The Delight of the Lord (Afternoon)
Download MP3Alright. If you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61, we're also going to spill over into chapter 62. If you don't have your Bibles, it is in the worship guide written. And I'm going to read all of chapter 61 and up to verse seven and chapter 62.
Connor Coskery:Isaiah 61 verse one says, The spirit of the lord god is upon me because the lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 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 in the day of vengeance of our god, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, That
Collin Hansen:they
Connor Coskery:may be called 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 devastations. They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks.
Connor Coskery:Foreigners shall be your plowman and vine dressers. But you shall be called the priests of the lord. 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.
Connor Coskery:Instead of dishonor, they shall rejoice in their lot. Therefore, in their land, they shall possess a double portion. They shall have shall have everlasting joy. For I, the lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrong.
Connor Coskery:I will faithfully give them their recompense and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them shall acknowledge them. That they are an offspring the lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the lord.
Connor Coskery:My 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 a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. Chapter 62 begins.
Connor Coskery: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 nation shall see your righteousness and all the kings your glory and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the lord will give. 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 no more be termed forsaken and 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.
Connor Coskery:For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so so shall your god rejoice over you. On your walls, oh 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 its makes it a praise in the earth.
Connor Coskery:This is the word of the lord. In the nineteen twenties, the place to be in Birmingham, Alabama was the Lyric Theater. With its spacious balconies, beautiful wall ornamentation, and eye grabbing exterior, the Lyric was considered the most lavish theater in all of Birmingham. And during its early years, it hosted performances from many of the soon to be famous musicians, comedians, actors, and actresses from all over the country. In its heyday, it was the entertainment center for all of Birmingham.
Connor Coskery:However, history shows that as, as fast as the lyric rose to prominence, it crashed shortly after. The great depression took what expendable income people had, and the lyric closed its doors just sixteen years after opening. And for the next eighty five years, the lyric would change hands among a variety of buyers who all tried to restore what was once great back to greatness. Most every venture failed and it wasn't until Birmingham Landmarks Incorporated purchased the theater and launched a campaign called Light Up the Lyric. And the fundraising campaign, which began in 2013, was a huge success.
Connor Coskery:And after raising 11, the dilapidated lyric was fully renovated and restored to the beauty of the nineteen twenties. And on 01/14/2016, exactly one hundred and two years after it originally opened, the lyric reopened as a performing arts venue for the Greater Birmingham area. And in just a couple of months, our church will fill this space as we've done for several years for an evening of reading and singing and telling the story of the bible. We will enjoy the incredible acoustics, the spacious balconies, and the ornate golden silver frescoes on the walls. We love restoration stories.
Connor Coskery:We love the stories where something that was once great is taken and made even greater than it once was. However, I would argue that what we actually love about a restoration story is the revival that follows. The word revival, it simply means to to breathe in new life And I don't think simply admiring a renovated building stirs in us the same emotions like experiencing 750 people lifting their hands and voices to the lord. That's experiencing the breath of new life. Last week, Joel chartered our path to the end of our journey in Isaiah.
Connor Coskery:And in these last 10 chapters, Isaiah, he's going to focus on how we must live out the grace that we've received. Keeping in mind that god promises us a glorious future. And then our study on Isaiah 58 last week, we saw the beginnings of this theme of restoration. In this theme, this will carry us to the end of the book, culminating with a vision of the entire universe being infused with new life. Historically, if we situate ourselves to where the exiles were, when we get to chapter 61, they were exhausted.
Connor Coskery:They were wearing down and in the passage that we just read, we see how god through Isaiah gives them a vision for how this mysterious servant who will know to be the Messiah will restore not just the physical infrastructure of Jerusalem but he will restore and revive comprehensively. Yes, the walls will be rebuilt. The streets will be restored but more than that, god will take his people who are beaten down and nearly dead and he will breathe new life into them. Their cries will be replaced with singing and praise. Near restoration isn't enough.
Connor Coskery:The glory is when revival enters. Isaiah 61, it offered comfort and hope to the Israelites but it's just as much a promise for you and me today because we know who this mysterious servant is. We know that the Messiah is the lord Jesus Christ who has come to restore and to revive his people not in the future but right now, in this room, right now. And so this evening, I I simply want us to walk through Isaiah 61 and the first part of 62. And my prayer for you this evening is for you to receive these promises and to, and to remember that they are yours in Christ.
Connor Coskery:And when you trust in Jesus, you are united to him. Meaning that when we read the year of the lord's favor, that the year of the lord's favor is for you today, right now. So, let's begin and I I just want us to let's look at verses one through three in chapter 61 and I'm going to read it again just for the purpose of receiving and remembering these promises. So, chapter 61 verses one through three. The spirit of the lord is upon me because the lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
Connor Coskery:He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 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 mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the lord, that he may be glorified. So, we see in verse one that while not directly stated, Isaiah 61, it begins reading very similar to the servant song passages that we've seen previously in Isaiah. However, instead of the servant, we meet the anointed one who's filled with the spirit of the lord god and this anointed one's task is to proclaim god's promises to his people, to comfort them, and to transform them. And these three verses, it's one long sentence where the anointed when he he sums up his mission with seven declarations of purpose.
Connor Coskery:He's come to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the lord's favor in the day of vengeance of our god, to comfort all who mourn, to provide a garment of praise in place of their faint spirit and all of this builds to the larger ultimate outcome and purpose. We see this in verse three that they may be called oaks of righteousness. The planting of the lord that god may be glorified. The exiles, they were looking forward to this Messiah who promised to bring them this healing news, this liberating news, this comforting and generous news with the chief purpose of making them right in the eyes of a holy god. And roughly 700 later, this prophecy would finally be fulfilled.
Connor Coskery:When Jesus came, born of a virgin, and after being tempted in the wilderness for forty days, he returned to his hometown and he entered the synagogue like he always did. And Luke tells us that that day, he was given the scroll of Isaiah. And Luke says that Jesus deliberately, he took that scroll and he turned to Isaiah chapter 61. And he read verses one through three, what we just read. It wasn't just the the reading for the day.
Connor Coskery:No, Jesus, he he turned and he read those words for those people in Nazareth that day. And after reading the promises of healing, liberation, and comfort, it says that Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and he sat down. And with eyes fixed on him, he said, today, this scripture has been fulfilled. Jesus emphatically, he proclaimed that was what was once a future hope was acting in the present. Jesus identified himself as being the long promised anointed one that we see in verse one whose mission was to come to release them not from a rival nation but to break the captive power of sin to establish communion with god and to solidify them.
Connor Coskery:As fully righteous, for full redemption of god's people. And we on this side of it, when we when we survey Jesus' ministry, we see how he accomplished this mission. We see it in his life and ministry where he proclaimed good news to poor fishermen and tax collectors and lepers and widows. He healed people who were physically, emotionally, and spiritually broken. He freed the demon possessed man as well as restored social pariahs like Zacchaeus.
Connor Coskery:He gave sight to the physically physically and spiritually blind. But most importantly, by his death and resurrection, Jesus liberated humanity from its greatest captive and secured freedom from sin and death. And following his ascension to the right hand of the father, he poured out the holy spirit. Meaning, that the spirit of god wouldn't just rest on him but fill his people to apply these healing, hopeful, and gracious promises to their hearts. This means that you don't have to look forward to a day of freedom but we have been given power today to don the garment of praise, to be planted as oaks of righteousness, whose mission in life is to make much of god like he is the most beautiful and valuable thing there is because he is.
Connor Coskery:So, for us today, when we read these verses, it's it's faithful and right for us to read these verses in a very literal way. You know, the church globally, Redeemer Community Church, locally, we should be fiercely concerned with people who are physically and socially impoverished. As we've heard in sermons these past months, we as a church must be on the front lines to feed those who are hungry and at the same time provide magnetic spaces where those who are lonely and lost can find deep and honest and caring community. Our union with Christ, it also, it it mobilizes us to release the captives, to bind up the brokenhearted, and to remind one another that even in the face of great suffering, we can rejoice as an act of defiance to the enemy because we have been freed from our greatest adversary. And because of that, your ashes can be replaced with the oil of gladness.
Connor Coskery:And if we go by these these lines, kinda line by line, you know, examples of this here and now where Jesus is releasing the captives and opening prison of those who are bound. For you right now, every time that you show up to home group on gospel confession nights and choose to be honest with your sin, that is Jesus releasing the captives. Every time that you walk into Recovery Collective and you refuse to allow your life to be defined by drugs or alcohol or pornography, that is Jesus releasing the captives. That's him opening the doors of those who are bound. Jesus is binding up the brokenhearted.
Connor Coskery:He's comforting the mourners. When you sit in the hospital waiting room with a friend who's just received bad news. When a friend's ordinary life becomes disorienting, it looks like signing up to take them a meal. That's binding up the broken heart. That's comforting the mourners.
Connor Coskery:It looks like changing your rhythm in home group where instead of talking about the sermon passage this week, it means taking the entire time to just pray for your friends who are in pain. That's binding up the broken heart. That's comforting the mourners. And Jesus, he is proclaiming the year of the lord's favor. He's planting us as oaks of righteousness.
Connor Coskery:Every time we find a way amid the myriad of things demanding our time and attention to worship on Sundays, to to showing up to women's bible study, to showing up to men's breakfast, to showing up to home group. We don't do these things believing that they make us righteous but because Jesus has promised to to strengthen those roots that he's given us through these ordinary means of grace that remind us that we are already righteous in the eyes of God through the finished and victorious work of Jesus. So wherever you are today, feeling captive, blind, brokenhearted, full of grief. Receive the good news of freedom, of healing, and of comfort. The anointed one.
Connor Coskery:He is your refuge. He is your strength, and he is with you this very moment by his spirit and through his people, through us here gathered today as his people. So, we keep going, Isaiah, he continues after declaring these great promises and Isaiah says that the suffering people that he's just listed in verses one through three. Now, surprisingly, they actually get busy rebuilding the world and serving with the dignity of priests. Verses five through nine, Isaiah describes how the joy that fills the lord's planted people.
Connor Coskery:These people who are planted as oaks of righteousness for the glory of the lord. How that joy overflows into them transforming the world. These words, they echo the covenant god made with Abraham back in Genesis where god promised Abraham. He said, I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. They are a blessed people that are meant to overflow and bless the world.
Connor Coskery:They depict a rebuilt and restored Israel where their joy in the lord actually it attracts the nations. It doesn't deter them. It doesn't send them away but it it it attracts them. In verse six, it says, that you shall be called priests of the lord. They shall speak of you as ministers of our god.
Connor Coskery:And what this means is that everyone who's been transformed by the healing power of this anointed one from verse one is now called to share this good news and build up the community. No longer in this redeemed world where they are planted as oaks of righteousness. No longer is there a need for an intermediary or a a set apart priest. No, the redeemed life means that we're all priest to one another. The reformers, they would they would build on this and they would call this the priesthood of all believers which simply means that we are saved by grace into the family of god and we must use our god given gifts to build up this community.
Connor Coskery:And the priesthood of all believers, this is a core conviction of Redeemer Community Church. If you've attended our membership class, we make a priority to say how grateful we are that the lord has brought you here because there is a day when I'm going to need your help. There's a day when my weak faith is going to be needed. It's going to need your strong faith. The work of ministry isn't reserved for those on staff.
Connor Coskery:No, I need you. I need your gifts to serve, to comfort, and to strengthen this family. And this all leads to verse 10 where Isaiah 61, it it comes full circle where the anointed one, he speaks again and he declares with joy and certainty that every promise that he has made, it will be realized. Verse ten and eleven, they describe the Messiah who is looking out over the world and he's rejoicing at the salvation that he's brought. God's people, they're no longer filthy exiles but they are clothed with garments of salvation.
Connor Coskery:This echoes back to chapter one in Isaiah where the Messiah has taken their scarlet sins and they're white as snow now. And to illustrate this joy, he describes a wedding celebration where the bride and groom their their dress to perfection and also out of a garden in springtime where new life is bursting forth from the ground. And when we get to the end of chapter 61, it finishes with a bookend. If you look back at verse one, Isaiah began by describing the anointed one who is clothed in the spirit of the lord god who promised to bring the captives healing liberating and comforting news and in verse 11, the title, the lord god, it returns. And it's repeated here to emphasize that these promises and this bold vision is certain.
Connor Coskery:There's no guesswork here. No, it's certain. It's a guarantee because all of it is accomplished by god himself. The lord god will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. In Isaiah 61, it closes with this picture of joy spilling over and the whole world singing in chorus at the salvation that the lord has accomplished.
Connor Coskery:And friends, every time we lift our voices, we are joining this chorus. This is why we sing. We don't do it just because it sounds good. No, we are joining in the chorus of salvation. We're joining in the praise at the salvation that the lord has brought.
Connor Coskery:God tells us that singing and praise is the proper response to to the joy and the new life that we've been given. And when we turn to to chapter 62, we see this joy filled response. It continues to flow. So, if you look at at 62 verse one, sixty two does read a little bit differently than chapter 61. It's unclear who the speaker is at the beginning of 62.
Connor Coskery:Some theologians, they believe that it's a continuation of chapter 61 and the Messiah is speaking while others think that there's actually a speaker shift here where Isaiah is speaking on behalf of the people. Personally, I lean towards there actually being a speaker change here to where Isaiah is now speaking on behalf of the people at the beginning of chapter 62. And I think Isaiah, he I think I I think this because it matches with some of this imagery that we see throughout Isaiah of Isaiah describing himself as a watchman and this persistence by which he intercedes for the people on their behalf. And with that in mind, what we see Isaiah doing here is we see him praying with audacity that the city of god would be a a beacon of light to the world. He prays that god's delight in his people would be so obvious that it attracts the outsider in.
Connor Coskery:And then, Isaiah invites god's people to become a watchman. We see this in verses six and seven. Isaiah invites god's people to become a watchman who all day and all night never be silent. A watchman again, this is a familiar term that's used throughout the prophets and in ancient times, a watchman was a guard who was responsible for protecting a town or a military installation and their job was to keep watch and warn the townspeople of an impending threat. And here, Isaiah encourages god's people to effectively to be watchmen through prayer.
Connor Coskery:And I think that the the New Testament correlation here that the apostle Paul would later describe and encourage us is that god's people should both encourage one another to build one another up and then to pray without ceasing. So for us today to follow this this prayer from Isaiah and what Paul later encourages us to be watch men, to be a watchman through prayer. I think this means several things. First, I think it means that we have to be attentive to how god is on the move and be quick to encourage one another as we see his grace in action. Watching isn't just looking out for incoming threats.
Connor Coskery:It also means to be quick to acknowledge how we see the lord at work in each other's lives. That strengthens those roots. That strengthens the family of faith. I think it also means that we should pray as we did to begin our time this evening boldly and expectantly for god's will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven. We pray for god to reveal himself to a world that is lost and dying.
Connor Coskery:We pray for a greater conviction of of sin and desire for holiness in our hearts and ultimately, we pray that his sovereign rule which we know will lead to unending praise would be established. To be a watchman means that we help one another remember. We are so forgetful. We get tired and we get lost. We need those who during this season might be more awake.
Connor Coskery:Their eyesight more keen. We need you to help us to remember that the lord is at work. In me, in the world, and that there's nothing that can stop him from accomplishing his mission. We need one another to help each other remember. And every time we gather in this sanctuary for worship, we are both keeping watch and we are receiving our orders to go out into the world, to comfort, to encourage, to pray, but also to warn that the day of vengeance is coming.
Connor Coskery:That we must turn from our wickedness. We must return to the lord. So, like I said at the beginning, we're we're nearing the end of our study in Isaiah. Next week, we will gather together in it and we'll we'll finish our study in Isaiah and as we're getting towards the end, so many of these themes and threads are being connected. We've talked through the different servant songs.
Connor Coskery:We've learned about this redemptive work of the Messiah. One commentator, he described Isaiah 61 as and I quote, Isaiah 61 is the climactic representation of the servant of the lord. The anointed one that we read about in verse one. It he is the the ideal Israel, the Davidic Messiah who frees his people not only from the captivity of human enemies but that of sin and death and in doing so, he gives eternal beauty to his own. There's a day coming when we will be made new and Jeff's going to preach on that next week when, god promises to renovate and restore the cosmos for his people.
Connor Coskery:But the moment that Jesus read Isaiah 61 and declared today, the scripture has been fulfilled, The year of the lord's favor was inaugurated. No longer is it a future hope, but today, the messiah is making his people oaks of righteousness, the planting of the lord. If you know me, you know that I love trees. And oaks are especially interesting. Oak trees are strong and solid.
Connor Coskery:They have a massive, sturdy trunk and extensive deep root systems that anchor them firmly into the ground, allowing them to withstand strong winds, hurricanes, and even heavy snow. Their wood is exceptionally dense and durable, making them ideal for building materials and even crafting boats. Many oak species, they have thick bark that actually insulates them from heat. It it even protects them against wildfires and most impressively, they can live for thousands of years. Righteousness, breaking down this this this this phrase, oaks of righteous.
Connor Coskery:Righteousness is what we receive from god. When on the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for his perfect record. So that one day, when we stand before god, he will not see our sin but he will see the holy perfection of his son. God uses the oak tree. This image to describe the quality of righteousness that he gives his people.
Connor Coskery:This righteousness isn't flimsy, but it's permanent. It can withstand whatever storms, droughts, or fires that are raging in your life. And it's an eternal righteousness because it isn't earned but it's freely given from the lord god. The righteousness of god, it never runs out. It doesn't have a lifespan.
Connor Coskery:It's yours in Christ forever. The great reformer John Calvin once said, there is no other way in which we are restored to life than when we are planted by the lord. Let me read that again. There is no other way in which we are restored to life than when we are planted by the lord. We love restoration stories and when you trust in Christ, you become a walking testimony of the new life that he breathes.
Connor Coskery:You are planted in his righteousness forever and you will be preserved by his hand for the sake of his eternal glory for all of your days. And because of that, let us receive these promises. They are yours today. Let us remember and help one another to remember that these promises are available and what our role, what our mission is, and let us sing with joy because the year of the lord's favor, the day of the lord's favor, it isn't somewhere in the future. It's here right now.
Connor Coskery:The scripture has been fulfilled. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that Lord, that these promises are ours in Christ. Lord, we confess that we often think so little of you.
Connor Coskery:But lord, I pray that you would open our eyes and our hearts to see and to believe that when we trust in Christ, we are planted as oaks of righteousness. Meaning, there is nothing, nothing that can sway us, lord. Lord, that we are planted in you, that we are safe in your hand. And lord, may that mobilize us to pursue you Not for the sake of earning anything but out of joy and delight that you look upon us and you see the perfection of your son. Help us, Jesus.
Connor Coskery:We need your help. But lord, I pray that we would be a people who sing with joy. Lord, we love you and we pray this in your name. Amen.
