This Train is Bound for Glory

Isaiah sixty through sixty two. As I said in a

moment where just we're going to stand and we're going

to read these three chapters of dense Hebrew poetry, and

because it is dense Hebrew poetry, I just want to

orient us a little bit for the reading. I think

it'd be helpful for us to think of this as

what Isaiah gives us here, as kind of a destination

that God is taking. Is why I've titled de serm

in the way I have this train is bound for glory.

God is taking his people to a place, and he's

telling us about that. And as he does, I would

just I would have you look for in our reading

the way that God paints the pictures of this destination.

What are the pictures that He is painting for where

we're headed? And also what are I'm gonna call them

the plot twists. You'll see this throughout these three chapters,

especially at the beginning of sixty one, how God is

not only taking to us to a place, but that's

gonna involve a lot of reversals. A lot of things

that we wish were different now are going to be

different in his timing. So look for reversals, plot twists,

and then third, I would encourage you to as we read,

look for how earnestly God is promising this to his people.

You'll notice it. The Lord swears by his right arm

right things like that. How earnestly he's promising these things.

So look for those things as we read about this destination.

If you would stand for the reading of God's word,

if you are able, I'm gonna read all three chapters,

and I think standing is gonna help us focus. All right,

Isaiah sixteen, Allow along as I read aloud, arise, shine,

for your light has come. The glory of the Lord

has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples. 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 brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around,

and see they all gather together. They come to you.

Your sons shall come from Afar, and your daughters shall

be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and

be radiant. Your heart shall thrill and exult, because the

abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. The

wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude

of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian

and Epha, all those from Sheba shall come. They shall

bring gold and franknsonce. They shall bring good news, the

praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall

be gathered to you. Then the rams of Nebaev 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 like doves to

their windows? For the coastlands shall hope for me. The

ships of tarsish first to bring your children from Afar.

They're 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. Foreigners shall build up

your walls, and their 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

opened continually day and night. They shall not be shut,

that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,

with their kings led in procession from for nation and kingdom.

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 cypress, the plain,

and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary.

And I will make the place of my feets. The

sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low

to you, and all those who despise you shall bow

down at your feet, and 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, and you shall suck

the milk of nations. You shall nurse at the breast

of kings and I, and you shall know that I

the Lord, am your Savior and your redeemer, the Mighty

One of Jacob. Instead of bronze, I'll bring gold instead

of iron. I'll bring silver instead of wood, bronze instead

of stones, iron. I will make your overseers beeasts, and

your taskmaster's righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in

your land, devastation or destruction within your borders. You shall

call the wall your walls salvation, and your gates praise.

The sun shall know more your light be 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. Your son shall no more go down,

and your moon no more withdraw itself, for the Lord

will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning

shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous, and

they shall possess the land forever. 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. The spirit of the Lord is

upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring

good news to the poor. He has sent me to

bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the

captives and the opening of the prison to those who

are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort

all who morn, to grant those to those who mourn

in zion, to give them a beautiful head dress instead

of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning, the

garment of praise, instead of a faint spirit, that they

may be called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of

the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build

up the ancient ruins. They shall raise up the former devastation.

They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastation of many generations.

Strangers shall stand in ten your flocks. Foreigners shall be

your plowmen and vine dressers. But you shall be called

the priests of the Lord, and they shall speak of

you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat

the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you

shall boast instead of your shame. There shall be a

double portion instead of dishonor. They shall rejoice in their lot. Therefore,

in their land they shall possess a double portion. They

shall have everlasting joy. For I the Lord love justice,

I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully give them

their recompense. I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their offspring shall be known among the nations and their

descendants in the midst of the people. All who see

them shall acknowledge them that they are an offspring of

the Lord. That the Lord has blessed, I will greatly

rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exalt in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation.

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As

the bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For

as the Lord spring brings forth its sprouts, and as

a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to

sprout up before all the nations. For Zion's sake, I

will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake, I will

not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall

see your righteousness and all the kings your glory. You

shall be called by a new name, and the mouth

that the mouth of the Lord will give you should

be crown. You shall be a crown of beauty in

the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in

the hand of your God. You shall no more be

termed forsaken. Your land shall no more be termed desolate,

but you shall be called My delight is in her

and your land married. For the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married. For as a young

man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you.

And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall

your God rejoice over you. On your walls of Jerusalem.

I have set watchmen all the day and all the night.

They shall never be silent. You who put the Lord

in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in

the earth. The Lord has sworn by his right hand

and by his mighty arm I will not again give

your grain to be food for your enemies. Foreigner. Shall

not drink your wine for those for that which you've labored.

For those who garner it shall eat it, and the

praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it.

In the courts of my sanctuary. Go through, Go through

the gates, prepare the way for the people, Build up,

build up the highway, clear it of stones, Lift up

a signal over the people's behold. The Lord has proclaimed

to the ends of the earth. Behold yourself to say

to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes. Behold,

his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

And they shall be called the Holy People, the redeemed

of the Lord. And you shall be called sought out,

a city not forsaken. This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated. Thank for saying, thank you for

standing up with that. I think that did probably help

our focus. It's a lot. It is what I would

call a vision of hope, a promised destination, and Isaiah,

the Book of Isaiah is given to the people in

a time of deep confusion and deep trouble and deep doubt,

and in the midst of that some of the worst

this vision of hope is given to them as sort

of the culmination of the Book of Isaiah. I know

we have a few chapters left to go, but really

the next two major sections are just a prayer of

repentance and then like response to fork in the road,

which way you're gonna go. This is the climax of Isaiah,

this promised destination, and it comes to them, and it

really it comes to us. It comes to us whether

maybe right now, you are or aren't, in a time

of deep confusion or doubt or trouble. Maybe this morning

you're not even a Christian and you're here. But whatever

the circumstances may be, God is holding out this vision

of hope, a promised destination for all those who will

trust in him, And in it, he shows that He

is a God that we can trust with our biggest hopes.

So here we are. We're not there right a promised destination.

It means we're still on the tracks. We're still on

the train, and it is not always pleasant on this train.

How do we rightly travel with the destination like this

in our hearts? How do we handle this? Do we

ignore it? Do we set it aside? Do we try

not to think about it? I think the answer has

everything to do with how we handle three elements of

this promised destination. Three elements. They are how we handle

the pictures, how we handle the plot twists, and how

we handle the promises. Three elements about how we are

going to travel rightly as we are on this train

to this promised destination. Three elements, the pictures, the plot twists,

the promises. Let me explain number one. First element, the pictures.

Here's what I mean. You noticed in chapter sixty, I

mean all these chapters, really, but especially chapter sixty. It's

dominated by these descriptions of this promised destination that's coming.

Like even the sheer number of shalls is a little overwhelming.

Did you notice that all the shalls. Let me give

you some of my favorites, like verse four lift your

son's shall come from Afar. Like verse five, your heart

shall thrill and exult. How about verse eleven skipping over

a lot of shalls here, but your gates shall be

opened continually. Or verse fourteen, they shall call you the

city of the Lord. Picture after picture of what is coming.

What are they picture of? Well, you see the text emphasize,

over and over again, beauty. You see the text emphasize

all will be righteous, praise the Lord, that that people

will come from Afar, that all of this will happen

under the glory of the Lord. Over and over again,

the text emphasizes these things. I'll summarize it like this,

A beautiful city. Here's the picture of the destination. A

beautiful city of righteous people from all nations under the

glory of God. A beautiful city of righteous people from

all nations under the glory of God. And there are

some of you, I don't know how many some of

you who right now are eaten up with this question.

I don't think it's the most important question, but it's

some of you are just like, Okay, when what is this? Is? This?

Is this? Is this supposed to be? Now? Is this? What? What?

What is this a picture of? When? Not? Just what?

When is this a picture of? And if that's not

you just know that. Buckle up a little bit, because

I'm gonna explain a few things to people who do care. Okay,

when is this? Is this already? Is this a picture

of the church? Is this not yet? Is this picture

of the new heavens and the new Earth? Is? Like?

All this Israel languages? Does Israel have a place here?

And here's my reading, My reading is the answer to

all those questions is yes, Here's what I mean. He

this is a picture of not yet, this is a

new heavens and a new Earth. Right when verse nineteen

and twenty say the sun shall be no more your

light by day, your brightness or your for brightness? Shall

the moon give you light? Like this is calling to

Revelation twenty one of the New Jerusalem, where it says

the same thing, no sun or moon, because God is

going to be your light. The gates will never shut.

Like I read this as new heavens and new Earth,

this is a picture of not yet, but b this

is also a picture with ancient roots. In other words,

there's a lot of specific israel Land language here. So

is there a role for that sort of thing in

the new heavens and the New Earth? Regarding Israel? I

think yes. We see in Romans chapter eleven, verse twenty

five that there's been a partial hardening on the people

of Israel until the fullness of the gentiles will come in,

and that way all Israel will be saved. So yes,

we don't see right now all the ways in which

God is working to bring about these promises, but clearly

there's a role for Israel in it. But see also, Yeah,

this is a picture with features you can recognize already. Already, already,

this is a picture of Christ and his people. As

much as the Redeemer has come, the nations are being gathered,

a restored people is being formed. All of this, yes,

will be consummated in a final new creation. But it's

a picture with features you can already recognize. So how

do I answer the question of when, yeah, it's already

and not yet? And I sort of wanted to get

that out of the way because I know that that

question sort of eats at some of us, and because

I also think it's not the most important question when

it comes to these pictures. I think here's the question.

I think the question is what do we do with

these pictures? What do we do? I think the answer

is this, we are meant to stare at them until

they change our faces. We are meant to stare at

these pictures until they change our faces. Where do I

get that? I get that from the way verse four

and five and one and two are put together. Like

if you look at verse four, this is one of

the only present tense statements in the whole chapter. Present

tense in sorry in chapter sixty, and there's a few

pages to deal with it. Lift up your eyes all

around and see, it says, they all gather together, they

come to you. Lift up your eyes now see now

present tense now. But then verse five says, then you

shall see and be radiant. Then your heart shall thrill

and exult. So, in other words, the instruction to look

now and see. Now is that the instruction to look

and see the picture of what? But you will look

and see, look and see what I'm telling you is

coming here. You're on the train. Let me give you

the brochure of where we're headed. Look and see. You

don't see it all yet, But look and see. Look

at what I'm giving you. Lift your eyes and see

what you can only yet see by faith, what you

can only yet see in my word, what you can

only yet see in the pictures that I've given you

to hope in stare at them, look and see, And

I say, stare at them until they change our faces. Because,

similarly to verses four and five, the other present tense

verses in verse one, what is it? What's the instruction?

Arise and shy, A rise and shine, for your light

has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen

upon you. But then verse two, he shall arise upon you,

and his glory shall be seen upon you. Everything else

is shall so shine because of what he's started, and

especially especially because of the destination he's pictured for us.

Are you tracking with me on this Look and see

a rise and shine. Let my pictures of the destination

I'm taking you to change you now. It's like a

kid on a train at night, staring at the brochure

of the place his dad is taking him to. He

can't see much, but he can see where they're headed.

And he is staring at all those pictures with his

face enraptured and his eyes glistening because of what he

sees that he can't see, because of what he sees

that his dad has promised him. What are we meant

to do with these pictures? Were meant to stare at

them until they change our faces. Now, even though they're

pictures of what's to come, we should stare at these

pictures until they change our outlook, they change our loves,

change our eyes. It's these pictures that hold out the

hope of a destination that's way better than this train ride.

I mean, yeah, sure, I'm sure that the view from

this train is sometimes beautiful. Sometimes the view from this

life is even suggestive of the beauty that's to come.

But often often this ride is pretty dark and cramped.

Often this ride is more like real long distance train travel,

not the movies. I've been on long distance trains. It's

not pleasant, It's not like the scenic train that you

take in the loop that they built just so that

you can see the like the landscape that's not train travel.

Train travel is dark and cramped and stinky, and there's

a persistent sense of nausea throughout. And our Father has

given us these pictures and says, look and see, arise

and shine? How are you going to rightly travel in

this life with God's promised destination actually in your heart?

And has everything to do with how you handle the pictures.

We stare at the pictures of where He's taking us

until they change our faces, because if we stare at

what is around us on this train, we will lose hope.

It has everything to do with how we handle the pictures.

But also I said the three elements, here's the second element.

It has everything to do with how we handle the

plot twists. How we handle the plot twists. What I

mean by that, well, I'm talking about all the reversals.

Did you see them? Did you see all the reversals

that we read as we were reading these three chapters.

I mean it's starting in say, chapter sixty one, especially

chapter sixty one one through nine. This begins with the

one that Isaiah calls the servant of the Lord speaking,

and look there at what he proclaims. He proclaims good

news to the poor or the afflicted. He proclaims binding

up or healing to the broken hearted. He proclaims liberty

to the captives, favor, but also vengeance comfort to those

who mourn headdress instead of ashes. On and on, these reversals,

these plot twists, they go until finally, in verse nine,

he says, all who see them will acknowledge that they

are offspring. The Lord has blessed it's coming. I've got

plot twists coming in this life. On this train, there

are miseries, but one day God is bringing so plot twists.

The question is will you trust him with the when

and the how that he's bringing those plot twists, those reversals.

That's key. Will you trust him with the win and

the how? Because the servant of the Lord showed up,

Jesus Christ announces his ministry with these verses. Right here.

He shows up to the synagogue, the place where the

discussion of God's promises would rightfully take place. They hand

him the scroll of Isaiah. He unrolls to this spot

right here. I don't know how long that takes with

sixty six chapters. He enrolls to this place right here,

and he announces the spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me to bring good, good

news to the poor. He sent me to bind up

the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. I'm

the servant of the Lord. I'm the one who's proclaiming.

I've come to handle the plot twists. It's all up

to me. I've got a plan. And when he says

I've got a plan, the people in the synagogue say,

we've got a plan. Plot tists. We're all about it. Reversals,

we want them right now. And Jesus says, you know

what you're gonna end up saying to me, physician, heal yourself.

He says, you know, when it comes to plot twists,

you just need to understand when it comes to the

how and the when, when it comes to who's in

charge of this, just realize there were many widows in Israel,

but it was a widow in Sidon who was blessed

by the prophet. You know, there were many lepers in Israel,

but it was the name in the gentile who is healed.

You're gonna have in other words, you're gonna have to

trust me with the when and the how and even

the who of these plot twists, of these reversals. And

you know what they did at that point, they tried

to throw them off cliff. The question is not is

God bringing reversals? Is God bringing plot twists? The question

is will you trust him with the when and the

how that he brings him He's the one to trust,

He's the one with the when and the how. But

God is saying here he is bringing some plot twists,

which is pretty important to know because sometimes sometimes although

the view is fine from this train, a lot more

times it's that uncomfortable, stinky, cramped, dark, nauseating ride at best,

which we could also describe as afflictions, broken heartedness, captivity

because real life in this life is real life in

this life, and what quickly gets a hold of our

hearts is God. I don't like it this way? Why

affliction now? Why? Broken heartedness now? Why? Morning? Now? Why?

Why cancer now? Why betrayal now? Why loss? Why decline? Why? Inability?

Ben sass' so, US Senator from Nebraska. I don't know

much about him, but this week I listened to an

interview he did Ross doutfit, who does a podcast for

The New York Times, interviewed Ben Sas because Ben Sas

the senator from Nebraska, who's my age and a really

healthy guy. I mean he did triathlons and everything. He

went to his doctor late last year with back pain

and he just couldn't figure out, you know what, what

he needed to change in his training regimen. And they

called him after a scan and they said, you should

pull over, Ben, your abdomen is full of tumors. You

have seven different kinds of cancer. You're going to live

three months. And Senator Sas, who is a strong Christian

and I loved hearing his testimony of faith on this podcast.

He was asked by Ross daufit As he said, as

a man of faith, how do you handle this affliction?

I mean you should see the picture, just the cover

picture on this podcast. Senator sass As open wounds on

his face as his skin won't grow because of his treatment.

And he says, aren't you angry? What about? What about

don't you want God to reverse these things the way

you want him to reverse these things? What about what

about your prayers? And Ben Sas said, yeah, of course

I've prayed. I would love for God to do a miracle,

but I don't want the sovereign God of the universe

to defer to the whims of my every prayer. I

am not omniscient. I don't know how the tapestry of

the restoration of all things is supposed to be woven together.

Because I don't hold the or the planets in orbit.

I can't even grow skin on my face. I have

to trust Him with the when and the where of

the plot twists that I so desperately want to see

happen in my body, in my life, in this world.

And God is saying here, I know there's affliction now,

I know there's broken heartedness, now, I know there's morning now.

But I am not defined and you are not defined

by this ride. I am defined, and you are defined

by this destination and plot twists. So many are coming.

And if we're going to travel well on this real

life train with all its misery, it will have everything

to do with trusting God with the winds and the

hows of these plot twists, of these reversals. He knows

how to make all things new. So I said there

were three elements, Yes, number one traveling rightly means staring

at these pictures until they change our face. Element two.

It means trusting God with the when and the how

of these plot twists. But it also has everything to

do with how we handle the earnestness of God's promise.

He say has everything to do with the promises. Here's

what I mean from this point forward sixty one, verse ten,

all the way through chapter sixty two. The thing that

gets layer in along with more beautiful pictures and more

beautiful plot twists. The thing that gets layered in is

the earnestness with which God is promising his people this destination.

I mean. The most obvious example is verse eight in

chapter sixty two. The Lord has sworn by his right

hand and by his mighty arm. You also see things

like verse eleven of sixty two. Behold, the Lord has

proclaimed to the end of the earth. Like He's not

being quiet about his promises. He's not being COI. And

then there's all the bridegroom and the betrothal language, right

like verse five, like the bride as the bridegroom rejoices

over the bride, so that God will rejoice over you. Right,

God is leaning in on the promissory nature of this destination.

He's saying, I'm real taking you there. I'm really taking

you there. You can count on me. It's like the

like the dad telling the kids we are really on

our way, and they're like, how long till we get there?

It's like, we're getting there. You can count on me.

And the question is can you count on him? I mean,

when when God is saying they shall be called the

redeemed of the Lord, when God is saying you can

count on me, how do you know in your heart

that you can count on him? Well, he's already started

keeping his promises. He's been keeping his promises. He kept

his promise to us in the death and resurrection of

his son. I mean, God said he would send a redeemer,

and Christ came and said in John four, I who

speak to you am he? And God said that that

redeemer would be rejected. And when Christ identified himself right

there and luke for they tried to throw them off

a cliff, and God said that the redeemer would die

for sins and rise, and Christ laid down his life,

and when he rose, he said, these were my words

that I spoke to you, that all that was written

about me, and the law and the prophets must be fulfilled.

That I would die, and that on the third day

I must rise. And God said that he would draw

all nations to him. And Jesus said, and that repentance

and the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in my

name to all the nations. Now go, and here we

are half a world away in San Antonio, Texas. And

so many of us that are sitting right here have

already been joined to the zion of God that Christ

will one day complete. And even those who have not

come to trust him. Christ is calling to you right

now to trust him, to lay down the sin that

you think will actually make this ride better. It won't.

And the stubbornness that keeps you from even looking at

the destination that God has for his people. Calling you

to receive grace and sonship. I can tell you every grace,

every joy he has led me to expect. He has

put in my hand, and he has put in my

heart in great fullness, every step of obedience he's called

me to so far he has strengthened, and he has rewarded.

If you don't know him, or if some sin or

some hurt has clouded over your view of his face.

Let me tell you, let Isaiah tell you, Let the

Cross tell you a clear picture of him. To know

him is to trust him. I will gladly put my

biggest hopes in his promises. You should too. Let's do

it together. Let's take this ride together, hoping in what

God has promised. As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall God rejoice over you. The Lord has sworn

by his right hand, and listen. Trusting his promises doesn't

mean just stoically sitting throughout the travel of this life,

as if God doesn't want to hear from you. He's

like I told you, we'll get there when we get there.

That's not his character at all, he saysn't in verse

six here, let those who put the Lord in remembrance

in prayer right. Let those who put the Lord in

remembrance take no rest, and give him no rest. Go

to him the prayer. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. It's

right and fitting. Throughout every misery in this journey. Lament

isn't a mere complaint. It's honesty before the Lord. And

as we're honest before the Lord, we don't pretend that

everything is perfect on this ride. Far from it, far

from it. It is far from perfect, and pretending is

far from the calling we've received. We can look in

the face the miseries of this life, the lostness of

this world, the weakness of our flesh, and yet none

of those define our destination, and they certainly don't define

our God. He's told us what defines him, his character,

his grace, his cross. And he's told us what defines

our death, the nation. He's given us these pictures to

stare at. How do we rightly travel this life by

knowing at heart he is not and we are not

defined by this ride or defined by this destination? Would

you stand with me and pray? Lord? I I want

to start this prayer thanking you for people like Ben

Sass who, on the threshold of death, on the threshold

of getting off this train, have so thoroughly stared at

your promises that they can eagerly place themselves in your hand. Lord?

Would we all? Would we all so rightly travel this

life that we recognize it's this destination that defines us,

It's this destination that defines you. Lord. We desire that

would you help us to put our biggest hopes in

your promises. That's what we ask in Jesus' name. Amen,