In our last sermon for our series through Isaiah, pastor Matt reminds us that God will make his glory known to all nations in salvation and judgment. Through the gospel, the Holy One of Israel is gathering a worldwide people to worship him forever, but those who persist in rebellion against him and his Christ […]
Just as we find ourselves at the end of another year, we’ve also come to the end of the book of Isaiah. Yet what’s remarkable about this final chapter is that the book of Isaiah ends just like it began. After all Isaiah has said about the nations of the world, the exile of Israel, […]
What is the Christian’s hope? For most people today, the answer goes something like this: “We get to go to heaven when we die.” Many times, this is the final destination of the so-called “Romans’ road.” But this is not the Christian’s hope. The Christian’s hope is the day of resurrection and the life of […]
At the end of chapter 64, Israel asked: “Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?” (64:12). in these last two chapters, we see how God responds to this prayer. And his answer is nothing less than what the King of heaven has in store for the whole earth. The focus now shifts to […]
After the glorious visions of chapters 60–62 and the vision of God’s day of vengeance in 63:1–6, Isaiah offers a prayer of lament on behalf of Israel and their future exile. Isaiah calls attention to their crisis of separation from their covenant God and Father, and he prays for mercy. In this sermon, pastor Joel […]
After learning about the day of God’s vengeance and year of his redemption, Isaiah calls Israel to remember God’s steadfast, covenant love. Drawing on imagery from the exodus and their time in the wilderness, Isaiah reminds Israel of all that their God had done for them, his goodness, his compassion, and his faithfulness. Israel was […]
Isaiah 60-62 has been a glorious vision of Zion, which is the church descried as a city that is beautiful and radiant, liberated and fruitful, beloved and hopeful. The church is the heavenly city with its doors swung wide open for the nations to come in. Now, in Isaiah 63, we see God’s plan to […]
So far, in Isaiah 60-62 we’ve been looking at the glory of Zion. These chapters are about the church, the place on earth where God’s saving rule is known. And it’s because of Christ that the church is a new-creation city of joy and righteousness. Now in one sense, these chapters describe the church as […]
In chapter 60, we learned that Zion is ultimately the church, the city of God that shines amidst the cities of men. With the coming of Jesus, the light of God’s glory had broken through the darkness of our world. And all who come to King Jesus in faith become citizens of Zion now. Now, […]
At the end of chapter 59 we read how the Lord Yahweh himself would come to save his people, securing both worldwide and eternal results. This promise was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came in the armor of God to redeem us from sin and establish a new covenant in his blood. What follows now in […]
One of the greatest and most comforting themes of Israel’s history is that the Lord fights for his people. The good news is that God does for them what they cannot do for themselves. And this is what Isaiah 59 is all about. In the first half of the chapter we have Israel’s lament over […]
Since we started the final section of Isaiah (56-66) we have seen Israel’s failure and inability to produce the righteousness which God requires. After highlighting Israel’s irresponsible and corrupt leaders; their idolatry, and their hypocrisy. we now have a summary of Israel’s sinful condition seen in their social injustice. The fact that God confronts Israel […]
In Isaiah 57 we learned that God delights to draw near to the contrite and lowly, to those who recognize their great need, who mourn over their sinfulness. But in chapter 58 we find that there is a way to look humble and repentant on the outside yet remain unrepentant on the inside. In other […]
In Isaiah 57:13 we saw the promise that those who put their hope in God will find the peace and security they seek, and belong to the place where he dwells. For the rest of the chapter, Isaiah reveals how this is possible from God’s perspective and ours. In this sermon, pastor Matt shows us […]
In this sermon, pastor Matt reminds us that only a church captivated by a vision of God’s gospel will know the blessings of his peace. Those who lose sight of his kingdom will look for salvation in their idols. But those who seek first his kingdom and righteousness will take refuge in Christ and wait […]
