← Back to sermon library

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, 
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 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. 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 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 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 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. 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. 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 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.