Two Paths

Just grab our bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter sixty five,

Chapter sixty five and sixty six. Yeah, thank you. Yeah,

I know somebody hooped out there, because you know, once

you turned Isaiah sixty five and sixty six, you're gonna

see that there's no more Isaiah left. I know we've

come to the end. Did I get a groan? Somebody's like, oh, hey,

if you need a Bible, that's what's going on right now.

They're passing out bibles. If you don't have a Bible

with you, that's gonna be really helpful. This morning's text

is a little complicated in structure, so I would really

advise you to have a Bible right there in your lap,

as we always do each Sunday. Have a Bible right

there in your lap. If you need one, just raise

your hand. If you need a bulletin, raise your hand,

a pen or whatever. Just get the eye of one

of our ushers and let's get you what you need.

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helpful pastoral tool for us. So please fill out a

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have a whole team of men and women praying for

these prayer requests each week. Also, if you are new,

the very best way to move forward as you are

considering what it might be like to be a part

of this body, this local fellowship, is there's a table

in the lobby called Step one. We connect with guests there,

So just meet you at Step one. Love to help

you understand the process of becoming a part of this church.

And if you're here and you're like, I don't know

that I'm a Christian. You guys have already talked about

and sung about Jesus in ways that I'm not sure

I am on board with, but I'm curious. Well, every

Sunday night almost we have dinner over at my house

and talk about exactly that thing. So if you're here

this morning and you say I want to know more

about trusting Jesus and following him, come over to my

house for dinner tonight six to eight. Meet you at

step one, give you my address. We want to talk

about those things. So if you're here and you're not

a Christian, we would love to connect with you for dinner. Okay.

Isaiah sixty five and sixty six, maybe wondering what happens

after this? Okay? All right? Eighty percent of them were like,

we'll see this summer. I'm calling this summer of the

short books. We've been in a long book. Isaiah's a

very long book. And so this summer we're going to

hit Phi Lehman and Noah and Nahem and and First

John and maybe a backic. We're gonna do all those

things kind of in this summer because we're going to

get to another long book soon. And uh, how about

some you know, mix it up, mix it up, preacher. Okay,

I mean you see him as pumped about Philemon as

I am. I am ready to roll with Philemen. But

today finishing Isaiah, here's the deal. Isaiah concludes his book,

and in doing so, he lays out you get this

up there, Yeah, two paths, That's what he lays out.

Two paths, a path of God's promises and a path

of God's warnings. A path of blessing and a path

of cursing, a path of life and a path of death.

After all that Isaiah has pointed out throughout the beginning,

remember warnings about Assyria and how God promised that if

they would repent, they would be rescued, and that's exactly

what happened. And then all the warnings about Babylon and

the warning and that God gave them. They promised that

if they did not repent that Babylon, they'd be sent

into exile by the hand of Babylon. And that's exactly

what happened. And here Isaiah has envisioned the people returning

from exile, and he lays out two paths. And the

thing is, these two paths are very different in the script.

They don't look that different in life, not always. I mean,

the people of Judah are looking around and they're saying,

I don't know that there's a lot of difference between

the destination of these two paths. When look at Babylon,

they seem to be doing all right. They conquered us,

Maybe we should be worshiping their gods, and look at us,

like we don't even have a temple. It's not very

obvious how these two paths lead to amazing blessing or

amazing first is following God gonna be worth it, and

our hearts aren't much different. We are actually also sojourners

and exiles, as Peter tells us, actually, as he's referring

to this very passage, we are sojourners and exiles. And

it is easy for us to look around and be

fool by what our natural eyes see, and be fooled

by our natural minds perceive. As we assess these two

paths and say, I'm not seeing it. I'm not seeing

life the path of God's promises, and I'm not seeing

death the path of God's warning. And the question is

will we trust our eyesight or will we trust our faith?

Site will we trust what God's word says about these

two paths. Now, these two chapters of Isaiah are constructed.

I said earlier, in a little bit of a complicated way.

I tried to explain it to the First Service to

do better. The structure of Isaiah's prophecy here in chapter

sixty five and sixty six. It's actually a structure He

uses a lot, we just haven't talked a lot about

it is one of an arch right in an arch

starts over here, goes up top, comes back down at

the same level distance the key The key to an

arch is the top right, and the top is at

the center. Same thing with what Isaiah is doing here,

that the top the climax, that the keystone is in

the center of this passage, and that's where we're gonna start.

We're gonna start at the center with the keystone, and

then we're gonna work our way outward or if we're

sticking with the arch analogy down, So we're gonna start

at the center. We're gonna read that passage, we're gonna

talk about it, and then we're gonna read the two

passages on either side of the center, and then the

next two further out, further down, and then the final

two further out, further down. Okay, you following how that's

gonna work. We're gonna start in the center, and then

we're gonna have two passages on either side, then two

more passages further out, and then two more passages further out.

Is a very common structure for Isaiah, but it's difficult

to do verbally. It's a lot easier to do in

a written way. Okay, but do I have all of

you tracking with me on that. I'll take y'all the

ones who said yes, I'll take y'all. The rest of

you can come along as we go. We're gonna start

with that top. We're gonna work our way down with

three key questions. Three key questions are gonna move us forward. Okay,

we're not gonna have time to comment on everything, but

that's okay. If we get the main thing, that's gonna

be good enough in the center. In the center of

Isaiah's poetic prophecy, here we have Isaiah sixty five seventeen

and the following verses. The top of this arch is

actually not a discussion of these two paths, is actually

discussion of the destination, the destination of the path of

God's promises. That's what Isaiah wants to put on the

most shining display. This is the brightest light. Let me

read that for us, and as as I do, I

just want you to just listen for the overall impact

of this picture. Okay, overall impact, that's what you're listening for.

Isaiah sixty five seventeen. For behold, I create new heavens

and a new Earth, and the former things shall not

be remembered or come into mind, but be glad and

rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I

create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to

be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be

glad in my people. No more shall be heard in

it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

No more shall be there in it an infant who

lives but a few days, or an old man who

does not fill out his days. For the young man

shall die one hundred years old. The sinner one hundred

years old shall be cursed. And they shall build houses

and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat

their fruit. They shall not build in another inhabit, they

shall not plant in another eat. For like the days

of a tree, shall the days of my people be.

The my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity,

For they shall be the offspring of the blest of

the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call,

I will answer. While they're yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion

shall eat straw like the ox. The dust shall be

the serpent's food, and they shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountains, says the Lord. Thus, says

the Lord, heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool.

What is the house that you would build for me?

And what is the place of my rest? All these

things my hand has made, and so all these things

came to be, declares the Lord. Quite a picture, this

picture of the destination, the destination at the end of

this path of God's promises. And yes, it has provoked

many questions of this sort, like well, when exactly is this?

Where it? Exactly is this? How does a lion's digestive

system accommodate straw? All of these kinds of things to

which C. S. Lewis would write, quote, there is no

need to be worried by facetious people who try to

make the Christian hope of heaven ridiculous by saying they

do not want to spend eternity playing harps. The answer

to such people is that if they cannot understand books

written for grown ups, they should not talk about them.

Lewis just always has a you know, the Brits can

just he says, all the scriptural imagery harps. Crown's goal,

of course, is symbolical attempts to express the inexpressible. Yeah,

I mean the Bible. The Bible can handle your questions.

But the question that Isaiah is meaning to provoke here

is not you know, lion diet questions. The question Isaiah

is meaning to provoke in his readers is will you

in trust yourself to God's promised destination? Will you entrust

yourself to a destination of this sort which God has

put on display as the destination of the path for

those who walk according to his promises? Because sometimes God's

blessings aren't a parent now, They're not obvious now, which

is why God is talking like this in sixty sixty one, saying, look,

heaven is my temple, like the earth is my footstore.

You're complaining about not having a temple. You're You're like,

oh what, we don't really look very blessed right now.

How are we gonna pull this off? And God's like,

heaven is my throne. You don't worry about this. I

made all things, I can remake all things. The question

is will you entrust yourself to the destination. I'm promising

you on this path when currently, by eyesight they just

have ruins? Would they trust God's promised homes vineyards by

faith site, when by eyesight what they have is destruction

and futility? And maybe you would chime in and say,

and I've got a lot of destruction and futility. Would you,

by faith site, trust God's promised peace and gladness and

rejoicing on the order of magnitude of lions eating straw, wolves,

lying with lambs, serpents doing no harm, you got weeping?

Will you trust, by faith site, I have for you gladness?

It is the idea of choosing a path because of

a picture of the destination reminds me of a true

I took to Glacier National Park, which, aside from San Antonio,

is the most beautiful place in the world. Listen, Glacier

is just pretty in one way. San Antonio is pretty

in so many ways. My favorite people are in Santorini.

This trip to Glacier, I'd never been there, and there

are lots of paths to take, and and but I

knew which path I was gonna take because I had

sat down with a friend of mine and an acquaintance really

who had taken pictures. He had hiked a particular path

with heavy real camera equipment and knew how to take pictures.

And he got to the end of this particular path

and he set it up, tripod everything glacial lake that's

the color of turquoise, and the mountains, and he laid

out the This was back when pictures were things that

you held in. He gave them to me and I

looked at them, and he laid them out for me,

and I said, I knew what path I was gonna take.

Turned out the path was steep, it was arduous, it

was long, and my pack was heavy. Didn't deter me

one bit because of the pictures that had been shown me.

I was going to persist on that path with joy.

And that's what Isaiah is doing. Here is the move

that God is making. He's saying, take my path because

here is the beautiful promised destination. Persist on my path

with joy, because here is the beautiful promised destination. It

looks like this, It's beyond what you can imagine. The

problem is, honestly, honestly, I don't like that kind of move.

I really don't. I don't like the kind of move

that God is making right here, because I've met too

many salesmen who don't live up to their promises. I'm

not saying God is wrong to do this. God is

always right, and he's doing what is right, but I

don't like this kind of move. My heart is disposed

to distrust promises, this move of take my path. There's

a beautiful destination on the other end of it. If

you've met too many salesmen who don't keep up their promises,

your heart like mine. How maybe you don't even have

to meet any salesman you don't keep the promises. Maybe

your heart is just like mine and it is disposed

to distrust promises. I won't take a show of hands.

Some of your smiles tell me anyway, We're gonna have

to deal with that. I'm gonna have to deal with that.

But we'll do that in a minute, because at this point,

we haven't even talked about these two paths. All we've

talked about is this one destination. So let's get into it.

Here's key question number one. What does it mean to

be on either path? What does it mean to be

on either path? Well, this is where we're gonna move

out and down right, two sections on either side of

the center. I'm gonna read the two sections, and as

I do, I want you to listen with that question

of mine. What does it mean to be on either path?

What are the its consequences? What are the things that

characterize those who are on it? What does it mean

to be on either paths? As I read, you can

read along. We're gonna start in sixty five eleven, right,

that's the section just before our center, and then we're

gonna go to the section just after our center. We're

listening what does it mean to be on either path?

Sixty five eleven. But you who forsake the Lord, who

for to get my holy mountain, who set a table

for fortune, fill cups of mixed wine for destiny. I'll

destiny you to the sword, and all of you shall

bow down to the slaughter. Because when I called, you

did not answer. When I spoke, you say with me,

did not listen. But you did what was evil in

my eyes, and chose what I did not delight in. Therefore,

thus says the Lord God. Behold, my servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink

but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but you'll be put to shame. Behold, my servants shall

sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out

for pain of heart. You shall wail for breaking of spirit.

You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse.

The Lord God will put you to death. But his

servants he will call by another name. So that he

who blesses himself and the land shall bless himself by

the God of Truth. He who takes an oath and

the land shall swear by the God of Truth, because

the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.

Moving over to that second piece here, But this is

the one to whom I will look. He who is

humble and contrite in spirit trembles at my word. He

who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man.

He who sacrifices a lambs like one who breaks a

dog's neck. He who presents a grain offering like one

who offers pigs blood. He who makes a memorial offering

of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have

chosen their own ways in their soul delights in their abominations.

I will I also choose harsh treatment for them and

bring their fears upon them. Because when I called, no

one answered. When I spoke, they say it with me,

did not listen, But they did what was evil in

my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.

Hear the word of the Lord, You who trembled his word.

Your brothers, who hate you and cast you out for

my namesake, have said, let the Lord be glorified, that

we may see your joy. But it is they who

shall be put to shame. What does it mean to

be on either path? Well, the consequences of either path

are pretty clear, he says. My servants eat, you're gonna

go hungry. My servants will drink, You'll go thirsty. My

servants rejoice, my servants gladness, but you weeping broken spirit again.

Isaiah and the Lord are fixing these two paths. They're

destinations in the minds of the readers. They want to

want you to know there are destinations, there are consequences

to these two paths. Well, what are these two paths? How?

How do you care? What characterizes what it means to

be on these two paths? What? What does it mean

to not be on the path of God's promises. That's

like we like we settle out together. Right, those who

did not listen did not listen. The word of the

Lord came, the Gospel came, his instructions came, his warnings came,

his promises came, and we did not listen, even if

externally we put on a good show. You noticed that

in the first section there's a picture of those who

would engage in pagan worship practices. Second section, and and

God says, I'll DestinE you to the sword. In the

second section there's those who are characterized by actually properly

observant worship practices. Right, the sacrifice of an ox, the

bringing of a lamb. And God says, I don't want it.

You sacrificing a lamb as I'm looking at it like

you're breaking a dog's neck. It's an abomination to me

because your heart is far from me. You are not

those who, in your humility and your contrition, tremble at

my word. You're just choosing your own way, although you're

putting a good front on it. You're coming to church,

you're singing the songs. You open up your mouth and

you sing. But if your heart is far from me,

I'm not hearing my praises. I'm hearing f BOMs. I

know your heart. This isn't about what's on the outside.

This is about what's on the inside, which is this

sixty six y two. But this is the one to

whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite

in spirit and trembles at my word, obedience from the heart,

allegiance with joy, not taking away from my word and

trying to make it smaller, make it thinner, make it less,

and not trying to add to my word and make

it more rigid and higher. I know holiness, I know

what I'm talking about. Tremble at my word, pick my path,

Persist in my path with joy. What makes, what defines,

what characterizes those who are walking on my path is

that they are humble and contrite. They tremble at my word.

In other words, their mind. They're mine, they're my spirit,

they're my servants, they're my chosen, they're my people, they're

my children. Are you mine? Then? Persist in this path

of joy? What does it mean to be on either path?

Are you his? Or are you not? Now? Isaiah goes

on to really articulate how to understand these destinations. Right,

two paths, who's on them? And then he articulates these destinations.

These two paths have two destinations. And that's where we work.

Further out and further down this arch. We're gonna look

at the two sections that are yet one more out

from the center. We'll start at sixty five eight. Okay,

And as I read, I just want you to listen

for what Isaiah says about the destinations of either path.

The path of God's promises them path of God's warnings

start in sixty five to eight, Thus says the Lord,

as the new wine is found in the cluster, and

they say, do not destroy it, for there is a

blessing in it. So I will do for my servant's

sake and not destroy them all. I will bring fourth

offspring from Jacob and from Judah, possessors of my mountains.

My chosen shall possess it. My servants shall dwell there.

Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks in the valley

of Acre, a place for herds to lie down for

my people who have sought me. Now we're going over

to the sort of the matching side of the arch.

Over in sixty sixty six, the sound of an uproar

from the city, a sound from the temple, the sound

of the Lord rendering recopence to his enemies. Before she

was in labor, she gave birth. Before her pain came

upon her. She delivered a son. Who has heard such

a thing, who has seen such a thing? Shall a

land be born in one day? Shall a nation be

brought forth in one moment? For as soon as ion

was in labor, she brought forth her children. Shall I

bring to the point of birth, and not cause to

bring forth, says the Lord? Shall I who cause to

bring forth? Shut the wound? Says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem.

Be glad with her, all you who love her. Rejoice

with her, and joy all use, all you who mourn

over her, that you may nurse and be satisfied from

her consoling breast, as you may drink deeply with delight

from her glorious abundance. For thus says the Lord. Behold,

I will extend peace to her like a river, and

the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream. And

you shall nurse, and you shall be carried upon her

hip and bounced upon her knees as one whom his

mother comforts, So I will comfort you. You shall be

comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, your heart shall rejoice,

your bones shall flourish like the grass and the land.

And the hand of the Lord shall be known to

his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

For behold, the Lord will come in fire and his

chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire

will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword

with all flesh. Those slain by the Lord shall be many,

those who sanctify and peer themselves to go, purify themselves,

to go into gardens, and following one and midst eating pigs,

flesh and the abomination ice shall come to an end together,

declares the Lord. Destinations. That's what God's talking about here.

These paths that might look so similar at the moment

have destinations that number one have been considered long ago.

Like God has already thought out the destinations of these

paths long ago. That's what he's saying when he says,

look like they say, there's a blessing in the noon,

wine and cluster. Don't destroy it. I haven't destroyed what

I started. I already have had a plan for all

of this. And these destinations are absolutely certain. Right I

will bring forth. That's what he's saying in sixty five

to nine. They shall possess, they shall dwell, they shall become.

These destinations are certain. I love how he talks about

it in terms of giving a baby, having a baby.

It's like, am I going to just state a baby

and then not bring it out. I'm not gonna do that.

I've been planning this for a long time. These things

are certain, but they will be sudden. Before she was

in labor, she gave birth. Shall a nation be established

in one day? It's like walking down this path and

you suddenly take a corner. It's been arduous, your pack

has been heavy, it's been steep. You've been dreaming about

a destination, and you take the corner and there it is.

Suddenly there it is a nation in one day, a baby,

before a labor, All of a sudden, God's promises come

to fulfillment, and only not only God's promises, but also

God's warning. That's what he says. Suddenly the Lord will

come and fire suddenly like a whirlwind round the bend.

And now suddenly these paths don't seem the same anymore.

And God is saying, know these destinations and pick my path.

Persist in my path with joy. It's coming, it's it

will be certain, it will be sudden. I've been planning

from long ago. Pick my path, persist in my path.

Which brings us to the very last question that I

said three key questions. Here's the third, and this is

what takes us the furthest out, and the furthest down

from the center. You're gonna be at the very top

of sixty five and the very end of sixty six.

Here's the question that I think guides us here. Will

you pick his path? Will you persist in his path

with joy? I'm gonna read those two sections, and I'd

like you to listen for how stark God's warning is

and how open his invitation is. That's what you're listening

for the top of sixty sixty five. I'm gonna read

the end of sixty six and just listen for how

stark God's warning is and how open his invitation is.

Read as long as I do sixty five, it's a

pretty open invitation. I was ready to be sought by

those who did not ask for me. I was ready

to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said here, I am. Here, I am to a

nation that was not called by my name. I spread

out my hands all the day to a rebellious people

who walk in away that's not good, following their own devices.

A people who provoked me to my face, continually sacrificing

in gardens and making offerings on bricks, who sit in

tombs and spend the night in secret places, who eat pigs,

flesh broth of tainted meats in their vessels, who say

to keep to yourself. Do not come near me, for

I'm too holy for you. These are a smoke in

my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold,

it is written before me. I will not keep silent.

I will repay. I will indeed repay into their lap

both your iniquities and your father's iniquities together, says the Lord.

Because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me

on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment

for their former deeds. All right, Going all the way

to the bottom of sixty six for I know their

works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to

gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and

see my glory. How open an invitation, I will set

a sign among them, and from them I will send

survivors to the nations, to Tarsish, Pull and Lud, who

draw the boat, to Tubuld and Javin, to the coastlands

far away that have not heard my fame or seen

my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations.

And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations.

Is an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots,

and in litters, and on mules and on dromedaries, to

my holy mount in Jerusalem, says the Lord. Just as

the Israelites bring their grain offering and a clean vessel

to the House of the Lord. And some of them

also I will take for priests and levites, says the Lord.

For as the new heavens and the new Earth that

I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so

shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon

to new moon, from Sabbath to Sabbath. All flesh shall

come to worship before me, declares the Lord, how's that

for an open invitation? And this is the stark warning.

And they shall go out and look on the dead

bodies of the men who have rebelled against me, and

their worms shall not die, and their fires shall not

be quenched, and they shall be in abhorrence to all flesh.

That warning stark, Isaiah, Why couldn't you just end it

it right there? Why do we have to add that

last verse? It was beautiful because Isaiah is making clear

there are two paths here, which one will you pick?

Will you persist on his path with joy? The warning

is stark, and it's not just an Isaiah kind of warning.

It's not just an Old Testament kind of warning. Jesus

uses this exact same language. It's Jesus who picks up

what Isaiah's putting down right here at the very end

of Isaiah's prophecy, saying, those who will not entrust themselves

to me, their worm will not die, their fire will

not be quenched. But the invitation also is wide. It

is a New Testament invitation. This is the passage that

Paul quotes in Romans ten, saying all kinds of people

can be hisay. Christ died to open the way for

every repentant sinner who will entrust himself to him. Christ's

blood is strong enough to draw people from every tribe

and every tongue, and every nation, every crack and crevice

of this globe, every crack and crevice of history. Christ's

blood is strong enough to draw worshippers to the true

and living God. And your testimony of it ends of

the earth. You're kind of look at him right here.

And Christ's blood is strong enough to cover the sins

of the worst, every crack and crevices of the darkest

human heart. You're kind of a testimony of it. Amen,

Paul's a testimony of it. That's what he's saying in

Romans ten. This invitation is open pick his path. His

promises are trustworthy, even if your heart, like mine, is

disposed against trusting promises. His promises are true to the

promise that God makes. When you look at it, you

have to ask yourself the question, do I see God

as a salesman making promises for his benefit? Or do

I see God as a farmer, as a father, making

promises for my benefit. I don't make any promises to

my kids for my benefit. I am not trying to

have them walk a certain path so that, like I

get a commission. Do you think God is calling you

to his path, to take his path, to persist in

his path with joy because it gains him something. His

promises are true and they are for you. He promised

rescue in repentance to the people, and they received it.

He promised exile in their rebellion, and they received it.

But he also promised a suffering servant who would take

their stripes. He promised a suffering so by whose wounds

we are healed. He promised the suffering servant of redemption.

Does that sound like promises he's making for his benefit

or for yours? He promised this gospel would go to

the ends of the world, and his promises are true.

And now his promise comes to you in this word

right here. And the question is will you trust and

his promises are true? Pick his path, persist in it

with joy because he's priorady promised what the end looks like.

He's told you how the story ends. The question is

will your heart as distrustful as it is just like mine? Nevertheless,

trust the living God is a living word about how

the story ends. That's the question. Organ spend some time

contemplating that in the Lord's Supper. Right now,