Isaiah chapter 65 and verse one. 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. 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. A people that provoketh
me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens
and burneth incense upon altars of brick. which remain among
the graves and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh and broth
of abominable things is in their vessels, which say, stand by
thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. 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. 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. 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 Acre a place for the herds to lie
down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye are they that
forsake the Lord, and that forget my holy mountain, that prepare
a table for that troop, and that furnish a drink offering unto
that number. Therefore will I number you to
the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter. Because
when I called, ye did not answer, when I spake, ye 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 ye shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink,
but ye shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but ye shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing
for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and
shall howl for vexation of spirit. and ye shall leave your name
for a curse unto my chosen. For the Lord God shall slay thee,
and call his servants by another name. 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
mine eyes. 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 elect 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 they are 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 mountain, saith the Lord. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Religion is as old as the Garden
of Eden. Adam made a covering of leaves
to hide his nakedness and Cain brought the works of his hand
and the fruit of the now cursed earth. as an offering to God
and neither father nor son approached God properly. Abel knew that blood was essential
in the proper worship of God and he offered a lamb in faith
And in doing so, he looked forward to a better sacrifice in Christ. What characterised Adam's religion
and what characterised Cain's religion was human reason. They reasoned in their mind what
God wanted. But the human mind is fallen. It is corrupt and it is unable
to know what God wants. It is unable to know God and
it is unable to know what God desires. So the Lord told Isaiah
in chapter 55 and verse eight, we read it a few weeks ago, my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. And that is a statement that
goes to all men and women in their fallen nature. That is
a statement, that is the reality for all men. human religion,
all natural religion, all religion that is not the revealed religion
of faith in Christ. My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And nevertheless, that has not
stopped men and women from pursuing their own idea of what makes
a man holy and acceptable to God. That's the kind of people that
the Lord is speaking to and Isaiah is speaking to in this chapter
that we have read together today. Isaiah quotes the Lord saying,
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,
according to their own wisdom, in the way that they think is
right to make a man holy. And things have not changed from
Isaiah's day to today. By nature, we all justify ourselves
and we all judge one another. We think ourselves better than
we are, saying in our heart, If not openly, come not near
to me, for I am holier than thou. It is Satan's great lie to convince
men and women that they are good enough for God. To convince men
and women that they are righteous enough and have no need of blood
cleansing and no need of Christ. People follow their religion
and they think that that is all that is needed. People abide
by their moral codes, at least superficially, and their good
works, vainly imagining that it pleases God. The Pharisees
of Jesus' day were just like this. They said to the people
amongst whom they lived, come not near to me for I am holier
than thou. And that Pharisaical attitude
continues to this day. Many of our own day can be just
as proud in their own self-righteousness. And the apostle tells us, salvation
isn't about what we do and what we don't do. It is about faith
in Christ. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. So may the Lord grant us faith
to both show us our true need and to bring us to our only source
of righteousness. And may we learn that all our
holiness must come from Christ, who is the source of all that
is good. We said yesterday in the little
message that was sent out, the purpose of this chapter is to
show God's will to mercifully gather a people from amongst
the Gentiles. Paul tells us in Romans chapter
10 that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who was sought of them
that asked not for me and who was found of them that sought
me not. a nation not called by my name
and Isaiah is telling us and he is telling his own generation
and telling every generation thereafter and telling us as
well of God's purpose to judge Israel while preserving a remnant
in whom was a blessing and by whom God's promises would be
fulfilled while at the same time to gather in a worldwide church
populated by Gentiles. The Jews believed that they were
blessed of God above all the nations of the earth. And while
it is true that they had known many great privileges, they had
shown themselves unworthy ungrateful and undeserving of God's favour
by their persistent idolatry and pride. God's true servants, they're
called God's servants in this chapter, are his spiritual followers. Men and women made obedient to
his will by grace. made obedient to faith by grace,
not the Jewish nation per se, but men and women who would be
recipients of God's grace and goodness, a people chosen and
called out by the gospel from every nation and kindred and
tongue and people. And we as Gentiles can only be
thankful to the Lord that upon His coming, in His incarnation,
in His death upon the cross and in His sending forth His disciples,
He sent those men, the apostles, into all the world that they
might preach that gospel of sovereign grace to such as you and me. These people, these Gentile people,
are the servants that eat and drink and rejoice and sing under
the direction of God's Holy Spirit. They would possess all the spiritual
blessings to be found in Christ. Not the Jewish people by dint
of their DNA and their natural genealogy, but a spiritual people
called by the preaching of the gospel to faith in Jesus Christ. and Christ is the bread of life
that we eat spiritually and the water of life that we drink by
faith and it is Christ who makes our hearts rejoice in the knowledge
of sins forgiven and it is he who places a new song in our
mouth. He converts and he transforms
a people who sought him not and he makes them into A people everlastingly
united to Christ in unbreakable bonds of love and mercy. A people that can say, the God
of truth has purged our sin. The God of truth has removed
our guilt, and honoured his own holiness by finding for us a
substitute, a people who can testify to every happiness and
all spiritual life in this world and acknowledge that it is derived
from God and comes to God's chosen people in Christ. So Isaiah writes
in verse 16 here, he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless
himself in the God of truth. And is that not the case? Is
it not the case that those of us to whom the gospel has been
revealed in power acknowledge that our blessing, all our blessing,
all our happiness in this life, comes from the God of truth. He that sweareth in the earth
shall swear by the God of truth. Who else can we go to? Who else
have we got? And to whom else can we go? For
Christ has the words of eternal life. And the former troubles, that
is all our iniquities, are forgotten. because they are hid, because
they are taken away, because the Lord our God has put them
behind his back and hid them from his eyes. Brothers and sisters,
know this, every good on earth every good on earth, in all that
concerns you and me while living in this world, as we travel together
through life. Your blessings, your gifts, your
mercies, your privileges, whether it's in nature, in providence
or in grace, is all to be found in Jesus Christ, the God of truth. that's not just the Old Testament
telling us that. James tells us in chapter 1 verse
17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Isaiah knew this, the remnant
knew this, it is fitting that you and I appreciate it too. For the rest of our time today,
I would like us to think about this statement. This statement
that I made, that all good, that all our happiness, that all our
joy in this world derives from our Heavenly Father and comes
to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. That all of the covenant
blessings, that all of the covenant graces, that all of the good
that God has in store for his people comes to us in this world
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And for the rest of our time
today, I would like us to think about this and reflect upon it
using the words of Isaiah in this chapter. as he speaks about,
especially towards the end of the chapter, all the new things
that we possess in Christ and all the spiritual, gracious privileges
that are ours in him. Isaiah opens this part of his
chapter, this part of his prophecy today. Isaiah opens it by telling
us of God, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And it's really that that all
of the next thoughts are going to flow from. Behold, says the
Lord, I create new heavens and a new earth. And I don't want
to simply restrict that to some latter day making of a new heaven
and a new earth. such as is spoken in Revelation,
but to encompass and encapsulate a broader sense than that which
shall come to pass at the end of time. That the creation that
here Isaiah is speaking about is a creation of new things that
begun with the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
a new and radical change that the Lord Jesus Christ brought
about in his incarnation. A new and radical change in the
things that are, a new order of being, a new paradigm, a new
environment, a new framework in which to understand the work
of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. a new involvement, if you like,
a new engagement and relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ
and his people, now that Christ has come in the flesh. And this
was the new creation, the creation of the new heaven and the new
earth. It begun for the church at Christ's
incarnation, it continues for each soul brought into a living
union with Christ in conversion, and it will find its perfection
in the eternal state. So here are five blessings listed
from the Lord by the prophet in these final verses of this
chapter to be understood in that context of the new heavens and
the new earth, this new and radical change in the way things are
by the Lord Jesus Christ's coming. And here's the first one. This
New heaven and new earth is an order of happiness and joy. Now I'm leaning heavily on Isaiah's
words in this chapter. It is a new order of happiness
and joy that the Lord gives to his people. and it begins with
a new view of God as a loving father and as a reconciled friend. Remember what David said in Psalm
chapter 1, verse 1. He says, speaking of true joy,
he said, blessed, and that word blessed means happy or joyful.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. Now we might take that to the
New Testament and turn it around a little bit and say this. Blessed
is the man who walks in the Spirit, who stands fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ has made us free, and sits together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Because this is the true blessedness,
this is the true happiness that exists in this world for the
Lord's people. Yes, there is a pleasure of sin
for a season, but it doesn't last. This is the true happiness. Now David's words in Psalm 1
verse 1 show us that this happy state, this happy condition was
not altogether hidden from the Old Testament church. Nevertheless,
the coming and the death of the Saviour transformed our relationship
and created a new, open relationship between God and men, a new vision
of hope and promise, a new body united in Christ with Christ,
a new way of worship, a new way of access as when the veil in
the temple was rent in two. The Lord spoke of this new world
order when he taught us where true happiness lay and is to
be found when he preached his sermon on the mount. He said,
blessed are the poor in spirit, happy Joyful are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He said, blessed are
they that mourn. That's counterintuitive. But
blessed are they that mourn, that mourn for their sins, that
mourn in their need, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful. for they shall obtain mercy.
They have tasted mercy, they live by mercy, and they shall
obtain more mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God being made righteous, being made beautiful
inside. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for my sakes is the Lord. rejoice and be exceeding
glad, great is your reward in heaven. You see, these are the
blessednesses of the new heavens and the new earth. These are
the happinesses, this is the joy that comes to the Lord's
people. And the old world looks at these
statements with disbelief and incredulity because they are
contrary to the desire of the natural man. But this is the new world that
the Lord's people inhabit. And in this life, in this kingdom
of God, we would not have it any other way. It is soul deep
happiness. It is spiritual joy to be valued,
to be treasured, to be cherished. So that's my first thought, that
there is a blessedness, there is a happiness in this new world
order which the Lord Jesus Christ has initiated. And here's a second
point. In this new order, in this new
heavens, in this new earth, which the Lord Jesus Christ initiated
at his coming, in this new order is a commonwealth blessedness. Now what on earth do I mean by
a commonwealth blessedness? Well, the child of days and the
old man, that Isaiah speaks of here. The child of days and the
old man. They each in Christ possess the
same blessed inheritance. Paul says in Galatians chapter
3 verse 26, for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. And this is a common wealth,
blessedness that we possess. He goes on in Galatians chapter
3 in verse 27 to say, for as many of you as have been baptised
into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed, that is the spiritual seed, and heirs
according to the promise. We have an inheritance according
to the promise of God's grace towards us and it is a common
wealth blessedness, a common wealth promise. The child of
days is every new convert. Every new convert possesses all
of Christ and possesses every promise in the covenant of grace
and every old man and every old woman is no weaker for his years
and loses no dignity as an aged member of the kingdom. My how
we lose our dignity with age in this world. but not in the
kingdom of heaven. When the world has no more use
for you, You are not in any way jeopardised in the sight of God. We all possess the same promises
on earth if we are just newly saved or if we have been in the
pilgrim way for many, many years and we'll receive the same reward
in heaven. This is a true commonwealth. Here's the third thing that I
want to think about in the context of what Isaiah is telling us
at the end of this chapter. He's speaking here, I'm referring
here to verses 21 to 23, where the Lord speaks of his elect
enjoying and possessing all that they build and plant and work
for. And this heading is, it is a
new order of permanence and fulfilment. We shall, as God's servants,
as God's people, enjoy and possess all we build and plant and work
for, because it is all built upon a solid rock and a sure
foundation, and it will endure. When the storms of life rise
against it, it will not fall down, because it is built on
a solid rock. I dare say, in this world, believers
are the only people who get to make this claim. Everything that
an unbeliever values in life is given up in death and it is
burned up as wood and hay and stubble. all that a believer values in
life, goes with him into eternity as gold and silver and precious
stones. Not so as to foster pride in
our good works or our accomplishments and achievements, but as a testimony
to the goodness of our Lord. and because the gifts that God
gives to his people are enduring gifts. Verse 22 tells us, as
the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect
shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Do you know, I looked
it up. I looked it up on Wikipedia.
Some trees are thousands and thousands of years old. And believers, such as Abel,
right from that very first generation of believers, some believers,
such as Abel, who offer a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, though they are dead, to this
world, yet they speak. Their testimony, their witness,
the things that they value still endure, still go on, still are
maintained, still exist. as long as the trees shall grow. Ours is a witness that remains
because we are members of that cloud of witnesses whose testimony
will endure as long as God is to be worshipped and as long
as Christ is to be praised. And as an element, as an aspect
of this, let me say this too, there's fulfilment in a believer's
life. There's a perfection, if you
like, worked by the Lord in every child of God, making us trophies
of his grace to the glory of God's name. There's an appointed day in which
we shall die to this world and enter gloriously into the presence
of Christ. And that too is a perfect fulfilment
of God's purpose for His people. And every believer will testify
that while we have many regrets, in this world, in this life,
while we have many regrets in this life, we have far more to
be grateful for and for which to praise God. Isaiah tells us,
we are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and our offspring
is with us. Here's the fourth thing that
I want to mention with respect to this new world order, these
new heavens and new earth that the Lord Jesus Christ initiated
in his coming into the world. It is a new order of intimacy
and care. And what a beautiful verse Isaiah
gives us in verse 24. He says, and it shall come to
pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet
speaking I will hear. This is a new order of intimacy
and care that the Lord has for his people. We were reading a
little bit earlier with the young people how the Lord says concerning
Saul, I'm going to make him king so that he'll go out against
the Philistines because the cries of my people have come up to
me and I will deliver them. And so he gave them Saul in order
to do that. But this is of a different nature.
The utterances of our heart go directly to the throne of God's
grace, the prayers of our lips, even the unvocalised prayers,
the utterings of our spirit are heard by the Lord even as they
are being made and his answer is directed to us in the instance. Remember, we're talking about
the happiness of the Lord's people here on earth. And this promise
is a comfort to us in the true sense of that word comfort. This is a fort whose walls has
been constructed around about the church of God and around
the elect of God. when the enemy attacks, when
the snare is even in the preparation, when the hole is just being dug. Even before the Lord's people
sense their danger, the answer to our problem is already at
hand and it is on its way from the throne of grace. A loving parent knows what his
child or her child needs. and supplies it just as the need
arises. And God's love has given us Christ. Christ is the answer to our need
and God has given us Christ. God has given us the answer to
all our need. God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Even before we knew our need,
Christ died for us. And with him, with Christ, he
shall give us every good gift of grace. Paul says in Romans
8, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for
us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And Christ confirms that love
of his Father. In John 17 verse 23, a truly
amazing verse. Thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. The new heavens and the new earth,
this new order and new relationship is built upon covenant grace
and covenant promises and it brings a new and a deeper and
a fuller and a more glorious, more wonderful expression and
experience of God's love to his people than ever before. And
here's my fifth and last point, and then we're done. Verse 25
says, The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. 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 mountain, saith the Lord. Now the holy mountain
is the church, we're talking about the church, we're talking
about the elect, we're talking about the people of God and here
Isaiah is telling us a new order of peace and preservation is
established. Now, I'm not foolish enough to
say to you today that the elect don't experience trials and hardships,
that we don't know losses and loneliness. Of course we do. Of course we do. But they are all mitigated. They are all softened with a
portion of grace suitable for the need. Not one will hurt or
destroy the Lord's people. We shall be preserved and we
shall prevail and we shall overcome and we shall persevere to the
end. Christ will make it so. And believing this, Believing
this gives us a resilience and a contentment that no one can
take away. Paul tells us in Philippians
chapter 4 verse 7, the peace of God which passeth all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds. I'm glad he said and minds. He'll
keep our hearts because he's purified our hearts, because
he's cleansed our hearts, because he's made us perfect in the sight
of God and reconciled us to God, but he'll also keep our minds
through Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, again,
as we speak of the new heavens and the new earth, beginning
for us in this world, as we see it extending into eternity, as
we feel it as part of our conversion experience and understand something
of what the Lord has done for us. As we see it becoming for us
all that we aspire to in that dwelling place that the Lord
has laid up for us, for our everlasting joy. let us remember what the
Lord has shown both Isaiah and the Old Testament people and
us through him. These Old Testament saints understood
so much. They had a much greater understanding
of Christ's messianic role than we give them credit for. All
the gospel is here in Isaiah's writings. And he was careful
to comfort the people of God as he had been instructed to
do. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. And his words are comforting
us still. We are that blessed, happy and
joyful people. We are a blessed, happy and joyful
people indeed and try as it might, this world cannot take our happiness
from us. For Christ is all our righteousness
and Christ is all our joy. May the Lord bless these things
to us today. Amen.