Hope of Isaiah

0:16Thank you for listening to the Sermon Podcast for Crossroads Bible Church in Rocksdale, Texas. Crossroads Bible Church is a reformed confessional Baptist Church that meets every Ford at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church and for directions, you can find us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Good morning. Again to everybody. Turn with me in your Bibles. Not to Hebrews. To Isaiah chapter 35. It does feel a little strange to be preaching from something other than the book of Hebrews. It's been quite a while. I think Easter probably was the last time we heard anything other than, from me anyways, other than the book of Hebrews. The last six weeks-ish of Hebrews were very practical sermons. We spent a lot of time talking about obedience, a lot of times applying the scripture to our lives. And in those weeks, I hope you didn't, but perhaps you did grow weary of me telling you how you were supposed to live. Of me telling you what you were to do and not to do. Those were necessary verses, though. And I do hope we were all spurred on to greater obedience in and through them. The Bible doesn't just tell us who Christ is. It doesn't just tell us about the redemption, our redemption in him. But it also tells us how we are to live as a result of who he is and who we are in him. So we must heed those texts and we must obey them. And I pray that we did hear them and that we will obey them. However, though, for the next number of weeks, we will look to be refreshed in the goodness of the gospel once again. Not that we weren't during during those weeks, but this will be the pure goodness of the gospel as we take the next couple weeks leading up to Christmas. And then after that, beginning in the new year, we are going to start the book of Ephesians. So be ready, Lord willing, for really weeks and weeks of the glorious gospel. And I'm so excited about that. And Lord willing, I uh pray there will be some new insights this morning uh into both Isaiah and into the story of the Advent and certainly of the gospel, from the text that we're covering this week and the next couple. But more than that, I pray this morning and the following mornings that you are filled with hope, filled with peace, filled with joy, as we sang about this morning, filled with assurance, and that you drink deeply this morning from the good news of the incarnation. And that's what we're talking about this morning. But as we look into Isaiah 35, I want to point out that this passage and all of the goodness that we're gonna see from Isaiah 35 comes directly following one of, if not the most terrible passages in all of the Bible, Isaiah 34. If you've read Isaiah 34, which many of you have, you may or may not remember it, but it is a terrifying passage of judgment. A terrifying passage of judgment on the unbelieving nations. One in which it says in Isaiah 34 that the sword of judgment drinks its fill in the heavens, and that the slain are cast out. It says graphically that the stench of their corpses shall arise and the mountains shall flow with their blood. This is terrifying. And terrifying is the judgment of God against those wicked, faithless people. But sufficiently terrified, Isaiah contrasts in verse thirty-five the beauty from that terror. Image the beauty of the ransomed returning to Zion, having been shown mercy to the fulfillment of this prophecy that we're going to read this morning and receiving this promise of everlasting life. And I also want to point out this morning that Isaiah 35 and much of Isaiah, perhaps all, but I won't say all because I don't think that's true, is poetic genre. This is prophetic poetry. So we will then, by the aid of the Spirit and the support of the rest of Scripture, look into this very poetic language that Isaiah so eloquently speaks on and what he is really communicating through this language. So I do pray again that this text brings us hope and great joy. And with that joy and the expectation of it, stand as we read Isaiah 35. I am going to read the whole chapter of Isaiah 35, starting in verse 1. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sheron. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God, strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold your God will come with a vengeance, with a recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert, the burning sha sands shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water, and the haunt of jackals where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way. Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast come upon it. They shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. This is the word of the Lord. We pray and ask, Lord, that you would speak to us, Lord, and bring us joy and hope this morning through this word. In Jesus' name. Amen. I want to begin by skipping down to verse 5. We're going to go back up to the beginning in just a second, but I do want to start in verse 5 so we can look at first the object of this prophecy. I'll give you a hint as to who Isaiah is talking about. As if it needs to be said, the main theme of Isaiah is the messianic hope in the midst of judgment. This is the point of Isaiah. So you can probably guess who we're going to talk about here in verse 5. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf, deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. This is the prophetic evidence of the hope that Isaiah is speaking about. I want you to turn with me, and I do want you to turn to Matthew. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 11, and I want you to see it, is why I'm asking you to turn. Matthew chapter 11, this is when John the Baptist is in prison. And he is concerned about whether or not Christ is the Messiah, the one to come, and he sends messengers to ask if Christ is the one. He sends his disciples to see if Christ really is the one. John the Baptist wants to know if Christ is this one to come. Is Christ the hope of glory? So he asks in verse 3, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And Jesus then gives his response to the disciples to give to John, and Jesus answered them in verse 4. Go and tell John what you hear and what you see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Christ is pointing John. Christ is pointing the disciples of John in response back to the fullness of the prophetic of the Old Testament, but we can certainly say back to Isaiah 35. And to the fullness of Isaiah's prophetic word. That is a portion of or a foreshadowing of the whole of the Old Testament, looking to Christ. As we can so clearly see there. Further, I'll support that in with really the rest of Isaiah. Isaiah 29, he says that the day of the Lord, that in the day of the Lord, the blind will see. Isaiah 42 says that the sign of the new covenant is that the eyes of the blind will be opened. Again, remember what Christ says to John's disciples. Isaiah 61 famously, the Messiah comes to proclaim liberty to the captives, it says, and to open the prisons to the bound. Luke's gospel tells us that Christ read that, Isaiah 61, in the synagogue, and then says to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, and then he sits down. Christ is proclaiming what? That he is fulfilling the hope that Isaiah spoke of. That Christ is the hope that Isaiah spoke of. It says, the Lord Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Micah points us more metaphorically or spiritually to the sinner coming out of darkness and into light. This is the restoration of sight. God being the one who restores the sight, who opens the eyes to see. Again, the direct fulfillment of Isaiah 35. One more text I want you to turn to Acts. This is also a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 35 and Acts chapter 3. How is it that we know that the day of the Lord has come? How is it that we know that salvation has come? What did Isaiah 35 say? That the lame will leap. That the lame will leap like a deer. Acts chapter 3. Peter and John are going to the temple, and as they are getting near the temple, they see a lame man who is sitting outside the temple. Sits there every day, waiting to receive money from people. And Peter says, I have no silver, this is verse 6. I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk. And he took him by the hand, seized him by the hand, is what it says in the Greek there. He grabs him and picks him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong, and leaping up, he stood up and began to walk. And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping, praising God. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah 35. One more text I'll give you. I'll read this. This is from John 9. For judgment I came into this world, for those who do not see may see. And for those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to him, If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. What Christ is beginning there to get at is to reveal that this prophecy of Isaiah is both physical, as we have seen so clearly demonstrated, and it's spiritual. The hope of Isaiah, fulfilled by Christ, is that those who are spiritually blind will see again. That those who are far off will be brought near. That those who are lost and estranged and alienated will find peace and a home. That those who are lame would leap for joy at the revelation of Christ. The object of Isaiah is that the Messiah who comes is brought to a people to save them from their sins, to reconcile us back to God, to bring redemption to the world, to restore the paradise that was lost, where the redeemed people of God will once again dwell with God in glory and with great joy. And he came not for the healthy, but the sick. He came not for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. Not for those who think that they see, for in that the guilt remains, but for those who know that they are blind. Not so that he could simply open your eyes or give you hearing or cause you to walk straight, but for something much better than that. The words of Christ. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. So flipping back to Isaiah 35. What is Isaiah getting at? And the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf, deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue let the mute sing for joy. What is he pointing to? Ultimately, he's pointing to the salvation of sinners. Reconciliation back to God from the judgment of chapter 34. Through who? Christ. Through the incarnation of God in flesh. This suffering servant that he will speak about in later chapters. The one who brings us hope, the one who brings us peace and joy, the one who will open our hearts to see him, who will open our ears to hear his gospel, who will open our mouths to praise him, who will strengthen our feet to leap for joy and serve him. This is the one the world has been longing for. This is the one who will crush the head of Satan, who will defeat the enemy, who will kill death, who will bring us home. And Christ receives the one who comes to him by faith. The one who comes to him by faith as a blind, deaf, lost sinner. And proclaims that it is only through the mercy of God, by the work of Christ, that we are saved. This is the one he receives. And Isaiah looks to this Messiah. And when Christ is asked, Are you the one? Christ essentially says to the disciples of John the Baptist and to John the Baptist, look at what is happening here. I am the one who Isaiah longed for. So we can say, oh, hope of Isaiah, won't you show us your mercy today? By giving sight to the blind. By reconciling the sinner back to God. So what does Christ bring to us? What does Christ bring to the sinner? Go back up to verse one of Isaiah 35. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus, it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sheron. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. I want to point out the imagery there for us. The first thing he says there is references the crocus. Know what a crocus is? It could be there it's there is some debate about exactly what it is. The autumn crocus or the saffron crocus or any number of desert flowers. This is a brightly colored flower that springs up suddenly and quickly and beautifully in the desert after a rain. So keep that thought in your mind of this beautiful desert flower. He mentions Lebanon, and we read, Brother Stephen read from this morning, we mentioned Lebanon in another chapter. Was that Psalm maybe we read? And in there it says the uh the timbers of Lebanon, perhaps. But the the idea of Lebanon is this giant cedar forest, massive cedar forest, lots of growth, tall, majestic trees, splendor, enduring strength. I've never been to uh like the Redwood Forest or another just majestic forest, but I can only imagine what it is like walking into just an incredible place. Uh Song of Solomon references Lebanon in verse, chapter 4 of Song of Solomon, verse 11, he says, the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. Imagine us, you can smell a cedar tree, but imagine going into an entire forest of majestic cedars. That smell, there is a fragrance to it, a wonderful fragrance. The next thing he mentions after the Crocus and Lebanon is Carmel and Sharon. Not Sharon, Sharon. These places are opposite of the desert. Carmel and Sharon are opposites of the desert. They're rich, fertile soil, teeming with life, plants, flowers, lush vegetation. They're known for vineyards and olive groves. Song of Solomon again uses this imagery talking about the rose of Sharon, the most beautiful rose gardens you can imagine, beautiful places. The exact opposite of what you would picture in a desert. Also worth noting about Carmel. Carmel is where Elijah in 1 Kings has this standoff with the false prophets of Baal. They put the fire and they call down the fire from heaven, and this is a place in which God proves himself to be God, right? This is Carmel. This happens on Mount Carmel. Also interesting about that particular passage is when Isaiah, when Elijah proves God, Yahweh, to be the true God, he tells the people, How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow him. There's this idea of limping, right? Being lame between two separate opinions in which God causes us to leap for joy. There is perhaps a connection there as well. And Isaiah then is contrasting all of that beauty with the desert, with wilderness, with dry land, with the desert or Erabah. If you have an NASB translation in verse, the second half of verse 1, it says in Erabah as desert. It's a long valley, Erabah is a long valley in the Jordan River, kind of where the Dead Sea is. It's very much like Death Valley. I've never been to Death Valley, but as I read, it's similar. It's below sea level. It's very hot, it's dry, no rain, no growth. Jeremiah describes this place as so dry, you're actually in danger of passing through it. This is a nothing death kind of a region, Araba. Wilderness is a place of judgment. We know this, right? Place of isolation, a place of temptation. Idea of lacking growth, stale, barely clinging to life. Have you been working outside for a long time without water? I know you shouldn't do that, but I often do. And you get that parched feeling in your throat. Hardly can talk, think, swallow. You're longing for something cool and refreshing. Imagine that feeling forever. This is the idea of the wilderness, the dry land, the Arabah. So when we contrast that imagery then in connection with what we have already seen, right? What is the forward-looking object of Isaiah's prophecy? What do we get? What do we see? We see the glorious picture of what the incarnation brings to us. We see and experience the joy of Christ and what the joy is what joy he is offering to us. This is the essence of the gospel. That Christ has rescued us from death, from the wilderness, from dryness. He's rescued us from isolation. He's rescued us from judgment. He's rescued us from despair. But we also see renewal, redemption that Christ has won and secured for us, this glorious future where the whole earth is teeming with life again, with glory, with splendor, where the glory of Eden, paradise, spreads over the whole of the earth. There's no longer any more regions of Erabah. But the crocus flower is blooming, the desert is full of life again, and redemption that Christ has won is over the whole earth. That's a glorious future. But the passage means more than just a renewal of earth, doesn't it? The future renewal and the restoration of Eden and its global expansion, that's real. We do believe that God will renew the earth. And that is one that we can certainly hope for, but the prophetic imagery here from Isaiah takes us beyond that, down into the nature of our fallen souls. If we desire to see the fulfillment of this prophecy of Isaiah, the dry land being glad, and the desert rejoicing and blossoming like the crocus, we look no further than our own souls. Were you not weak and parched in Arabah? Were you not outcast in judgment in the dry place? Did you not experience a life where little growth could be seen? In fact, where life itself seemed to just be hanging on. No purpose, no hope, no joy, just day after day trying to get through. Maybe you tried often to amuse yourself, to mask that parched feeling in your throat. Maybe you tried to take up habits to cover your guilt and your pain. But in times of honesty, you were wasting away in disillusion, dryness. You were wasting away in the wilderness of your own sin. And even if you were saved as a young person, I think all of us, without question, have gone through those seasons of wilderness, those seasons of dryness, those seasons of wondering. But what happened? You found the fount of living water. Might be better to say that the fount found you. Maybe it was a life event. Maybe it was something that somebody said, something that you read, a verse that you've read a thousand times, but that time it was different. What it really was, though, was the Spirit of God doing to your soul what the prophet Isaiah saw that he would do. It was waters breaking forth in the wilderness. It was streams springing up in the desert. It was the burning sand becoming a pool of fresh water. It was the thirsty ground becoming a spring of water. If you've experienced it, you know when suddenly the rain comes and the crocus blooms. Life returns. Hope is restored. Purpose was refreshed. Joy was found. This is found. This is seen in the incarnation of Christ, God becoming man. And this was each of you. Or can be by the mercy and grace of God. This is the hope and joy that Christ brings. This is what is offered to each of us in Christ, this renewal, this joy. Are you parched this morning? Has your sin put you in the wilderness? If you are not in Christ, then you are without question wondering there. But do you find yourself in that Arabah looking for a cool drink? May the Spirit of Christ spring forth in you today. And bring you refreshment and joy through the promise, through the joy of his restoration. May he bring life to the dead places. May he bring beauty in the desolate places. May he bring abundance to the dry land. And we know he will. Because he's done it. And he is doing it, and he will continue to do it and will ultimately complete his work when paradise is restored, when every knee bows and every voice declares that Christ is Lord. So strengthen your weak knees, the text says. Make firm the feeble knees. Strengthen your weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees. Be strong. Fear not. Behold your God. He will come and he will save you. This is both true now as we sit here after the first Advent. And it's also true, maybe even more so, I suppose so, when all is consummated at His second Advent. And this is the already and the not yet that we talked about and that we see here in the text. Verse 8 of our text. Verse 8 promises that there is a road, a highway on which we all walk to glory. Verse 8, and the highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. And on this way. This is a place of protection. Where the lion and the beast will not get to us. Verse 9 and following. A place that is so sure and so protected that none will go astray from it. That's the latter half of verse 8. This way of holiness, as it is called. See how that's capitalized? This way of holiness, as it is called, is so sure. Because the way of holiness is Christ Himself, the way. Christ says, I am the way. And the one who rests now in Christ has received his grace and his mercy and is so sure to be guarded and kept, and so sure to see glory. So sure as Christ Himself is the way, the glory. And the ransomed shall walk in this way. They shall be found in this way. And it is by that way that the ransomed of Yahweh will return to Zion, it says. That's the not yet. That we're not there yet. We're on the way, but we're still on our way to glory. The not yet hope is the day when we finally make it to Zion. With singing, where our heads will be adorned with everlasting joy, it says, where we will obtain gladness and joy forevermore, where sorrow and sighing will flee away never to return. Oh, that our God will bring us safely to that place. And that we would walk with him until we make it there. It is there where we will truly see the glory of the Lord. That word glory, I want to point out real quickly, that word glory there that we see back from verse 2 that looks to that final but not yet fulfillment of these promises. That word glory can literally be translated as weight. As though the idea of glory, this is not a light or airy thing, but this is a substantial, heavy thing that we are obtaining. It's something we feel, a presence and a change that is palpable. Scripture says, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, when the dead are raised imperishable, we shall all be changed. The pure in heart, we will see God. We will feel and behold his glory. Our senses will be overwhelmed with the cedars of Lebanon, the fragrant flowers of the crocus, the rich sights and sounds of Carmel and Sharon. The majesty of our God, which now the heavens declare we will experience the full weight of the glory of God. This is what brings us joy now. This is what keeps us going in the way. And this is precisely what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians when he says, do not lose heart. Christian, do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, for this light momentary affliction is preparing us for the eternal weight of glory. Beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Life is often this way. This is, I'll say in conclusion. Perhaps especially in this time of season. Life is often a time of sighing, isn't it? By sighing I mean. What does a sigh communicate? It's a catching of breath, right? It's a grounding from an overwhelm of burden, of stress, of disappointment, lack of surety. It's the body coping with chaos, so we sigh. Maybe you check your bank account after all the shopping that you've inevitably done and you sigh. Maybe you are overwhelmed by life and you sigh. Maybe you are hoping that this year could be restful, but you're just as busy as you've ever been, so you sigh. Maybe you're thinking of another year passing and all the what-ifs and the should'ves and the should've done this, and you sigh. Maybe you are considering perhaps that your house will be less full this year. So you sigh. Maybe you think that surely this of all times of year I should feel peace and joy and happiness, but all I find is sorrow and a sigh. The blessed hope of Advent. That which brings us true and lasting joy is not that such things are erased. But that in Christ He has secured for us the everlasting joy. Not joy that waxes and wanes, not joy that is seasonal or transient, not joy that always seems to slip from our grasps when we grab it, but eternal joy. And not only can this be ours in Christ, it most certainly is our promised end. Because God became flesh, and in the person of Jesus Christ, he lived perfectly obedient, and in doing so obtained the righteousness required by the law. Because he then, being free of sin, went to the cross to be punished for our transgressions, taking on the full measure of the Father's wrath, and by the shedding of his blood, he truly and finally covered our sins forever. Even more, because of Christ, you now receive by faith the righteousness that he earned. So that it is not as though you have just never sinned that you are neutral again, but rather in the eyes of the Father He sees you through the righteousness of Christ, to his glory. This is the hope of Isaiah, that God would make a way for his people to return again to paradise and to his presence. And though this flesh is still presently weakened by sin, the righteous declaration of our lives is that sin and sorrow and sighing are fleeing away. May not feel like it. I know. But we don't live according to the flesh. We set our minds on the things of the Spirit that promise hope and peace and gladness and joy. So wherever your mind is this morning, wherever your heart is, I sympathize with sorrow and sighing. But I say by the power of the Spirit, according to the word given and the word made flesh, the hope of Isaiah has come. The joy of the Lord shall be our strength. The way of holiness will keep us. The ransomed of Yahweh, with singing on our lips and with joy as our crown, we will return to Zion. Or sorrow and sighing will flee away. I have said these things to you, that in me you have may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Amen. Lord, we thank you for the hope and peace and joy that you give us, Lord, in this season. Lord, I pray for all of us this morning who, even in these times, Lord, of great joy and great blessings that you give us, Lord, we still have times of desert, of wilderness, of Erabah, of sorrow and of sighing. Lord, may this season, may the incarnation, may your blessed word bring us joy. Lord, may by your mercy water spring forth from the deserts, Lord, in our souls. Where the flowers bloom, Lord, in the desert. Would you give us joy? Would you give us hope? And would you give us peace? Help us to be strong and to fear not. Give strength to our weak knees. That we may love you, serve you. With full assurance, Lord, knowing that you are the way of holiness and you have kept us on the way and will keep us on the way. And we will find ourselves as your ransomed children home in Zion. We thank you for that hope. Thank you for Christ. In his name that I pray.