Alright, my text is Isaiah 61. Take your Bibles and turn to
Isaiah 61. I want to look at verses 4 through 6 with you tonight. Now this passage, it speaks of
the future of the church. That is, at the time that it
was written, when it came to Isaiah, and he recorded this,
it was looking toward the future of the church, the day in which
we live in now since Christ has come. The Jews here are being
told that the Lord's going to bring the Gentiles into His church,
so that the church of our God consists of both Jew and Gentile
believers. And what the Lord tells them
is that the Gentiles that He's bringing in, they're going to
be their preachers. They're going to be used to teach
the Jews. And he describes them, we'll
see in a bit, he describes them as plowmen who were sent of God
to break up, to till up the ground. And he calls them vine dressers
who are used through the preaching of the gospel to prune the branches. And so, our God is letting the
Jewish people know that He's bringing in the Gentiles, and
this had to be some news for them to hear, because they don't
look upon the Gentiles very favorably in the flesh. Now, I have three
points that we're going to look at, and each one corresponds
to each verse. The first we'll see from verse
4 is the effects of the Gospel. And then in verse 5 we see the
preachers of the Gospel. And then finally we see who is
the glory of all God's people, both Jew and Gentile. That's what's being declared
here to us tonight. Now first, before we get into
the effects, let me just remind you that our God is blessing
His people. In this passage here in Isaiah
61, He's declaring to them, Christ is declaring to the people, your
salvation is come. The promise of the Father is
come. He has sent His salvation to
save His people, and He's come in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ promises the people. When He comes, He promises them
in verse 3. It says that He has come to appoint
unto them that morn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness. that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. And so, our Lord is promising
to shine forth gloriously unto His people, to bless them. And
He does this by sending out the Gospel, to proclaim the Gospel
to all people, to announce to the people that salvation has
come. that we may approach unto God
in His Son, Jesus Christ. And so, Christ sending out His
Word and having it proclaimed to the people, He is pleased
to attend the preaching of that Word. to bless the preaching
of that Word with His resurrection power to raise dead sinners who
know nothing of God and have no righteousness and nothing
in themselves to recommend themselves to God, He blesses that Word
to make it effectual to our hearts, to raise us up from the dead
to hear that Word. Now, the effects of the Gospel. the effects of the gospel. Let's
look there at verse 4. Here they're declared. He says,
and they shall build the old wastes. They shall raise up the
former desolations. and they shall repair the waste
cities, the desolations of many generations." Well, what does
this mean? And how are these the effects
of the Gospel? How does this describe the effects
of the Gospel? Well, first of all, when our
Lord is declaring this word to His people by the prophet Isaiah,
He's declaring to them, you are sinners. He's making it known
to them that they have walked contrary to their God, they've
broken His commandments, they've sinned against God, they're trespassers,
they've done that which the Lord told them not to do. He told them when they were coming
out of Egypt under Moses, with Moses, and they were coming out
of Egypt, the Lord told them, when he gave them the law, he
said, now, if you don't keep my word, and you walk contrary
to my commandments, these are all the curses which are going
to come upon you. And one of those curses, in Leviticus
26, 31, I'll read it to you, he said, I will make your cities
waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. So, by the Lord
telling them that the Savior who comes is going to build the
old wastes, that through the preaching of the Word they're
going to raise up the former desolations, they're going to
repair the waste cities and the desolations of many generations,
He's telling them, in short, you've rebelled. You did exactly
what I told you not to do, and what I told you would come upon
you is exactly what has come upon you. And the truth is that
our God declares all men sinners. It's not just these Jews here.
All are sinners. All have broken the law of God. All have sinned. All have died
because of their sin. We all died. We are depraved. We are dead sinners in Adam. We've all offended God. We've
all broken his law. None of us is good. None of us
is righteous. None of us keeps his law. And
none of us ever will. And the Lord makes that known
to his people. He's letting us know we're sinners. But the promise of God in Christ,
in the sending of His Son to save His people, the promise
of God in Christ is that He will forgive sin. God forgives sin
in His Son. And in His Son, He's put away
our iniquity from us. And in Christ, He establishes
for us the new covenant in mercy, in grace, establishing peace
with us. God is being compassionate to
us and merciful in His Son, and He does this through Christ as
the mediator of this covenant. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
8. Hebrews chapter 8, and we're
going to look at verses 6 through 10. All right, Hebrews 8.6, but now
hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. Under the covenant where Moses
was the mediator, they were told, do this and live. do this and
live, but man can't do the law, man can't keep the law, man is
a sinner, man is dead in trespasses and sins, so he will not live,
but he's dead spiritually. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second, for finding fault with them People are sinners, dead
in trespasses and sins. He saith, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people." So our God is speaking
here of his covenant of grace, which is established in and by
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is because, just like
the Jews cannot keep the law, neither can the Gentiles. You and I can't keep the law
of God. God is making it known to us
that we're all sinners. We all are condemned because
of our sin. We're all worthy, justly condemned. We're all worthy of eternal death
and separation from our God. Paul puts it this way in Galatians
3.22. He said, but the scripture hath
concluded all under sin. Every one of us is under sin,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. And so we're all sinners. None of us give the law to the
Gentiles. The Jews couldn't give it to
the Gentiles. Nope, that's not going to work.
We're all sinners, all incapable of keeping the law and pleasing
God by the law. If the commandment came to us,
do this and live, we're all dead. There's no hope for us. And so
our God sends forth the gospel by his messengers to declare
liberty, to declare life, to declare reconciliation by Jesus
Christ. And our Lord gives us this promise,
saying, because I live, ye shall live also. you shall live also."
Now God uses the preaching of the gospel to accomplish the
salvation of his people. Look over at 2 Thessalonians
2. Let's go to 2 Thessalonians 2. In verse 13, there in the middle
of the verse, Paul tells us that God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. God did that. God separated his
people apart. that they should hear the gospel
by the hearing of faith, that it should come to them with power.
God chose a people before the foundation of the world and gave
them to his son, Jesus Christ, committing us to his care so
that he would come and accomplish salvation for us. And so as a
result of the power of God, you believe the word of God. And
that's what we see in the next verse, verse 14. Whereunto he
called you by our gospel, and this calling was effectual. We know that many are called,
but few are chosen. But for you who believe the Lord
Jesus Christ, this calling was made effectual to your hearts. He says to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, through the Gospel of Christ,
God does build the old wastes. Through the preaching of Christ,
God does raise up the former desolations. Through the preaching
of Christ, he does repair the waste cities, the desolations
of many generations. But it's not physical places
that God is rebuilding and restoring and raising up. It's not physical
places. This world is passing away. God
doesn't care about the physical waste places. We are the waste
place. We're the old wastes. we are
desolate in ourselves. We've destroyed ourselves and
ruined ourselves in Adam, and we see it every day, just how
far short of the glory of God we've fallen. So our God is comforting
the meek here, those that he spoke of in verse 3. He's healing
the brokenhearted. He's setting the captives free. He breaks the chains of those
who are bound in sin, bound in ignorance, bound in darkness,
shut up to the things of God. Our Savior saves his people from
spiritual death, wherein we were corrupted, we couldn't deliver
ourselves, we had no works, no strength, no will to set ourselves
free, no desire to follow after God. But in grace and mercy,
according to his power, he comes and turns the hearts of his people,
giving us light and an understanding of our God and what he's done
for us. So the effect of the gospel is to heal us, it's to
wash us in the blood of Christ, it's to give us life by him.
Now, having seen the effect of the gospel in verse four, which
our Lord sends to save his people, he now speaks a word about the
preachers of the gospel in verse five. says, remember, he's talking
to Jews, and he says, strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vine
dressers. Well, who are these strangers?
Who are these strangers that stand and feed the flocks of
God? Well, this verse is declaring
to us, he's declaring to the Jews, and we see that God is
bringing Gentiles into his church. There's one God, there's one
salvation, there's one faith, there's one church, there's one
body, and our God is bringing in the Gentiles into His body,
because He alone is the true and living God. And not only
are they coming in, the Gentiles, but they're going to be pastors.
They're also going to be used of God in the church to feed
the flocks of God's people. Jew and Gentile alike will have
the same offices. There's pastors that were Gentiles,
there's pastors that were Jews. And so our God used them to come
and to preach the gospel to the people so that they're all equal
in the body today. They're all equal in the body.
There's no difference. There's not one class of people
here and a lower class here. It's all one. all one in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And God's telling them He's going
to use even them to do the heavy lifting of the labors in order
to bring in the harvest that God has given to His Son, His
inheritance. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2, and we're
going to look at two texts in this chapter. The first one is
in verses 11 through 13. He says, wherefore remember,
now this is Paul writing to Gentile believers in Ephesus. He says,
wherefore remember that ye being in time past, Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. In other words, their words are
worthless. And you being a Gentile in the
flesh, it doesn't matter. because the true Jew, it doesn't
matter what this flesh is, Christ's words are spirit, and he's speaking
spirit and life to us. We're the children of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, verse 12, that
at that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers. strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, but
now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. And so it's by Jesus Christ that
the Gentiles are brought into the Church. And you know something?
That's the exact same way that the Jews were brought into the
Church of God. Through the body and blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. All believers are saved the same
way. By the Lord Jesus Christ. By
the sacrifice of Himself. By the shedding of His blood
to put away our sin. Because there's no difference
between Jew and Gentile, all have sinned, all need the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the righteousness of his
people. There's not two salvations. There
is some talk out there that's been around for some time that
there's a different salvation for the Jews, as though Christ
was going to restore the Jewish religion. That's nonsense. That's a lie. Christ isn't going
to restore the temple, and restore animal sacrifices, and restore
the law of commandments to them. He's delivered His people from
the law. He's delivered them from that
judgment, and that condemnation, and fleshly things, and administration
of death. Now He says here, look at verse
14 now. Ephesians 2.14-17, For Christ is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, the
enmity that was between us, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for to make in himself of two one new man, so
making peace. There's peace between us because
we're one people now. The law is removed. It doesn't
matter whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised. It has no bearing. Fleshly things have no bearing
on our fellowship with like-minded believers. Verse 16 And that
he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity, the enmity in us all against the
true and living God, he slain that enmity thereby, and came
and preached peace to you which were far off, and to them that
were nigh. And so the blessing here is that
the Gentiles who weren't born under the law and didn't have
all that spiritual baggage from the ministration of death and
that confusion that continues in the minds of those who have
that veil over their hearts and over their minds. The Gentiles
never came under that. Now they have, thanks to religion,
bringing them under just religious things, bringing them under the
law and creating confusion and creating darkness. But you that
aren't looking to the law but looking to Christ, you're free
of those shackles and entanglements. Not to have license to sin, but
you're free to live unto the true and living God, trusting
Him, believing Him, rejoicing in Him, being comforted in Him. because you're reconciled to
God, and He has established peace for you in the blood of His Son. And so, you that aren't encumbered,
weighed down, and shackled by the law, preach the gospel. preach the gospel to those who
are shackled by the law and who are afraid and laboring under
fear and worry and terrified to die because they're still
looking to their works and they're not hearing what God has said. And so Christ is our temple. There's not going to be another
temple. Christ is the temple, not a temple of God. Christ is
our temple through whom and in whom we worship the true and
living God. Christ is our high priest. There's
not going to be another high priest lineage set up. Christ
is our high priest and he offered himself once unto the Father,
once for all for the sins of the people and we're now sanctified
in Him. And Christ has delivered us from
that law and has given us His Spirit and revealed to us that
by Him and in Him we are righteous and accepted with God, faultless
before His throne. And he describes them as plowmen,
because through the gospel which we preach, he breaks up the ground. He breaks up that fallow ground
and sows that seed of truth in the hearts of his people. And
he calls them vinedressers, because through the gospel which we preach,
the branches are pruned by our God to bring forth more fruit
unto God by Jesus Christ, because we're his workmanship. Now this
brings us to this final point here, the glory of all God's
people. All people, all the people of
God, Jew and Gentile, we glory in the same, I'll say thing,
but it's the same one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the glory
of the people of God. He's all our boast, he's all
our glory. Look at verse six, Isaiah 61,
verse six. But ye shall be named the priests
of the LORD, men shall call you the ministers of our God. Ye
shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast
yourselves." So, first of all, all the people of God serve and
worship the true and living God. They all are a royal priesthood
unto God. Turn over to 1 Peter, let's see
that. 1 Peter 2, and we'll go to verse 5 first. 1 Peter 2,
5. Peter says, ye also, as lively
stones, your living stones in the building of Christ, are built
up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Look down to
verses 9 and 10. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. We were all in darkness. We were
all sinners and rebels against God. And we were all condemned
in Adam to eternal death and ruin. But God in mercy chose
a people and gave them to his son. And He revealed the Gospel
in you. And that's grace, that's mercy. Thank your God for that because
we see countless numbers throughout the ages all stumbling and just
remaining in death and in darkness who have not the grace of God
revealed in them. The thing that separates you,
that makes you to differ from another is not your works, it's
not your flesh, it's not your circumcision or uncircumcision,
it's not whether you were born under the law or in a certain
family or have a certain lineage. The one who makes you to differ
is God, and God alone. And it's those to whom he will
be gracious and merciful. As he said to Moses, I will be
compassion. I will have compassion upon whom
I will have compassion. And I will be merciful to whom
I will be merciful. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's by the mercy of our God
that makes the difference. Now, this passage seems to have
a particular word of comfort to the Jews. They've heard that
God is bringing in the Gentiles and they've heard that they're
going to hold the same offices in the church and be used of
God to proclaim the good news of salvation to sinners who are
taken captive by the devil and walking the course of this world.
And I don't doubt that that would be hard for them to hear. But
the Lord gives them a promise here, which is a great comfort
and joy to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, even
the Jews. He says, ye shall eat the riches
of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. Well, what is the riches of the
Gentiles? And what is our boast? What is
our glory? It's the gift of life by Jesus
Christ. That is our riches. Christ is
our riches. The mercy of our God, the grace
of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ is all our riches, all
our comfort, all our joy. That's all we have. And he's
telling all his people who will believe, all those who are yet
to come, he's saying, you're gonna have the same riches and
the same joy as all my people. It'll be your glory. And so he
says, it's the gift of life by Jesus Christ. He's our boast
and he's our glory. And he makes us one in Christ. Turn over to Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 verse 11. For both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren. And so God is saying we that
believe in Christ are all going to share in that same rich inheritance. We're going to have the same
boast, the same rejoicing, we're going to be fellowshipping and
rejoicing in that same union that we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jeremiah the prophet said in
chapter 9 verse 23 and 24, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me. That I am the Lord which
exercise love and kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. And so, We Gentiles,
to the Jews in the flesh, we are the weak things. We are the
foolish things. We're the base things and those
things which are despised. But the glory of God is that
He's going to save all His people the same way through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He makes Him to be our glory
and our rejoicing. I'm going to read from 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. there at the end, verse 29 through
31. He tells us, this is again just
affirming to us that the riches of the Gentiles and our glory
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what, if any Jews
that are saved, this is how they're going to be saved. And to me,
when I hear of any ministries going on in Israel or to the
Jewish people, it still sounds very much like it's tied in with
the law. And a lot of boasting of the
law and fleshly things. So I don't think they're hearing
the gospel yet. I mean, maybe there's a corner. I pray they
do. I pray that the Lord sends his
word out to all his people and finds all his sheep throughout
the world, wheresoever they are. If he has a people there, they're
going to come through Christ, rejoicing in his salvation and
what he's done in laying down his life to put away the sins
of his people. And he says there, verse 29,
that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it's written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And so, brethren,
that's what our God is declaring to us here in this passage. He's
declaring the effect of the gospel, He's declaring the preachers
of the gospel, and He's telling us that our joy, our rejoicing,
our riches is the Lord Jesus Christ. So rejoice in Him and
praise God for His mercy to you in Christ. Amen.