Good evening to everybody. Welcome to Surrey Reformed Baptist Church, my second church family home. It's good to see you again, and it's good to have you with us. It's really a nice thing to have this joint service together with the two churches.
If Armstrong was closer, I'm sure that we'd have them with us as well, but it's a bit of a drive there, here and back. You can turn in your Bibles with me to the Old Testament, to the Gospel of Isaiah. I said that for a specific reason. Many have noted, many commentators have noted, and theologians have noted, the book of Isaiah, and the prophet Isaiah specifically, yes, a prophet, but also an evangelist to a certain degree, because time and again, throughout the excellency of his subject matter, He's opening up the gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaiming the coming servant of the Lord, who will do mighty things for the glory of God and for the good of his people.
And we're going to look at Isaiah 61, all 11 verses this evening. So I'll read Isaiah 61, and then we'll have a look at what the Lord has for us this evening. Isaiah 61, the word of God. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. and they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigners shall be your plowmen, and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the Lord. They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor. And instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double.
Everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery for burnt offering. I will direct their work in truth and will make with them an everlasting covenant.
Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation.
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels, for as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations. Amen. Well, let's pray.
God, we thank you for this time now in worship, the preaching of your word. We would pray again for the ministry of your Holy Spirit in our midst, that, Lord God, this exercise would be done unto the praise of your glorious grace. We pray, Lord God, that we would be instructed well by your revelation to us in the Holy Scriptures. We pray that saints in this place this evening would be well instructed by spirit and truth, and, Lord God, that sinners would be saved, that all, because it is possible with you, would leave These two doors singing the praise of praises of our Christ and it's in his name that we pray.
Amen Well,
Introduction
Isaiah, up until this point, has been engaged in much. Largely, though not exclusively, but to a large degree, he is prophesying concerning coming judgment by two oppressors, Assyria and Babylon. But that's not the end of his book. That's not the end of his writing.
The ultimate end of his writing is the Lord Jesus Christ, the suffering servant, who would come in the fullness of the times to bring forth salvation for a multitude of sinners given to him before the foundation of the earth. The glory of the Son of God in His majesty, in the majesty of His divinity, is brought out by Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. the blessed reality of the condescension of the Son of God, His incarnation, and His assumption of humanity is brought out in Isaiah 9. Throughout the subsequent chapters, Promise of the setting up of an everlasting kingdom is brought forth the prophecies concerning the punishment of the disobedient covenant people as well as the Gentile nations that oppose them these things are brought forth and and now we have and actually prior to that as well and Isaiah 52 through 53 we have the suffering servant of Isaiah put forth set forth that promised one who would come and to give glory and salvation to his people. And now we have this anticipation of that servant as the one who brings redemption, restoration, and righteousness to his people.
And those are simply the three things that we're going to look at this evening. Redemption, restoration, and righteousness. Just for an observation on the structure of the passage, a very simple observation, Christ speaks in verses 1 through 9, and the church responds in verses 10 and 11. Some see Christ as speaking in the entirety of the chapter.
But I like what what Motier says with regards to verses 10 and 11. He says the voice of Zion glorified by the garments of grace Lifted in joyful response to the acts of her Redeemer. So Jesus speaks in verses 1 through 9 in And joyful Zion, that is the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, responds in rejoicement. And so
Redemption: The Anointed Messiah
let's have a look first then at redemption, and we see this in verses 1 through 3. Redemption, the anointing and mission of the Messiah.
Identity of the Anointed One
Notice we want to identify first who this anointed one is we've sort of already said it But how do we know that this is Christ the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me Some not usually Christian interpreters mostly Jewish interpreters would see this as as the prophet speaking concerning himself. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, that is Isaiah, because the Lord has anointed me, that is Isaiah. Of course, we know that this is the Lord Jesus Christ. A New Testament passage aside for the moment, the very thematic reality of what's going on here And what has preceded Isaiah 61 would inform us that this is the promised suffering servant who has the Spirit of the Lord upon him for the goings forth of his messianic activity.
But remember in the Surrey Church, if you're here tonight, those who were with us last Lord's Day morning, you'll remember we looked at Luke 4. and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ there on that momentous day, after his baptism, after his testing in the wilderness, goes into the synagogue in Galilee. and he's asked to open up the word of God. And he has handed the prophet Isaiah, and Jesus Christ goes to the place where it is written, verses one and two of Isaiah 61, and he reads this passage, save for the verse, and the day of vengeance of our God, though we'll mention that a little bit later, he reads this verse, verses 1 and 2 that is, and he sits down and he begins to exposit the text, and he says, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. And so we know by divine revelation that this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. The identity of the anointed one is not the prophet, but it is Jesus Christ, our savior.
And now
The Anointing of the Son
notice under redemption as well, the anointing of the son of God. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. Jesus Christ is called the Christ. the anointed one. And we'll look at the reason why he is called that now.
Notice the reason why Jesus is called the Christ is because the Father has anointed the Son with the Holy Spirit. In other words, Christ gets his name the Christ because of the Father anointing him with the Holy Spirit above measure. That's why he is the Christ. And more pointedly, the anointing of the Holy Spirit for his work as the mediator between God and men.
The confession of our faith, that is our confession of faith, the confession of our faith is Jesus Christ, but our confession of faith in chapter 8 and paragraph 3 uses the language that the Lord Jesus Christ in his human nature thus united to the divine in the person of the Son was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure in order that he might exercise the office of mediator. And so Christ here is speaking 700 years, if you will, by virtue of the prophet Isaiah prior to his coming About his first coming that the spirit of the Lord God is upon him the Lord God has anointed me that that anointing is the giving of the Holy Spirit without measure for the peculiar work of His Messiah ship of his being the mediator between God and man notice that This anointing, and when we read, when we speak of Christ as mediator, we are to speak in the same breath and at the same time of Christ as prophet, priest, and king, because that is how he is the mediator, or that is the character of his mediatorship. It's a threefold mediatorship, prophet, priest, and king. And on this topic of anointing, I want you to turn with me first to the book of Exodus. because this anointing by the Holy Spirit has in view particular types of Christ in the Old Covenant Scriptures.
Notice in Exodus 30, at verse 30, with regards to the anointing of the priests. Exodus 30, 30, and you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them that they may minister to me as priests. So we have this old covenant reality that the priests of the old covenant were anointed. And now as we read through this, this anointing comes by way largely of oil as a type and as an emblem of the spirit given in anointing notice in verse 31 And you shall speak to the children of Israel saying this shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations if you turn with me next to first Samuel 10, so that is the anointing as a priest and for the priesthood.
Notice in 1 Samuel chapter 10, and then we'll look at 16 as well, but in 1 Samuel chapter 10, notice what we see there at verse 1, then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head. kissed him and said that is Saul is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over his inheritance and first Samuel 16 and verse 3 but the Lord said take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to the Lord then invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one I named to you and then thirdly I Notice in 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. And in 1 Kings 19, we want to see verse 16. Also, you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel, Mahola, you shall anoint as prophet in your place. So we see these old covenant types and these old covenant realities that prophets, priests, and kings are anointed for their particular service.
Finding our way back to Isaiah 61, it's not just some sort of happy accident that the language of anointing is used here. the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me, it's deliberate language Christ speaking about himself with regards to his mediatorial office as prophet, priest, and king. And we ought to see this as a glorious thing, because what marks the Old Covenant? A multitude of priests that are not themselves also prophets and kings, usually. A multitude of prophets a multitude of kings.
So a multitude of individual prophets, individual priests, and individual kings. The one whom they point forward to, one singular and glorious person, very God and very man, yet one Christ, is a prophet, a priest, and a king. And not only that, but unlike any other prophet, he is both the proclaimer of the Word of God and the very sum and substance of the Word proclaimed. As the priest, he is the one who offers himself as an efficacious sacrifice, which is unique to the glory of the Son.
And as king, he is not just a ruler over an earthly kingdom, but all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And so here we see this anointing, which is much more exalted and much higher than those of the earthly priests and prophets and kings, the Lord. has anointed me by the Holy Spirit without measure in order to engage in the work of mediatorship. And we move next then to the work of the Son, the work of the anointed Son. And
The Work of the Anointed Son
we want to see, or we do see, three things here. First, the gospel's proclamation. Secondly, the gospel's application. And thirdly, the gospel's spirit-born joy.
Notice first the gospel's proclamation.
The Gospel's Proclamation
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. The Lord Jesus Christ comes as the anointed Messiah, as the anointed mediator, in order to preach, in order to proclaim, in order to announce and declare the very glory of his own name and the dignity and the virtue of his work. The Lord comes, the spirit of the Lord God is upon our Christ according to his assumed humanity. He is anointed by that spirit and he comes and he preaches good tidings to the poor.
This language is upon the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ at the advent of his earthly ministry. The hour has come. I preach to you, I proclaim to you repentance in the kingdom of God. And so He comes to proclaim, He comes to preach good tidings to the poor.
At the middle of verse 1, to proclaim liberty to the captives. Verse 2, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Our Jesus comes, and as the greatest preacher that ever lived, proclaims the message, not of someone else, but of Himself, the blessed mediator, between God and man. The Gospel's proclamation is given here.
The promise by Christ, through the prophet Isaiah, is that there will be a day coming when the proclamations will not be by sinful men, but the proclamations will be by one who has come down from heaven, and he will proclaim the very truth of himself as the Savior of men. So we see the Gospel's proclamation, and then we see the Gospel's application.
The Gospel's Application
We see a number of things here. We see healing, deliverance, illumination, and resurrection. These are the things we see here in the gospel's application. Notice the language after we see here Christ preaching good tidings to the poor.
We see the reality that, verse 1, He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God. We see here that with Christ and the proclamation of the gospel, on the heels of that and joined to that comes gospel healing. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, those cracked and broken down by sin. those weighed down by the weight of the devil who tempts them, those weighed down and taken away by the world that allures them. These are the brokenhearted that Christ comes to heal upon the wings of his mercy and upon the championing of himself as the one who frees sinners from their brokenheartedness, this glorious healing.
And if you're here this evening and you're a Christian, you are the undeserved, though blessed, recipient of the healing of our glorious King. We ought to often think about that, that when we think about the forgiveness of sins, when we think about salvation, largely speaking, it comes with the reality of a healing. that we were brokenhearted as those outside of Christ, and that even as those in Christ, in union with Him, we will have those moments of brokenheartedness. Thank God we have such a glorious Christ who came in order to heal. the brokenhearted. We also see deliverance to proclaim liberty to the captives.
We were captive to sin and to the devil and to the allurements of the world. We were captive to the weight and the depravity of our own flesh, wholly defiled in all the parts of soul and body. We were prisoners. We were in bondage.
We were captive to sin and Christ comes and he delivers us. The proclamation of liberty, the proclamation of freedom, the proclamation that Christ is the deliverer who brings us from out of the bondage in sin. And there's similar language next here, but it has more to do with illumination and resurrection to open and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. We see here the reality of the brightness of illumination and the opening of eyes to those who are blind.
In fact, that language is used by the Lord Jesus Christ in quoting the Septuagintal version of the of the Old Testament in Luke chapter 4. But this language of opening the eyes of the blind, that our eyes, as the hymn says, diffuse this quickening ray, this glorious ray of salvation. Christ opens up the eyes that are bound to shutness in order that we might, by his illumination, see his glory and rest upon the perfection of his work. What a glorious thing.
We sing that hymn, and it's one of my favorites. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. What a glorious stanza. What a glorious set of words.
Our hearts were chained to the madness and the folly of sin. Our hearts were chained. We were chained to the reality of total depravity and total inability. Yet the One upon whom the Spirit was given without measure, the Anointed One, the Christ, this One, came in and punctuated the world Came down from heaven and brought us from out of that place of bondage to sin and blindness to it He liberated us.
He's the one who cracks the chains of bondage and notice we see as well divine consolation to comfort all who mourn and We're gonna look at this in a little bit more right now But this is the reality that the Lord Jesus Christ brings it is comfort. It is divine consolation And this is in effect amplified and what we see here with the gospel spirit-born joy We'll talk about what we mean by that but look at the language that he uses and we'll turn to another place in Isaiah in a moment to see this and So we see at the end of verse two, to comfort all who mourn, and then verse three, to console those who mourn in Zion, so a repetition. to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. This is a contrast. In other words, instead of ashes, he gives them beauty.
Instead of mourning, he gives them the oil of joy. Instead of the spirit of heaviness, he gives them the garment of praise. I want you to turn with me to Isaiah 3 for a moment. Because what we have in Isaiah 61 is the undoing of covenant judgment.
That for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a reversal of divine judgment. Notice in Isaiah chapter 3, beginning at verse 14. This is in the context of judgment announced. Isaiah 61 in to a very strong effect is is judgment reversed and blessing announced but notice what we have with regards to the language we just read of beauty for ashes oil of joy and for a garment of praise, et cetera.
Verse 14 of Isaiah 3, and the Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes, for you have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor, says the Lord God of hosts. Moreover, the Lord says, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk without stretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet.
Therefore, the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts. In that day, the Lord will take away the finery, the jingling anklets, the scarves and the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets and the veils, the headdresses, the leg ornaments and the headbands, the perfume boxes, the charms and the rings, the nose jewels, the festal apparel and the mantles, the outer garments the purses and the mirrors the fine linen the turbans and the robes and now notice this and We're gonna flip back to 61 quickly to see the blessed contrast and so it shall be verse 24 Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench instead of a sash a rope instead of well-set hair a baldness instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth and branding instead of beauty. So if we find our way back to Isaiah 61, look at what the Lord Jesus Christ does in his first coming and for his people. He reverses these divine judgments.
He flips on their head these things and he brings them back to the reality of beauty, of joy, of righteousness and praise. Notice again, verse three, to give them beauty for ashes. So instead of sackcloth and ashes, which symbolize mourning, which symbolize repentance, which symbolize the reality of divine judgment, these are taken away and they are adorned with beauty. Instead of mourning the same thing over sin over the reality of divine judgment over the righteousness of God that is visited perfectly upon those who oppose him instead of that morning Christ will give the blessed oil of joy.
And instead of these garments, which are marked by heaviness, and instead of, if you will, the sackcloth, which itself is heavy and irritates the skin and is used as an emblem of that which ought to mark the person in opposition to sin and in the recognition of divine justice and judgment, instead of that, the garment of praise is given by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a blessed reversal that the Lord Jesus Christ brings in his saving work. He makes those who are plagued with mourning, those who are plagued with heaviness, those who are plagued with a yoke of bondage, he liberates them, he delivers them, he heals them, and he puts them into the place of divine favor.
Restoration: Rebuilding of Zion
We want to look next then at restoration and we ought to note just before we look at restoration that Christ does this by his own perfect work Christ Bore the ashes of our despair to give us beauty he bore our mourning in order to to bring us to the place of praise. He took upon himself travail of soul, bearing our heaviness, if you will, that he might adorn us with dignity. And we see in the restoration this blessed language of the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ continuing, and this time with a with more of a reference upon the church as Zion or the heavenly Jerusalem. Notice with regards to restoration or the rebuilding of Zion and the inauguration of the new covenant, what we want to see first is
The Church Springs from Ruins
the springing up of the church from the ruins of idolatry and sin. verse 4, and they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. This language is obviously framed in the outpouring of the covenantal curses of Deuteronomy 28 by virtue of Assyria, by virtue of Babylon, that for many generations there was bondage, there was desolation, there was ruin, there was much in the way of destruction, and rightly so, from a just God. And so there is this rebuilding that is framed in that. But those things were emblematic.
The Babylonian captivity emblematic of the captivity of of unbelievers in their sin. and in their depravity. But we see here that with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church, the true Zion springs up from these ruins and springs up from these desolations. Is there any, are there any New Testament passages that, that speak to this? There are.
There are promises in the Old Testament that speak to this as well, outside of Isaiah, 2 Samuel 7, Isaiah 9, many others that speak to sort of the reversal of curses and the building up of a kingdom. We ought to note here with regards to, and they shall build the old ruins, and they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities. It is God, though, who is the builder. It's God who is the constructor.
It is the divine majesty who builds up the church from out of the ruins of desolation and sin. Notice in the book of Hebrews, in the book of Hebrews, you can turn there with me. God as builder, we're seeing here that with the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a renovation, a restoration, a rebuilding project that obtains timed with the perfection of his work and the advance of his kingdom. In the book of Hebrews, when you get there, you can turn first to chapter 11.
Notice in Hebrews chapter 11, first at verse 10. Speaking of Abraham, who by faith obeyed when he was called to go out of the place which he would receive as an inheritance, we read in verse 10, for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Verse 16, but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them.
It is God who is the builder of Zion, not a physical place, not Jerusalem physically, but the heavenly Jerusalem. Zion, the church the living God and notice as well in Hebrews 12 verses 22 and 23 After having stated that you have not come to the mountain that may be touched that and burned with fire to blackness darkness and tempest in other words You have not come to Mount Sinai, verse 22, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven. And so God is the builder. As we find our way back to Isaiah 61, this springing up of the church from out of the ruins of idolatry and sin is affected by God by virtue of the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ himself says, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. That's not detached from Isaiah 61.4. that is intimately connected to Isaiah 61, 4. The building of the old ruins. They shall rebuild the old ruins.
They shall raise up that which was desolated. They shall repair the ruined cities. The springing up of the church from the ruins of idolatry and sin. And secondly, under this point,
Reversal of Covenant Curses
we see the reversal of covenant curses. Notice in Isaiah 61, at verse 5, verses five to seven, actually. Let's read all three of these, and then let's make a quick connection with regards to the reversal of deuteronomical curses. Strangers, verse five, shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
But you shall be named the priests of the Lord. They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor.
And instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double. Everlasting joy shall be theirs. The nation of Israel would endure. the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian captivities.
And they would incur justly and righteously the wrath of God by virtue of the outpouring of the Deuteronomical curses announced in Deuteronomy 28. And that's exactly what Isaiah is referencing here with regards to the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and bringing about true Zion from out of the ashes of the destruction of Old Covenant Israel. Notice if you turn back with me to Deuteronomy 28, and we'll see the same language here, though in its reverse, in its negative, in its context of cursing. Notice first in Deuteronomy 28 at verse 43, Deuteronomy 28 verse 43, the alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you and you shall come down lower and lower.
He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head and you shall be the tail. And then verse Verse 49, notice what we read there. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young, and they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed.
Just listen to Isaiah 60 and verse 5. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. It's a reversal of these alien nations who come and who plunder and who steal the flock. Rather, by virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ and his restorative power, that is, and bringing Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, from out of the ashes of desolation, he reverses that deuteronomical curse.
Not for the nation of Israel, properly speaking, but for the Israel of God, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, united to the true Israel, the obedient son. Strangers in the Deuteronomical curse plunder and steal the flock. They are the foreigners who reign over the plowmen and who reign over and steal the vines and the vineyards. But rather here, strangers now shall stand and feed your flocks.
The sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. And now notice as well, back in Deuteronomy 28, Secondly, we see here the foreigners eating the fruit of the land in Deuteronomy 28, and at verse 33, notice the language there. A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. In Deuteronomy 6, we read this language, but you shall be named, excuse me, Isaiah 61 6, but you shall be named the priests of the Lord.
You shall, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory, you shall boast. It's a reverse of that Deuteronomical curse given upon the nation of Israel for their disobedience. The obedient one comes, and as the one who bears substitutionary obedience and substitutionary curse bearing in their stead, he brings this reversal, if you will, of the curse and turns it into a blessing.
And lastly, notice in Deuteronomy 28, 37, shame and dishonor. shame and dishonor, and you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you." Isaiah 61.7 inverts that, negates that, and turns it on its head by divine blessing, stating, instead of your shame, you shall have double honor. And instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double. Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
What a blessing that we have in Christ in redeeming all of us and in bringing us together in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as those ones who constitute the heavenly Jerusalem, the true Zion, the true people of God who have been raised up from out of the ashes of ruin and the ashes of desolation.
Confirmation of New Covenant Blessings
Thirdly, under restoration, and then we'll quickly close with righteousness, Notice the confirmation of New Covenant blessings in verses 8 and 9. The confirmation of New Covenant blessings. I hate robbery for burnt offering. I will direct their work in truth and will make with them an everlasting covenant.
Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed. Why do we see in here or what do we see with regards to the confirmation of new covenant blessings? Remember we had just read reversal of old covenant cursings or Typically old covening old covenant curses reversed but in their proper frame of the antitypical fulfillment of blessings that come by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we see the confirmation of the new covenant blessings, and we see it first in the offering of a true and effectual sacrifice. For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery for burnt offering. Owen says with regards to this, the justice of God was not abrogated, but satisfied, not denied, but magnified in the offering of Christ.
This language speaks to justice being satisfied by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The reality that it was not an ineffectual sacrifice offered. The Lord God himself hates those and hated those sacrifices that were done by virtue of theft and robbery. People on their way to the temple grabbing those sacrifices that were not theirs, stealing them from others and bringing them to the temple. to offer up to God.
Rather, God, the lover of justice, has his justice satisfied by the offering up of a noble and a dignified and an effectual sacrifice that is the giving of the very one who is speaking in this text, the Lord Jesus Christ. I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery. for burnt offering. We see the confirmation of new covenant blessings as well in the witness of those covered by the effectual sacrifice.
I will direct their work in truth and will make with them an everlasting covenant. Many have seen this as the equipping of the apostles who go forth from the commission of Christ to preach the truth. to preach the gospel of the coming anointed one who gave himself for guilty sinners. They will be those who are directed in the work of truth, and he will make that blessed everlasting covenant with them. We see as well the nations bearing the fruit of the kingdom of God.
Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people, all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed." This is the new covenant reality that there is a nation bearing the fruits of the kingdom of God. With the with the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple in AD 70 according to the promise of Christ that he will kill those wicked men Miserably the unbelieving Jews and their apostate wickedness He will kill those wicked men miserably and give the kingdom to a nation bearing the fruits of it That is the heavenly Jerusalem Zion, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives this nation to them and he gives in effect the nations to them where they are to go forth and to show that the Lord has blessed them with the posterity of salvation by Jesus Christ.
Righteousness: The Church's Rejoicing
And this brings us then lastly to righteousness. The passage now shifts from Christ, the Mediator speaking, the anointed by the Spirit Mediator speaking, to the reply of Zion, the Church of God. Again, Motir. The voice of Zion, glorified by the garments of grace, lifted in joyful response to the acts of her Redeemer.
First, we see the rejoicing of the church. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.
There is a cornucopia of edible delights that awaits us in the fellowship hall after the sermon. It's hot in here, and we've had a long day. Surrey people have come from Surrey, and, you know, hey, it's a long day. We're human.
We're, you know, we need fans, we need air conditioning, and sometimes the physical condition of our reigning humanity can be difficult. But in all of this, and as we wait to fill ourselves with wonderful treats, Let's just pause for a moment and reflect upon the fact that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be marked by those who greatly rejoice in their Lord. Do you, do we greatly rejoice in our Lord? Do we reflect upon the reality that we were once marked by ruin?
That we were once marked by desolation? That we were once marked as those who were wholly defiled in all the faculties of body and soul? That we only ever loved sin? That we only ever loved opposition to God?
Do we now rejoice in the fact that this anointed one came into the world to bring us up from out of that bondage, to bring us up from out of ruin, to bring us up and out of desolation? I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. We ought to pray that that would mark our dispositions, that that would be something that we demonstrate rejoicings in the Lord.
We see also the reason for the rejoicing of the church.
The Reason for Rejoicing
Notice this for language. The rejoicing comes for, he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom, decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. He has, the Lord, why ought we to rejoice? Because the Lord Jesus Christ has removed the fecal stained garments of our wickedness. the terribly stained by sin garments of our depravity.
He has removed our dirty robes and He has clothed us with the garments of salvation, cleansed, mysteriously made clean in the red crimson blood of His sacrifice. He has clothed us with the blessed garments of salvation. We ought to rejoice, knowing that we were once those who wore the robe of dirtiness, the robe of filth, the robes of wickedness, but now are such, not because of ourselves, but because of the glory of this Christ and the grace of Almighty God, we're now those who wear these blessed garments of righteousness. His righteousness, not ours, His righteousness imputed to us and received by faith alone.
The Global Reach of Christ's Righteousness
And then lastly, the glory, the global reach of the righteousness of Christ. Notice, For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." 2,000 years ago, all the nations had no idea of someone named Jesus Christ. 2,000 years ago, the nations were marked by darkness and blindness, by ruin and by desolation. But by virtue of His coming into the world, sinners to save, and by virtue of His great commission sending of the Church to go forth and to proclaim liberty to the captives, to proclaim joy to the brokenhearted, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ so that by the Spirit, eyes would be opened up to the wonder and the glory of the dignity the person and work of Jesus Christ. By all of this, 2,000 years later, a multitude of nations across the earth has heard of Jesus Christ, have heard of Jesus Christ, and profess the glory of his name and the super abounding excellence of his operations.
What a wonderful thing, as we look back upon the history of Christianity, it's marked by the ebb and flow of wickedness, of geopolitical madness, of ecclesiastical error, of so many things, yet God is faithful to his church. And 2,000 years later, we can rejoice in the fact that righteousness and praise has sprung forth and has gone before and out to all nations, and we can be assured of this. As we as we close now with with this particular comment We we can in our humanity sometimes grieve sometimes worry sometimes be marked by anxiety sometimes perhaps fume over the state of the world and the the tumult the the craziness the wickedness and and everything that goes on with it, but there is a certainty that is given to us in the text and in verse 11 here specifically. We do know that the earth does bring forth its bud.
We do know that the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth. Therefore, by these analogies, we ought to know that the Lord our God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations. What a glorious Christ we have. What a glorious anointed one we have.
What a glorious Savior we have who has brought us out from darkness, who has brought the church out from the ruin and desolation of old covenant disobedience and the due cursings for it. who has brought us to this place 2,000 years now where saints from Chilliwack and saints from Surrey can gather together and can talk in fellowship about the glories of this mediator who spoke by virtue of the prophet over 2,700 years ago. Glory in this Christ. Glory in our Savior. Glory in our Mediator.
And if you're here tonight outside of Christ in unbelief, believe on Him, and you shall have everlasting life and the joy and all of the rejoicements that come from this prophetic announcement so many years ago. Let's all rejoice in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your truth. We glory in your word to us. Thank you for what we can glean from this single passage of Holy Scripture. We thank you. for the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We do pray, Lord God, that you would cause us to rejoice in him each and every day, certainly on the Lord's Day, as we commune one with each other in this special way on the Lord's Day Sabbath, but also throughout the week, Lord God, cause us to reflect daily upon the doing and dying and rising again of the Son of God, the perfecter of new covenant ratification by the shedding of his blood, the one who inaugurates good things for his church, for his own glory, and for the good of his people. Do go with us into this week. Help us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of this precious Christ. And it's in his name we pray.
Amen.