. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:17.119 Let me just move through the chapter a little bit. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.920 Caravans of camels will cover you. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:24.319 They will carry gold and frankincense and proclaim the praises of the Lord. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.640 Your city gates will always be open. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:32.400 They'll never be shut day or night, so that the wealth of the nations might be brought into you. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:33.440 Wow. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.880 What a magnificent scene that is. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:54.319 A picture of Zion radiant and bright, beaming the light of the glory of God, with nations streaming toward it. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:24:06.400 Isaiah sees kings and caravans and treasure and worship all moving from every corner of the globe into this place. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:13.359 And it's not because Israel's won a political victory. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.680 This is about God's missional triumph. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.799 Because the nations aren't here being conquered, they're being drawn. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.559 And they're not being subjugated, they're being summoned. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:33.119 And they're not bringing tribute to a king in just weakness. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:37.039 They're offering the praises of God in worship. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:42.640 This is the global horizon of this promise. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:51.519 Now, because it's Christmas, there's a verse in here that should sound very, very familiar to us. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.920 Take a look at verse six. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:58.960 Caravans of camels will cover your land. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:01.839 Young camels of Midian and Epha. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:03.920 All of them will come from Sheba. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:09.759 They will carry gold and frankincense and proclaim the praises of the Lord. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:16.400 Matthew picks up this thread and tells us of something that did happen. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.160 And he uses this verse with deliberate care. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:28.160 He tells us of the Magi, of these Gentiles from the east who arrive in Jerusalem. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:31.519 And they ask a very poignant question. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.359 Where is he who is born king of the Jews? 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:42.960 We saw his star at its rising, and we've come to worship him. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:54.400 Matthew's telling us that even at the birth of Jesus, the nations are starting to be drawn to a light. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:00.640 And Matthew describes their arrival, and he says, they opened up their treasures. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:03.680 And what did they give this child? 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:09.440 Frankincense and gold and myrrh. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:17.759 Myrrh, an ointment on dead bodies, as a whisper of what was going to happen to this child. 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.680 But Isaiah 60 and verse 6. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:31.599 Gold and frankincense carried by the Gentiles, offered in worship to the praises of the Lord. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:41.920 And when they don't go to the temple in Jerusalem, they go to Jesus, still held in the arms of his mother. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:45.440 And they say, This is where I need to worship, right here. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:47.200 I need to worship him. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:56.559 You see, Isaiah's vision is cosmic, and Matthew is just offering to us the first fruits of that. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:02.559 That the Magi are the down payment of the global worship that Isaiah foresees here. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.799 And the New Testament picks this up in vibrant ways. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:21.440 Isaiah seeing the stream, Matthew showing the first Gentiles kneeling before the child, the book of Acts showing us through the Spirit the formula of a multi-ethnic people of God brought to Christ through the gospel. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:31.119 The book of Revelation showing us that the nations are bringing their glory into the new Jerusalem. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:39.200 Now, with Isaiah 60 ringing in your our ears together, hear these words from Revelation chapter 21, verse 24. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:54.319 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never close, and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:04.000 He does all but scream out, pay attention to Isaiah 60, when you look at the new Jerusalem. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:10.640 Because Isaiah's vision doesn't fade, it intensifies. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:17.759 And what began in Bethlehem is culminated in the eternal city. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:24.880 And it's not just a place, it's a people. 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:32.079 The radiant Zion is the redeemed community of the people of God. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:46.720 And that's why in Revelation 21 and 22 it talks about the twelve foundations, which are the twelve tribes, and it talks about the twelve gates, which are the twelve apostles. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:47.680 Why? 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:57.279 Because the New Jerusalem is an emblem of the gathered people of God, Old and New Testament together. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:04.559 And they don't merely visit this place, their home there. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:13.920 And they don't merely bring their tribute, they are placed in as jewels in the temple itself. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:27.279 The vision speaks directly to us as much as it did to the people in exile who are being prophesied to by Isaiah. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.960 That the light that draws the nations is the light we reflect. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:41.839 That the glory that attracts the world is the glory of Christ, come for his people and all peoples. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:54.720 And that the mission of God is not an add-on, it is God's purposeful design to bring the radiance of the light and glory of God to all people. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.920 And what does that mean for us? 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.880 It means our witness matters. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.960 It means that our unity in Christ matters. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:10.160 It means our hospitality to undeserving people matters. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:16.079 It means how we work to the glory of God matters. 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:22.640 It means our submissiveness in the midst of an oppressive society matters. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:33.519 Because it is those things that God uses to bring, wait, what's happening here to people who don't know the light of Christ? 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:35.440 Why do people work like that? 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.640 Why do people love like that? 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:38.480 Why are people so welcoming like that? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:40.480 Why are people so generous like that? 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.640 Why are they so submissive like that? 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:43.440 Why? 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:44.400 Why? 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:48.720 Because the light of the glory of God has shined on us. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:50.079 That's why. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.000 And he means for that light to be global. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:57.920 Let's go to the fourth point. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:03.039 God's covenant-keeping promises secure his people. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.039 God's light breaks the darkness. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.160 God's light draws the nations, but God's light also vindicates his people. 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:11.680 Verse 14. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:18.559 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.839 Let me repeat that phrase because I'm going to pick it up again. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.000 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.720 All who revile you will fall face down at your feet. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:36.000 They will call you the city of the Lord, Zion, the Holy One of Israel. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:46.400 Instead of your being deserted and hated with no one passing through, I will make you an object of eternal pride, a joy from age to age. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:05.599 These are the very ones who, because of their sin, mind you, were mocked, opposed, and oppressed. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:17.920 But the Lord is saying there's coming a day when people will rec bow before you in recognition that God loves you. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:24.319 And it's not a picture of revenge, it's a picture of recognition. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:31.839 And Isaiah is not describing Israel that overcomes their enemies by way of force. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:38.799 He's describing God vindicating his people because it will be evident to everyone that God loves them. 00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:51.599 The vindication here is not about humiliation of others, it's about unveiling in the public God's verdict of these people. 00:32:53.279 --> 00:33:03.759 Now, this phrase I repeated because I wanted you to hear it and to hear it well, because it's used also in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 9. 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:19.440 And Jesus speaks to the church at Philadelphia, a small, weak, marginalized church that's filled with opposers and opposition, who is facing the onslaught of false doctrine. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:36.319 And in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 9, Jesus speaks to the church of Philadelphia, and he says to them, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you. 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:57.119 Isaiah is speaking to people in exile, a people who will be vindicated, a people who will be honored, a people in which it will be very apparent that God's favor and love rests on them. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:11.920 And Jesus speaks to a small but faithful church and tells them, I will make them come and bow down before you, and they will know that I love you. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:23.679 This is crucial for us because vindication is not about our achievement, it's about the gift of God. 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:39.920 And it's not a result of us pressing forward on cultural influences, it's a result of God of us submitting ourselves to the Lord and of his faithfulness to us through the gospel. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:48.400 And let me say this: this is not even necessarily a historical statement of vindication. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:55.280 It has in its ultimate view an eschatological and eternal expression. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:04.159 Paul uses it in 2 Thessalonians when he says that when the Lord comes, he will come to be glorified in his saints. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:11.920 You see, the world doesn't see the church's honor right at the moment. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:14.960 In fact, anything but. 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:13.679 They can't tell me anything, but I know you can. 00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:36.480 The church, marginalized, opposed, misunderstood, destined for glory. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:38.880 The patterns all over the place. 00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:51.280 Suffering now, glory later, rejection now, honor later, misunderstanding now, God's vindication later. 00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:57.119 And Jesus in Revelation 3:9 confirms it. 00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:03.440 I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:11.199 Now, this is significant for us because we're right in the middle of that suffering phase of this. 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:16.000 We're right in the middle of those quiet places of discouragement. 00:37:16.719 --> 00:37:22.559 We're right in the middle of those places where we're misunderstood for our belief in Christ. 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:30.880 We're right in the middle of those places where we're overlooked and we're dismissed and perhaps even mocked because we say Jesus is Lord. 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:36.800 I spent some time with brothers in Russia. 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:44.719 A lot of them didn't know their fathers because their fathers had been exiled to Siberia because of their faith in Christ. 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:52.079 Men who were brilliant minds, unable to go to college because they wouldn't say communism is Lord. 00:37:54.480 --> 00:38:05.599 And so they had to suffer with menial work when they could have been some of the brightest lights of engineering or medicine or what have you. 00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:10.960 Some of us still feel the weight of that. 00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:18.159 We feel the weight of living faithfully in a world that doesn't regard belief in Christ at all. 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:24.880 That doesn't applaud faithfulness, but rather mocks it and scorns it and holds it in derision. 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:30.480 And Isaiah's promise is not that you're going to win every argument. 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.760 It's not that the culture is finally going to go, oh, we understand now. 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:38.960 Boy, that was really supposed to be helpful to us. 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:47.760 It's not that your faithfulness will be recognized now, but it will be. 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:54.000 And they will know, as Christ said, that he has loved us. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:58.079 They will know. 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:05.840 And that verdict, that verdict comes from God Himself. 00:39:06.239 --> 00:39:10.079 He comes from the resurrected Christ Himself. 00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:14.639 That comes from the Lord of glory himself. 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:22.320 So why would you pander to get your boss's approval when Jesus has put his stamp of approval on you? 00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:23.199 Right? 00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:34.480 Why would you think I need to look better in the eyes of my neighbor when God Himself says they will know that I've loved you? 00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:47.199 You see, you don't need to go clamoring for identity and acceptance and significance because God says it's all found in Him. 00:39:47.840 --> 00:39:49.199 Every bit of it. 00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:57.199 The world will not see the beauty of God's people until that day in which it's revealed. 00:39:57.519 --> 00:39:59.039 But that day's coming. 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:02.079 One last point. 00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:12.000 This passage gripped my heart and it melted my soul as I spent all week, last week and this week, with it. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:24.079 God's covenant securing his people, God's light breaking the darkness, God dawning that light upon the nations, and God vindicating his people has brought one more place. 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:28.000 God's light is everlasting. 00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:30.400 God's light is everlasting. 00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:33.840 Look at verse 19 to the end. 00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:40.960 The sun will no longer be your light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you. 00:40:41.199 --> 00:40:45.920 The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor. 00:40:46.239 --> 00:41:03.039 Your sun will no longer set and your moon will not fade, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will be over, and all your people will be righteous, and you will possess the land forever. 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:04.960 Wow. 00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:15.119 Isaiah is lifting our eyes to the furthest horizon that human ability can take in. 00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:27.119 He is reaching us beyond our day upon the close mountains in the foreground to the very edges of our ability to capture. 00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:32.880 And he's saying that the light that began in Bethlehem doesn't fade. 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:35.679 It will never end. 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.119 It grows brighter and brighter. 00:41:39.920 --> 00:41:50.800 And so Isaiah wants us to see not only what God has done at Christmas, what God is doing and is bringing the light to the nations, but where God is headed with all of this. 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:56.079 And he closes the vision with words that go beyond time. 00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:01.360 This is the crescendo of Isaiah's vision. 00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:07.599 Isaiah has spoken of covenant, of dawn, of nations, of vindication. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:16.320 But now he says, look beyond yourself to the furthest horizons that you can capture. 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:20.559 And when you look there, what will you see? 00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:28.000 No more sun, no more moon, no more morning, no more night. 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:33.199 Because God Himself will be your everlasting light. 00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:41.519 And Isaiah's vision is cosmic, it's eternal, and it is unshakable in its truth. 00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:50.559 And this isn't poetic exaggeration, because it is the true and certain future of God's people. 00:42:52.320 --> 00:43:01.280 Again, the New Testament seizes this language and uses it to describe the final hope of God's people. 00:43:02.159 --> 00:43:11.840 Now, with your mind very firmly set in verse 19 and 20, I want to read to you Revelation 21 and verse 23. 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:16.320 Keep looking at Isaiah 16, verses 19 and 20. 00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.679 But let me read to you some verses out of Revelation. 00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:30.239 The sun does not, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the lamb. 00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:33.280 Night will be no more. 00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:43.360 People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. 00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.480 Because boy does he use it. 00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:01.599 Because he's deliberately echoing Isaiah 60 here. 00:44:02.719 --> 00:44:07.920 Because the everlasting light that Isaiah foresaw, he is saying is fulfilled in the Lamb. 00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:08.960 The Lamb. 00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:13.119 He's the lamp, he's the source of that light. 00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:20.320 The glory that shone in Bethlehem is going to shine forever in the eternal day, in God's people. 00:44:21.039 --> 00:44:25.519 The dawn of Christmas is the everlasting light of the new creation. 00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:30.239 It's not just about illumination, it's about righteousness. 00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:32.639 All your people will be righteous. 00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:41.119 It's no wonder, John said, there will be no one who lies, no one who is fearful who will be able to enter in. 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:41.599 Why? 00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:45.280 Because all of the people inside of that city are going to be righteous people. 00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:46.800