WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:03.200 Turn to Isaiah chapter 66. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:09.359 The very last chapter of the book of Isaiah. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:14.320 You can find that on page 661 if you're using the Pew Bible this morning. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.960 We're going to be going through this final chapter today. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.120 It's actually not going to be the last message in our Isaiah series. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:31.280 Next week, we're going to be looking back over the book with one final summary message. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.880 But this is our focus for today, Isaiah chapter 66. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.759 I'll read beginning at verse 1 down through verse 24. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:44.159 This is God's word. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:49.039 This is what the Lord says. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.520 And where would my resting place be? 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.079 My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:06.319 This is the Lord's declaration. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.439 I will look favorably on this kind of person. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:15.120 One who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.200 One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.799 One person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog's neck. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.719 One person offers a grain offering, another offers pig's blood. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.560 One person offers incense, another praises an idol. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:36.239 All these have chosen their ways and delight in their abhorrent practices. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:39.840 So I will choose their punishment. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:46.000 And I will bring on them what they dread, because I called and no one answered. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:49.439 I spoke and they did not listen. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.439 They did what was evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.519 You who tremble at his word, hear the word of the Lord. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:07.599 Your brothers who hate and exclude you for my name's sake have said, Let the Lord be glorified so that we can see your joy, but they will be put to shame. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:15.199 A sound of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord paying back his enemies what they deserve. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.840 Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.400 Before she was in pain, she delivered a boy. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:24.479 Who has heard of such a thing? 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.400 Who has seen such things? 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.400 Can a land be born in one day or a nation be delivered in an instant? 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.639 Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to sons. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.479 Will I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it? 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:39.199 says the Lord? 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.639 Or will I who deliver close the womb? 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:43.599 says your God. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:48.800 Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:03:00.080 Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her, so that you may nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breast and drink deeply, and delight yourself from her glorious breasts. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:08.639 For this is what the Lord says I will make peace flow to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flood. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:13.280 You will nurse and be carried on her hip and bounced on her lap. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:19.280 As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:25.120 You will see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:31.439 Then the Lord's power will be revealed to his servants, but he will show his wrath against his enemies. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.360 Look, the Lord will come with fire. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.159 His chariots are like the whirlwind to execute his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.439 For the Lord will execute judgment on all humanity with his fiery sword, and many will be slain by the Lord. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:04:00.639 Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their leader, eating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.800 This is the Lord's declaration. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:10.479 Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:12.960 They will come and see my glory. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:32.480 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, Lud, who are archers, Tubal, Javed, and the coasts and islands far away, who have not heard about me or seen my glory, and they will proclaim my glory among the nations. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:44.480 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots and litters on mules and camels to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:53.839 Just as the Israelites bring an offering and a clean vessel to the house of the Lord, I will also take some of them as priests and Levites, says the Lord. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:03.439 For, just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will remain before me, this is the Lord's declaration. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.639 So your offspring and your name will remain. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:15.040 All humanity will come to worship me from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, says the Lord. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.439 As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:30.480 For their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all humanity. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:32.720 This is God's word. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:34.720 Briefly, let's pray again. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.279 Lord, there's so much here. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:43.120 And we can say, who is sufficient to take all these things in? 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.759 Who is sufficient to deliver your words? 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.000 But we want to hear from you. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:53.680 So bring the clarity of your Holy Spirit to our hearts, even now. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.519 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.319 Amen. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:05.600 In the late 1800s, a woman named Anne Cousin wrote a poem called The Sands of Time Are Sinking. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.879 It's a song that's still sung today. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:21.839 And verse 4 in our hymnals begins this way with mercy and with judgment, my web of time he wove. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:40.160 That that verse is a personal testimony, but it pictures something of the way the Lord seems to work throughout his word, even throughout history, with mercy and with judgment. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:50.160 And you see those two themes of mercy and judgment woven in and out of our chapter here in Isaiah 66. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.040 Verse number 12. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.560 I will make peace flow to her like a river. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:06:59.439 Mercy. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.480 Verse 20, they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:05.279 Mercy. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:06.399 Verse 22. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:12.480 There's mercy. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.439 And there's also judgment. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.319 Verse 4. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.040 I will choose their punishment. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:25.519 Verse 6, the voice of the Lord paying back his enemies what they deserve. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:36.560 Verse 15 and 16 Look, the Lord will come with fire, his chariots are like the whirlwind to execute his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:45.759 For the Lord will execute judgment on all humanity with his fiery sword, and many will be slain by the Lord. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:47.600 Judgment. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.439 We often are tempted to put it together like this. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.360 Well, mercy for me, judgment for everyone else. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:10.319 Mercy for the people that I like, judgment for everyone that I don't like. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.680 But here in our text, Isaiah is inspired by God. 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:25.439 So God is the one who is placing mercy and judgment side by side, weaving them in and out throughout our passage. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:27.680 Why does he do that? 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:37.200 God places mercy and judgment side by side to showcase his glory. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:48.159 God places mercy and judgment side by side to showcase his glory. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:57.120 As we consider this passage today, we're going to look at three threads of mercy and judgment. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.720 And I'll give those to you at the outset and then we'll work through these. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:11.840 Number one, mercy comes to those who receive God's word, but judgment comes to those who reject God's word. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:23.519 Number two, second thread, mercy brings new creation, but judgment brings desolation. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:30.000 And then number three, we'll spend the least time on this, but it's here in the text. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:36.399 Mercy endures and judgment endures. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.360 First thread. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.600 This is the Lord's declaration. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:10:02.639 I will look favorably on this kind of person, one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:09.679 God's going to look favorably, he's going to show mercy on people who tremble at his word, those who receive his word. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:16.320 And if we're going to rightly tremble at his word, we need to understand who is speaking. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:25.200 At the beginning of verse 2, God says, My hand made all these things. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:26.879 What things? 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:27.919 Go back to verse 1. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.639 Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.120 So in the beginning, God made heaven and earth. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:37.039 He uses this image here. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:01.679 Do you see how receiving God's word relates to God as the creator of heaven and earth? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.960 God's word is so powerful, he spoke galaxies into existence. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:16.799 God is so powerful, just through his mere word, species came into being. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:22.320 Flowers were seeded in distant unknown meadows. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.039 That's how powerful God's word is. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:36.399 Who are we to think we can stand before God and take his word and say, I'll leave it or take it as I want to? 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.360 That's not the way to respond to the God who made heaven and earth. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.279 Job had to learn this lesson. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.720 He had some questions about his life circumstances. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:51.120 And when God comes to Job, God says, Have you considered creation? 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:52.799 Look at it carefully. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:55.360 And Job says, You're right. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.759 I need to be quiet before your word. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:11:59.600 It's too wonderful for me. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:06.399 So the God who speaks is a God of majesty, and he's a God who desires worship. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.879 In verse 1, God asks two questions. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.919 Where could you possibly build a house for me? 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.759 And where would my resting place be? 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:25.519 Those are two questions that Solomon also asks when he first dedicates the temple. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:36.559 Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you much less this temple I've built. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:50.879 So God had given these elaborate instructions for the tabernacle, then for the temple, and God repeats here before Isaiah, yes, I had those instructions, but ultimately, where is the house of my resting place? 00:12:52.000 --> 00:13:00.639 God gave those instructions in part because he wanted people to see their need to listen to him and do what he said. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.039 Israel couldn't just worship in their own way at their own time. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:10.799 They had to take their worship cues from the living God, and he was kind to give them instructions. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:17.039 Mercy comes to those who receive God's word. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.879 But judgment comes to those who reject God's word. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:22.240 Look at verse 4. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:25.279 God called. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.639 He quotes the first two verses from Isaiah. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:04.639 Why does he do that? 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:16.559 Well, he's telling the listeners that they're part of a pattern of people who have rejected God's servants who brought God's word. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:24.159 They persecuted the prophets, they killed the Lord Jesus, now they're persecuting him. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:39.440 They've tried to worship in their own way, they've rejected God, and now the very God of heaven and earth that they're thinking they have the temple on their side, they don't have God on their side. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:42.480 They're guilty, and judgment is coming on them. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:44.480 That's how he uses the passage here. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:51.600 A key arena for judgment in our passage is the context of worship. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:57.519 That's a first and basic place where people receive God's word or reject his word. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.759 So look again at verse number three. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.600 As you read that verse, you might be a little confused. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.600 It's not really primarily about cruelty to animals. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.039 It's about how the people come before God and worship. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:24.639 Yes, they're coming, but they're coming either hypocritically, doing evil things throughout the week, or they're coming with the kinds of offerings God never asked for or intended. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.759 They're delighting in idols more than the living God. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:30.480 Let's think about it this way. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.759 Last weekend was Valentine's Day weekend. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.480 Let's say that on Valentine's Day night, I get a call. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.200 And in this call, I hear that Mrs. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:44.480 Jones is in the hospital. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:48.080 So I go over to the hospital, I find Mr. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:49.039 Jones in the waiting room. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:50.159 I say, What happened? 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:52.320 Well, I guess she had an allergic reaction. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:54.399 I said, Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.279 God, they're taking care of what tell me more. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:58.320 And Mr. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.360 Jones says, Well, I wanted to cook Valentine's Day dinner for my wife. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:04.480 That's great. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:05.200 That's nice. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.840 He said, I wanted to make shrimp scampi, but I I guess she's allergic, you know. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.480 I said, Oh no, and you you didn't know? 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.080 He said, Oh, I knew. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.320 I said, now, now, now wait a minute here. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.799 You this is this is your covenant partner. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.120 This is the most precious person in the world, all of you. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.639 That you you forgot that she's allergic to shellfish? 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:32.320 And he said, Well, no, I didn't forget. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.399 I just I really wanted I really wanted shrimp, and I thought it would be okay. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:38.799 What has Mr. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:40.639 Jones revealed about himself? 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:45.679 He's revealed that his wife actually isn't the most important person in his life. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:50.799 He's revealed that the most important person in his life is looking at it in the mirror. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.639 That's who the most important person is. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:59.679 How much greater when we come to God or come before God and think, I'll just do it my way. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:05.839 Never mind what God's actual character and nature demands and expects of me. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:16.880 When we worship not valuing God's words, what we're showing is that we don't value God Himself. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.880 And that brings his judgment. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.000 So, how do we approach the Bible? 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.359 We're called to tremble at his word. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.640 This word here, tremble in verse 2, it's used in many other places. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:33.839 I'll give you a few examples. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.480 Psalm 97, verse 4, his lightning lights up the world, the earth sees and trembles. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.200 Psalm 96, verse 9, worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.640 Let the whole earth tremble before him. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:51.039 Hosea 11, 10. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.000 They will follow the Lord, he will roar like a lion. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:59.519 When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:10.640 When we rightly see God high and lifted up, like Isaiah in chapter 6, we'll be humble and submissive before him. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.440 We will tremble at his word. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:22.160 And God puts both of these things next to each other in our passage. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:28.799 Mercy for those who receive God's word, judgment for those who reject God's word. 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.680 Now, why am I using the word mercy here? 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:46.000 You know, the people that listen and respond get the Lord's gaze of favor. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.240 Those who reject get judgment. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.079 That's just what they deserve. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.279 Where's the mercy coming? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:19:02.880 Well, when we really recognize God and His Word in ourselves, part of the humility of the contrite heart is seeing I don't deserve anything. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.920 I I haven't trembled at God's word to the extent that I should. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.400 I'm I'm at heart still an unprofitable servant. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.960 Everything I have is God's mercy. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.640 Nothing is actually deserved. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:22.960 Now, now before I move on to the next thread, that's thread number one. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.759 Before I move on, I want to encourage us. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:28.880 This is such a delight for me to come here. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:36.400 It's not a perfect church, but when I come week after week, I see people who are trembling at God's word, who are eager to receive it. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:37.519 Praise God for that. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.799 I see people thinking about worship. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:47.839 I don't see people who are living in hypocrisy throughout the week and then coming to raise their hands to God as though everything is alright. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.799 I see a consistency and a sincerity throughout the week. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.440 You're eager to look at God's word even with one another. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:00.799 I see people eager to hear it, to pray, to sing songs, to love one another and hug one another. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.079 Keep doing that. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:07.200 Don't presume on God's mercy, but continue in His mercy as we love God's word together. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:21.759 Second thread mercy brings new creation, but judgment brings desolation. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:30.880 Verse number one again, heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:41.680 Then look down to verse 22, just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will remain before me. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:48.559 So at the very beginning of the passage and at the end of the passage is heaven and earth. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.160 You see it both places. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.240 God's gonna make all things new. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:01.839 This is continuing a theme we looked at last week from chapter 65, where God says, I will make a new heavens and a new earth. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.359 You see that same idea here in our passage. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.279 God's going to restore what was lost. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:15.359 He's gonna look over this fallen world and once again remake this fallen world. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:16.720 That is mercy. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:25.920 If you look at verse number 12, God's wrath in Scripture is often compared to a flood. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:33.759 But in verse number 12, it's the wealth of the nations entering this new Jerusalem like a flood. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:36.000 That's that's mercy. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:46.480 And we need to understand that this new creation, it's a place of beauty, it's a place of worship, it's a place of beautiful worship. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:57.119 This language of a house and a resting place points us back to the tabernacle and temple, the central place of Israel's worship. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.880 God resting, you've got to think of the very first days of creation. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.759 When God on the seventh day rested from all of his labor. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:15.680 He took time, as it were, to step back and gaze over his work and rejoice in his work. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:19.039 Isaiah's doing something here. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:21.039 We've got to think carefully about this. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.599 He's comparing the temple to the original creation. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:35.119 He's saying, yes, in one sense, God is symbolically enthroned in the temple over that Ark of the Covenant. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:43.599 But really, God from the very beginning was enthroned over the whole universe. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:49.680 God wanted all of creation to be a kind of worshiping temple. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:57.680 There's a lot of parallels we won't trace out here, but listen to Psalm 132, verses 7 to 9. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.000 Let's go to his dwelling place. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.079 Let's worship at his footstool. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:15.279 Resting, footstool, temple imagery, matching creation imagery. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:26.640 So in God's mercy, the new creation is going to be a place not just of beauty, but of perfect worship. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:39.519 Another part of God's mercy in this new creation is a new creation that includes the mercy of one unified family of God. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.880 God's instructions at the very beginning be fruitful and multiply. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:51.440 And then the promise to Abraham, I'm going to make you a great nation, but in you all nations will be blessed. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.400 It's not just one family or one little group. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:59.839 It's people from every tribe and tongue coming together in praise of the Lord. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.920 And you see it here in verse number 8. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:11.680 As soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her sons. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:18.079 There's going to be the kind of glorious multiplication that God desired all the way from the beginning. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.880 He's going to make it happen in his tender mercy. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.759 In verse 13, he compares himself to a comforting mother. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:35.839 In Galatians chapter 4, Paul contrasts the earthly Jerusalem, which is in bondage to works. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:40.640 He contrasts that with the heavenly Jerusalem that embraces the gospel message. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.079 Listen to what he says. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:24.319 Of a barren woman having offspring, and even that offspring going out beyond Israel to include surrounding nations and peoples. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:37.440 Here in our passage in Isaiah 66, that unified family of God that's part of his new creation design and goal that spills out to encompass many peoples. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:38.880 Verse 18. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:39.680 But God has to be saying something even more than that here. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.400 He doesn't just say some nations, he says all nations. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.799 He doesn't just just say certain places. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.319 How is it that there's not even just Christians here? 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:14.240 There's churches here. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.160 We are 5,000 miles away from Jerusalem. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:25.599 I mean, we human nature, we tend to think of ourselves as the center of the world, and all the other places are the distant places. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.519 From Isaiah's perspective, we're the distant places. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:35.440 The gospel has come here, and God is worshipped and celebrated here. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:40.559 Even here in this very room, we see people from different tribes and tongues and nations and people. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.079 This is all God's mercy. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.000 It's his doing and it's glorious. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:52.400 In verse number 19, Isaiah speaks of this sign. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:28:02.000 He doesn't give a lot of detail, but a number of other commentators think of this sign as pointing ultimately to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:04.559 And Christ himself did say, You want a sign? 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:05.680 Here's your sign. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:13.839 The Son of Man will be buried in the earth for three days and three nights after his crucifixion, coming out again. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:18.720 Verse 19 speaks of survivors. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:26.640 One person says, I will send, which you see there in that verse, send the survivors. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:34.240 I will send is the Old Testament's expression of the New Testament missionary mandate. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:43.920 Certainly, God has called the remnant of his people to go out with his good news and his message everywhere we can. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:29:05.920 But whether or not you could view some of those things in verse 19 as more immediate to Isaiah's own day, or something happening right now in our own day, or something still yet future, we can still see in the beginning of verse 20 that God's reiterating his purpose to bring brothers from all the nations. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:10.480 He's got a global purpose, just like he's had from the very beginning. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:15.519 Helps to reiterate this. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:34.160 Each one was born there. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.000 Born in Zion. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:36.720 No, they weren't. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:45.680 Well, it's God's purpose and intention to bring people from all kinds of places and backgrounds to his own glorious family. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:48.240 Ephesians 3, verse 6. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:56.240 The Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, partners in the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:04.799 So there's this glorious, bright thread that mercy brings new creation. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:13.039 But there's another necessary, dark part of this thread that God's judgment brings desolation. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.920 Verse 14. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:23.119 Look at the end of verse 14. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.920 He will show his wrath against his enemies. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:32.319 And then the next two verses give us more explanation of that. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:33.200 Verse 15. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.079 The Lord will come with fire. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:54.240 His chariots are like the whirlwind to execute his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire, for the Lord will execute judgment on all humanity with his fiery sword, and many will be slain by the Lord. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:30:59.839 What do whirlwinds do? 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:02.480 They destroy things. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.240 What does fire do? 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:05.839 It burns things up. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:07.519 What do swords do? 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:10.000 They cut people into pieces. 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:14.799 This is the undoing of God's creation. 00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:17.519 This is desolation and chaos. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:22.160 And we've seen this kind of desolation described already in Isaiah. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.720 Isaiah 34, listen to verse 4. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:33.039 All the stars in the sky will dissolve, the sky will roll up like a scroll, and its stars will all wither as leaves on the vine. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:41.519 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, it will then come down on Edom and on the people I have set apart for destruction. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:56.720 Here in Isaiah 66, the imagery that Isaiah gives us matches the imagery of God's original judgment in the Garden of Eden. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:04.400 Remember, God expels Adam and Eve, and he places the cherubim to guard the way. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:15.599 And it it says that the cherubim are given a flaming, whirling sword. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:18.079 Genesis 324. 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.400 What do we find here in Isaiah 66, verses 15 and 16? 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:26.079 Whirlwind, flames, and a sword. 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:48.480 Part of what that shows us is the deepest form of God's judgment, the deepest experience of God's judgment, is alienation from God Himself, just like Adam and Eve had back in the garden when the angel blocked the way. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.119 Yes, God's judgment includes physical pain. 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:55.519 Yes, it includes isolation. 00:32:56.079 --> 00:33:06.960 But the most heartbreaking part of God's judgment for those who will experience it is they're cut off from knowing and enjoying the greatest of all beings. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:15.920 So again, we need to keep in this chapter these threads of mercy and judgment side by side. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:24.240 We can't improve on what He's given us here. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:30.640 Thread number one, mercy comes to those who receive God's word, judgment comes to those who reject God's word. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:36.799 And then thread number two, we just looked at mercy brings new creation, but judgment brings desolation. 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:44.640 And then one final thread this morning: mercy endures, and judgment endures. 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:52.400 We've been comparing and contrasting mercy and judgment here in this particular way, they run together. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:53.759 They both are enduring. 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:55.920 Verse 22. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:06.160 Just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make will remain before me. 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:07.839 This is the Lord's declaration. 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:11.519 So your offspring and your name will remain. 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:19.119 All humanity will come to worship me from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, says the Lord. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:26.800 So if you're thinking today, God is merciful and He's shown mercy, and will it last? 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:32.079 Isaiah's answer is a resounding yes. 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:34.559 Yes, it will last. 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:48.719 And God's mercy takes us to a place that's beyond even what Adam and Eve had in the garden, because in God's mercy, there will one day come a time when we're never able to sin ever again. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:52.559 There's no threat of a fall or God's judgment. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:59.199 For those who know the Lord, for those who have embraced Jesus Christ, his mercy endures forever. 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:11.440 The enduring nature of heaven and earth, God promised to Noah, I'm not going to destroy the earth again with a flood. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:12.960 He hasn't done that. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:25.280 He has said he'll bring fire on the earth, but he's going to once more shake all things in order that what can't be shaken would remain. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:32.480 The new heaven and new earth will endure, and God's people who enjoy this new creation will endure forever. 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:40.880 Think about the glory of unending worship. 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:48.639 I take it that we will never get a sore throat throughout all the worship of eternity. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:53.840 We'll never have to stop singing and take a drink of water. 00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:56.559 Maybe we will, I don't know, but you get the point. 00:35:57.440 --> 00:36:00.159 Worship is going to be perfected in that new creation. 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:10.079 Now, I know some of you believe verse 23 refers to a temporary time period of a thousand years in the future. 00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:13.599 So let everyone be fully persuaded in their own mind. 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:27.039 If that does happen, I think we can agree that that interlude would just be a precursor for an eternity of future worship. 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:31.519 What's a few hundred years compared to forever? 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:39.360 And that's what God is pushing us towards and setting up today is there's going to be mercy that endures forever and forever and forever. 00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:48.320 And I think we can also agree that in some sense this this enduring mercy has begun now. 00:36:52.480 --> 00:37:00.960 You yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house are being built. 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:03.039 It's God's mercy that built us together. 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:13.039 But the way Peter describes it, we're being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:15.519 And we do that each and every week. 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:18.480 Thank God for his mercy. 00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:23.599 And his judgment endures. 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:25.119 Verse 24. 00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:29.760 Their worm will never die. 00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:32.960 Their fire will never go out. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:40.079 It's the very same language our Lord uses in Mark 9, verse 47 and 48. 00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:44.239 If your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:56.159 It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. 00:37:56.400 --> 00:38:00.079 Jesus borrowing these very words from Isaiah. 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:13.519 Kurt Cameron is just wrong on this one. 00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:18.960 It's what our Lord says. 00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:23.599 Now, if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:33.599 If you're just reading your Bible and loving your neighbor and worshiping God, you can live a faithful life without knowing about every Christian podcast controversy. 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:36.639 So don't probably better that way, honestly. 00:38:37.760 --> 00:38:42.239 You notice no one ever seems to question God's everlasting mercy. 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:48.000 It's always the everlasting judgment they question, not the mercy. 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:50.239 Why is that? 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:56.159 It's because we have sometimes a high view of ourselves and a low view of God. 00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:04.719 Enduring judgment matches the problem of worship. 00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:09.519 It matches the problem of the God whose word we've rejected. 00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:20.159 We're not judged as finite beings merely because we sinned against some other finite beings. 00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:26.880 We're judged because we've rejected the word of an infinite God. 00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:30.320 That's not a small crime. 00:39:30.639 --> 00:39:36.880 That's an infinite crime that is worthy of enduring punishment. 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:46.079 Isaiah ends his book that way with a sobering word of warning, and we do well to consider that. 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:56.480 All throughout this chapter, God's weaving together mercy and judgment. 00:39:57.039 --> 00:39:58.079 Why does he do that? 00:39:59.199 --> 00:40:11.440 You would think he might just talk about mercy for a while and then leave that aside and then talk about judgment or perhaps reverse it and end on the mercy note. 00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:14.000 That's not what he chooses here. 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:16.800 It's back and forth throughout this passage. 00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:18.960 Mercy, judgment, mercy, judgment. 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:21.519 Why does he do that? 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:24.159