Well, let us turn to God's Word
and the portion we were reading in the Old Testament, Isaiah
chapter 65 and the latter part of the chapter. You'll observe
there's a paragraph mark at verse 17. I want to read the passage
from verse 17 through to the end. In Isaiah 65 reading from verse 17 through
verse 25. 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. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and joy in my people, And the voice of weeping shall be no
more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 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 an hundred
years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be
accursed. And 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 elects shall
long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour
in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed
of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And
it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and
while I yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountains, saith the Lord." Remarkable words. It's a single paragraph. The whole of the portion we've
just read is a unit And so I want us to consider this particular
portion for a while this morning. It is of course initially fulfilled
in the restoration of the Jews after the 70 years that they
were to endure in exile. About 100 years after the ministry
of the Prophet Isaiah, they were overrun by The armies of Nebuchadnezzar,
the Babylonians, came and the little kingdom of Judah fell.
Jerusalem, of course, was laid siege to and taken. The temple
destroyed and left in utter ruins. But here we have a promise that
there will be a restoring and even the rebuilding of Jerusalem
and it came to pass. in the days of Ezra the rebuilding
of the temple then in the days of Nehemiah how the walls of
Jerusalem were rebuilt and the city was once again established
and so we have the promise of these things here verse 21 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." We acknowledge then that there is that historic
context and the fulfillment of the word that God is speaking
initially to the children of Israel. However, and this is
important, ultimately what we have here is all fulfilled in
the gospel under the Lord Jesus Christ. We read the whole of
the chapter, of course, and remember the opening words that we have
here. 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 notion that was not called by my name. The chapter really
is being addressed, not simply to the Jew, but to the Gentiles. And of course we see it fulfilled
in the New Testament. Think of the ministry of the
Apostle Paul, that man who was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and
yet he was called, of course, to be the great apostle to the
Gentiles, taking the good news of salvation. to sinners of the
Gentiles and it's spoken of as we know there in Ephesians chapter
3 but also at the end of Colossians chapter 1 Paul says there in
verse 25 I am made a minister according to the dispensation
of God which is given me for you to fulfill the Word of God. He's writing to a Gentile church
there at Colossae and speaking of his own ministry of the gospel
of the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ whereof I am made
a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you to fulfill the word of God even the mystery which hath been
heard from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his
saints to whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory." And this chapter that we're in, Isaiah
65, is speaking of those very days, as we see there in that
opening verse. God addresses Himself unto a
nation that was not called by My name. In the Old Testament
He would say, of Israel you only have I known of all the families
of the earth. No, this is really the promise
of the gospel that we find in this particular chapter the good
news then of salvation and what is God doing in this is creating
new heavens and a new earth this is what is spoken of in the chapter and what rejoicings in view of
this gracious work that the Lord God is pleased to accomplish. At the end of verse 16, the former
troubles are forgotten, they are hid from mine eyes. And then again at the end of
verse 17, the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind,
No, a new heavens and a new earth is what the Lord is about. He's
going to do the wondrous thing here upon the earth. And what
is it? It's salvation. It's that salvation that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He will remove sin even from
those who knew nothing of Him in the Old Testament, those are
the Gentiles, removing their sins as far from them as the
East is from the West, and also by sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemning sin in the
flesh. And so when those Gentiles are
converted, they are new creatures, If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. All things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new. Oh, this is the work of
God then, and this is what I want us to consider something God
for a while this morning. And we have this statement at
the end of the chapter. The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, dust
shall be the serpent's meat, they shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain." And it's not the first time that
Isaiah has uttered such words. If we turn back to what he said
previously, much earlier in the book, in chapter 11, And there
at verse 6 we find basically the same statement. The wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb, 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, the
lion shall eat straw like the ox, the sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the cockatrice's den." It's speaking of a restoration really,
nature, that was affected of course by the sin of our first
parents, but here we have a restoring as it were. And the 11th chapter
is clearly a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we see
from the opening verse there. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. And again there at verse 10,
In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people to which other Gentiles look, and his
rest shall be glorious. The language here then is so
clearly speaking of the days of the Gospel, the last days,
the great period of the consummation of all things. We read also of
course that portion in 2 Peter, concerning the new heavens and
the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. So I want us,
as we turn to this portion, this lengthy passage at the end of
chapter 65, to say something with regards to that great consummation
of all things. What marks the beginnings? It is the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ that ushers in what we see referred to many times
in the Old Testament as the last days. And what is it that God
is accomplishing even in this day, the day of grace? In a sense
it is also the day wherein there is a judgment. Satan is judged,
is he not? And we have it here in this portion.
Look at the words in the middle of verse 25, "...thus shall be
the serpent's meat." Surely here there's a reference to what we're
told at the beginning with regards to the fall of Adam and Eve. Eve being tempted by Serpent,
the instrument of Satan. and remember the curse that God
then pronounces upon that serpent and the curse is associated in
that third chapter of Genesis with the great promise of the
gospel in verse 14 it says the Lord
God said unto the serpent because thou hast done this have I cursed
above all cattle And above every beast of the field, upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. There's the
very first promise of the Gospel. The woman was first in the transgression.
But here is the promise. God says, I will put enmity between
thee, that is, the serpent, the instrument of Satan, cursed now
to the dust of the earth, but enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed. Who is the seed of the
woman? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And Satan is judged.
And that judgment is accomplished, of course, in the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's accomplished in the death
of the Lord Jesus. What does the Lord Himself say
in the course of His ministry in the Gospel? Now is the judgment
of this world, He says. Now is the judgment of this world. And now is Satan himself judged. I, if I be lifted up, shall draw
all men unto me, He says. and this he says to signify that
death that he is going to die, he is going to be the accursed
death of the cross, that curse that has come upon man because
of his rebellion against God and his fall into sin and yet
the Lord Jesus Christ comes and judges all that Satan has done. The prince of this world cometh,
says Christ, he hath nothing in him. All he accomplishes then
the judgment of Satan. He undoes all that great enemy
of God and godliness ever sought to accomplish, and Christ has
done it by his death upon the cross. But also, of course, the
Lord Jesus is judging Satan every time the sinner is brought to
the place of conviction Every time the sinner comes to know
what it is to be converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus is that man who is stronger than the strong man armed. That
that he speaks of there in the Gospel in Luke 11 and verses
21 and 22. He speaks of one who is able
to overcome that strong man armed and take from him all his goods.
And how does the Lord do that? He does it by the work of His
Spirit. He sends the Spirit. And what
does He send the Spirit to accomplish? A great work of conviction. When
He has come, says Christ, He will reprove. Or the Margin says
He will convince. He will convince the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, He says, because
I go to the Father. and you see me no more. For He
is the Lord our righteousness there in the heavenly places,
the sinner justified before God in Christ, but then also of judgment
because the Prince of this world is judged." Well, this is the
work that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes. by sending His
Spirit every time the sinner then is brought to that place
of the conviction of his sin and moved to cry out for mercy
and converted to the Lord Jesus Christ Satan is being overthrown
and it's this surely throughout the whole period of this Day
of Grace, this Gospel Age and it's spoken of, it's spoken of
there in the opening verses of Revelation chapter 20 John says, I saw an angel come
down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand and he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent
which is the devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years
and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a
seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till
the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he
must be loosed a little season." Now, taking an amillennial interpretation
of that passage, what are the thousand years? that are spoken
of, it's that whole period between the first and the second coming
of Christ. And throughout that period there
is a sense in which the devil is bound. Oh, it might be a long
chain, he's still so very active, but he is certainly no free agent. As Jude said, he is reserved
in everlasting chains under judgment. unto the condemnation of that
great day. He was judged in the dying of
the Lord Jesus Christ. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law. But thank me to God who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. As I said, there
upon the cross, Satan was vanquished. He is vanquished each time the
sinner comes to salvation. But ultimately, of course, he
is going to be judged at the end of time. And we see it there
in Revelation, in that 20th chapter that we just made reference to.
Later, at verse 10, we read of him being cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone, and tormented forever and ever. That judgment
is to be undertaken by the Lord Jesus Christ. He says as much
in John chapter 5, remember. The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And what does Christ
go on to say in that same fifth chapter of John? speaks in some
detail of the way in which He, as the Son of Man, will make
judgment. Verse 25. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, So hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming, in the which all that are in
the grave shall hear His voice, and they shall come forth, they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life. and they
which have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. All the judgment, you see, it's
all committed into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
He is the Son of Man. And He is that One, then, who
in that great day will condemn Satan. Satan is judged. Satan is judged. But also, with
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, There is a judgment that
also comes to sinners. Aren't sinners in a sense judged
under the gospel? It's quite remarkable how John
the Baptist speaks of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. John
of course being the great forerunner. and when Christ comes to him
there at the river Jordan to be baptized as Christ is about
to commence his public ministry remember how John speaks of him
in Matthew chapter 3 directing people to him whose fan is in
his hand he says and he will truly purge his floor and gather
his wheat into the garner and burn off the chaff with unquenchable
fire." And then in the very next verse we read, "...then cometh
Jesus." John makes that statement concerning him as the one whose
fan is in his hand. The fan being some great spade-like
instrument that the winnower would use. He has a mixed floor. There's the pure wheat, but there's
much chaff mixed with it and he would take this instrument
and by it he would fan the heap. He would toss it up into the
air and the wind would blow the chaff away. There'd be a separation. He'd gather the grain and he'd burn up the
chaff. Then cometh Jesus. What a ministry
John is speaking of him. The Lord about to exercise that
ministry. He goes on also to declare there,
now also is the axe laid to the root of the tree. He's speaking
of Christ and the preaching of Christ. And we know how discriminating
the Lord's ministry was. He came unto his own. His own
received him not, they rejected him. And though throughout the
course of what we have recorded there in the Gospels, we see
time and again that there was separation. Separation because
of him, because of who he was. He was an offence to men. Separation
because of his sayings, three times. Three times John mentions
separation with regards to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's the judgment of men. He that believeth on him, we
are told, is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation.
The light is coming to the world. but men love darkness rather
than light. Words that we have there in the
third chapter of John. The ministry of the Lord Jesus
then is not just coming as one who is judging Satan, the great
enemy, the great adversary, but there's a judgment passed upon
men. And as it was in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, so it was
also with regards to the preaching of the apostles. see how Paul
can speak of that ministry at the end of the second chapter
in 2nd Corinthians verse 15 he says we are unto God a sweet
savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish
to the one we are the savour of death unto death and to the
other the savour of life unto life and who is sufficient for
these things For we are not as many which corrupt the word of
God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God,
speak we in Christ." It's a continuation, really, of the sort of ministry
the Lord Himself would exercise. A winnowing and a separating
ministry. It was a great Puritan divine,
Dr. John Owen, who said that no man
is ever the same after hearing the preaching of Christ, after
hearing the gospel of Christ. There can be no impartiality.
We're either for him or we're against him. All his ministry
is so discriminating in that sense. And of course, Whilst
that is the case during this day, this gospel day, this day
of grace, all will be confirmed and all will be ratified at the
end of the great consummation of all things. All will be then
confirmed. There'll be new heavens and a
new earth. And that is that place that is
fit for those who are new creatures. If any man is in Christ, he is
a new creation. And you know the language, the
wonderful language that we have there at the end of the book
of Revelation in chapter 21. There in the opening verses of that
chapter, John says, 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. Verse 10 He carried me away in
the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God." And then the end of the chapter there, "...shall he no
wise enter into it anything that divileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written
in the Lamb's book of life." Oh, there is the final separation. How solemn it is. the new heavens and the new earth.
Spoken of here, of course, in verse 17 of the chapter Isaiah
65, Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former
shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. It speaks then
ultimately of that, that great day, when all is finally ratified,
and that's forever. And the poetic language that
we have in the 20th verse, the imagery that's used here, 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 an hundred
years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be
accursed. Difficult to understand, to interpret
the language that's being used. It's poetic language. but one
of the old American Presbyterian ministers J. A. Alexander says it's a description
of longevity it's a description of longevity
really no dying at all in that blessed place but alas how everything
is final and the unbeliever is condemned The sinner being a
hundred years old shall be accursed. How necessary then that here
and now in the day of grace we are those who seek to redeem
the time. We are to redeem the time, the
days are even. We are to seek the Lord while
He may be found. We are to call upon Him while
He is near. And yet Strangely, in a sense,
we have that remarkable promise here at verse 24. It shall come to pass, says God,
that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet
speaking, I will hear. God's so ready to hear the cry,
the call of the sinner, to answer that cry, to bring salvation
to the sinner. Oh, it is in the whole period of that time
from Christ's first coming to His second coming, and then the
wonderful consummation of all these things. But see how it's
also spoken of here as a day of great rejoicing, in verses
18 and 19. Be ye glad and rejoice forever.
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isn't it
the same language that we have there in those final chapters
of the book of the Revelation? I often think of those words
at the beginning of the 19th chapter. The alleluias of the redeemed
in heaven as they witness the final judgments of God. John
says, After these things I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are His
judgments for if judged the great whore which he corrupt the earth
with her fornication and has avenged the blood of his servants
at her hand and again they said hallelujah and the smoke rose
up forever and ever all rejoicing even in God's judgments in that
great guy then you see we have the completeness really of the
salvation which Christ came to accomplish at His first coming. He is to see the travel of His
soul. He shall be satisfied. What a word is that here in the
53rd chapter, the familiar 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Christ has
not shed that precious blood in vain. And there must be the
completion of salvation finished in Thy new creation, pure and
spotless may we be, let us see Thy great salvation perfectly
restored by Thee." All the consummation of it. Those words that we read
in 2 Peter, where He according to His promise looked for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. And you know, there's such a
contrast to be drawn between the old creation and the new
creation that is being described in this whole paragraph at the
end of Isaiah 65. I create new heavens and a new
earth. Now, we really see the contrast,
and I commend this to you, when we read the opening chapters
of scripture and then read the closing chapters of scripture
what a contrast between Genesis chapters 1, 2 and 3 and then
Revelation chapters 20, 21 and 22 we have the first creation
and then we have the new creation the new heavens and the new earth
we don't have time to to follow that exercise now but read the
opening three chapters and of course it all leads up ultimately
to that solemn account in chapter 3 of the fall of Adam and Eve. But then when we read the last
chapters of the Bible we see the wonderful restoration that
God has accomplished and accomplished it of course only through the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. this present creation is under
the curse and yet there is much that is
beautiful in creation is much that is beautiful to behold even
in a world that is groaning and travailing because of the rebellion
of man When we think of the first creation,
I said recently, of course, it's on the very first day of creation
that God said, let there be light and there was light. And we think,
well, how is it that it's not till the fourth day that we read
of the sun and the moon and the stars? Well, God himself is the
source of light. And what we see in the in the
heavens is what God has created as light-bearers. These are light-bearers,
but God himself is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
We're not to be stumbled. When men would mock the biblical
accounts, we say, well, no, God himself is the true source of
light, and he has created what to us are light-bearers. But, when we come to the book
of the Revelation, and those final chapters, what do we read
concerning that new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem?
Well, it says there, in verse 23 of 21, the city had no need
of the sun, neither the moon to shine in it, for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light of it. all the wonder of that place
you see Immanuel's land the lamb is all
the glory in Immanuel's land and again the contrast when we
think of Genesis and what we're told at the end of that third
chapter we see the man being cast out cast out of paradise
what God had created for man and set man in, the Garden of
Eden was a paradise. But what do we read at the end
of the chapter? Therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence
he was taken. So he drove out the man and he
placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the Tree of
Life. Man now cut off from all communion with God, but for the
grace of God. When man first sinned, we see
immediately a separation. Remember earlier in that chapter,
when the Lord God is walking in the cool of the day, and He
says, Adam, where art thou? The man is hiding. The man feels
the separation. There's separation, you see.
that's what we have there at the end of that account of God's
great works of creation at the beginning but when we turn to
the book of the revelation we see fellowship restored we see
God himself now dwelling in the midst of his people in chapter
21 of the revelation And verse 3, John says, I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, 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, 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. Oh, what is it that the Lord
God Himself hath wrought? Heaven. Heaven is that holy,
happy place where sin no more defiles, where God unveils His
blissful face and looks and loves. and smiles and this is what's
been spoken of you see in this whole section this long paragraph
at the end of Isaiah 65 God says 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 a people of joy
and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the
voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice
of crying." Now I'm not going to read the whole portion again,
but oh God grant that we might have some understanding of the
wonder of what God has done. That first creation was a wonder,
how God pronounced all His works to be very good, and yet the
temptation that comes through Satan himself, the fall of our
first parents, and then that wondrous provision that God has
made for the sinner in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
end of this chapter, he shall come to pass, that before they
call, I will answer. While thou yet speaking, I will
hear. How ready God is to hear the cry of those who would call
upon Him. O God, then grant us grace that
we might be those who are diligent and urgent in all our seekings
after Him. And the Lord be pleased to bless
His Word to us today. Amen. We're going to sing our
concluding praise. The hymn is 938. When thou, my righteous judge,
shalt come to take thy ransomed people home, shall I among them
stand? Shall such a worthless worm as
I, who sometimes am afraid to die, be found at thy right hand? The Hymn 938.