Please turn once again to Isaiah chapter 61. And we will be picking up in the same text where we left off this morning. Isaiah 61 and we will read verses 10 and 11. This is the Word of God. I delight greatly in the Lord and my soul rejoices in my God for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all of the nations. Thus ends the reading of God's word. This morning we examined briefly the structure of Isaiah and we saw how the first half of it dealt with the Assyrian crisis and the second half prophetically with the Babylonian crisis. But furthermore, how both of these served as types for the release of bondage that we experience from sin and misery through Jesus Christ. And that how Christ would accomplish redemption for His people and that through him the nations have been joined to the Israel of God and that all of us by faith are counted as Abraham's descendants who was the father of all who believe. And so we inherit the promises that were made to him and to his children. And although there were the first seeds of fulfillment when Israel came back, nevertheless, the full bloom of these promises did not come until the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as the first three verses, especially of this chapter, testify, this chapter and these promises apply directly to us, to the New Covenant Church. And we saw this morning how God has granted us an eternal joy through the blessings and the benefits that He has given us, the inheritance, the double portion that was given to Abraham and to his children. And then we saw, secondly, how God establishes all of our ways in His faithfulness. And this is through the eternal covenant made with Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, we saw how the church would expand over the whole globe and how these blessings would be recognized by all who would view the church. And we have seen this take place in history as well. And this evening, we will pick up where we left off. And we will examine in verses 10 and 11 first, the garments of salvation which Christ clothes the church with. And then secondly, we will look at the method by which God causes His church to flourish. And as a sub-point to this, we will note the implications that this has for the mission of the church. Now, if you'll notice in the text at verse 10, the speaker changes. Earlier, the verses that we have read, it is the Lord addressing the church. It is the Lord addressing the church throughout. But then in verse 10, the speaker changes, which is not an unfrequent or rare occurrence. in the prophets. And God by this is representing the church as giving thanks to Himself. As giving thanks to God in order to convince us as if we needed convincing of reasons to praise God. Reasons why we should rejoice exceedingly in these promises that we have been given. It says first of all that He has clothed us with the garments of salvation. Well, what is this figure? This figure of salvation represents the final holiness of the church. Her glorification when Christ presents her to the Father without spot or wrinkle. When she is finally made truly holy. If you will notice in Isaiah 52.1, He speaks in the same manner when He writes this. He says, awake, awake and clothe yourself in strength, O Zion. Clothe yourself in beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you. You see, the church in this world is a mixed bag. It has good and bad alike. But you see, this is speaking of a time when there is no more bad in the church. But it is only those who have been sanctified, those who have been purified and perfected. But the church, it says, is also to be clothed in the robe of righteousness. Now, the Hebrew word here denotes the priestly garments. He ornaments the church as a priest before him. And we saw earlier in the preceding verses that it was under the figure of priest that God is addressing his church. And so this brings out the priesthood of all believers. Now, this really hits at the heart of the main dilemma of religion. The main dilemma of religion is how the creature who is frail and sinful can bridge the gap with his Creator. How can he possess that righteousness which is needed and required to dwell before God and to stand in His presence? This is the main dilemma that we face. To stand before God, we need righteousness. But you see, we don't need any kind of righteousness. We do not need only a human righteousness, which would only be minimal and mediocre at best. But we need God's own righteousness. The righteousness which He Himself possesses, which means that we need perfection. And this is the dilemma which is solved by these robes of righteousness. You see, we learn from the history of Israel our own personal ability, our own personal capability at achieving this righteousness, our own ability at covenant keeping. If you'll look in the early chapters of Isaiah, he brings an indictment against Israel, against the people of God, An indictment which is equally brought against every individual inclusively in the whole world. He is speaking of the entire human race and not only of Israel. When he writes, a people weighed down with iniquity. Offspring of evildoers. Sons who act correctly. They have abandoned the Lord and they have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again? As you continue in your rebellion, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is nothing sound in it. Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil. You see, this is our plight, and in us dwells no good thing. You see, there is not one corner of our soul, of our spirit, or any part of our being that can be considered unpolluted or unaffected by sin or somehow recoverable. Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah writes, he says, Although you wash yourself and you use much soap, yet the stain of your iniquity is before me, declares the Lord God. You see, other religions set up various methods of purification, various means, spiritually speaking, of using soap and water to cleanse up our souls, to purify ourselves, that we would be acceptable to God. Various methods of purification, religious acts of worship, or even severe treatment and discipline of the body. Such as Paul says, have the outward appearance of spiritual discipline and humility, but in reality have no power at subduing the flesh. And so we see that this is not the Christian method of redemption. Such attempts are doomed to failure, just as fresh water cannot come from a polluted stream. Also, the prophet Ezekiel gives a very graphic picture of this, of both our condition and God's solution of redemption. In chapter 16, Ezekiel paints a picture of the nation Israel using the figure of an abandoned infant exposed out in an open field. A newborn, unwashed, with the umbilical cord still attached in its own blood, lying there helpless, abandoned, with no one to help it. But then, as God passed by, presumably, He saw this miserable child. This miserable child abandoned and uncared for. And He took this helpless infant and adopted it for His own. And He brought it into His house. And He raised her. And He brought her up and nurtured her on fine flour and the best of foods and the finest of clothes. And soon, over time, this young child, abandoned in the field, soon advanced to royalty. And as she grew and reached the age of maturity, she exceeded in beauty and splendor. And she became very lovely. But then this beautiful royal daughter, who had been so marvelously provided for, then revolted against her father and became a whore. And loving this disgraceful lifestyle, she then proceeded from bad to worse. Ezekiel writes of Israel, In disdaining money you were not like a harlot, you adulterous wife who takes strangers instead of her husband. Men give gifts to harlots, but you give your gifts to your lovers in order to bribe them to come to you. You see, this describes us by nature. But then what does God do with us who are so vile and disgusting? Does He then cast us off and condemn us forever? After Israel suffers judgment by exile for breaking the covenant, God then says, this is still Ezekiel 16, He says through Ezekiel, nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth. and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I have forgiven you for all that you have done. Isn't this amazing? This is absolutely a stunning picture. God says of the same event through the prophet Hosea, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Faithfulness. How can this picture possibly construe? How can such an adulterous wife again be considered faithful? Again be considered as a virgin? Nevertheless, this is what God says, and this is what we receive through forgiveness. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and then you will know that I am the Lord. During the period of restoration, when the Jewish people returned to Babylon to their homeland to rebuild the temple, we have the symbolic fulfillment of this being clothed with righteousness, which Isaiah speaks about with Yeshua, the high priest, being the symbolic fulfillment. In Zechariah, the third chapter, he records a night vision that he had when he saw Yeshua, the high priest, the representative of all the people of Israel. standing there being before the angel of the Lord and being accused by Satan at his right hand on account of his sin. But the Lord then rebuked Satan and He said, Am I not the one who chose Jerusalem? Have I not plucked this one as a brand out of the fire? And then He said to Yeshua, Remove the filthy garments from Him. And again he said, See, I have taken away your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with festal robes. And then he charges Yeshua the high priest to be a faithful servant and commissioning him in the work of rebuilding the temple. The Lord then says, Listen, Yeshua the high priest and your friends who are standing in front of you, indeed they are men for a symbol. In other words, this is not the true fulfillment that is spoken of in Isaiah and elsewhere. But this vision that Zechariah had was only a symbol of being clothed in this righteousness. Therefore a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring my servant the branch. And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. Now what is this branch that he is speaking of? In Isaiah and Jeremiah, this branch is the one who is from Jesus Christ. I misspoke, I'm sorry. This branch is whom Isaiah and Jeremiah both represent as David's son. As the righteous branch who would be raised up from David. And of course we know that this righteous branch is Jesus Christ. Who is David's son and David's Lord. and who in a single day Himself took our debt of sin and nailed it to a cross and then so purified us in one day from all sin. As Isaiah says, He poured out Himself unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and He interceded for the transgressors. Jesus Christ, He provides these robes of righteousness and His worthiness to us who are filthy, who are sinners, and who are stained and polluted when we believe on Him. And so when we receive this righteousness, we do not become righteous in ourselves, but God judges us for what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf, and not what we have done or what we have failed to do. And likewise, Jesus tells a parable of a king who gives a wedding feast for his son. And he invites all of his servants, but yet they refuse this invitation. And then so he publishes this invitation along the highways and the byways of the city, inviting all who would to come. But the condition is that they must accept the king's wedding garments. They must not attend the feast dressed in their own clothes. That is, they must not be dressed in their own worthiness or righteousness. And so we see that the church that is to be saved must be dressed in the righteousness of another if it is to be presented before God. Next, it says that the church is decked in a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Now, what is this figure? Is this a different figure? Or is this just an extension of the same figure using more poetic language? Well, earlier in Isaiah, the Lord describes in chapter 49, verse 18, He describes the former destroyers of Israel, those who hated her and despised her, that the church, that Israel would decorate herself with these destroyers as a bride decorates herself with jewels. Isaiah writes, lift up your eyes and look around. All of them gather together. They come to you as I live, declares the Lord. You shall surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride. You see, the church ornaments herself with Gentiles as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. They are her glory and her beauty. But as John Calvin noted, but because even now we do not see the present beauty of the church, and indeed in the eyes of the world, it appears even contemptible under the revolting dress of the cross. And therefore, as we read this, the beautiful garments of salvation that God has clothed the church with, we need the eyes of faith to see such things because it does not necessarily meet our outward experiences. You see, we face life under the cross before we face the glory which is to come. You see, it is suffering and then glorification. It is the cross and then resurrection. And this is what we eagerly wait for. And as we live under the cross, we are often hated and despised and persecuted. in the church suffers tribulation from without and impurity within. But she must endure the shame before she may realize the glory. But then secondly here, we see the method. First here in verse 10, we see the method of salvation. But in verse 11, we see the message of salvation in verse 10. In verse 11, we see the method which is brought out. Isaiah in verse 11 attests to the certainty of this coming salvation and the growth of God's church by comparing it to the growth of the earth. Now, to put it in modernist terms, Isaiah is appealing to natural laws. You see, the modernists thought of natural laws is this sort of fragile, indubitable entity which can never change. It is certain. And in a certain respect, this is right. We will remember in Galatians when Paul uses that farming analogy to compare to our spiritual life. He says, whatever a man sows, that he will reap. You see, Paul here is teaching that nature, or rather that our spiritual life proceeds on exactly the same grounds that nature proceeds on. Farmers, those who work the land, know whatever they sow, that they will reap. And so spiritually speaking, we must know the same thing, that which we sow, we reap. You see, what is often called a natural law is really just God's providential care over creation. And it is certain and steadfast. And for this reason, because we can observe nature and see a certain pattern, certain correspondence, we can go ahead and call it a law. Well, this is God's spiritual law that He is speaking about. That He will cause righteousness to spring up just as a garden causes the plant sown in it to spring up. The Lord will cause His salvation to spring up in the entire world. He causes the sun faithfully to rise and He will likewise cause the salvation of every individual that He has ordained. Isaiah uses this figure in chapter 45, verse 8, when he says, Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up, and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it. For I, the Lord, have created it. And again, in chapter 55, verses 10 and 11, he says, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bare and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be which goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. You see, salvation is accomplished by the Word of God. And not just any word, but as Paul tells us in Romans 10, it is the Word preached. Now if this is so, what does this mean for the mission of the church? What does this mean for us? Well, we hold forth the Gospel preached in the sacraments as the promise of eternal life, which is the deepest need of every person. The Word itself is effectual to accomplish that which God has ordained it to accomplish. God has invested His promise. He has embedded it in the Word itself. And there is no stopping it. It is certain. There is a one-to-one correspondence, just as there is with nature. And the church today, you see, is under a lot of pressure to adapt its methods to the perceived needs of modern American society. Clear expository preaching is often thought to be outmoded. We need new methods. We need the same message, but we need new methods. One church guru says, the message never changes, but the method must. And lamentably, much of the church is following this ill-advised procedure. Now, when God has embedded his promise in the preached word as the method of the message, what warrant do we have to change it? Of course, the clear answer is that there is no warrant whatsoever. But of course, what is the problem here? The problem is that we often doubt the promise of God. You see, this is something that all of us struggle with. This is not just something that perhaps other churches have a problem with, but this is a problem which we all deal with. And it is nothing but unbelief on our part. Do we think that the word preached is too dogmatic, too intellectual, or perhaps too old-fashioned to be effective? Ask yourself, how does God primarily build His church? Is it through the various programs? Is it through programs segregated and geared toward the appropriate ages? Or is it through cell groups and affinity groups? Is it perhaps through retreats? Or is it through various ministries and services that our church offers? Now, as branches of outreach, all these things are quite legitimate when they're viewed as only preparatory. But of course, true mission work is when you are speaking with a friend about the gospel and you bring them to church in order to hear the preaching of the Word of God, to sit under the preaching of the Word of God. And this, according to Scripture, is how God primarily builds His church and where the power of God at last lies. Another problem that arises from our unbelief is that we lack the courage that ought to come from this promise. Look at this text. It says that he will cause this growth, that God causes the growth. The results are certain. But you see, often we look around and we act too timidly or proceed overly with caution when we are about advancing the work of the ministry of our church. But we must remember the promise that Christ has given us. On Christ's own authority, He says, look, the fields are ripe for the harvest. The fields are ripe. Pray that the Lord would send reapers for this harvest. You see, He's saying that there is more to be harvested than there are workers. We need to pray for more and more workers to gather in this harvest. It's great. It's bountiful. But of course, what's the problem then? Well, the problem is that we don't see the fields as being ripe. And of course, every indication when we look around our culture, it does not necessarily indicate that the fields are ripe. We can look around and very appropriately, according to our carnal minds, conclude that the fields, in fact, are quite barren. In fact, you look around and there seems to be so little interest in the church and among Christians and the things of God, how much less the unbeliever. There is so much unbelief and nominal Christianity in the church that to think about the unbelief in the world may just cause our heads to spin. It seems overwhelming. But look at what Jesus Christ says. He says that the fields are ripe for the harvest. Look at the promise of God's Word that He will cause the righteousness to spring up before all the nations. One final problem that comes from our unbelief is perhaps the sorts of people that we target for the good news. We must ask ourselves, What kind of people does God intend to build His church with? Jesus saw that it was vagabonds and sinners who were ripe for the Gospel. Now what about you? As a church, are we willing to grow our church only with clean-cut, family-oriented and moral people? Or are we willing to share God's love with those whose sins most offend our sensibilities? You see, God, if he chooses to, may bring all sorts of people into this church. And we must be willing to accept them and to help them if they come with baggage beyond what is normal or what we consider normal. And so, therefore, we must be willing to repent of our unbelief and trust and rely on the power of God's promises. Because we also, according to nature, are as wicked and depraved as any. It is only according to the restraining grace of God that He has withheld us from our true selves. And only by His saving and sanctifying grace that He causes us now to shun and abhor such things. And view such gross sin as disgusting. But you see, as we look and consider this passage, the overall point is that we would be moved as a church and as individuals to rejoice greatly in the salvation that God has given His people. To rejoice greatly in the robes of Christ's righteousness which He has given to us. That which He has done for us and will continue to do in us is no small thing calling for only a faint rejoicing. In Christ, He has clothed the church in His everlasting righteousness. And He ornaments the church with those who were formerly, or at least by nature, hostile toward her. And furthermore, He guarantees her success. He guarantees that the church will flourish as plants after the rain. And He has promised that His Word will not return to Him empty. And so that may we then enter His service without fear, Believing in the promise of the Gospel, knowing that it was we also whom God Himself has snatched as burning brands out of the fire. And that He will continue to supply our every need according to His riches and glory. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for the message of salvation. How You have clothed us with Christ's righteousness. how He has taken our sin and given us His righteousness that we may stand in the judgment and that He has clothed us with salvation that we would be presented to You without spot or wrinkle on that last day and that You have adorned us, Lord, You have adorned Your church with people from all over the world. And we also thank You for the method, Lord, which comes to us through Your Word. And we thank You that You have guaranteed the success of the church, that You do not just leave it up to us, that You will guide her and protect her and cause her growth, that indeed, Lord, You are the author of all of church history. And what You have begun to do, You will complete, not only in each of us individually, but You will complete in Your church. And we thank You for this and all the other many manifold blessings which we receive through Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.