This evening we'll be looking at Isaiah, the end of the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 66. Isaiah was written between 750 and 700 B.C. And during that time, in between that time, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. And Isaiah preached and prophesied to the southern kingdom during that time. This evening we'll be reading verses 12 through the end of Isaiah 66. And remember as we read that this is God's holy and infallible word. For this is what the Lord says. I will extend peace to her like a river and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream. You will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. And you will be comforted over Jerusalem. When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass. The hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. See, the Lord is coming with fire and his chariots are like a whirlwind. He will bring down his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword, the Lord will execute judgment upon all men. And many will be those slain by the Lord. Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things, they will meet their end together, declares the Lord. And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survived to the nations, to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians, famous as archers, to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. and they will bring all your brothers from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels, says the Lord. They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites, says the Lord. As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me, declares the Lord, so will your name and descendants endure. From one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me, says the Lord, and they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me. Their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind. Thus far the reading of God's Word. Our confessional reference this evening is from Lord's Day 19 on page 26 in the back of your Psalter hymnals if you would like to follow along. And this evening we'll only be looking at question and answer 52, part of the Apostles' Creed, Christ coming to judge the living and the dead. Question and answer 52. Glory of heaven. Dear Church of Christ, Tonight, we see the clouds rolled back as a scroll. Tonight, the prophet Isaiah fast forwards time and shows us the end. Tonight, we're instructed by the prophet Isaiah to lift our eyes from our present circumstances just for a moment and look forward. to see what God has in store for His people and for those who are not His people. The prophet Isaiah tonight paints before our very eyes a picture, a colorful and graphic picture of the end. We're directed to look ahead with these people that Isaiah was prophesying to around 700, to the people of the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, who would go in exile in 586. We're directed to look ahead and forget our situations, but for a moment. Like Revelation, that small suffering church, like John writing to the churches in Revelation, we're shown a glorious vision of the end. That suffering church was given a picture of the glorious end. And so in Isaiah, we're given a picture of the glorious end as well. And in this text, in verses 12 through the end, we're going to see two things. We're going to see bad news, very bad news, but we'll also see good news, very good news. We're going to see the gospel. We're going to see a beautiful picture. And Isaiah is also going to show a dark and fiery picture. First of all, we'll look at the good news that Yahweh proclaims good news to His exiled people. Yahweh promises salvation. In verses 12-14 and 18-23, Yahweh promises salvation. And before we dig into this text, we must remember that this text can only be true because of what Isaiah has already preached. We have to remember the rest of the book of Isaiah before we dig into this passage. We have to remember what Isaiah said about the man of sorrows, about the prince of peace, about the servant of Yahweh, about the anointed one who will proclaim liberty. In a word, Isaiah has already preached the gospel before this. He's told us of one who will bear iniquities and many will be made accounted righteous because of this one. Isaiah 53. We're told of one who will clothe many with robes of glorious righteousness, of salvation and of life. Isaiah 61. Isaiah has told us of one who has already stood trial in the place of his people and so removed the whole curse from them. As the Heidelberg Catechism says, Isaiah uses legal language just like that of the Catechism. So as we look at this text, remember that Isaiah has already preached the gospel. He's already told the people of a servant of God who would come and save them. And those who believed in the name of this one, this Messiah, this man of sorrows, are looking forward to that great day. So now, looking at the text, in verse 12, we see that Yahweh says He will extend peace to her like a river. That's Jerusalem. That's His city. That's His presence. I will extend peace to her like a river. This is a word picture of superabundant peace to Jerusalem, to God's people. It's like a river of glorious peace flowing, gushing, rushing to God's people. Like a river in a dry and weary land, here comes peace promised for God's people. And remember the situation that the southern kingdom of Israel is in. There is no peace in their times. Their northern brothers and sisters have just been taken captive by the wicked Assyrians. And now the Assyrians are pressing in on them, pressing in on them, surrounding the city even. And Yahweh says, stop. Don't look at the Assyrians, but look at this peace which is coming like a river. And remember Isaiah's words, the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace. The punishment that brought us peace, Isaiah preached. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. So the only way that Yahweh can promise peace to his people is because of what the man of sorrows has done. Because Jesus has paid for his people's sins. And also notice in the end of verse 12 and 13 the theme of comfort. Here we're given a picture of a mother and her child. This is a familiar illustration, isn't it? All of us are familiar with a mom rocking her child to sleep. with a mom cuddling and nursing her child in love, with a mom warming, comforting, and protecting a newborn child. You will nurse and be carried on her arm, Isaiah preaches, and dandled or hugged or cradled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, says the Lord, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. and this promise to the exiled people or soon-to-be exiled people would indeed bring hope, wouldn't it? Remember the big picture, Isaiah says. Remember the big picture. The clouds are rolled back as a scroll. Forget your present situation for a moment. Forget the terrors that are all around you and the death that is around you and look ahead for God Himself, The Creator of all things will comfort you. As a mother, comforts her child in warmth and in peace. After all, Yahweh is the God of all comfort, isn't He? And eternal comfort is not too far away. It's not too far away. The psalmist says it this way, This is my comfort in affliction. This is my comfort in affliction that Yahweh's promises give me life. When I am afflicted, I remember Yahweh's promises that give me life. And sight. Isaiah also talks about seeing in verse 14. When you see this thing, and you will see this, literally, and when you see this, you will see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass. Now, what is Isaiah saying they're going to see? What are the people going to see? Well, three other times in this passage, in these 12 verses, the Lord says, they will see my glory. They will see the glory of God. The glory of Christ in heaven, as Revelation 22 tells us. As 1 John 3, verse 2 tells us. Now we walk by faith. Now we do not see things the way we will. Now we walk by faith, not by sight. But God promises in that day, you will walk by sight and you will see the beautiful glory that surrounds you. And this glory will comfort you. You will have peace for eternity. And did you notice that rejoicing, that flourishing like grass imagery? It's like a meadow of green grass with the winds gently blowing over it, like a very green meadow with rains just bathing it, just like that beautiful meadow, you too will flourish. It's imagery of heavenly joy. It's a beautiful painting. It's a colorful painting of heavenly glory and peace. You see, Isaiah could have just given us a list of things that heaven would be like. He could have just said heaven is glorious. heaven is eternal heaven is peaceful but Isaiah is making us use the other side of our brains too he's painting us a picture it's not just propositional truth but he's painting us a picture making us see in a story fashion in a painting fashion he's reinforcing the biblical truth with a painting with an illustration and he's inviting us he's telling us to step into that painting because we will enjoy the beauty of it on the last day. Dear Church of Christ, now we have weak bodies, don't we? Now we suffer so many things. We need to take our medication daily. All those pills remind us that we are dying. We need to go in for insulin treatments or we need to give ourselves insulin treatments. Now we may need to go in for chemo week after week, Maybe several times a week. Now we don't know exactly what the hand of the Lord is doing, do we? When we suffer and when we're reminded that our bodies are dying. Now we don't know what God's hand is doing. And the exiles didn't know, or these people who would be exiled, didn't exactly know what God was going to do either. Assyria is surrounding Jerusalem? Oh Lord, can't you see? Assyria is surrounding your city. They're going to loot your temple. Oh, Yahweh, help us. Well, Isaiah is telling those people, and he's telling you to stop. Look past the weakness of your bodies, the enemies surrounding you, and look at this painting of heaven that I'm giving you, for you are in that painting, and this story is your story. He's telling us to look back, to stop and look and consider the truth behind these words. Now we can't see God's glory, can we? Now we don't really know fully the glory of God. We know suffering. Now we know suffering and war, hunger, death. But then, on that last day, on the judgment day, we will flourish like lush green grass and we will know peace. And then we will know what His hand is doing. Then we will know why He brought us through these trials. Then we will know why we needed to do so many of these things that remind us that our body is dying. As He cradles us in His arms, as a mother cradles her child, He will say, You are mine forever. And that's what Isaiah wants us to know with this painting. And Isaiah doesn't stop there. It gets better yet. It gets better yet in verses 19 through 20 where he tells us about the Gentiles being gathered. Martin Luther might say of this text that Isaiah sounds very much like Paul here. Isaiah is Pauline, Martin Luther might say as he reflects on Ephesians 3. Isaiah tells us, Yahweh tells us that the time is coming to gather all nations. God says here around 700 B.C. that I will gather all nations. I will not forget my Abrahamic promises is that in Abraham all nations will be blessed. And in verses 19 and 20, the all nations coming to see God's glory, survivors being sent out to the nations. This is a picture of mission work. Think of Paul, for example. Think of missionary work between Paul and the end of the world. This is a picture of missionary work. And Yahweh surprises the Israelites here, doesn't He? Yahweh surprises these people who would go into exile. Yahweh surprises the Israelites. The Gentiles are included too, He says. Remember the Abrahamic promise. Remember, I said, all nations will come. Remember, I said, in your seed, Abraham, will all nations be blessed. Well, here, He says, I will be true to that promise. And all nations, not just My covenant people from Israel, but all nations will come and see My glory. And more surprising, in verse 21 we read that God will select some of these people to be priests and Levites. Some of these Gentiles will also be selected to be priests and Levites. Not only will they see God's glory, not only will they worship next to Israelites, but some of these Gentiles will be priests and Levites. It's a picture for Israel to remember God's universal plans of salvation to all His elect. Or as the catechism says, all his chosen ones. Me and all his chosen ones. And if you note in verse 19, all the nations listed there, since we're in this apocalyptic type literature, we probably shouldn't take that literally. But it's a figurative way for Isaiah to say in his day, all four corners of the earth. And to the distant islands, he said, that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Earth's remotest regions shall hear the gospel. All his chosen ones, the catechism says. And verse 19, verse 19 is a picture of you and I. Verse 19 is a picture of, I'm sorry, verse 20 is a picture of you and I. All the brothers of Israel from all the nations to the holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels. they will go to the mountain of God. And this is good news, people of God. This is good news. Because we are those people on those horses and camels, as it were. We are the people from all nations being brought to Jerusalem, to God's heavenly city. The apostles' missionary work, the missionary work throughout the ages, has brought us into this painting. Jesus Christ tearing down that wall of separation between the Jew and the Gentile has brought us into this good news. You and I are on this heavenly train on the way to our home where we'll have a great homecoming in the new Jerusalem. And Isaiah also talks about Sabbath rest. That language is probably familiar to many of us from the end of Revelation in verse 22 here. As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me, says the Lord. So will your name and descendants endure. From one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me, says the Lord. Isaiah said this already. There will be a new heavens and a new earth and the old will pass away. Oh, exiled people. Oh, people who are looking in the faces of those wicked Assyrians. Remember, this earth will pass away. Indeed, even Jerusalem will pass away. My temple will pass away. but there will be a new place. Something new will happen. There will be a new place where you'll know eternal rest. And 1 Peter 3, interestingly, also written to exiles, also written to exiled pilgrims, Peter says the same thing. Here we wait for a new heavens and an earth. Isaiah is saying the same thing. Wait for this new heaven and the earth, exiles. Peter tells us, wait for the new heavens and the earth, O exiles. The Heidelberg Catechism talks about the joy and glory of heaven. And a biblical way to say the joy and glory of heaven is the new heavens and the earth that endure forever, where we will know eternal rest. The word Sabbath there makes us think of rest, eternal rest, the rest that Christ has procured for His church. The Israelites who face crisis after crisis after crisis can breathe a sigh of relief because there will be rest. And you, Church of Christ, who face crisis after crisis after crisis can breathe a sigh of relief because rest is coming your way. In all your distress and persecution, the Catechism says, you can turn your eyes to the heavens because relief is coming. This age of darkness is coming to an end. We have a promise of heaven, a promise of eternal rest to comfort us, to wake us up, to give us resolve, to cheer us up when we're in the hospital, as it were, or sometimes. To make us rejoice, even though tears fall down our face. Even though exilic tears fall down our face. You can have hope. Because of what Christ has done and because of the promise of the new heavens and the new earth. wherein righteousness dwells. I've alluded a little bit to the language here, to the metaphorical or apocalyptic type language where we can't really take it literally, but Isaiah is painting a picture for us to step into, as it were. Well, this apocalyptic type literature, this literature that rolls back the clouds as a scroll is also found in the catechism, if you've noticed. In all your distress and persecution, you can lift your eyes to the heavens. Now, does Ursinus and Olivianus really mean lift your eyes to the heavens? Well, no, they use metaphors too. As Isaiah used metaphors, paintings to give you hope. These apocalyptic texts make us stop for a moment. Look beyond this present evil age and be reminded who is on the throne, who is in control. Remember that in these apocalyptic texts. Yes, they're tough to read sometimes. But step back and look at the bigger picture and you'll see God is on the throne, that Christ is ruling, and that the Spirit is working. And that's good news for His church, isn't it? And one other thing that this type of literature does, that this apocalyptic literature does, is separates the universe into two parts. When Isaiah fast-forwards time to the end, to the last day of judgment, to the last day, the day of judgment, we're just given a picture of two things. Heaven and hell. There's no more gray area. Now, of course, we don't know who's saved. Now, of course, we can't tell who's genuinely a Christian. But in that last day, we will. There's no more gray area. There's only a line between black and white, between saved and not saved. And as we've seen the good news of this text, so also there is bad news. Yahweh proclaims terror to the wicked. Bad news for those who sin. In verses 15 through 17 in the last verse. Verse 15 gives us a picture of the Lord coming in fire and in chariots like a storm, like a whirlwind. It's payback time, God says. It's payback time for those who have mocked me their whole lives. It's payback time for those who have desecrated my holy places. It's payback time. Yahweh is coming in fire, he says. It's time to pay back those who practice idolatry. Genesis 3.15 will happen on that great judgment day as the wicked are cast away from God. For Yahweh is coming in a divine inferno of wrath and hatred. Isaiah 30 paints a picture of God as burning with anger. His face is red. His face is full of fire. His tongue is like a consuming fire. This is no tame God. This is no God that we can come to without a mediator. For this God is consuming fire. And in verse 16, the prophet gives us a picture of Yahweh slaying with a sword. Yahweh is wielding a sword which is stained with the blood of His enemies. Indeed, it's graphic and it's not pretty. But the day of judgment is not a pretty thing for those who hate the Lord and His Gospel. Yahweh's fiery judgment sword will leave a great number slain, the text says. Many will be those slain by the Lord. There will be a pile of corpses, as it were. Yahweh will come and fire with a fiery sword, cutting off those who disobey and who hate Him. And Revelation 19 attributes this picture to Christ, who comes on a white horse in judgment. Yahweh Christ comes on that day to judge the living and the dead. All His enemies in mind, the Catechism says, He will condemn to everlasting punishment. All of Christ's enemies and ours will be condemned to everlasting punishment. for Yahweh punishes lawlessness Yahweh punishes lawlessness indeed now God shows patience doesn't he as in the days before the flood so too now God shows punishment I'm sorry patience before punishment 1 Peter 3 says as much so today is a day of repentance for those of you sitting here who have not named Christ in faith who have not believed in the gospel and repented you can praise God that there's still time that there's still patience and this terrible picture of divine inferno of a divine inferno should wake you up oh sinner it should wake you up and leave you uncomfortable in the pew right now because if you don't believe in Jesus Christ this is your end It is a terrifying picture, but it's one that we can't tame or gloss over. Because the end of the wicked is eternal, as verse 24 tells us. There will be a worm and a fire that never ends. This grotesque and dark illustration shock us. We can't really understand the depth of verse 24. We can't really understand what verse 24 is out about when the worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched. But we know that it's full of God's wrath and it shocks us, hopefully back to our senses if we're backsliding. All of God's enemies and mine will be condemned to everlasting punishment. Yes, hell is eternal, despite many who say different. And perhaps you've noticed the opposite. Remember what we've talked about in the first half, the peace, the comfort, the new heavens and the new earth, the good news? Well, unbelievers, the wicked on that last day will know just the opposite. They will have no peace. There is no peace for the wicked. There is no comfort for the wicked. There is no flourishing like green grass for the wicked. There is no rest for the wicked. And I would submit to you, when we think of these things, when we think of these dark and hellish curses, as Christians, those who believe in Christ, these verses should drive us right to the cross. Right to the cross. Where we see Jesus taking these punishments upon Himself. Jesus, your Savior, was punished like this. While on earth, Jesus didn't know comfort, did He? The Catechism tells us rightly that His whole life was one of suffering. He didn't know peace while on earth. He came to bring a sword. He didn't know prosperity on earth. He didn't know eternal rest while on earth. He faced these judgments in the place of His people, the church. Indeed, Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. Jesus will come with a sword. But remember what Isaiah said before. Jesus laid aside that sword and underwent the curse and was cut off by that sword in the place of all the elect, all the chosen ones, the catechism says. He has already stood trial in my place before God. Jesus Christ has already stood trial in our place and He's taken these curses upon His back. The fiery wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross to free you and I from such terrible wrath and anger. In a word, Isaiah 53 must happen before he comes again to judge the living and the dead. In a word, there will be sorrow before glory. There will be suffering before heaven. There will be a cross before a crown. Church of Jesus Christ, this graphic imagery, this apocalyptic speech, this metaphorical and hyperbolic speech brings us out of ourselves. It brings us out of our present situation. It makes us lift our eyes to the heavens, as the Catechism says, and confidently await as judge the return of Jesus Christ. It makes us forget our present circumstances just for a minute. And let it do that, too. Let it do that. When you read these texts in Scripture, stop and quit whining and complaining about what you go through each day and remember your end, O church. Stop and remember what awaits you. We've seen the clouds rolled back as a scroll. And these types of texts comforted people in Isaiah's time. It comforted people in Paul's time, in the Apostles John's time. It comforted people in Luther's time. It comforts us today. And it will comfort God's church into eternity. And it reminds us what is ultimate. That God is on His throne and that Jesus is stronger than death. That Jesus has already shouldered the curse that was upon us. And it reminds us that our lives here are full of suffering, have an end. And that our suffering here is relatively insignificant in the bigger picture of things. As we see this eternal joy that awaits us, it makes our lives seem that they go so quickly as we await heaven. So let these pictures of heaven, let these pictures of rest and comfort and peace give you resolve even in the midst of your crisis, even in the midst of your pain. Verses like this, words like this, gospel texts like this are what makes those people on their deathbed who can hardly talk say, Jesus is mine. These kind of texts should give you so much comfort in this dark world. For Yahweh has rolled back the clouds and we've seen the good news of the gospel. Isaiah has also reminded the sinner to repent. or meet his eternal end. Finally then, kids, you don't need to be afraid of Jesus' return, do you? So many books and movies make us kind of wonder about what happens when Jesus comes. Is it going to be scary, we ask? When Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead, will it be scary, kids? Well, no. The Catechism says that Christ's return to judge the living and the dead comforts us. He's going to take us where? into heaven where there will be no more suffering and death. He will come again to take people, His chosen ones, as the Catechism says, from all nations into the joy and glory of heaven to know eternal peace. Remember that peace, dear Christian. Amen. Let's pray. Most High God, O Yahweh, Lord of hosts, we thank you for this good news that your prophet Isaiah has spoken to us. And we pray, O Lord, that these pictures of heaven will comfort us in our trials and in our distress and persecution. Help us lift our eyes to the heaven and await Christ's return as a loving Savior to take us home. We thank you for these words, O Lord, and we pray that you will write them on our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.