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.