Isaiah: He Has Made You Beautiful, Isaiah 60:1-22

you can open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 60 it was just a few moments ago I was standing next to my lovely bride Jill and we were singing that hymn that Joseph just taught us not I singing it with you and overwhelmed tears welling up in my eyes and streaming down my face overwhelmed that I even know Christ which I'm well aware I do not deserve but those tears were also tears of appreciation and affection for you because in that moment as we sang together the privilege that I get to sing to Jesus next to you for Jill and me we we just loved this church and we love you and it's a wonderful privilege to just be members here what Isaiah 60 is going to show us are many glorious glorious truths one of them is this what we just experienced together and singing to Christ we will sing together an eternity to Christ as Newton says for ten thousandth of years title of my message as he has made you beautiful we are going to read all 22 verses that are found here in this glorious chapter arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon you for behold darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the people's but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you and Nations shall come to your light and Kings to the eight of your rising lift up your eyes all around and see they all gather together they come to you your son shall come from afar and your daughter shall be carried on the hip then you shall see and be radiant your heart shall thrill and exalt because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you the wealth of the nations shall come to you multitude of camel shall cover you the young camels of Midian and ephah all those from Sheba shall come they shall bring gold and frankincense and shall bring good news praises of the Lord all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you the Rams of nabeel's shall minister to you they shall come up with acceptance on my altar and I will beautify my beautiful house who are these that fly like a cloud and like doves to their windows for the coastlands shall hope for me the ships of tarshish first to bring your children from afar their silver and gold with them for the name of the Lord your God and for the Holy One of Israel because he has made you beautiful foreigner shall build up your walls and Kings shall minister to you for in my wrath I struck you but in my favor I have had mercy on you your gates shall be open continually day and night they shall not be shut the people that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations with their Kings led in procession for the nation and Kingdom that will not serve you shall perish those nations shall be utterly laid waste the glory of Lebanon shall come to you the Cyprus the plain in the pine to beautify the place of my sanctuary and I will make the place of my feet glorious the sons of those who afflict ad you shall come bending low to you and all who despised you shall bow at your feet they shall call you the city of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel whereas you have been Forsaken and hated with no one passing through I will make you majestic forever a joy from age to age you shall suck the milk of Nations and you shall nurse at the breasts of kings and you shall know that I the Lord and your Savior and your Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob instead of bronze I will bring gold instead of iron I will bring silver instead of wood bronze instead of stones iron I'll make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness violence shall no more be heard in your land devastation and destruction within your borders you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise the son shall be no more your light by day nor for brightness shall the moon give you light but the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God shall be your glory your son shall no more go down nor your moon withdraw itself for the Lord will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning shall be ended your people shall all be righteous they shall possess the land for ever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I might be glorified the least one shall become a clan and the smallest one a mighty nation I am the Lord in its time I will hasten it may God bless the preaching of his word for over 30 years 66 year-old Larry Hester lived in darkness his sight was stolen by a disease that destroyed the photoreceptor cells in both of his retinas but on October 1st 2014 through the help of a bionic eye Hester was able to get a glimpse of the world around him as the lights dimmed in the exam room Larry fixed his gaze forward and waited nervously Paul khana retinal surgeon at the Duke eye Center in Durham North Carolina counted backwards from three and pressed a button activating Larry Hester's bionic eye yes yester said with a smile on his face seeing light for the first time in over 30 years oh my goodness yes during a follow-up clinic visit Hester described seeing sights he had long believed were past memories that now revealed a beauty that brought him joy a white duck swinging swimming in a pond the Harvest Moon his wife's beautiful blue eyes and the beautiful sunsets Larry thought he would never see again Larry said this I know that light is just so basic but for one who has lived in darkness it is incredible because it allows you to see so much beauty again when light shines into people's lives who have lived in utter darkness there is an exuberant joyful life-changing response to the compelling beauty that they now see and that's what we see here in Isaiah chapter 60 light has come to those who live in thick darkness verse 2 tells us and this light is described in verse 1 as the glory of the Lord that has risen upon his people the glory that will be seen upon them upon God's people verse 2 see here in Isaiah chapter 60 Isaiah is announcing the fulfillment of a promise that God made in Isaiah chapter 4 verse 2 that he would share his glory with his people and even when Israel turns to other nations for their glory and as a result are humiliated and carried off into exile God still keeps his promise to share his glory but how how does God fulfill that promise he tells us in Isaiah chapter 49 verse 3 that he fulfills that promise through his servants and that servant is not just limited to Cyrus the emperor of Persia who we now know conquers Babylon and sets Israel free restoring their former glory but it points to the servant capital s servant Jesus Christ who steps into our dark world and announces to us announces to the world in John chapter 8 verse 12 I in the light of the world whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life as followers of Christ brothers and sisters we have the light of life because God has shared his glory with us through the work of Jesus Christ in the gospel where he imparts his righteousness to us and that righteousness now shines from our lives it's why Jesus prayed this prayer to the Father when he prayed to the Father in John chapter 17 verse 22 the glory that you've given me I have given them he's given to us that they may be one even as we are one God sharing his glory with Israel points forward to Christ who shares his glory with us through the gospel and it's the glory of Christ on our lives that's described in Isaiah chapter 60 verse 9 as that which has made us beautiful the world will be brightened by the glory of God in the church where people see a compelling beauty like Larry Hester when light comes into people's lives who have been living in darkness they see a compelling beauty and it affects them so we're gonna look at the beauty described here in Isaiah chapter 64 aspects of the beauty that we see here in this chapter number one the the beauty that attracts the beauty that attracts God calls Israel here in verse four to lift up their eyes and see but what is it that they see well we know from these verses that they see all the nations of the world coming to them coming to Jerusalem coming to to Zion the City of the Lord and the specific names mentioned of specific nations here in verses like six through nine nations like Midian and ephah and Sheba and kadar and Tarshish are all located in different parts geographically in the world so what we're being told is that people from all the nations all over the world are being gathered to the people of God and when Israel sees these nations coming to their city and they see what they're bringing them verse five tells us that Israel's thrilled and that their hearts exalt which means they open wide to the nations those who are coming and those things they are bringing with them did you did you note the exhaustive list of things that the nations are bringing it says that they are bringing your sons and your daughters verse 4 the abundance of the sea verse 5 which literally means everything that a ship can carry is coming to the people of God the nations bring their wealth and their their camels and their gold and their frankincense verse 6 they bring sheep and Rams verse 7 and Lebanon brings three different kinds of beautiful wood we see that in verse 13 in other words the nations are bringing what is needed to rebuild the city of Jerusalem after exile the questions why why are the nations bringing all of their wealth now to Israel well verse 9 clearly answers that question why are they bringing why are the nations bringing all of their wealth it says in verse 9 it says this for the glory the name of the Lord your God and for the Holy One of Israel because he because he has made you beautiful that they are coming because they are being attracted to the beauty of God seen in God's people that God has now shared his glory with but what what specifically is so attractive about this beauty that it actually draws the nations of the world let me just give you some examples remember from last week in Isaiah chapter 59 verse 9 we saw that injustice is equated with darkness Isaiah 59 verse 9 therefore justice is far from us and righteousness does not overtake us we hope for light and behold darkness and for brightness but we walk in gloom now that darkness of injustice is compared and contrasted to the light of justice that we saw two weeks ago in Isaiah chapter 58 verse 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desires of the of the afflicted then you then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom will be as new day in other words what's attractive is when we feed the hungry and we help the helpless and we make right the acts of injustice that are all around us in the world because when we do we shine as light in darkness and the world sees the beauty of God who is himself a God of justice and a God of righteousness see doing good works that God has given us marked by godliness has a beauty that attracts as it shines into a world of injustice but this beauty is not just limited to the good works that God has given us to do this this beauty is attractive also because of who we are in Christ it was about two or three weeks ago there was an african-american family right up here in the front row raised their hand as being here for the very first time when I saw that I wanted to get to them after the service and greet them and welcomed them it was also the same Sunday that we were praying for healing at the end of the service I was praying for people and missed the opportunity to greet them and welcomed them I got up back to my office about 12:30 and the window of my office overlooks the front lawn I looked outside and there was that family so I ran downstairs and I ran outside and I introduced myself and we had a wonderful conversation I said I hope you'll come back and husband said to me oh yeah there you are thanks for coming back again it makes the story battery actually doesn't here's what you said to me there's a sweet spirit here mark because you guys are genuine you're warm you're welcoming to me and my family what was he experiencing he was experiencing the beauty of Christ through you the beauty of Christ through the church the beauty of Christ who himself welcomes all who is warm to all both sinner and Saint see God's glory it emanates through the church and it reveals the beauty of Christ and that beauty is attractive and it draws people into the church see Christ like Christ's likeness it transcends cultural and ethnic and racial and even language barriers and it draws people from all nations into the church Peter speaks the Apostle Peter speaks of this adorning of the beauty of Christ in our lives this way in 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit so in our loud social media connected world where turmoil fuels opinions that are shared freely and with disdain there is a beauty that shines from a person who communicates online and face-to-face in a gentle and christ-like way to that kind of beauty is attractive to those who are living in darkness because it reflects the person of Christ who says to the world come to me all who labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest for I am gents and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls in the gospel Christ shares his glory with us and it reveals a christ-like beauty in our lives that is attractive to every culture and every race and every nation second aspect of this beauty that we find here in Isaiah 60 the beauty that transforms the beauty that transforms know what happens with what all the nations are bringing to the people of God we find that in verse 10 for nurse shall build up your walls and their kings shall minister to you in other words foreigners use what's being brought by the nation's to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after exile and the kings of those nations now minister to God's people in other words the nations come to help rebuild the city of God and serve God's people but you got to keep in mind these aren't just any foreigners and kings from other nations rather they are Israel's former enemies verse 10 tells us that these foreigners and kings were actually used by God to pour out his wrath upon Israel as they carried them into exile but now in God's favor he has mercy on his people and uses these same foreigners to rebuild Jerusalem and serve them we see that enemies of God's people are transformed into fellow rebuilders of God's City in verse 14 they tell us that the the sons of those who afflict encapsulating low and those who despise God's people bowed down to them because they live in the city of the law of the Lord see oppressors of God's people are transformed into servants who submit to and now worship the Holy One of Israel verse 15 tells us that God's people were hated they were hated and forsaken by the nation's and now God has made them majestic he's made them so beautiful by sharing his glory with them that all the nations who at one time would not pass through we actually go around as real are now being drawn to the nation of Israel how do we explain this astounding transformation brothers and sisters over 16 explains it for us and you shall know that I the LORD am your Savior and your Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob so when God's people see their former enemies and oppressors coming with praises of the Lord on their lips that's what it says in verse 6 they know that this transformation has been accomplished by God Himself who is their Savior their Redeemer the Holy One of Jacob we we know this transforming work of God in our lives don't we brothers and sisters we know it we were all enemies of God hating God and his people until God worked in our lives to show us the beauty of Christ to draw us to himself to show to us and reveal to us our need for our Savior and then through faith in Christ and his finished work in the gospel we were delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Jesus you see the beauty of the gospel is seen when enemies of God are transformed into Friends of God when enemies of God are transformed into worshipers of God here's what you and I know when haters of God are transformed into lovers of God then we know as verse 16 says that this is the work of our Savior Jesus Christ and brothers and sisters this is a beautiful transforming work Jonathan King says this the objective beauty of the person of Christ the beauty of the work of Christ and the beauty of Christ's work on going through the Holy Spirit are the preeminent aspects of God's beautiful self showing the transforming work of the gospel accomplished by Christ through his death and resurrection that transforms enemies of God into servants of God and worshippers of God is a preeminent aspect of the beauty of God and it's a beautiful work this is the good news it's a beautiful work that continues today which leads to the third aspect of beauty that we see here in Isaiah 60 number three the beauty of reaching the nation's the beauty of reaching the nation's you've seen this in the chapter right a major theme in this chapter is that the nations are being drawn of course here in Isaiah 60 they're being drawn to the city of the Lord to Jerusalem in Isaiah's day but we know this is an ongoing work of the nations as they are being drawn to Christ in our day well one of the one of the aspects of the beauty that you see here in Isaiah chapter 60 is Christ fulfilling the promise that God made to Abraham very early in our Bibles Genesis chapter 12 verse 3 where he's sending Abraham from his native land and as he goes he says to Abraham he makes this promise to Abraham and you all the nations will be blessed and this blessing extends not just to Abraham's physical descendants but to all who as Paul tells us in Galatians 3 are children of Abraham through faith in Christ's Galatians 3 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith there is neither Jew nor Greek there neither slave nor free there's neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ then you are Abraham's offspring heirs according to the promise so God's promised to Abraham to bless all nations is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ in the gospel where the blessing of salvation is now offered to people from all nations throughout the world see Isaiah chapter 60 is a glorious picture it's a beautiful picture of worldwide revival where God is at work saving Jew and Gentile from every tribe and tongue and nation by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ see Christ's mission is not limited to cultural Geographic ethnic or racial barriers but transcends them all and that brothers and sisters is a beautiful mission that we have again Jonathan King says this the sun's mission and work is beautiful listen to these absolute terms always it's beautiful always and everywhere to everyone who has eyes to see it mission is a beautiful work because we show everyone everywhere the beauty of Christ and we tell them about the Transformer transformational work of Christ in the gospel here's what I find that when you see a a chapter like this in your Bible and you read it and it talks about all of the nations coming it seems so big it seems so beyond us it can lead to questions like how how can we be involved in reaching the nations if you've got that question if it has that affect upon you I want to point to verse 22 because in verse 22 we see another transformational work where the small are transformed into the mighty first 20 to the least one shall become a clan and the smallest one a mighty nation verse 22 tells us that the influence of God's people in gospel mission is disproportionate to their size this week I got a email from Greg Durham Berger he is the lead pastor who planted a Maius Road Church in Sioux Falls South Dakota just just five years ago it's a church it's a part of our sovereign grace denomination and he said right from the beginning right from the start of the of Emmaus Road Church they prayed Isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 through 3 they prayed that God would bring the nation's to them and they prayed that they would send some of those people back to their home nations to take the gospel Greg then said that in recent months members of his church have been engaging and befriending people from Somalia Sudan Eritrea which is in Northeast Africa Ghana Libya and China all of which who have moved to Sioux Falls South Dakota some of them are refugees and not one of these people know Christ as their Savior Greg's wife Laurie told him a story just this week where one of the ladies from Ghana actually told Laurie I don't understand it but I feel unusually comfortable talking to you you ever ever notice as you read the Gospel accounts about people like the Samaritan woman at the well or Zacchaeus people who didn't know Christ as their Savior did you notice how comfortable they felt talking to Jesus see the woman from Ghana despite cultural and ethnic differences feels comfortable talking to Laurie because Christ dwells in Laurie during Berger the woman from Ghana is getting a glimpse of Jesus a glimpse of the beauty of Christ and Laura is now praying that it leads to her knowing Christ as her Savior I'm telling you this story for a couple of reasons Emmaus Road Church is it's 170 people it's a small church it's the church being described there in verse 22 it's a small Church see you don't have to be a big church to reach the nation's you can be small as it says in verse 22 but you need to have the faith of the Transformer of the transforming work of the gospel and if you've got that you've got something Mike but I'm also telling this church for this reason a mayor oh didn't have this big plan to reach the nation's they simply prayed they simply prayed out of Isaiah chapter 60 through 1 verses 1 through 3 they prayed that God would bring them the nation's see it's a small church praying big prayers believing their gospel will have a mighty influence that will be disproportionate to their size I point to their example because we can learn from it covenant fellowship may we as we view this worldwide picture of revival here not be intimidated by it this morning rather may it stir us as a people and as a church to pray big prayers let's continue to pray for revival let us ask God to bring the nations to us and to send us to the nations and as we go let's go with the gospel that has the power to transform enemies of God into worshipers of God okay thank you 4th 4th aspect of the beauty that we see here in Isaiah chapter 60 the beauty that fulfills you've got to note some change there in verse 17 there's a use of language that signifies a change specifically with the personal pronoun I we're no longer we now know the nations are bringing their wealth rather God God himself is providing the best to build a city whose walls will be called salvation and whose gates will be called praise look at the description of this city again in verses 17 through 21 instead of bronze I meaning God will bring gold and instead of iron I will bring silver instead of wood bronze instead of stones iron I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness violence shall no more be heard in your land devastation or destruction within your borders you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise the son shall be no more your light by day your brightness shall the moon give you light but the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory your son shall no more go down or your moon withdraw itself for the Lord will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning shall be ended your people shall all be righteous they shall possess the land forever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I might be glorified and these verses not only speak to the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the exile but as you know also points to the New Jerusalem that will come when Jesus Christ returns we know that because the words being used there like gold and silver and bronze and iron are simply words that give us imagery that points to a city that is made with the best and has a permanence that time cannot erase that shines with the light that is everlasting and a city that is marked by joy righteousness peace and oh yes it is marked by beauty as well see the descriptions of heaven that we find in our Bible like here in Isaiah chapter 60 and in Revelation 21 they tell us that heaven this New Jerusalem will be beautiful but the most beautiful thing about heaven will be God himself we know that from verse 19 go back to verse 19 with me the son shall be no more your light by day nor for brightness shall the moon give you light but the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory that word glory means beauty and God will be your beauty see God is the most beautiful thing found in heaven and that has real effect it has real impact upon God's people when grudem says it this way God's beauty is that attribute of God whereby he is the sum of all desirable qualities if God has everything that is desirable then all of our good and righteous desires find their ultimate fulfillment in God and no one else the only God's Beauty can fulfill and satisfy our good and righteous desires see see one of the joys of heaven will be the ongoing fulfillment the ongoing delight the ongoing satisfaction that our desires will know as we eternally gaze upon the glory of Christ it's why John Newton wrote the last stanza in Amazing Grace this way when we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the Sun we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun see praise is the result of our desires being fulfilled as heaven shines with the beauty of Jesus Christ you see until that day let us continue on Sundays to get a taste of heaven covenant fellowship where we sing next to one another as we gaze upon the beauty of Christ and as he satisfies our delight our desires may that elicit our joyful and passionate praise let us be a church covenant Fellowship that opens our hearts wide to the nation's as we shine with the glory of Christ as a beacon of light from this place and shines into a dark world revealing the compelling beauty of Christ and people like Larry Hester say oh yes oh my goodness yes come to fellowship bless carry out of Isaiah the series in Isaiah a renewed faith to fulfill the Great Commission that Christ has given us to make disciples of all nations by sharing the gospel with them believing that enemies of God will be transformed to fellow worshipers of God who will stand next to us in the New Jerusalem and for 10 thousands of years gaze upon the beauty of Christ with us as we give him him all glory and all praise let's pray Lord there is a compelling beauty that is revealed in this chapter that is hard for us to fully get our hands around but we thank you as followers of Christ that you've shown your light into our hearts that you've regenerated us that you've awakened us not only to the need that we have of Christ as our Savior but to the beauty of Christ and we as a church we pray together that we would be a people who shine the glory of God from our lives and from this church in a way that reveals that compelling beauty we pray together Lord open our hearts wide to the nation's bring the nation's to us we ask and as we know people in our neighborhoods and communities and in our workplace people from all different kinds of nations we pray give us opportunities to share the gospel the transforming power of the gospel with them and we pray that you would save many that would be added to the number to our number who will join us on that day in the New Jerusalem singing worthy is the lamb may all of this be for your glory we pray in jesus name amen

Channel: Covenant Fellowship Church

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Length: 40min 26sec (2426 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2019