Peace?

Isaiah fifty six and fifty seven. I missed you last week.

I did. And here's the thing.

Turns out, if you give me two weeks to prepare

a sermon, it doesn't get twice as good. It gets

twice as long. And I'd keep you here, but Children's

Ministry would have me. So I'm gonna I'm gonna preach fast.

You listen fast, Isaiah fifty six and fifty seven. We're

gonna read our our, our two chapters here in just

a minute. And as we do, I think just just

help orient you as to what's going on in this passage,

it's gonna be helpful for you to listen for three

distinct groups. As we read this passage, is is.

Is written to three groups.

There are three groups being addressed here, and the middle

group of the three is a group that is remaining

under God's judgment. You could say no peace for these

You've heard no peace for the wicked. That's where this

comes from, this middle group. But the first group and

the last group of these three over them is God's

declaration of peace, of acceptance of healing. And as we read,

I would love for you to notice what God is

considering in that first and last group, as he makes

a declaration of peace with them, Watch for it, listen

for it.

So let me just ask you.

To stand for the reading of God's word. I know

that doesn't make this any shorter, but we will find value.

There be the only perfect part of our time. Isaiah

fifty six and fifty seven. Read along as I read aloud,

Thus says the Lord, Keep justice and do righteousness, For

soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness will be revealed.

Blessed is the man who does this, the son of

man who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not

profaning it, keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let

not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

the Lord will surely separate me from his people. And

let not the eunuchs say, behold, I'm a dry tree.

For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs, who keep

my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me, and

hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house

and within my walls a monument and a name better

than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting

name that shall not be cut off. And the foreigners

who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him,

to love the name of the Lord, and to be

his servants. Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not

profane it, and holds fast my covenant, These I will

bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in

the house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar. For my house shall

be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

The Lord God, who declares sorry.

Who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, I will gather

yet others to him, besides those already gathered.

Beasts of the.

Field come to devour all you beasts in the forests.

His watchmen are blind. They're all silent. They're all without knowledge.

They're silent dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving

to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite. They never

have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding.

They've all turned to their own way, each to his

own gain. When it all come, they say, let me

get wine. Let us fill ourselves with strong drink, and

tomorrow be like this day, great beyond measure. The righteous

man perishes, and no one lays it to heart. Devout

men are taken away, while no one understands. For the

righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace.

He enters into peace. They rest in their beds, who

walk in their uprightness.

But you draw near.

Sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulter and the

loose woman.

Whom are you mocking against?

Whom do you open up your mouth wide and stick

out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the

offspring of deceit, You who burn with lust among the oaks,

under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys,

under the clefts of the rocks, among the smooth stones

of the valley, is your portion?

They? They are your lot to them.

You've poured out a drink offering, You've brought a grain offering.

Shall I relent for these things? On a high and

lofty mountain. You've set your bed, and there you went

up to offer sacrifice. Behind the door and the door post,

you've set up your memorial for deserting me. You have

uncovered your bed, You've gone up to it. You've made

it wide. You have made a covenant for yourself with them.

You've loved their bed, You've looked on nakedness. You journeyed

to the king with oil multiplied your perfumes. You sent

your envoys far off, and sent down even to Shiol.

You were wearied with the length of your way, but

you did not say it is hopeless. You found new

life for your strength, and so you were not faint.

Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied

and did not remember me? Did not lay it to heart?

Have I not held my peace even for a long time,

and you do not fear me. I will declare your

righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you.

When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.

The wind will carry them all off, A breadth will

take them away. But he who takes refuge in me

shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.

And it shall be said, build up, build up, prepare

the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way. For

thus says the one who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity.

Whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy.

Place, And also with him who is of a contrite

and lowly spirit. To revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I

will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry.

For the spirit would grow faint before me, and the

breath of life that I made because of the iniquity

of his unjust gain. I was angry. I struck him.

I hid my face and was angry. He went on

backsliding in the way of his own heart. I've seen him, But.

I will heal him.

I will lead him and restore comfort to him and

his mourners, creating the fruit.

Of the lips. Peace, Peace to the far and to

the near, says the Lord.

And I will heal him. But the wicked are like

the tossing sea. It cannot be quiet. Its waters toss

up meyer and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked.

This is the word of the Lord. If you want

to get to the heart of this passage, it's found

in the book Ends the start of this passage, chapter

fifty six, Verse one, God says, my righteousness.

Will be revealed.

Right, my righteousness, which is more than deliverance. It's God's

holy commitment to both deliverance and justice. My righteousness will

be revealed. And then the question is in what way?

And God's righteousness actually gets revealed a bit differently amongst

these three different groups, and that's summarized at the end

of the passage right to the one book end, my

righteousness will be revealed, and the other bookend says this

fifty seven I think nineteen peace, peace to the far,

and to the near first group, last group, but no peace,

verse twenty one for the wicked. That's how my righteousness

is going to be revealed. But we're going to see

some surprises in each group.

It's true.

But what is beyond question is that God's righteousness, his

holy commitment to deliverance and justice, will be revealed. And

the question is in what way will God's righteousness be

revealed in you? Another way to say it is which

group are you win?

Which group you win? Peace, peace or no peace.

Well, let's look at each group see what God is

saying through Isaiah. The first group starts right there in

the fifty sixth chapter.

And our summary.

Remember if you look at fifty seven, verse nineteen and

twenty one, that's our summary, our summary, Peace to the far,

peace to the near, no peace for the wicked. Our

summary just calls this group the far, the far, because

the people God is addressing in this portion are those

who are considered quote unquote not the right kind of people.

Right.

They are those in the Israelite society who were looked

down on the Eunuchs verse six, the foreigners, sorry eunichs

verse four, foreigners.

Verse six, outcasts verse eight.

And God says his righteousness will be revealed in.

That he will joyfully gather up.

He will declare peace with everyone without distinction who love

him and holds fast to him. And he marks that

here by not profaning the Sabbaths Verses two and four

and six, keeping from evil verse two, holding fast to

Covenant verse four and six, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices

verse seven, and other words. God is saying, if those

who are considered the far, who's Israel's society has considered

not the right kind of people, if they will faithfully

draw near to me in the way of faith that

I have made, then they won't be the far. I

will be with them, Praise God, because I still consider

myself not the right kind of people. I know I'm

a pastor now and everything. Tucking my shirt up here,

I'm still not the right kind of people. And God

has continued this on to us anyone considered the far

he has. He has continued this on by making the

way not through sabbaths and not through sacrifices, but through

his son, Jesus Christ, the true Sabbath and the true sacrifice.

He is the way of faith God has made for us.

And trusting in Christ and trust in his work, we

won't be the far.

God will be with us.

And what God says to the eunuch and the foreigner

here is actually amazing.

We're gonna look at it closely.

But first I want to say something about Sabbath keeping,

because sometimes there can be a confusion that Sabbath keeping

is somehow an aspect of Jewish law that is still

binding on us even though Christ has fulfilled it.

And that's not the case. I mean.

Clautions two verse sixteen says, let no one pass judgment

on you in questions food drink regard to a festival

or new moon or sabbath.

These are shadows of.

Things to come. The substance belongs to Christ who has come.

Now that doesn't mean there isn't God ordained wisdom for

us in a weekly rhythm of stepping away from our businesses,

stepping away from our workplaces to worship and be refreshed,

as the scriptures say, to cease from endless striving. There's

absolutely wisdom in that that's rooted in creation, that is

rooted in faith in God's provision for us. But ultimately,

our worship and our refreshment is not centered on a calendar.

It's centered on a person, Jesus Christ. That's where God's

righteousness has been revealed. Now, what I said about Chapter

fifty six speaking to eunuchs being amazing, it is. Let

me just read parts of three through five saying, let

the eunuch not say, behold, I am a dry tree.

A eunuch is someone who, for whatever reason, was kept

from having children. It was actually a pretty common situation

in during these times to be a eunuch or made

a eunuch for certain types of service, but that meant

they couldn't have children. And God saying don't say I'm

a dry tree, let the reader understand because thus, as

the Lord to the eunuchs, who keep my sabbaths, who

choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant,

I will give in my house and within my walls

a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.

In other words, here's why this is amazing, because those

who had called themselves the people of God, they had

taken some distinctions in temple worship, and they'd extended them

into an understanding of society and of acceptance. And in

additional societies, family is often elevated to an extreme, which

is why the Bible says so often to make sure

you take care of widows and orphans, because in a

family centric society, those with less connections to family.

Are easily overlooked. Likewise, in a.

Family centric society, eunuchs who can't extend their biological family

were considered not.

Blessed or outcasts.

And God upends that here and he says, what I

have for you is better than sons and daughters. Right now,

we are in an interesting cultural moment because if you

asked someone are we today in a family centric society,

it would really depend on who you asked.

It would depend on.

What cultural streams that person was swimming in as to

what their answer would be. I mean, there's been a

tug of war, right modern secular thought pulling one way,

traditional religious thought pulling another way. About family, let's talk

about the tug of war. I mean, it's very clear

that modern secular thought has pulled against traditional society with

an anti family agenda. I mean, you don't have to

look very far to find modern secular thinkers who would

write things like the family is a power structure and

dismantling it is liberation. An anti family, anti children, even

anti life agenda is not uncommon in modern secular thought,

and it is right for Christians to fight against that agenda.

In fact, the Bible most often portrays family and children

as blessings, not always doesn't sugarcoat the turmoil.

But here's the thing.

We ought not let what God calls good be spoken

of as evil.

Yet even as God's.

Word calls us to appreciate family, it also continually calls

us to look beyond family, as verse five says, here

what is given in the House of God is better

than sons and daughters because what God is creating, what

God is creating in the Gospel and in his Church

is his family. It's an everlasting family. Our families, if

we have them, they may be blessings His family is absolute,

as Christ said it himself in Mark three, when his

mother and his brothers, his biological brothers and his mother

Mary came looking.

For him, he says to the crowd, who is my brother?

Who is my mother?

Those that do the will of my father, He is

my brother, She is my sister, that's my mother. The

gospel creates a new primary family, and that means some things.

That means that singles widows, those without children, anyone who

doesn't fit the picture of traditional family isn't missing out

on the primary family God has for us. It means

that if you're unmarried in church, you were not just

waiting for real life to start.

God's family is the main thing. It's real life.

And our marriages and our families, our families, they're they're

just pointers. It means that a broken family situation, it

might break your heart, but in Christ, it cannot crush

your soul. It was never the ultimate thing. So Church,

let's understand the scriptures well enough to be absolutely yes

against anything that is anti family.

But let's not let.

The world fool us into reducing the conversation down to

anti family versus anti anti family.

That's not the conversation.

Let's have the biblical insight to see what God is

ultimately doing. Is beyond that little family or that big family,

or that broken family, or that mixed family, or that

friends and family. What God is ultimately doing about his family.

And in so doing, he is bringing peace, especially to

those who were called far off, who were called unblessed.

And God is saying.

That those without sons and daughters are not far from

my blessings. What I have for them is better. My

righteousness will be revealed. And those who are called the

far over them, I have a declaration of peace, of blessing.

And that also goes God says, that also goes for

the foreigner. That's where he goes. Next, says, let not

the eunuchs say I'm a dry tree, and let not

the foreigner say God's gonna cut me off from his people.

No.

In fact, from the beginning, from the beginning, those who

were called by God's name were instructed to treat foreigners

well Leviticus nineteen thirty three. When a stranger sojourns with

you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as

the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.

Israel was instructed to see themselves as a part of

God's plan to bring light to every foreign nation.

Isaiah forty nine.

I will give you as a light for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

So when Israel instead took the instructions to remain covenantally

distinct from foreign nations, and they took that as an

excuse to treat foreigners with contempt, Jesus shows up in

Mark eleven to the court of the gentiles, to the

court of the foreigners at the temple, and he quotes

this passage right here. He starts flipping tables over. He's like,

don't you know what God's been up to? He said,

I my house will be a house of prayer for

all foreigners, for all nations. And he judges those temple

extortioners by saying, you are literally working against what God

has always been up to through Abraham. All the foreign

nations would be blessed. The foreigners who joined themselves to

the Lord will be accepted. Isaiah said the temple would

be called a house of prayer for all nations. And

just days after confronting them about working against God's purposes.

He raises up the true Temple, his own b from

the grave, and he tells his followers go make disciples

of all nations.

And that's what Ephesians says. We have now.

Ephesian says, now there is neither jew nor foreigner, but

one kind of mankind, because we are all in the

one man.

Jesus Christ. And the Ephesians quotes this passage.

We are all in the one man, Jesus Christ, who

preached peace to the far.

And to the near.

That's exactly what we see in Acts chapter eight, right

at the beginning of the Gospel, as Philip runs into

the Ethiopian Ethiopian eunuch, both foreign and the eunuch.

Acts is getting very efficient. And here is this African

who has just.

Come from Jerusalem, who has who has longed to join

himself to the Lord, to love and to serve him, just.

Like Isaiah fifty six says.

And he's coming back from the temple where I'm sure

he was mistreated, and he's reading right in this location

in Isaiah. And Philip says, you know what you're reading,

And the Africans, like, someone's got to explain this to me,

and starting in the place that he was reading, Philip

explains to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the

eunuch is baptized right there.

Look, there's water.

And has And though a foreigner, he is joined to

the true Israel in Christ, and as a eunuch he

perpetuates the true family in Christ. Though he's driving to Africa,

he goes on his way, rejoicing in the true Temple

and in the.

True sacrifice in Christ.

In other words, God has been saying very early on

and here in Isaiah and ultimately in Christ, my righteousness

will be revealed and surprise. It means a declaration of

peace over all kinds and not the right kinds.

And that means.

If you think you're not the right kind of person

for God, you should let go of that kind of thinking.

If you will come to Him, as it says right here,

to love the name of the Lord, to be his servant,

you will be accepted with joy. He has a family

for you, He has a joyful in gathering for you.

This also means that if you find yourself thinking about

other people that they're not the right kind of people

for God, you should.

Let go of that.

At best, you're gonna find yourself dead wrong about what

God has been doing. And at worst, you may find

yourself to be the sort that Jesus cleared out of.

The temple, the weak that he died.

His righteousness will be revealed, and surprise, it will involve

peace to those who were considered far. There's a middle group,

and I promise this part is as long. There's a

middle group in whom God's righteousness will be revealed in

a very different way for this group. Chapter fifty seven

twenty one says there is no peace. There's no peace

for the wicked, and the surprise for this group is

that it is a savage takedown for those people who

thought themselves to.

Be the right kind of people.

The people who call themselves God's people, they would call

themselves the near, but they're not near. They may be

near culturally, they may be near educationally, but they're not

near in heart. And in verses nine through twelve, God

starts with the leaders. God says that these leaders who

call themselves the leaders of God's people, they're actually selfish

and they're actually lazy. They should be guarding the flock,

they should be watchmen. But instead Verse ten. They don't

see the threats and they don't understand. They're busy verse

eleven with making their own lives easier and verse twelve.

On pleasing themselves.

And God just savagely calls them out, and he does

it like this, Hey, wolves, what.

You're waiting out there for? You should come eat my sheep.

My watchmen are blind.

Don't you want to come join the party they're throwing

for themselves?

And come gobble up my people.

They're blind, they're ignorant, They're just completely consumed with their

own thing. They're lazy, they're selfish. Why don't you come

and feed on the flock? I mean, God's God sarcasm down.

I'll tell you what. When it comes to considering the

leaders that are spoken against here and elsewhere in scripture,

it just makes me feel more blessed than ever to

serve with the elders of this church, because they are

the exact opposite of this. They are hard working, they

are watchful, they are attentive, they are understanding. They sacrifice

themselves for the good of the flock. It's a blessing.

But you should also know that the call to be

a watchman over others is not exclusively for pastors. If

you're a Christian, you're called to watch over others. It's

a mutual ministry, and it's a ministry of exhortation that

Hebrews three point thirteen.

Calls all of us to.

It says, but exhort one another every day, as long

as it is called today, that none of you would

be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The exhortation of

watching over one another. It's it's what we're called to,

is Christians. As it says in Proverbs twenty four to eleven,

if you have someone dragged off in their sin and destroyed,

don't say, oh, we didn't know. Proverbs twenty four eleven says,

God knows the heart.

We're called to this. We're called to.

Not give ourselves to our own busyness and pleasures, to

not silently and blindly doze and drink cabernet while others

are being carried off.

To sin like it's not our business.

God's righteousness will be revealed and what it is.

There is no peace for the wicked.

And I pray that we will not be found wicked

in the way we fail to attend to.

Others in danger.

And God moves then from addressing leaders to addressing anyone

committed to their sin. He says in verses one and

two of chapter fifty seven, he's got this brief interlude

about the righteous man who perishes. He's like, Yeah, enemies

are coming from my people, and if there are any

righteous who perish, it's good for them.

I'm bringing them to peace.

I'm actually rescuing them from calamity through their death.

It's actually a blessing.

Their death is a blessing that I'm bringing them to

peace in their beds. In verses one and two, and

he gets to verse three, he's like, but the rest

of you, the rest of you mock me. You're the

offspring of deceit. You're God mockers who sacrifice the God

given blessings that you've received. You sacrifice them the worthless powers.

You burn with lust to betray me. You want so

badly to just flip me off. He says, verse seven.

You go to great lengths in your sin, a high

and lofty mountain.

You set up your bed. You've made it wide.

You've loved what I've called you to hate, and in fact,

you've put a lot of energy into your sin, He

says in verse nine, You've journeyed to betray me. You've

multiplied your ways to sin says in verse there's nine.

You were wearied with the length of your way. Your

sin wore you out, but you didn't.

Say it was hopeless.

You found oh man, you found new life. That is

a that is Christian sarcasm if I've ever heard it.

You found new life for your sin. I have counseled

people like this. I have counseled people who wore themselves

out in sexual sin. And when they got almost to

the point where they're like.

This is doing me no good.

I'm sick and tired of my sin, they found a

new perversion that gave them.

A second wind.

And he says, I've been patient verse eleven. Have I

not held my peace for a long time, and you

don't fear me. I've withheld my judgment. I've withheld my rebuke.

I've been patient. And now when my judgment comes and

you have a few righteous deeds that you've done that

you're going to try to use to shield yourself and

call yourself something that you're not at heart, I'll declare

your righteous deeds and they will not profit you when

you cry out, and you can let your sin rescue you.

Your collection of idols can be your refuge.

There will be no peace for the wicked. That's how

my righteousness will be revealed. And there are people like this.

There were people like this in Isaiah's day, there were

people like this in the New Testament, And there are

people like this today, probably in this assembly, who praise

with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him,

who call themselves the people of God, who on the

outside their outsides all say near to God. But what

they want near to their hearts is revealed by what

they pursue, and with what love, and with what devotion,

and with what energy.

My God says, I'm gonna reveal my righteousness and wicked

no peace. And what I hear coming back.

Right now is yeah. But aren't we all wicked? Haven't

all we like sheep, gone astray? Haven't we all turned

each one.

To his own way? Yeah?

Which is why the transition verse here in verse thirteen

doesn't say but the sinless, It doesn't say but the

non wicked. It says, but for those who take refuge

in me. But for those who take refuge in me,

they will possess the land, which brings us to the

last group, the last group, which again our summary. Verse

in verse nineteen says, these are the near right, peace

to the far, peace to the near, no.

Peace for the wicked. These are the near. He said,

what the near? What do you mean the near? This

is the group. This is the group who knows better.

This is the group who knows God's commandments.

This is the group who culturally would have been nearer

the things of God. I thought that was the middle group.

I thought they knew better. Well they did. So what's

the distinction between these who know better and those who

know better? Says it Ran in verse fifteen. The humbly

contrite to being sinless isn't an option. Being humbly contrite

is an option. And what he says in verse fifteen

is I dwell in the high and holy place, and

also with him who's of a contrite and lowly spirit.

To revive the lowly, to revive the heart of the contrite.

To be humbly contrite is to be repentant. It's to

jettison your pride and jettison your sin, to come to

the Lord in mournful repentance, like David from Psalm fifty one,

and you just write that down in your note Psalm

fifty one. You wanna a masterclass in humble contrition, just

read Psalm fifty one, where David says, have mercy on me,

Oh God, according to your steadfast love, blot out my transgressions.

If you'll wash me, I'll be whiter than snow, a

broken spirit and a contrite spirit. You will not despise.

That's what being humbly contrite looks like. Not just alligator tears,

not just I'm sorry I got caught, like even dramatic

groveling can just be a way to try to get

out of trouble. But those who are humbly contrite say,

cast me not away from your presence, Oh Lord, And

God says, you want to be in my presence.

You want to be near me. You want me to

dwell with you.

You got two choices, he says, I dwell in the

high and holy place. I dwell an eternity. You want

to find me go behind the stars. Or if you

are humble and contrite, I.

Live with you. I dwell with you.

I am ready to abide with the humble and contrite,

and not just be with you, Be with you.

To revive you. You want revival.

You want God to purposes near you, to be to

revive your heart and to revive your soul. Humble contrition,

humble contrition, like the tax collectors have mercy on me,

Oh Lord, a sinner. God's saying that his righteousness will

be revealed in the case of the humbly contrite, not

by judgment. His righteousness will be revealed through judgment and

some people. But in the humbly contrite, his righteousness will

be revealed by comfort verse sixteen, by healing verse eighteen.

See, I'm not gonna always be angry.

Yes, they were in sin, they went on backsliding, and

the waves of their heart.

I've seen them. But I'm gonna heal them. I'm gonna

lean them. I'm gonna store them to comfort.

That's the call of God on you right now, be healed.

If you've seen anything of God in the Gospel, hasn't

it been His hands out to you to heal you

in your humble contrition, hands that have taken nails for

your healing. If you've seen anything from God in the Gospel,

hasn't been his readiness to draw near to you in

your humble contrition, a nearness that has taken on flesh

and humbled himself like a servant. He humbled himself the judge,

and he declares. The judge declares, no peace.

For the wicked.

If you know better, and you remain stubborn in your sin,

my righteousness will.

Be revealed through judgment. But peace.

Peace to those who will come to me, though they

are far, though they thought of themselves as the wrong

kind of person. Though the people around him thought of themselves,

the thought of them as the wrong kind of person.

I'm going to give a declaration of peace over them,

and peace to those who are near.

You knew better.

You were backslidden in heart, but I will heal you.

There is no question that God's righteousness will be revealed.

There's no question He's the God of the universe. His

righteousness will be revealed. The question is in you. In

what way will it be revealed? Peace or no peace.

Let's stand and pray Heavenly Father.

I ask.

That the answer to that question, for every heart and

soul in this assembly would be peace. Lord, I pray,

I pray that you would declare peace. There would be

a declaration of peace over every heart and soul here.

And what you've said in your word is that declaration

of peace doesn't come just from wishful thinking, but it

comes from humble contrition. It comes from coming to you

to love you and serve you. It comes from trusting

you the work that you have done on the Cross

through your son. It comes with bowed knees saying, forgive me,

Oh God, but if you wash me, I'll be whiter

than snow. So Lord, I just pray that that would

be the prayer of every heart in this room. What glory,

what glory there would be from your righteousness being revealed

in that way amongst these people.

That's what we're asking for.

Lord, That's what I'm asking for, and I ask it

in Jesus' name.