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was written by a brother known
as Augustine. And it was a kind of a spiritual
biography in many ways. It's not just a long list of
his confessions in the sense of things he's done wrong. Sometimes
the book is caricatured as such. The book recounts those things
that he believes. And it tells it from kind of
the story of his own conversion. It talks about his life before
Christ, talks about how he came to Christ, talks about those
things that he has come to believe and affirm with the church. It ends, toward the very end
of the book, with a glorious praise of God regarding heaven
itself, much like his book, Another writing of his known as the City
of God ends with a glorious description and praise of God regarding heaven. I came across this statement again
by him this week as I'm getting ready here in a few weeks to
teach a class again in patristics or the ancient church times it's
called. So I find myself in the last
week, week and a half or so, just kind of, you know, ingesting
a lot of material trying to get ready for, um, for the class. I don't usually read over 800
pages in a week, but this week I did and it just seemed to just
go on and on and on. And if this week's anything like
last week, we need to cover more than 800 pages. So we'll see
what happens. But in returning to the confessions
of Augustine, I was reminded of this statement that's very
well known. You probably have heard it before.
And I'll end with it. I want to give kind of a few
sentences before it and let you hear what leads up to this statement. It's in the opening lines of
his first chapter in the Confessions. Augustine writes, great art thou,
O Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is thy power, and infinite
is thy wisdom. And man desires to praise thee,
for he is part of thy creation, He bears his mortality about
him with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof
that thou dost resist the proud. Still, still, he desires to praise
thee. This man who is only a small
part of thy creation, thou hast prompted him that he should delight
to praise thee. For thou hast made us for thyself,
and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee. And those opening lines to the
confessions are, they're worth the whole 300 page book if you
don't get any further. And I, I think a lot of us probably
haven't gotten much further and I hadn't gotten much further
until several years ago and somebody made me read it. They said I
was going to have a test. So you know what happens when you
have a test, you gotta read it. But oh, how rich. Our hearts
are restless until they find their rest. Indeed, as the Bible moves from
beginning to end, we find the story of man, commanded to praise
God, yet because of sin, restless. Think of that word, restless.
Without rest. without rest. The welcome of
the gospel. We've been reading this past
month from the gospel of Matthew. Jesus says, take my yoke upon
you. My, my, my, my burden is light
and you'll find what you'll find rest for your souls. On the way to church today, Avery
and Bethany are usually in the car and we call the grandmother. And you know what moms do. Moms
want to know, how did you sleep? Just a question that moms seem
to ask. How did you sleep last night? How did you rest? It was
a great question. It was a good mom question. Reminds
me she cares about me and she wants to know. And I rested well. But I woke up in the same restless
world. I woke up with the same soul
that I went to bed with that just can't find that ultimate
peace in this world. Our souls are restless until
they find their rest in God. There's something that's profoundly
true about that, even for the believer in this world. If anyone ever sold you the idea
that coming to Jesus and getting saved and, you know, getting
your sins forgiven would just make it all peachy, would just
make it all right. That's what they call a false
what? A false bill of goods. Because in fact, I think one
of the signs and one sense of spiritual maturity that you're
growing is you find yourself less and less at rest in this
world longing for that one that is to come. I'm not just trying to preach
or proclaim or encourage or advocate some form of Christian escapism. We should just want to get out
of here so we can be done with this. No, while we are here in
this world, we are to be at peace before the Lord. We are to be
pursuing righteousness. We're to be engaged with faithful
living before an unfaithful world. We are to have joy and peace
in believing. But I know this world is not
what? This world is not my home. Not this world the way it is
now. My heart longs for what? It longs
for another world. Much like this one, yet without
sin. Much like this one, yet without
groaning. Much like this one, but where
everyone who is there is at rest. That's what I long for. Isaiah
and Isaiah 66 tells us about that world. If you have your
Bible, I would invite you to take it and turn with me to Isaiah
66, verses one and two. Isaiah 66, verses one and two. Thus says the Lord, heaven is
my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is a house
that you could build for me? And where is a place that I may
rest? For my hand made all these things. Thus all these things came into
being, declares the Lord. But to this one I will look,
to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at
my word. Let's pray together. Oh Lord God, we ask your help
in hearing and preaching and receiving your word. We ask, O God, that you would,
for your glory and for our good, use your word this day to sanctify
our hearts and steal us to Christ. Fix us to Him in such a way that
we are regularly and continually setting our minds on things above,
looking forward to that glorious future day when the vision of
Isaiah will be fulfilled. Oh God, we pray and long for
on that day to find the fullness of rest for which our restless
souls so long. We ask your grace in this in
Christ's name. Amen. Well, in the bulletin, that you
have toward the back is provided a brief outline that will walk
us through these two verses that, Lord willing, will be the culmination
of our study of the book of Isaiah. September 2018, we began the
trek of our look through this book. Some of you were not here. Some who were here are not here. But by God's grace, those of
us who are here have made it this far. We are really reaching
the culmination of Isaiah's vision. We've mentioned previously that
back in Isaiah chapter one in verse one, the book of Isaiah
simply states that this is the vision of Isaiah. It is one singular, though somewhat
multifaceted, vision that the prophet Isaiah is given. He's
given a vision of a current situation in Judah that is rather desperate. The people are filled with idolatrous
hearts. They are engaged in borrowing
from the religious practices of the nations that are around
them. They are seeking the help and the support of foreign kingdoms. They have turned away from their
God. They have confused his worship
with the worship of foreign gods. and they are in danger of God's
coming judgment. That judgment will come in maybe
a hundred or a hundred and fifty years from the time of Isaiah
in the form of the conquering of the southern kingdom of Judah
by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. But before that conquest
comes, before that judgment falls upon God's people, God sends
Isaiah, among other prophets, to the people with a vision of
what is to come. He begins to open up the glories
and the beauties of this vision in Isaiah chapter 2 where he
speaks about the mountain of the house of the Lord in a coming
day being established as the chief of all the mountains, being
raised above all the hills, all the nations streaming to it.
coming to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God
of Jacob, that they might learn his ways and walk in his paths
and hear and receive his law. It says in Isaiah chapter two
and verse four that God will judge between the nations and
render decisions for many people. And this interesting phrase that
we've heard many times, and I don't know that it quite hit me the
way it did, This week, in Times Past, it says they will hammer
their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nation will not lift up sword
against nation and never again will they learn war. I mean, why doesn't it just say
they'll take their swords and throw them away and their spears
and they'll burn them? Why turn them into agricultural
implements? I mean, that's a lot of effort.
That's a lot of work. I mean, I'm no metal guy or smelter
or whatever they call those guys that melt metal and reform things. I'm certainly no machinist that
knows how to tool things and create some new instrument here,
but let's just get rid of these things. Let's just pile them
up, burn them, throw them away. Why? Because the new heaven and
the new earth is going to be a place that is full of bounty
and harvest. It's going to be like Eden reborn. It's going to be a place where,
at least in the imagery that the prophet is using, it's going
to be a place where everything grows, where everything's alive. If you can recall, if you've
read the book of Ezekiel, In Ezekiel 40 and 58, it talks about
a vision that Ezekiel has of this future temple. And he sees
water flowing from out underneath the throne. Well, that sounds
interesting. Doesn't sound like the kind of place water should
flow. Sounds like we have a leak. I mean, what do you have? What's
going on here? Well, the water is flowing. And the water begins
to rise. And the water begins to get so
deep that no one could even swim in it or forge it. You couldn't
get through. But wherever the water went,
remember what happened? What does a flood usually do?
It wipes everything out. But wherever the water went that
flowed from the throne, everything came to life. Everything was
alive. Everything was flourishing. The picture in Isaiah, or Ezekiel
rather, of the water that is flowing from the throne of God
is a picture of the Holy Spirit that begins to flow out. Jesus
alludes to this in John chapter seven, speaking about the Spirit
that would come like water that would flow. And here the Spirit
brings what? It brings life. It brings the
fullness of life. And here we have a people that
are ceasing to be at war. but they're embracing bounty
and being blessed like nothing they've ever experienced before.
But this is Isaiah's vision at the beginning of the book of
Isaiah in Isaiah chapter two, and it just builds throughout
the entirety of the book until we come to this section in chapter
65 and 66 that we finally come to the heart of this idea of
the new heaven and the new earth as Peter says, in which righteousness
will dwell. Well, there are four things that
I'd like to do, four questions that I'd like to ask of this
text, to see if we can kind of move through the text and answer
these questions, and then, Lord willing, come to a few points
of application. The questions are these. What
is it that's being built? What is this construction project
forming and framing? Maybe you've driven by a construction
project that's near your house and they're starting to clear
the ground and the subject of conversation in your family becomes,
as you turn past the corner all the time until they put a sign
up or something, What's it going to be? You know, I'll ask Janice,
did you get on the neighborhood watch thing and find out what
that's going to be? What is that going to be? A few weeks ago,
we were driving by this corner around our house, and they've
been building this thing for the last month or so, scraping
off the ground. I'm like, what is that going to be? What is
that going to be? Is it going to be the Buc-ee's that I know
they're going to bring to me? No, it's not Buc-ee's, unless
it's like a, you know, mini Buc-ee's, you know, like, you know, would
fit on a small little spot. But we turn the corner one day,
and there's this guy out there with a white spray paint can. And
he spray paints QT on the side of it. And I was like, hey, we're
getting a QT. I was all excited. I was like
a little four-year-old getting all giddy about the QT. Don't
know why, but it just sounded like it was something exciting.
Maybe the price of gas will go down from the Tiger Mart across
the street that gouges the prices way up in the air. So there's
that sense of curiosity. What's it going to be? Well,
that's a question we need to ask of this particular project
here. And then secondly, what's it for? You're going to build
it, but what's it going to be for? Well, a QT is going to be
for gas, and for snacks, and all those kinds of things that
I don't need to get, but that I'd want to get. Taquitos, or
dogs, or whatever. Something like that that Janice
would just get after me about finding the taquito wrapper in the house.
Or those big macadamia nut cookies. I'm digressing. OK, number three.
There's a third question here to ask as well. How is it made? How is it made? We want to know
how it's constructed. Is this like, you know, is it
made out of twigs? Is it made out of mud? Is it
made out of bricks? What's it gonna be made out of?
How is it made? Number four is this. Who gets to go in? I mean, imagine,
you know, the trickery it would be if they built this QT, you
know, and then they had a sign on the front, if your name is
Jason Montgomery, you can't come in. You gotta go to the Tiger
Mart, all right? That'd be a bummer, wouldn't it? All right, who gets
to go in? Who gets to live there? Or, to give more of a biblical
and spiritual question, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Well, I'm kind of giving it away
about what this is, but let's go ahead and see if we can look
at these just a little bit. What's being built? What is it
for? How is it made? and who is all
allowed to live in it. Well, what is being built? Well, it simply says in chapter
66 verse one, thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and earth
is my footstool. Where then is a house that you
could build for me? Where is a place that I may rest? There are several images that
are just used in this brief text alone that indicate something
about what it is that's being made. We have two terms that
have already been used in the context, and that is heaven and
earth. Thus says the Lord, heaven is
my throne. and earth is my footstool. Heaven and earth have already
been used. Back in chapter 65 in verse 17,
for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. Well, so are we talking about
this new heaven and a new earth, or is God simply referring here
to heaven and earth as it existed at the present day? Well, before we answer that question,
let's think about something else. There are other things in here
that talk about what's being built. It talks about a throne.
It talks about a footstool. a throne, and a footstool, both
of which are items that we normally find where? In some kind of kingly
throne room, some kind of kingly castle. So perhaps we're entering
like a throne room. Is this heaven and earth pictured
as a throne room? Something else that were mentioned
here in verse one, we're told this is a house. Now in the days
of the Old Covenant, the king would have had a throne, the
king would have had a place where he would have ruled, but then
he would have had also a house for himself. And sometimes in
the Old Testament, the images of a throne room and the temple
are used somewhat intermixedly. For example, Isaiah goes where,
in Isaiah chapter six? Into the temple, and he sees
what? The Lord, high and lifted up,
and the train of his robe, his what robe? His kingly robe, filling
the temple, and everyone's around the throne saying, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts. We see these same creatures in
the book of Revelation, don't we? Surrounding the throne, God
is on the throne. Well here we have imagery of
a heaven and an earth, imagery of a throne and a footstool,
imagery of a house in which God seems to live, a house that could
be built for him. There's one other indication
of what this particular place may be. It is a place of rest. Notice what it says there in
verse one. Where then is a house that you could build for me and
where is a place that I may rest? It's interesting we read that
word rest and I think of another place in the Bible where it speaks
about God resting. Perhaps your mind may go back
to Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter 2, God had made
the earth in the space of six days, and after that he what?
He rested. He ceased his labor. The writer of Hebrews speaks
about this as well in Hebrews chapter 4. He speaks about God
after he created the world as resting. We have images here that are
somewhat varied, don't we? But in the context of this verse,
they're all interrelated. We have creation imagery of heaven
and earth. We have throne room imagery of
throne and footstool. We have home imagery of a house
where someone goes to find a place to rest. We've been referring
for some time, if you look in your bulletin on, I'm not sure
what page it is, page 14. that little chiastic structure
that we've kind of built for you. We've walked through this
for a long time. And we mentioned right in the middle of this,
this section here that we're in now, letter E on the form
here, life in the new creation, new city, new house, temple. In other words, all these images
are all overlaying one another and they're all referring to
the same place. God is making a new heaven and
a new earth. He is making a new place that
will be described here as his throne and his footstool. He is making a new place in which
he will rest. So that brings us back to this
question. Is this simply pointing us to the earthly picture that
is present when Isaiah writes, heaven and earth, he describes
at multiple places in the scripture that heaven is my throne, earth
is my footstool. The Bible sometimes uses that
imagery. Or is it referring to something more? In other words,
is this referring to something present for Isaiah, or is Isaiah
receiving a vision of something future and something that is
coming in the days to come. Let me give you a couple of things
to consider. One, let me just kind of let
the cat out of the bag. I think you probably already
know, I think this is referring to something that's in the future.
Why do I think that? Number one, several reasons. I believe this is regarding the
new heaven and the new earth that has already been spoken
about in the context in chapter 65, verse 17, but also in chapter
62 in verse 22. These are the two places in Isaiah
where the phrasing, the new heaven and the new earth are used together. 65, 17, for behold, I create
new heavens and a new earth and the former things will not be
remembered or come to mine. Chapter 66 in verse 22, for just
as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, which
I make will endure before me, declares the Lord. So your offspring
and your name will endure. In other words, the context,
the immediate context before and directly after chapter 66
verse one, where it speaks about heaven and earth is speaking
in the context of a new heaven and a new earth, that God is
going to build or God is going to create. Turn, if you would, in your Bible
to the book of 2 Chronicles. Excuse me, maybe 1 Chronicles. Second Chronicles. All right. In Isaiah 66, hear the language again. God
asks these questions. Where is a house that you could
build for me? And where is a place that I may
rest? In Second Chronicles, Solomon
builds the temple. and then dedicates the temple.
Remember, the temple was always something David wanted to build,
but God said, no, you're a man of bloodshed. You're not gonna
build the temple. Your son will build the temple for me. 2 Chronicles
chapter six, verse one says this. The Lord said that he would dwell
in the thick cloud. I have built you a lofty house
and a place for your dwelling forever. The intention of Solomon
is to build a house in which God will dwell, and the house
that he builds in 2 Chronicles is the temple. This is going
to be a place where God will dwell, where he will come and
rest. He will find his habitation,
if you will. So Solomon says, I built you
a place, I built you a lofty house, a place for your dwelling
forever. However, notice 2 Chronicles
6 in verse 18. But will God indeed dwell with
mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest
heaven cannot contain you, much less this house which I have
built." I mean, at one moment, it seems
like this is great. God is going to come and dwell
among men, and he's going to live right here in this house.
This is the way it was in temples. In the ancient Near Eastern world,
groups would build temples for their gods. They would usually
set them up on high and lofty mountains, and the little house
that they would build on the top of a temple would be the
place where they would identify, this is where the god lives.
This is where he rests. They would come and they would
worship there, and they would make their offerings, because
that's where the god was. But Solomon here has made a temple
He has placed it on Mount Zion. And in many ways, this is very
common to the ancient world in which they lived. But Solomon
now comes and confesses something that's very different from the
way the pagan nations would view their God. Solomon has made a
house in which his God is to come and take up his abode and
reside, but Solomon realizes almost instantaneously, the God
we worship, he's not gonna fit. We've built him a house that
he can't fit in. He will fill this and he will
spill over. In fact, as he says there in
2 Chronicles 6 18, the highest heavens cannot continue. That kind of questioning, those
kind of statements are in the background of this kind of question. Where then is the house that
you could build for me? Think Solomon in the background.
Where is a place that I may rest? Think Solomon in the background.
You can't build me a house. You can't build me anything big
enough that I can actually come and rest in. Notice also the implied answer
in 66 verse 1. The implied answer to the questions
is clearly no. Where then is a house that you
could build for me? Nowhere. Where is a place that
I might rest? I have no idea. I mean, there's
nothing I could build for you. There's nothing I could provide
for you that would be adequate and sufficient for you to rest
in. So again, we're still trying
to address the question, is this vision of this heaven and earth,
this throne, this footstool, this house, this place of rest,
is it just something in the known created world that Isaiah already
lives in? Or is Isaiah thinking about something
beyond his present experience, something that would come in
the days to come. I think it's something in the
future. The context demonstrates this, speaking about the new
heaven and the new earth. The background to the questions themselves
tells us that the answer is we can't find anything in this world
that God can dwell in and live in in fullness. The implied answer of a negative
answer to the questions that are asked tells us there's nothing
we can find here. Think about a fourth reason.
The situation into which Isaiah writes is a situation that is
corrupt. We've noticed this back all the
way in chapter 1. But I want you to notice the
immediate context here in chapter 66 that highlights the corruption. Notice in verses 3 and 4. We've
read these verses before, but let's just notice them again.
But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man. He who sacrifices
a lamb is like one who breaks a dog's neck. He who offers grain,
he offers a grain offering, is like one who offers swine's blood.
He who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol as they
have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their
abominations. So I will choose their punishment and I will bring
on them what they dread. because I called and no one answered.
I spoke and they did not listen, but they did evil in my sight
and chose that in which I did not delight." The current state
of the worship of the people of God under that Old Covenant
context is corrupt. It is idolatrous. It is in many
ways pagan. They've borrowed from the nations
that are around them. They're offering things that
are unacceptable to God. We see this also back in chapter
65. in verses two through seven. We see it also in verses 11 through
12 of chapter 65. And we see it again in 66 in
verses 14 through verse 18. There is corruption in the worship
of the people. So God addresses, not them, but
he addresses his faithful remnant in verse five. Here are the word
of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers who
hate you, who exclude you from my namesake, have said, let the
Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy." They're mocking
those faithful worshipers. But they will be put to shame.
A voice of uproar from the city. A voice from the temple. The voice of the Lord who is
rendering recompense to his enemies. Now, pause at verse six. God is trying to encourage his
faithful remnant who tremble at his word, who love his word,
who love his worship, and he's trying to encourage them, and
he says, there is a voice of uproar from the city. But then
he says, there is a voice of uproar from the temple. What
temple? Not the corrupt temple. Not the
temporal temple. Not the temple that is filled
with all the wicked worshipers. I believe in verse six what's
happening here is God is saying a voice of uproar from the city,
a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord who is rendering
recompense to his enemies. What he's saying is here is that
God is declaring something. He's speaking, he's speaking
judgment to the corrupt people. And it says this voice of God
comes from the temple. I think the temple that's being
pointed to is not the earthly temple here, but rather the heavenly
temple. Remember the tabernacle? When
Moses went up on the mount, he received instructions. He received
instructions about how to build the tabernacle according to what?
According to the divine pattern that was given him on the mountain.
When the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus has died, he's
been raised, he goes back up into the heavenlies, to, as it
were, bring his offering of his blood on the altar of God. There's this idea of heavenly
realities, heavenly realities where God dwells, his holy temple,
that temple that's in the highest of the heavens, that the earthly
temple is patterned after. And here I think God is saying,
I'm rendering judgment from the heavens about what is going on
on the earth. Look back in Isaiah 57. Isaiah
57 in verse 15. We get a picture of this dwelling
place of God in the heavens. Isaiah 57 in verse 15. For thus says the High and Exalted
One who lives forever." Or, some translations here have,
who dwells in eternity. Whose name is holy. Now he says
this, I dwell on a high and holy place. This is something different
than the temple. There is a sense in which God
did dwell in Jerusalem. There's a sense in which he dwelt
in the temple. But as Solomon affirms there
in 2 Chronicles 6, the temple can't contain him. But God himself,
speaking of where he dwells, he says, I dwell in a high and
holy place. I dwell in a place in fullness,
in a realm that is far separated from this corrupt and fallen
realm that we have down here, this heaven and earth. So if
God is ever to dwell with men, if God is ever to come in fullness
near men, the current corrupt heaven and earth, The current
corrupt temple, the current corrupt worship, the current corrupt
place that is designed for him to rest in has to be what? It has to be remade. It has to
be refashioned. It has to be renewed. Something else about this place
that is being built. Isaiah 66 in verse 1 again speaks
about heaven being his throne, earth being his footstool. Now don't pass that over too
quickly. What has he just done with heaven
and earth and the throne and the footstool? They're overlapping
what? They're overlapping images. Remember
when you were in grade school? All right, some of us have to
think back a while to transparencies. Remember those? Remember those?
The plastic clear transparencies? I mean, now you just have a PowerPoint
that kind of goes up there. But we used to have these little
machines in our class, for those of you that are too young to
know what this is. It was a little box, it had a light inside it,
and the light shone kind of up, and it hit a little mirror, and
the mirror shot the image that was on top of the light, it shot
the image on the wall. And if you were a good student,
you got to sit by the chair and you got to do the transparencies,
because that was kind of a teacher's pet kind of thing that was kind
of fun. And you know, when nobody was looking, you'd stick your
fingers over it like bunny ears or something. I would never do
those things. Other kids with it were rebellious. So, so you have like
a, a, a, a first image and then you lay something over the top
of that, a second image and then a third image. All right. And,
and you're just overlap and you're making the full what you're making
a full picture. When he says here, heaven is
my throne and earth is my footstool, he's not simply talking about
heaven like a physical heaven, although I think there is a new
heaven that's going to be made. This new heaven that's going
to be made is referred to as his what? This is his throne.
It's as if God sits in the heavens. I mean, you want to think about
how big God is, all right? Well, God is not, you know, spatial
in the way we think of it. He encompasses everything. He
fills all things. We speak of his omnipresence. He is everywhere present. But
not only that, heaven is his throne, earth is his footstool. The heavens, it's like if you
can, you can't help in a sense, but visualize something bodily. But keep in mind, when you're
doing that, God doesn't have a body like men, the old catechism
would say, all right? God is spirit. But what would
of a king sit on a throne? That's the heavens. And God fills
the heavens. And earth, as big as the earth
is, the earth is represented as the place where he puts his
feet. Now, there are some places where the Bible speaks about
the Ark of the Covenant as the footstool of God, all right? And if you just think, this digresses
just a little bit, but it'll relate. If you think of the Holy
of Holies, we got the tabernacle or the temple, and we got this
building, little rectangular building. holy place on the outside
where the Levites, the priests, will come in, do some work, and
then you go a little further in, you get this little cubicle
room, and that's the Holy of Holies, and that's where the
priest would go once a year to offer sacrifice. He would not
go in there without blood. What does that room represent? That
room represents, it's the place where the Ark of the Covenant
is, and the Ark of the Covenant is the footstool of God. Listen,
The Holy of Holies represented in the tabernacle and in the
temple, the place where heaven and earth met. Okay? That's what's happening in that
little room. And that's why that priest is supposed to go in there,
do his thing and get out really quick. All right? Because you
don't want to linger at the place where heaven and earth meet. And all you are is encountering
God's feet when you go in there. Work with me here. It's imagery,
okay? God doesn't have feet. I gotta
keep pulling us back in on that. I don't want us walking out of
here thinking the preacher thinks that he's been listening to Kenneth
Copeland this week. No, I'm not. But I did realize
a couple of minutes ago that if I'd been watching Benny Hinn,
I would've known how to throw my coat, and I would've got that
hornet completely off of there, and obviously that's what's going
on. He's been throwing hornets down on the ground the whole
time. So, that little room is where heaven and earth meet.
Listen, what happens when all of known reality is found in
that little room? That's what's gonna happen in
the new heaven and the new earth. In the new heaven and the new
earth, the new heavens and the new earth, and the throne room
of God, the footstool of God, the house of God, the place where
God dwells, they're all what? They're all one thing. Now, kind
of hold that in your mind for a moment and hopefully we'll
come back to that. I'm really trying to make this
not a, I'm really trying to finish. I know some people think I'm
not, but I'm really trying. I told Janice earlier, this may
be a 25 point, you know, final sermon, but I'm trying. So that's,
that's a little bit on what's being built. That's the first
question. Okay. Second question is this, what's
it for? What's it for? We alluded to
it already in looking at these images about what's being built,
but let's notice something again. Thus says the Lord, heaven is
my throne, earth is my footstool. Where then is a house you could
build for me and where is a place that I may rest? For my hand made all these things,
thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord. but
to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of
spirit, who trembles at my word." What I take out of this particular
text to answer the question, what is it for, is the term rest. That's what it's for. It's for
rest. It is for the cessation of labor,
both in creation and in recreation and in, we might say, sanctification
for the believer. It is for rest. I wanna take
us to a passage in the book of Hebrews that kind of presses
this a little bit. Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four. Uh, we're going to see if technology
can help us out here because I don't have a King James up
here, but we're going to see if we can find it. All right. Hebrews chapter four beginning
in verse eight for if Joshua had given them
rest or Joshua, Joshua was the one that fought the battle of
Jericho. Joshua, one that led them into the promised land,
all right, and leads them to defeat the Canaanites. But as
much rest as Joshua gave the people, he did not give them
full rest. And we see that throughout the
Old Testament, don't we? They're constantly battling different
ites that are still left in the land. If Joshua had given them
rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. In
other words, there's more rest to come. So
there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. A better
way to translate that word would be Sabbath-keeping. That's why
we're here today, because there remains a Sabbath-keeping for
the people of God. This is not a sermon about the Sabbath, but
that's a whole other series of sermons. Maybe one day we'll
do those again. There remains a Sabbath keeping for the people
of God. There remains a weekly need for a Sabbath for us to
come aside from the world, lay down those things and engage
in the worship of God with the corporate body, the worship of
God with our families, uh, the, the pursuit of God, even in our
own hearts. All right. Um, verse 10 where I want you
to look for the one who has entered his rest, has himself also rested
from his works as God did from his. Therefore, let us be diligent
to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following
the same example of disobedience." We've got, in this particular
text, we have three different rests that are taking place.
There is a creation rest that is referred to. There is a redemptive
rest that is referred to, and there is personal rest for believers
that is to be entered into. I'll see if we can unpack this
a little bit. Verse 10, for the one who has
entered his rest has also, has himself also rested from his
works as God did from his. I'm going to read this verse
in the King James. It's a little better. And this
is what it says. For the one who has entered his
rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from
his. Now, there's some pronoun issues
here, right? A lot of his and he's and stuff
like that. Let's see if we can unpack this
just a bit. For the one who has entered his rest has himself
also rested from his works as God did from his. Let's start
at the end of the verse. It says that God rested from
his works. Now, Because I don't want this
to turn into a forever sermon, I wanna take you to a couple
places, and I just wanna say something about God resting from
his works. Look in Genesis chapter two.
God rests from his works in Genesis chapter two, in verse two. Genesis two, verse two. I wanna give you time to turn
over there. Genesis chapter two, verse two. By the seventh day,
God completed his work which he had done, and he rested on
the seventh day from all his work which he had done. This is the rest that the writer
of Hebrews is alluding to when he says in Hebrews 4.10, God
did from his, or God rested from his works, these works of creation. But then he says in Hebrews 4.10
here, he speaks of one who has entered his rest, for the one
who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his
works. This is a reference to Jesus.
Jesus has entered into his rest because he has finished his work.
What was his work? His work was to come what? Into
the world to do the works that God the Father had given him
to do. So we have in verse 10 an allusion
to the works of God the Father, and I'm not saying the Father
is the only one that creates, but there is a distinction being
made here in Hebrews chapter 4, 10 between the Father, the
work of the Father, the work of the Son, and your work that
you're gonna rest from as well. In the creation, we can go back
to Genesis 1, and we can see the entire Trinity at work, the
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit at work. But the place that's
being stressed, or the person that's being stressed here is
resting in Hebrews 14, is the Father. And the rest of the Father
is now being compared to the rest of the Son. Hebrews 4.10
again, the one who has entered his rest, this is Christ in the
context here of Hebrews 4. Christ has done his work, he
has gone to the cross, he's been crucified, buried, raised again,
ascended on high, seated now at the right hand of the throne
of God, he has rested from his work. And it says the one who
has entered his rest, again Jesus, has himself also rested from
his works as God did from his. God has rested. The Lord Jesus
is resting. But all of this is used to be
an encouragement for you and I to what? To also enter into
rest. Hebrews 4 verse 11. Therefore
let us, believers, confessors in this age, be diligent to enter
that rest so that no one may fall through following the same
example of disobedience. Now it's not, it's not that you
and I, get this, it's not that you and I are entering our own
little rest. Unless we get the idea that like,
you know, remember the idea of the King James and John 14 and
my father's house are many rooms, are many mansions, all right?
And so you get a mansion, you get a mansion, you get a mansion.
I remember back to that sermon about my bean bag from a few
weeks ago, all right? And we're all gonna rest, all right? We're
all gonna go to our own rooms and rest. It's not what it says.
God, God has rested from his works. Jesus has also entered
now into the rest, the rest of God having finished his works. Notice what it says in verse
11. Again, you might've missed this word. Therefore, let us be diligent
to enter our rest. See, you're not looking at the
Bible with me. Okay. Remember, Do the Berean thing,
don't just blindly trust the guy at the front. Verse 11, therefore
let us be diligent to enter that rest. What rest? The rest of
God. We're gonna enter into God's
rest. Why, because we're God? No, but
because he who is in perfect repose for all eternity is going
to bring us into his perfect repose and be blessed by his
own rest. Now we're back in Isaiah 66.
All right. I'm really trying. Okay. Isaiah
66. Here's what he says. Thus says
the Lord, heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. Where's
the place, the house you're going to build for me. Where's the
place that I may rest. I mean, it might sound kind of
self-serving here, but God is concerned primarily with his
rest and you should be thankful. Alright, if you get to rest,
I don't care if anybody rests with me, if I get to rest, I'm
resting. I mean, I'm just taking, I'm resting. I'm not worried
about anybody else, I'm worried about my rest. If I go in the
bedroom in the middle of the afternoon to take a nap and the
kids are being noisy in the kitchen, grumpy bear from the bedroom
growls, rawr! I'm gonna get my dad out of there!
I'm trying to what? Rest! I'm not worried about your
rest, I'm thinking about my rest. But God, in His rest, He does
what? He thinks about us, and He takes
us in to His rest. Okay, now, what's it for? It's for rest. How is it made? Well, this is good news. Verse
three, or chapter six, verse three, that's question number
three, sorry. Chapter 66, verse two, my hand made all these things. Thus all these things came into
being declares the Lord. What things? The things that
he's been talking about, the heaven, the earth, the throne
room, the footstool, the house, the things that have been being
talked about in chapter 65, 16 and chapter 66 verse 22, the
new heavens, the new earth. He made all these things, but
notice what it says. How was it made? It was made
by God's own hand. Don't get mixed up here. He doesn't
have a body, doesn't have feet. He doesn't have hands. The Bible
speaks often about God, what is called anthropomorphically. I'm gonna impress your friends. Use the word anthropomorphic
one day, right? Anthropos, man or human. Morphic, morphos, form. Speaking about God after the
form of a man or human form. The Bible speaks often anthropomorphically,
as if God has some kind of tangible human creaturely form. The psalmist
talks about taking this under the shadow of his wings. Not
only does God not have hands and feet, he doesn't have feathers
either, all right? But you get the idea of protection,
of safety, all right? If his feet are there, all right,
his presence is there, he's there. I loved this little poem when
I was a kid. I'm hiding, I'm hiding, and no one knows where,
for all they can see are my toes and my hair. I forgot the rest
of it. It was a fun little poem. And
the little boy thought he was hiding. I'm hiding. I'm hiding. No one knows where for all they
can see are my toes and my hair. He was hiding behind a chair
and his head was poking out the top. His feet were poking out
at the bottom and mom and dad are what they're just laughing
in the background. They know right where he is. Why? Because they
know if his head and the feet are there, he's there. Here's the imagery is
here of presence. He's, he's near. He's dwelling
with us. What does it matter that it's
made with human made with God's hands? This is in contrast to
things being made, what, with human hands. The temple that was present in
Isaiah's day had been made with human hands. Stephen mentions
this in Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 7, where he drives home
the idea. It's one of the only places I
think Isaiah 66, 1 is quoted in the New Testament is in Acts
chapter 7, I believe it is, when Stephen speaks before the Sanhedrin.
And he speaks about this temple that was made with human hands.
And he calls the people stiff-necked. Remember last week, Ryan Sermon
talked about how that imagery of being stiff-necked pointed
to their idolatry. And that's exactly what's going
on here in Isaiah 66 as well. God stresses, he will not be,
Acts 17, he's not served by human hands. We're just saving you,
Jeff, having to come up and mention that text after the sermon. Oh,
you should've mentioned this text. There it is. All right.
So, it's not served by human hands. They were not to make
things. They were not, for example, when
they made altars in the Old Testament, they weren't to use like, they
weren't to like cut it, cut stones, natural stones, because God wanted
the minimum amount of human involvement possible in making this temple. Why? Because he was going to
dwell there. And what do human hands do? Look
at your hands. They corrupt everything. Human hands corrupt everything. Why? Because we are false and
full of sin, as the hymn writer would say. We need the hands
of God to make this house, this place of rest, this temple, this
glorious new creation in which he will dwell. Well, one final
thing, one final thing. Who gets to live there? Who gets
to go? Who gets to go to this glorious
Throne, temple, house, place of perfect rest and peace, or
as we refer to it here for some weeks, this new creation, new
city, new house, temple. Who gets to go? Who shall ascend
the hill of the Lord? And that's what we're talking
about. The mountain, the holy mountain of God upon which his
temple sits. Who gets to go? Who gets to ascend? Well, two, two are stressed. Notice 66 verse one, thus says
the Lord, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where then is the house that
you'll build for me? And where is the place that I may rest?
Well, God's there. I mean, you heard him say it.
It's his throne. It's his footstool. It's his
house. It's his bed. I mean, if we're
thinking of a bed of a place to rest, it's the place where
he gets to rest. He gets to live there. He embodies
everything about this new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, new
city. He's there. Now, But that's not all it says. It then says, but to this one,
I will look to him who is humble and contrite
of spirit and who trembles at my word. Look back on Isaiah
57 again. We looked at this text a moment
ago, but we stopped and didn't read the rest of it. Isaiah 57 verse 15 for thus says
the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is
holy. I dwell on a high and holy place. And he lives, even now in Isaiah's
day, he lived in that heaven of heavens. Remember Paul, in
2 Corinthians chapter 12, says, I know a man, whether out of
the body or in the body, I don't know. He was caught up to the
third heaven. And the Jews thought of that
third heaven as the realm where God lived, the highest of the
heavens. And that's what Isaiah's referring
to here. God's saying, I dwell on a high and holy place. And,
also with the contrite and lowly of spirit, in order to revive
the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. In order for men to ever dwell
with God, they must be revived. They must be given life. The Aramaic translation of this
particular text from Isaiah points to the idea of resurrection.
Now, our text is based upon the Hebrew, or what's often called
the Masoretic text. There's also an Aramaic translation,
and when they translated this into Aramaic, it carries the
idea of resurrection. So whether we're talking about
a future resurrection and the rest of the Bible would certainly
support that. You and I can never dwell on high in this eternal,
holy house with God finding rest and perfect peace until what?
Until that future glorious day of resurrection when we're with
the Lord forever in perfection? Or whether it's just speaking
in terms of reviving the lowly and maybe regeneration or giving
them new life. What's important to note here
in verse 15 is that God says, I dwell on a high and holy place,
but I also dwell there, what? With someone. Who does he dwell
there with? He dwells there with the contrite
and the lowly of spirit. It's the same imagery that's
given back in Isaiah 66 in verse two, to this one I will look,
why? Why does he look to that one? Because that's the one that's
gonna dwell there with him. the one who is humble, the one
who's contrite of spirit, and who trembles at his word. It is mentioned again, just to
kind of remind you, in verse five, chapter 66, verse five,
it speaks about his worshipers, his true saints, this remnant,
as those who tremble at his word. Well, let me just try to wrap
this up with four points, four kind of words of encouragement,
I hope, I mean, I could literally be
in Isaiah the rest of my life and I'd never finish. I know
how bad it is. And, uh, I did try to remind
my wife their day that we were in Romans almost eight or nine
years and we've only been in here for not even four. It's
hard to just kind of push past it all. But let me leave you
with a few words of encouragement about not just the book as a
whole, but maybe the book as a whole, because this is like
the completion of his, of his vision. When you and I think
of this new heaven, this new earth, this new city, and we
didn't even take the time to go into Revelation 21 and 22. We've dabbled in that a little
bit, but if you want to really get more of what's happening
here in 65 and 66 in this central section, spend some time meditating
upon Revelation 21 and 22, where we see the new heaven, the new
earth, the new city, and God dwelling there in this glorious
garden temple forever. The revelation, number one is
this, the revelation of God's new creation work should be heard
as promise. When you think about this, and
I hope that you will think about it often, it is indeed your forever
home. If you're a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, this is where you will be forever. World without
end, amen. It is given to us in the Word
of God and it is to be heard by those who hear its reading
or its proclamation as promise. This is God's Word of promise
to you as a believer who walks in this world where everything
about you groans. We groan because of sin. We groan because of sickness.
We groan because of weariness. We groan because of so many things
in this world that overwhelm our hearts. And, you know, you
young people, you kids, you may look at your mom and dad one
day and go, man, mom and dad, they sure do groan a lot. You
know, they sure do. They kind of complain a lot.
And I can assure you, your parents don't want to. and they probably
catch themselves often and they probably chastise themselves
for groaning because we ought to have joy and we ought to have
peace and believing and we ought to be resting and we ought to
be faithful and all those kinds of things, all those kinds of
things your parents tell you to be. And then, and then they
fail at it. All right. You will become You'll
just have to trust me at some point. You will become much more
sympathetic with your parents the older you get. Because this
world is full of sin. And this world is full of difficulty. But let us remember Bunyan's
Pilgrim, the hill of difficulty. I'm gonna ascend it. I'm going
to, I'm going to take one step after another and I'm going to
keep pressing up life, which is the hill of difficulty. And
I'm going to hear these words as God's promise to me that this
world is not all there is. And you young people are growing
up in a world that is in many ways more dark than the one we
grew up in. I rejoice greatly this past week
that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. And if you can't be happy about
that, then I pray for your soul. Because that's a dark blot on
our nation's heritage. It is a wicked evil to take the
life of a little child in a womb. And we've done it millions and
millions and millions and millions of times. What we're growing up on and
what you're having to grow up in in this world that is praising
abominations of every kind, This world will be for you as
you grow older, unless the Lord comes or unless he sends revival
on the land, it will be a very difficult place to walk. So,
you need to remind yourself often that there is a new heaven and
a new earth in which righteousness dwells. And that is a word to
you from God as promise. And God keeps all of his promises. Not one word of his will fail. The revelation of the new creation
that God will bring should be heard as a promise. Secondly, the announcement of
a place of divine rest should be heard as an invitation. There's a land that is fairer
than day, and by faith we can see it afar. It's an invitation. It's an invitation from God to
you. To enter what? His rest. Not your own rest. Heaven is
not just, you know, you finally getting the fullness of the brochure
and you get a place to kind of chill forever and hang out on
your cloud with your harp. That's just silly. And it's empty. I'm talking about
the rest of God, the peace of God that passes all understanding,
the enjoyment of the presence of God forever and ever and always,
and he beckons you, he invites you to come and partake of that
rest. What did the writer of Hebrews
tell us? Let us strive to enter that rest. Let us be diligent
to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following
the example of disobedience. And that example of disobedience
is that of the idolatrous Israelites in the wilderness that often
craved Egypt and craved their idols. This place of divine rest
should be heard by you, I hope it will, as invitation. Thirdly, The declaration that
this has been made by God's own hand should be heard as a word
of assurance. I mean, every promise that you
receive from someone in this world is a promise that's given
to you by someone who's made something with human hands. God
is no politician. Politician promises you much.
Maybe friends promise you much. Maybe your boss promises you
much. God's promise and God's invitation should come as a word
of assurance. His own hands have made this
and will make this new heaven and this new earth, which should
be for us a word of encouragement to know that indeed it will last. It will last forever. And one
final thing. Did you notice in Isaiah 66 in
verse 2, when God said, to this one I will look, to him who is
humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word,
to this one I will look. Think of, I think it's in Chronicles,
maybe first or second Chronicles 16,
the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the earth
to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Or I think of John chapter 4
where Jesus says to the woman at the well, you know, the woman
at the well says, oh, you know, we worship here on this mountain
and you Jews say we should worship on that mountain. And Jesus,
Jesus looks at her and says, woman, believe me, an hour is
coming and now is when you'll neither worship in that mountain
or this one. Because those who worship the Father will what?
Worship in spirit and in truth. It's not about a temple. It's
not about Jerusalem. It's about worshiping the Father
in spirit and truth. Then Jesus says something. He says, and
such the Father is what? The Father is seeking. The Father
is seeking those kinds of people to be his worshipers. The implication of the watchful
gaze of God's all-seeing, all-knowing eyes should cause the trembling
to have every hope and should cause the proud to tremble. I'm
gonna say that again. The implication of the watchful
gaze of God's all-seeing, all-knowing eye should cause the trembling,
those who do tremble at his word, should cause them to have hope. and it should cause the proud
to tremble. Brothers and sisters, if you
are here today as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you indeed have a heart that is contrite before God, You indeed
have a humble spirit before God. You indeed do receive his word
with humble and contrite trembling and love and longing for his
word. The encouragement for you is
to have hope because God is what, God is one who is looking for
that kind of worshiper to be near him and to be with him. And friend, if you're here today,
and you have no interest in the Word of God, and you proudly
refuse to tremble before God and his Word, then I remind you
today that God is a God who knows all. God is a God who sees all,
and he knows you this very moment, and knows that you refuse to
tremble before his Word. So I would encourage you, I would
plead with you, Make this the day that you humble your heart,
for God is what? God is opposed to the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble. Friend, though the book is done
for us, I pray you think often on the vision of Isaiah, a glorious
coming day of a new heaven, a new earth, in which righteousness
dwells, a day in which all those who are his will be with him,
will rest with him forever and always. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of your
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our savior, our Lord, our prophet
and priest and king. The one by whom and for whom
all things exist. How we bless you for your word.
How we bless you for It's comforting promise how we
bless you for its invitation, its assurance, and the hope that
we can find in it. I would pray, oh God, for myself
and for my brothers and sisters that you indeed would encourage
us with this word of promise, that you would draw us near by
your invitation, that you would strengthen us with this assurance, and that you would comfort us
with hope. We ask, oh God, that you would
use not only your word for this this day, but that you would
strengthen our hearts even as we come to the table, for we
see again, even here, your word of promise that Christ is one
day coming again. We are reminded of your invitation. Come, you who are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. We are assured that your work
is perfect, and we are given here at the table the strengthening
of our hope So I pray, O God, for my brothers and sisters.
I pray that you would uphold them by your mighty power, draw
their hearts away after Christ even now. And I do pray, O God,
for those who are here who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ,
though they may know of him. They do not know him as Savior.
They do not confess him as Lord. So we would ask God that you
would, by your spirit, bring conviction to their own hearts
and draw them to Christ, even this day. We pray, oh God, that you would
oversee this time for your glory and for our good. In Jesus' name
we pray, amen. Well, it is a joy each and every
Lord's Day to have the opportunity to come to the table together
as those who would confess our belief in the triune God. And
if you would follow along on page six and join your voices
to the church, this is indeed your confession as we prepare
to come to the Lord's table today. Let us join together in affirmation
of the Nicene Creed. We believe in one God, the Father
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible
and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten
of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very
God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance
with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us
men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate
by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was
crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate He suffered and was buried,
and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures,
and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of
the Father. And he shall come again with
glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall
have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and
the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped
and glorified who spake by the prophets. And I believe in one
holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for
the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection
of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Well, the Lord Jesus in the night
that he was betrayed, instituted this meal for his precious church
to carry on until he returned. The Apostle Paul says that I
received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that
the Lord Jesus and the night in which he was betrayed took
bread. And when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying,
this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often
as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat
this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
until he comes. If the deacons would come and
pass the elements out to the congregation. Okay. Tom. Trevith Bredstein. Heavenly Father, we ask you to
bless this bread. Help us to remember, Father,
that on an appointed day, at an appointed
time, your son was nailed upon the cross. This bread
represents his body, which was broken. for the remission of
our sins, Father. We can never duplicate or replicate
or in any way add to this perfect act of obedience that Jesus did
on our behalf. But we can hold in our heart,
Father, a reverence and a gratitude for all that you have done for
us, including your sending of your son to die in our place.
So with this in mind, we ask again, could you bless this bread,
bless this bread for your glory and for our good.
And we ask this in Christ's name, amen. Body of Christ, given for you.
Thanks be to God. So, Heavenly Father, thank you for
a love so great that you would send your only begotten son to
die on the cross for us, for the remission of our sins. We
ask that you bless this cup, which represents his life. We
ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. The cup of
the new covenant. Thanks be to God. Let's pray together. Our father chart in heaven, hallowed
be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead
us not into temptation, deliver us from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Would you stand with me as we're
dismissed and the singing of the doxology and the receiving
of the Lord's blessing as we go. Praise God from whom all blessings
flow. Praise him, all creatures here
below. Praise him above ye heavenly
hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all as you go. Amen.
Zion: The Beautiful City of God Pt. 4
Series Israel in the New Covenant
| Sermon ID | 627222846295 |
| Duration | 1:20:09 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Language | English |
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