Turn with me now, if you would,
to Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26. I want to look at four verses
and these are four verses that greatly bless my soul. Let me
read all four of them and then we'll point out a few things.
Isaiah 26 verse one, it says. In that day. Shall this song
be sung in the land of Judah? We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that
the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. Isn't that so encouraging? That thought is just so glorious
to me. Don't you love the thought of
entering into glory? Don't you love that thought?
When you read those three words in that day, doesn't that make
your mind and your heart imagine what it's going to be like to
enter into glory with Christ in that day? Think about this with me for
just a second. Our Lord has individually been calling his people into
glory. Since Abel, Adam and Eve's son,
Abel, one by one, he's been calling his people into glory. For every one of God's people,
there comes a point in time where we leave this earth. And this is so hard for us to
enter into. It is just so hard for us to imagine. This is all
we know. And we're creatures of habit.
And we're creatures of comfort. We don't want to get out of our
comfort zone. So anything other than this is hard for us to get
our minds around humanly speaking. But there comes a point for every
one of God's children where we leave this world and we go to
be with the Lord. The scripture says to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. But the scripture says when the
Lord comes back, it says he is coming back. And when he does,
he is going to bring all of those people who are already there
with him. And they are going to take up
their bodies from this earth. And those who come back with
the Lord and those who are still on the earth In the twinkling of an eye, all
of our bodies are going to be changed. And our bodies will be just like
his body. And as he left this earth rising
up into the air, you know, that's how our Lord went back up to
glory. He was talking and blessing his
disciples and he rose up into the air as he left this earth. We will leave this earth, we
will rise up into the air and we will meet him and we will
be with him and he will take us back to his kingdom. Which in him and with him and
because of him is our kingdom too. And from that moment on. Our
life. Will be glory. Our life will
be glory. What we just read describes that
moment. Verse one says, in that day. In that day, that day of glory
with Christ, that day of inheritance with Christ, that day of receiving
everything we have hoped for in him, glory, heaven, rejoicing. In that day. In that glorious
day, the Lord spoke a lot about this through Isaiah. He spoke a lot about that day.
Right here in this book, right here through Isaiah, let's scroll
through some scriptures. Okay. Follow me to a few scriptures
here. Look at Isaiah chapter two. Isaiah chapter two. Verse 17, it says. And the loftiness of man shall
be bowed down. And the haughtiness of man shall
be made low. And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. I can't wait. I can't wait. Now, that is every day. That right there is every day,
just like our text. Our text is every day. What we
read a moment ago, that's every day. It said this song is going
to be sung. We sing that song right now. That's every day that most definitely
was the day of the cross, just like our text. Our text is the
day of the cross. But there is going to come a
day in that day. That we will never have to put
up with the loftiness and the haughtiness of man ever again. And what I mean by that is the
loftiness and haughtiness of our own flesh ever again. We'll never have to put up with
it ever again. Verse 17 says in the loftiness of man shall
be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and
the Lord alone. shall be exalted in that day,
in himself and in us, in that day. Amen. I can't wait. I can't wait. I don't have a
death wish. I do have a life wish. And I'm
fine to stay here as long as he wants me to be here. But with
all that being said, I can't wait. I really can't wait. Look
at chapter four, Isaiah four, verse two, it says, In that day shall the branch
of the Lord, who is that? That's Christ. In that day shall
the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. And the fruit of
the earth, the ripe fruit that is plucked from the earth, shall
be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. This is just, whenever I study,
how I know it's a message is the Lord blesses my heart with
it. I get excited and I write it and I just rejoice. And usually
I don't get as excited telling it to you as I do when it came
in. But I think I'm more excited now than when it came in. This
is blessing me so much. In that day, The branch of the
Lord is going to be so beautiful and so glorious. And the fruit
of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are
escaped of Israel. Now, again, that's how we stand
right now in him, he's beautiful right now, he is glorious right
now, we are excellent, we are made excellent in him right now,
but in that day. We're going to see it. We're
going to realize it. We're going to know it by experience.
Look at Isaiah 11. Verse 10 is the reason why we're
turning here, but look at beginning verse one, the heading, the heading
at the top of my page says the peaceable kingdom of Christ is
talking about Christ. Isaiah 11 verse 1 says, And there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. That's Christ. And the Spirit
of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord. and shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of
his ears, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breadth of
his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Now,
just enjoy verse 6. I can't explain it. If you have
questions after this, I won't know the answer. All I can do
is read it, okay? But I'm looking forward to this.
Whatever this means exactly, I'm looking forward to this.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall
lie down with the kid. And the calf and the young lion
and the fatling are all going to lay there together. And a
little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall
feed. Their young ones shall lie down
together. And the lion shall eat straw
like the ox. And the sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp. And the weaned child shall put
his hand on the cockatrice, the adder, snake's den. They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth
shall be full, the whole earth, the animals, shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea,
verse 10 says, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse
which shall stand for and sign of the people. To it, to that
sign, to him, shall the Gentiles seek, watch this, And his rest shall be glorious. His rest shall be glorious. Last Sunday, I was so tired from
traveling. I was so privileged to get to
travel. I'm so glad I got to go. I want to make it very, very
clear. I was so happy and thankful to get to go, but I was tired. And while I was here preaching
Sunday morning, I was tired and I was thinking, I need a nap.
And brother Tony was preaching that night, so I thought I'm
going to get a nap. And as we were eating lunch, I was ready
for my nap. And I got home, and I did a couple
of things, and I was ready to get in that bed. And I didn't
just lay down on the couch with my suit pants on. I got in my
PJs, and I got that room as dark as I could, and I turned on a
fan for some noise. And when I laid down on that
pillow, and it's like, this is what I've been waiting for. That
moment, I slept so hard, but this is what Isaiah is saying.
You haven't experienced anything yet. That rest that's coming is going
to be glorious. The rest that you're going to
experience. We go through this life just,
I'm ready for some rest. I just can't wait for some rest.
I'm itching to get into that rest. He said it's going to be
so glorious. You just can't even be described.
Look at chapter 12. It says, And in that day thou
shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away. How was his anger turned
away from us? He was turned away on the cross
of Calvary. He was angry with us. How do
we know that? Look at the cross of Calvary.
God was angry with us. He was angry with the wicked.
He was angry with our sin. He's not only angry with sin,
he's angry with sinners. How do you know? Look at what
he did to his own son in the place of his people. He was angry
and he poured out his anger and he poured out his wrath and he
poured out his fury. And once that was poured out
to the fullest degree, he was over. And he said, though thou
wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest
me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song. He also is become my salvation. Therefore, with joy, shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation? That's what we're
going to drink from. The wells of salvation, verse four says,
and in that day, shall you say, praise the Lord, call upon his
name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that
his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath
done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant
of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee." What a day, glorious day that will be. What a day. Go
with me back to Isaiah 26. Verse one says, in that day,
shall this song be sung in the land of Judah? We just read in
chapter 12, it said, saying unto the Lord, saying unto the Lord,
God's people are singers. Let those refuse to sing who
never knew our God. Those who get ahold of this joy
is in the heart and it spills out. Children of the Heavenly
King will sing their joys abroad. God's people are singers. Verse
1 says, In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. I love envisioning the thought
of being in a congregation that no man can number. All singing with a single heart, singing a single note, in a single
spirit unto a singular God and a singular Savior. And I can't
help but envision this song being in the key of C. Capital C, Christ. On a piano keyboard, if anybody
knows anything about a piano keyboard, you have white keys
and black keys. All of the white keys are natural
notes, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. All of the black keys are sharps
and flats. The key of C is the only key
that uses no sharps or flats, only natural notes. And because
of that, it is said, it's believed, it's acknowledged that the key
of C is the most pleasant key that there is to the ear. Computers and things are tuned
to the key of C because it's the most pleasing, it's the most
calming and the most restful key that there is, the key of
C. And that's most definitely the
case for God's people. Don't give me any sharps or any
flats. Let me stay on the natural. key
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the calming, pleasant sound of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse one says, In that day shall
this song be sung in the land of Judah. And here it is. We
have a strong city. Oh, we looked for this city,
we waited for this city, and here it is. We are standing in
a city that has foundations. Foundations that can never crumble
and never fall. Because the builder and maker
of this city is God Almighty. And the foundation is Christ
himself. When we were reading over there
in Revelation 21, Back in Revelation 4, it says Christ, the one who
sits on the throne, looks like a jasper stone, a diamond, clear
as crystal. And then in Revelation 1, it
said that His bride, I'll show you His bride. And John looked
at her and he said, she looks just like a jasper stone, clear
as crystal, just like Christ. And it said that wall is made
out of jasper stone. I wonder what that wall is. And the first foundation is Jasperstone. It's Christ, Christ, Christ,
Christ. It's all Christ. It's all Christ. The builder and maker of this
city is God Almighty, built on Christ Himself, God Almighty.
And because He stands forever and He upholds all things forever,
this city will stand forever, which is God's people. I saw
this city come out. as a bride prepared for her husband.
And we're going to forever cry, oh, we have a strong city. Verse
one goes on to say, Salvation will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks. Don't you love the thought of
a walled city? Walls that completely surround
and protect. You think about being in a city
for safe keeping. Just walls that can't be invaded. Walls and bulwarks. A bulwark
is, when you look it up, it means an army. It means an entrenchment. A surrounding fortress. That means inside this place,
you're safe. You're so safe. We're going to
feel so safe. In that day, we're going to say,
look at this city. Look at these walls. Look at
this defense. Look at what it's made out of.
What's it made out of? Salvation. It's made out of salvation,
the salvation that God appointed to us in Christ. He's our safety. He's our comfort. He's our peace.
We're surrounded by Christ. That's what we're going to say.
Look, we're surrounded by Christ. The sovereignty of our God appointed
him to be that for us. Turn over to Isaiah 60, I'll
be quick here, but turn to Isaiah 60. This is the promise of that day,
Isaiah 60 verse 18. It says. Violence shall no more be heard
in thy land. Wasting nor destruction within
thy borders. But thou shalt call thy walls
salvation. And thy gates. Praise. We're going to say, you see all
these walls right here? You know what you call that? Salvation. This is salvation. Christ, Christ
is surrounding us. He's our salvation. He's our
praise. Verse 18, violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou shalt call
thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more
thy light by day. Neither for brightness shall
the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall
no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for
the Lord shall be thine everlasting light. And the days of thy mourning
shall be ended. Thy people also shall be, let
me read that again, this is too good. Thy people also shall be
all righteous. Everybody in there. They shall
inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work
of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand.
and a small one, a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in
His time." Doesn't that sound so wonderful? Back in Isaiah 26, we just read, they shall all be
righteous, made righteous in Christ, made righteous by Christ,
covered in His perfection, robed in His spotlessness, accepted
in Him. Verse 2 says, Open ye the gates,
made worthy to walk right through the gates. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. God's people keep
the truth because Christ kept it for them and gave that keeping
to them. We keep because we're being kept. Verse 3 says, Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee. Every time our minds go to him.
You know, as we live life on this earth, all of our fear and
confusion and worry and doubt, every time our mind goes to him,
peace comes to us. Every time our mind goes to him. Peace comes to us. Peace in all
these things that we have to deal with. Peace in the fact
that he's in control of it. Peace in the fact that he ordered
whatever it is for our good. Peace in the fact that it's going
to bring glory to him. He gives peace every time our
minds go to him. There's peace. And there is coming
a day. When our minds are never going
to leave him again, we get these small moments where our minds
go to him and then we leave. There is coming a day where our
minds will never leave him again. Our mind will go to him and it'll
never come off of him. Never, never. In that day, our
minds will be stayed upon Jehovah. And because of that, our hearts
will be fully blessed, finding as he promised perfect peace
and rest. Verse three says thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace. I love. The center margin. On this word, perfect, do you
have a center margin in your Bible for that word? Perfect.
Do you see what it translates? What it originally was written
to say? Peace. That's what the word means. Peace, peace. Thou wilt keep
him in peace, peace. That will be our condition in
that day. Peace, peace. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
thee. Verse four says, trust ye in
the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. Now, this is another moment when
I love the center margin. If I didn't have this center
margin, I don't know if I would have thought to look up the meaning,
the translation of everlasting strength, I think I would have
just taken it to mean everlasting strength. But do you know what
that translates to in the original Hebrew, what it was originally
written to say? The rock of ages. The rock of
ages. Verse 4 says, Trust ye in the
Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages. Who is that? That's Christ. That rock was Christ. He said,
you trust in Jehovah forever. God, the Almighty. Because in
God, the Almighty is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ in the Godhead,
the Godhead in Christ. You look to the Lamb of God,
you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and your trust will
be in the true and living Almighty God. And in him is everlasting
strength. What a day. What a day. I'm looking forward to it. I
truly am. What a song. That's the first
verse. The whole chapter is the song. But that's the first verse and
it's a glorious verse. Maybe we'll look at the other
verses sometime. All right, let's all stand together.