Go with me, if you would, back
to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65. I was doing some reading in 2
Peter 3 this week, and I came across this verse, and I'm gonna
quote it to you. 2 Peter 3 verse 13 says, nevertheless,
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. I got sucked into that verse
for a little while. That just captivated me. I started dwelling
on, I just started thinking about glory. That's a good thing to think
on, isn't it? Heaven. Life with Christ. actual life
with Christ. This new state of being that
we're going to experience. We are experiencing right now
a state of being. And there is a new state of being
that all of God's people are going to experience. There is
a new place where sin cannot dwell. Cannot. Not just will not, Only righteousness, that's all. Only righteousness. And I was
thinking about the fact that just being with Christ is heaven. Just being with Him, wherever
that is and whatever that is, wherever He takes us, Just being
with Christ, that is going to be heaven. But this is what he
said according to his promise. According to his unfailing, God
cannot lie. And according to his unfailing,
absolute, everlasting promise, he said that place is a new heaven
You know, the heavens, the stars, the planets, and a new earth. And in searching for scriptures
that described this new heaven and new earth, I was led to Isaiah
65. And that's where the Lord had
me stay for our text tonight. So I want us to look at this
chapter together, and if the Lord is willing, I want us to
get excited about eternity together. That's what I pray will happen.
I pray come the end of this, we will all be very excited about
eternity. I've titled this message, New
Heavens and a New Earth. Now let's begin with what our
Lord has to say here in verse one. Isaiah 65, verse one says,
our Lord said, I am sought of them that asked
not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. Now that verse tells
us that God is sovereign. That verse tells us that God
is merciful. Merciful to whom he will be merciful. And that verse tells us that
God is kind. He's gracious, he's loving, he's
kind. Verse one, he said, I'm sought
of them that asked not for me. I'm found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me unto a nation that was not
called by my name. Verse two, he said, I have spread
out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh
in a way that was not good after their own thoughts. That verse
tells us that we are wicked, rebellious, and selfish. God is sovereign, merciful, and
kind. We are wicked, rebellious, and
selfish. Verse 3, he said, "...a people
that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth
in gardens, that burneth incense upon altars of bricks," he said,
"...their idol worshipers, they worship in everything but me." Verse 4, "...which remain among
the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's
flesh and broth of abominable things in their vessels. They're
dead, they're evil, they're vile. Verse five, he said, which say,
stand by thyself, come not near to me for I am holier than thou. They're self-righteous. They're ignorant and delusional
and self-righteous. He went on to say in verse five,
these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before
me. I will not keep silence, but
will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. Your iniquities
and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which
have burned incense upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon
the hills, therefore will I measure their former work into their
bosom. He said, I'm gonna recompense
to them everything that they deserve for their actions against
me. And where did God do that to
his people? He did it. God doesn't lie. He did exactly
what He said He was gonna do. And where did He do it? Bless
the Lord, He did it on the cross of Calvary in the person of His
own Son. He did. If we are ever really
gonna learn and know anything about salvation, really, If we're going to truly get a
hold of salvation, we're going to have to learn what happened
on the cross of Calvary. Most people do not know what
happened on the cross of Calvary. Most people do not know why Christ
died on the cross of Calvary. If we're going to know the gospel,
really, and if we're going to know salvation, we need to know
why Christ died. He knew no sin. Something that's sinless can't
die. That's why heaven is eternal. The whole reason why. If there's
no sin, there's no death. The wages of sin is death. Why did Christ die and how did
Christ die? It was because God, His Father,
poured all the vengeance of what we deserved on Him. When He died on the cross, it's
because our sin was laid on Him and pressed into Him. He bore
sin. And God the Father looking at
all that sin on Him, that was a smoke in the nose of the Father. And He dealt recompense to it.
He was angry with it and He poured out His wrath on it. He did all
of that for His people in the person of His Son. Therefore,
verse 8 says, Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found
in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing
is in it, so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not
destroy them all. He said, I'm going to have mercy
on some, the ones that I've chosen to have mercy on. Why? He said, for my servant's sake. In Isaiah 42, verse 1, God the
Father said, concerning Christ his Son, he said, Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have
put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. And he went on to say, he shall
not fail. And because of that, he said, I'll have mercy for
my servants' sake. Verse nine, he said, and I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah, an inheritor
of my mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants
shall dwell there. and Sharon shall be a fold of
flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie
down in, for my people that have sought me." He said, I'm going
to do this for my particular people who have sought me. Now,
how did we seek him? Why did we seek him? Look again
at verse one. He said, I am sought of them
that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. He gets the glory
and the credit for that. He gets every bit of it. He said,
seek my face. We said, yes, sir. That's how it happened. That's
why it happened. Now, for those that he did not
draw to Christ, those that he did not draw in Christ, verse
11, if you look back at verse 11, it says, but you are they
that forsake the Lord. You are they that forsake the
Lord. You know, a child of God who has had the truth revealed
to him will read that and wonder, is he talking about believers
or unbelievers right there? He said, you're one of the ones
that forsook the Lord. Is he talking about believers
or unbelievers right there? God's people are those who are
not God's people. In our nature and in our flesh,
we have done the same thing that every other man and woman on
this earth has done. The same thing. All of humanity is in the same
boat when it comes to forsaking the Lord. And as he went on to
say, forgetting his holy mountain. The only difference in those
who are God's people and those who are not God's people is mercy
in the blood of Christ. That is the only difference.
Christ took the punishment for those who were given to him and
those who were not given to him must suffer that punishment alone.
But this is his punishment on all sin, all of it, whether it's
in Christ or out of Christ, this right here is his punishment
on all sin. Verse 11, he said, but ye are they that forsake
the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table
for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that
number. Therefore will I number you to
the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter. Because
when I called, you did not answer. When I spake, you did not hear.
But did evil before mine eyes and did choose that wherein I
delighted not. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.
Behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold,
my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. and you
shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen. For the Lord
God shall slay thee and call his servants by another name."
I'm telling you, the only difference in those who are not his servants
and those who are his servants is the man, Christ Jesus the
Lord. That's the only difference. We have nothing to boast of,
nothing to glory in. He alone, Christ alone is the
difference. He made the difference. Verse
16 says, that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless
himself in the God of truth. And he that sweareth in the earth
shall swear by the God of truth. because the former troubles are
forgotten and because they are hid from my eyes." He said, if
any of my servants glory, they're going to glory in the Lord. They're
going to glory in the Lord. And it's because the former troubles
of their sin have been dealt with, they are over, they are
forgotten, they are gone. And isn't that so? Don't we read
this and think, what a relief? What a relief. The former troubles
are dealt with. Did I bring trouble to myself?
You better believe I did. And God dealt with me in the
person of His Son, and it's over. It's over. I believe everybody
ought to fear standing before the judgment throne of God. But
God's people have that relief of knowing, I stood there in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's over. I stood before the judgment
throne of God 2,000 years ago as He hung there on that cross. So with all that being the case,
everything concerning our old sinful man being dealt with and
destroyed, He said, I'm going to make all things new. Everything. Not only will I make my people
to be new creations in the Lord Jesus Christ, but He said in
verse 17, He said, I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. Many places in the scripture
say that the heavens and earth, as we know them, are gonna melt
with a fervent heat. That's what's gonna happen to
this world. This is all gonna be dissolved
and burned up, and we ought to really, really get our little
slice of the pie here with that in mind. We're either about to
leave it to somebody else that fast, or the Lord's gonna come back
that fast. Either he's coming quickly, or it's not that long. It's just not that long. Everything
here's gonna be dissolved, it's gonna be burned up. And you know,
one question is, if God intends to keep his people, and he does,
Forever. If He is going to burn up this
earth, where are they going to go? If He intends to dwell with them,
where is that going to be? He said, Behold, I'm going to
create new heavens and a new earth. Look at chapter 66, verse
22. It says, for as the new heavens and the
new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me. These
are not gonna remain before him. But he said, the new heavens
and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
saith the Lord. So shall your seed and your name. He said, I've made a promise,
it's going to stand. There shall be a new heaven and
a new earth. Peter said, wherein dwelleth
righteousness, which is Christ himself and everything that his
people have been made to be in him. Righteousness. Now just think about this. On
this new earth, there will not be one unrighteous person. for one unrighteous thing there. No unrighteousness, no sin, no
possible way. I've probably told you this before,
but I've had moments of foolish thoughts where I've had a moment
of worry come over me. What if sin infects us again? Not gonna happen. It's Christ
that died. It's Christ that made that pavement.
It's Christ that put it away. Turn with me over to Revelation
21. Revelation 21 verse 1, John said,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, For the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men." That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will
dwell with them. And they shall be his people.
And God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be
no more death. I love that song we sing when
I can read my title clear. But every time I sing it, I think
I'm not gonna be wiping my own weeping eyes. He's gonna wipe
our eyes. And he's gonna do that. He said,
there'll be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things
new. And he said unto me, write, for
these words are true and faithful. Look at verse 27 in this chapter,
the last verse, he said, and there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth. Neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. Look at chapter 22, verse three, he said, and there
shall be no more curse, But the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. What are we
gonna be doing there? What are we gonna be doing there?
We're gonna serve him. What does that mean? I really
don't know. But that's what we're gonna be
doing. Watch verse four. And they shall
see his face. And His name shall be in their
foreheads. They're gonna be thinking Christ,
Christ, Christ. They're gonna talk to each other
about Christ. And there shall be no night there.
They need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord
God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. That sounds glorious. Look back
at Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65 verse 17, he said,
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former
shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and
rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create
Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. What are they joying
over? What is their rejoicing? It's
salvation and deliverance and life. And we can sum all that
up by saying Christ, all of that is in Him and all of that's with
Him. We're gonna rejoice. I hath not seen, ear, heard,
it's never entered into the heart of man. I could not describe
possibly the rejoicing that's gonna come from the deliverance
of salvation, that final moment of deliverance. Forever. Forever. Absolute joy. Verse 19, he said,
and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. He said,
they will rejoice in me and I will rejoice in them. I'll rejoice
in what I've made them to be. The great accomplishment that
He made us to be. Verse 19 goes on to say, and
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her. He keeps
repeating that to us over and over. He said, I promise you,
you are never gonna cry ever again. Never. The voice of weeping shall be
no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Why is that? It's because there's no more
sin. There's no more weeping and no more crying because there's
no more sin. Look back at Isaiah 62, just
a couple of chapters back. This is a great chapter, Isaiah
62. It says, for Zion's sake will
I not hold my peace? And for Jerusalem's sake I will
not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the
Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate,
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah. And that means my delight is
in her. And thy land shall be called Beulah. That means married.
For the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.
And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee. He said down in verse 11, Behold,
the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye
to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold,
his reward is with him and his work before him, and they shall
call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and thou
shalt be called sought out, a city not forsaken. That sounds like
something to rejoice in, doesn't it? Just listen to Isaiah 35,
10. I love this one verse, it says,
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. I love thinking
about the moment that we actually go marching to Zion. The moment
we leave this world and march on in through Emmanuel's ground.
Beautiful Zion. He said, they're gonna come to
Zion. This is how we're gonna go. Isaiah
55, you know, I love quoting that too. It says all the trees
are gonna clap their hands and the hills are gonna sing out.
Everything is gonna applaud as God's people leave and we're
gonna come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon our
heads and they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing
shall flee away. It's just gonna be a beautiful
moment, a beautiful moment. That's the condition of the new
earth. That's the never-ending condition. You know how something
is wonderful and you just don't want this moment to end? It's
not going to. It's not going to. Verse 20 says,
Isaiah 65 verse 20, it says, there shall be no more thence
an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his
days. For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the
sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. Everyone
in Christ is going to be the same. Blessed. The same. Everyone out of Christ
is going to be the same. Cursed. And for the blessed in
Christ who have been made new and been made to inherit this
new earth with Christ, verse 21 says, they shall build houses
and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit
of them. They shall not build and another
inhabit. They shall not plant and another
eat, for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and
mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. What does
that mean? You know my answer. I don't know.
I do not know. Other than to say, I will tell
you this, and I'll tell you this with absolute confidence. We
are going to build houses and inhabit them. We are going to
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. We are going to long
enjoy the work of our hands. Now, somebody will say to me,
I promise you, not supposed to do that. Somebody will say to
me, do you really think we're gonna build houses? I don't know.
I don't know. But whatever God says right here,
I believe it. I may not understand it, and
I don't. I mean, how do you, for eternity, how many houses
can you build? I don't know. But whatever that
says, I believe it. I honestly do believe it. Verse
22, they shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not
plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree are
the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work
of their hands. Verse 23 says, they shall not
labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the
seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. No trouble will come from anything
that we do. You'll never start in on something
and then trouble come from it. And it's because forever we will
be the blessed of the Lord. And he said, our offspring with
us. And I'm so thankful. God's mercy and grace will go
generation to generation to generation to generation. I'm just so glad
he does not leave off his mercy. He does not do it. That's who
this new earth is gonna be populated with. That's who his people are.
It's a people out of every tribe, nation, kindred, tongue, and
generation. So verse 24, it shall come to
pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet
speaking, I will hear. He said, I'll be a very present
help to them. I'll tell you this, there's gonna
be a number there no man can number, and at all times, it's
just gonna be you and Christ. At all times. If there's a number
there that no man can number who love Him and desire Him and
want to be Him, how am I ever going to get my question in?
I know I have eternity to ask it,
but how am I ever going to get my question in? He said, I'll
answer you before it ever enters your mind to ask me. I'll answer you. I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. I will
be completely devoted to you as your husband. I'm here for
you." That's what it's going to be like. That's exactly what
it's going to be like. He said, I'll supply all their
need before they ever even need it. Verse 25, the wolf and the
lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like
the bullet. And dust shall be the serpent's
meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
saith the Lord. He said, there will be nothing
but peace, peace, peace, nothing but peace. In closing, let's
go to Isaiah 11. Turn with me to Isaiah 11. If your Bible is like mine, the
heading at the top of my page says, the peaceable kingdom of
Christ. All right, this is the peaceable
kingdom of Christ. Verse one says, 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 breath 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
he's about to say the same thing that we just read in our text,
Isaiah 65 verse 25. All right. The same things. And as we read this, and this
is what I think when I read Isaiah 65 and this too, I think how
amazing is it that he's gonna make this to happen? Because
this goes against everything that is in the nature of, we're
about to read about some animals. We just did, we're gonna do it
again. All right, this goes against everything that's in the nature
of these animals. How's he gonna make this to happen? Well, in what he has done for
us, That work of His goes against
everything that is in the nature of our flesh. This is an illustration
of what's going to happen to us. If this is what He's going
to do to the animals, just imagine what He's going to do to us.
You talk about a new nature. You talk about out with the old and
in with the new. Just watch this, verse 6. He
said, this is what's going to happen. 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 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, the viper, the snake, the poisonous snake.
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den,
the adder's den, the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Everything is gonna be full of
the knowledge of the Lord. Now watch verse 10, closing with
this. And in that day, there shall
be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for and sign of the people. To it, to him, to Christ, shall
the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. The rest that He provides is
going to be glorious. That's the only way to describe
it. You know, there's going to be rest and peace, peace on all
sides. He said, nothing is going to
hurt you. No thorn will poke you. No bug
will bite you. Nothing, nothing will ever hurt
you ever. Nothing will hurt your feelings.
Nothing will hurt your body. Nothing. absolute peace. He said
the rest that He has secured in this new heaven and earth,
the only way to describe it is, it's glorious. Absolutely glorious. Now that's something to look
forward to, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to that. In His
time, He'll bring us there. All right, let's all stand together.