Sermons

God Answers Isaiah
Isaiah 65

Because you have been born again through trusting Jesus Christ, you love knowing Jesus, talking with Jesus, worshiping Jesus – and you hate the sin which disrupts that fellowship with Jesus.  And because you hate sin – you fight against the sin in your heart.

But how do you fight against sin?  What do you do?  William Gurnall was a pastor in England in the 1600’s.  Listen to what he said about how to fight sin --

“It is impossible to sin with lively thoughts and hopes of the glory of heaven.  It’s when the thoughts of heaven are long out of the Christian’s sight that he begins to set up some idol.  But let heaven come in sight, and the Christian’s heart will be well warmed with thoughts of it.  It is easier to persuade a king to throw his crown into a gutter, than to persuade a heaven-focused saint to sin.”

The reason I mention that is because in today’s passage -- Isaiah 65 -- Isaiah gives us a description of heaven which will help us have lively thoughts and hopes of its glory.  So let’s turn to Isaiah 65.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you.  Isaiah 65 is on page 623 in the Bibles we are passing out.

In Isaiah 62 - 64 Isaiah prays for Israel.  Israel has turned her back on God.  And so, after God warned her again and again, God allowed Babylon to conquer her.  Babylon leveled Jerusalem, burned down the temple, and took the survivors back to Babylon as slaves.

So in chapters 62 - 64 Isaiah prays and asks God to turn Israel turn back to God, free Israel from slavery in Babylon, send Israel back to the Promised Land, and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.  So in Isaiah 65 God answers.  He starts by explaining why He brought punishment to Israel. 

So let’s start with this first question – Why did God let Israel be destroyed?  Start with vv.1-2 --

1              I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here am I, here am I," to a nation that was not called by my name.

2              I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;

So the reason God let Israel be destroyed was because Israel had not sought God. Israel had acted like a nation that was not called by God’s name.  Israel was a rebellious people.

And in vv.3-5 God explains how Israel had rebelled against Him --

3              a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;

4              who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places [so they have started worshiping idols]; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; [in the Old Testament God called his people to be distinguished from others by not eating certain food – but Israel had disobeyed God.]

5              who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." [At the same time they prided themselves on how spiritual they thought they were.]  These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

So the reason God let Israel be destroyed was because she had rebelled against Him.  And then in vv.6-7 God says that because of her continuing sin, He’s going to bring even more punishment upon them --

6              Behold, it is written before me: "I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their bosom

7              both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together, says the LORD; because they [your fathers, too] made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their bosom payment for their former deeds."

God is going to punish Israel for her rebellion.

So – does this mean the people of Israel will be completely destroyed?  No.  Look at what God says in v.8 –

8              Thus says the LORD: "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,' so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.

The analogy of grapes is not easy to figure out.  But the point is clear -- God will not destroy all of Israel.  See, there are some in Israel who have sought God – who owned up to their sinfulness and understood that like Abraham they could be forgiven and counted perfectly righteous through faith alone.  They did not know how God could forgive them – but we now know that it’s because of what the Messiah, Jesus, would do on the Cross 700 years after Isaiah wrote these words.

So by God’s grace through Jesus paying for their sins there were some who had been born-again, who had received new hearts which trusted God’s mercy, and delighted to seek God.

And those who sought God would not be destroyed.  What would happen to them?  Look at vv.9-10 --

9              I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there [in the Promised Land].

10            Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.

So those who sought God would be brought back to the Promised Land.  Sharon is north-west of Jerusalem.  The valley of Achor is north-east of Jerusalem.  The point is that the whole land of Israel will once again belong to those who have sought God.

But what will happen to those who continue to forsake the Lord?  In vv.6-7 God already said they would be punished – but  now in vv.11-15 he goes into more detail --

11            But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny [they make offerings to these two idols who were worshiped in Babylon – the god of Fortune and the god of Destiny],

12            I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in."

13            Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, my servants [those who seek me] shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;

14            behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15            You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse [that is, you will be so terribly punished that if someone wanted to curse someone else they would say -- May God make you like so-and-so], and the Lord GOD will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name.

So those who continue to forsake God will face the sword.  They will be hungry and thirsty.  They will be put to shame.  They will feel pain of heart and wail for their broken spirits.  And God will put them to death – which we know from other passages is eternal punishment.

That’s what will happen to those who continue to forsake the Lord.  But what about those who seek the Lord – what will happen to them?  That’s covered in vv.15-25. 

When you read these verses you can see that they describe eternal life in the new heavens and earth.  So these verses are describing all those saved through Jesus – Old Testament saints and New Testament believers.  Which means these verses describe us.  So what will happen to us?

First, God will completely free us from sin.  That’s the point of the end of v.15 and all of v.16 --

15            but his servants he will call by another name [That refers to us being freed from all actual sin].

16            So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [so they will seek their blessing – their joy – in God], and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth [all they do will be centered in God]; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.

Imagine being free from pride, from bitterness, from lust -- so you have unhindered fellowship with Jesus Christ.  Because you are trusting Jesus – that day is surely coming.

Second, God will create new heavens and a new earth.  Look again at v.17 --

17            "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

When you think of eternity, understand that it will take place on a new earth.  It will be even more physical, even more real, even more beautiful than this earth.  There will be new heavens and a new earth.

Third, we will know complete and ever-increasing joy and gladness.  Look at vv.18-19, and notice how many times the words glad and rejoice are repeated --

18            But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.

19            I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

Think of a time when you were absolutely filled with joy and gladness.  Remember that feeling?  The new heavens and earth will be a realm of full and ever-increasing joy and gladness – we will be perfectly full of joy and gladness – and God will be perfectly full of joy and gladness.  You will never again have weeping or distress.

Because you are trusting Christ – that’s your future.

Fourth, everything that could cause weeping and distress will be removed.  This next section is hard to figure out.  Because we’ve just read about the new heavens and earth – which refers to eternity where we will never die.  But here Isaiah talks about people living a long time – but it sounds like they end up dying.  Start with v.20 --

20            No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21            They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22            They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23            They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.

There’s two different ways to understand this.  Some think these verses refer to the Millenium – that when Jesus comes back he brings in the thousand-year period described in Revelation 20 that’s not yet the new heavens and earth. 

Others think these verses are a way of describing eternity from an Old Testament viewpoint.  The Old Testament is absolutely true – but it’s not as clear about eternity as is the New Testament.  So some think there is no literal 1,000 year Millenium – and that this is just a way of saying that nothing will cause weeping or distress – people dying too soon, giving birth to children who die in infancy.

I am not sure which way I take it.  But the point is that this time will be free from anything that could cause weeping or distress.

Then fifth, we will have unhindered access to God.  That’s v.24 --

24            Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

The point is that we will each have immediate and unhindered relationship with God.  You don’t need to take a number or make an appointment.  He will always be right there with you – with you and all the redeemed – all the time.

And then sixth, every aspect of the curse will be gone.  That’s the point of v.25 --

25            The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

The new heavens and earth will be a very different world.  No wolves stealing your lambs.  No lions eating animals or people.  And the serpent – Satan – licking the dust.  Which is a figurative way of saying he will be cast into hell.  The curse over the world because of our sin – resulting in Satan’s abominable rule – will finally be completely removed.

Questions?

So what does this mean for us?  I believe God wants to use this passage in our lives in one specific way today. 

We all have areas of sin we are dealing with.  With some of you it’s gossip.  With others – covetousness.  Others – bitterness.  You’ve got an area of sin that you’d love to defeat.

And one way to gain victory over sin is by nurturing a powerful sense of the joy and reality of being with God forever in heaven.  That’s what William Gurnall said in the 1600’s – here’s that quote again --

“It is impossible to sin with lively thoughts and hopes of the glory of heaven.  It’s when the thoughts of heaven are long out of the Christian’s sight that he begins to set up some idol.  But let heaven come in sight, and the Christian’s heart will be well warmed with thoughts of it.  It is easier to persuade a king to throw his crown into a gutter, than to persuade a heaven-focused saint to sin.”

So here’s what I want you to do.  Take time in the next few days to pray over this passage in Isaiah 65.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you lively thoughts and hopes of the glory of heaven.  Ask Him to use those lively thoughts and hopes to break the power of whatever specific sin you want to defeat.

And then come to your home groups this week and share what Jesus did in your hearts as you set your hopes on heaven.