WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:04.000 It’s always interesting to see how folks react 00:00:04.000 –> 00:00:09.520 in a crisis. When our economy plunged into difficulties a few weeks 00:00:09.520 –> 00:00:12.960 ago it seemed to me that I was hearing on 00:00:12.960 –> 00:00:17.400 television street interviews, you know how the common folks are reacting kind 00:00:17.400 –> 00:00:18.959 of stuff and with populist 00:00:18.959 –> 00:00:24.360 pundits i heard one phrase over and over again. I wonder if you heard it as well. 00:00:24.360 –> 00:00:28.700 It went something like this, why didn’t someone tell us that this was going to 00:00:28.780 –> 00:00:29.760 happen? 00:00:29.760 –> 00:00:33.139 Why didn’t someone warn us? 00:00:33.700 –> 00:00:37.060 Why didn’t somebody say something? 00:00:37.939 –> 00:00:42.619 Thinking about that i’m not really quite sure who was supposed to tell us exactly 00:00:42.619 –> 00:00:45.740 what are indeed what effect it would have on the economy if someone had said 00:00:45.740 –> 00:00:49.340 stocks are going to drop you know a couple of thousand points in two weeks 00:00:49.340 –> 00:00:52.459 time. I suppose the only inaccuracy would be the two weeks time if that had 00:00:52.459 –> 00:00:57.860 actually been been said. But what I want you to notice here is the fundamental 00:00:58.720 –> 00:01:04.860 instinct that when something really bad happens it is the first impulse of human 00:01:04.860 –> 00:01:12.440 beings. It’s natural to us all to say someone should have told me about this. 00:01:12.440 –> 00:01:19.080 Now, the Bible speaks about two destinies that last forever. One that is 00:01:19.080 –> 00:01:24.940 indescribably good and the other that is indescribably bad and tells us 00:01:24.940 –> 00:01:31.800 repeatedly that all people will enter one of these two destinies. If the Bible 00:01:31.800 –> 00:01:38.040 is true, as I believe with all my heart, soul, mind and strength that it is and 00:01:38.040 –> 00:01:46.959 most of us here agree. There will then be many who surely on the last day, seeing 00:01:47.019 –> 00:01:54.720 the awful reality of a lost eternity, will say, why didn’t somebody say 00:01:54.720 –> 00:02:04.400 something? And they will look to pastors and churches for an answer to that 00:02:04.400 –> 00:02:12.720 question. If you knew this they will say, why didn’t you say something about it? 00:02:12.720 –> 00:02:18.419 and why did you not speak clearly? Because compared to this everything else 00:02:18.419 –> 00:02:23.639 that you seem to be speaking about and everything else that was going on in our 00:02:23.639 –> 00:02:34.800 lives, now seems to us to be very trivial and passing, and I guess that there will 00:02:34.800 –> 00:02:39.320 be some pastors and churches who will hang their heads in shame, and they will 00:02:39.320 –> 00:02:45.779 say, well, the reason we didn’t speak about it was that we didn’t believe it, 00:02:45.779 –> 00:02:57.440 and we are surprised too. But we in this church do believe it. We believe in 00:02:57.440 –> 00:03:02.520 heaven and hell. We believe in the everlasting joy of 00:03:02.520 –> 00:03:07.600 God’s redeemed people and the everlasting punishment of the wicked. We 00:03:07.619 –> 00:03:12.800 believe these things not because we like them, but we believe these things 00:03:12.800 –> 00:03:18.660 because we find them in the Scriptures and cannot avoid or deny what we find 00:03:18.660 –> 00:03:26.100 clearly stated there. And so as a pastor, as your pastor, I feel a particular 00:03:26.100 –> 00:03:35.820 burden today to speak clearly about your our and everyone else’s eternal destiny. 00:03:36.539 –> 00:03:41.080 Please turn then to Isaiah chapter 65 where Isaiah gives us a 00:03:41.080 –> 00:03:45.639 marvelous description of the new heaven and the new earth in which every 00:03:45.639 –> 00:03:49.559 believer will surely rejoice. And then we’re going to look at the very last 00:03:49.559 –> 00:03:55.380 verses of Isaiah’s great prophecy where significantly he speaks about the 00:03:55.380 –> 00:04:03.600 miseries of hell. Let’s begin then in Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 13. I want 00:04:03.679 –> 00:04:09.039 you to notice as Isaiah introduces this last great theme of his prophecy that he 00:04:09.039 –> 00:04:12.880 is speaking the Word that almighty God himself had given. That’s what prophecy 00:04:12.880 –> 00:04:18.660 is. It is the speaking of a Word uniquely given by God. And so verse 13, a phrase 00:04:18.660 –> 00:04:25.019 that often occurs in the book of Isaiah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says. This 00:04:25.019 –> 00:04:31.700 is not Colin’s ideas. This is not Isaiah’s ideas. Isaiah, speaking as a 00:04:31.700 –> 00:04:36.220 prophet, says this is what God says, this is what has been revealed to Isaiah the 00:04:36.220 –> 00:04:41.359 prophet so that you and I and everyone else with eyes to see and ears to hear 00:04:41.359 –> 00:04:45.239 might know what God says. And he describes two groups of people, two 00:04:45.239 –> 00:04:50.839 destinies. He speaks, if you look through verse 13 through 15, of one group of 00:04:50.839 –> 00:04:57.359 people who are eating, and then they are drinking, and they are rejoicing, and they 00:04:57.459 –> 00:05:03.239 singing. And then he speaks of others who are hungry, and they are thirsty, and they 00:05:03.239 –> 00:05:11.059 are ashamed, and they are crying out from anguish of heart. Now, he’s introducing 00:05:11.059 –> 00:05:16.000 here the theme of two destinies, about which the Bible speaks again and again. 00:05:16.000 –> 00:05:21.839 It was never spoken of more clearly than by our Lord Jesus Christ himself who put 00:05:21.839 –> 00:05:27.200 it this way. He said there is a narrow road, and it leads to life, and that is a 00:05:27.200 –> 00:05:31.399 very broad road, and it leads to destruction, and lots of people are 00:05:31.399 –> 00:05:38.959 walking on that broad road. So, every person then in this worship service 00:05:38.959 –> 00:05:45.739 right now will personally experience either heaven or hell. It’s an awesome 00:05:45.739 –> 00:05:51.160 reality, just to ponder and consider for a moment. Every person in this sanctuary 00:05:51.720 –> 00:06:00.100 right now will personally experience either heaven or hell. This is true 00:06:00.100 –> 00:06:06.399 of every American. It is true of every European, of every person from Africa 00:06:06.399 –> 00:06:14.480 and Asia. It’s true of every confident millionaire. It is true of every 00:06:14.480 –> 00:06:20.119 person on the minimum wage and earning no wage. It is true of every student 00:06:20.140 –> 00:06:26.160 and every teacher and every stay at home mom. Every person will one day 00:06:26.160 –> 00:06:33.899 enter forever either God’s blessing or forever live under God’s condemnation. 00:06:35.000 –> 00:06:39.119 Now it would seem from the scriptures that these two groups introduced to us 00:06:39.119 –> 00:06:45.839 in the verses we’ve looked at will have awareness of one another. I mentioned 00:06:46.320 –> 00:06:52.000 pondering it has brought a freshness of force about this whole issue to my own 00:06:52.000 –> 00:06:58.380 heart over these last days. You remember our Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 00:06:58.380 –> 00:07:04.779 25 of the nations being gathered before him and he tells how he will separate 00:07:04.779 –> 00:07:09.339 the sheep from the goats. This is Matthew chapter 25. And he will speak to the 00:07:09.339 –> 00:07:13.079 righteous in the hearing of the wicked telling the righteous what they have 00:07:13.079 –> 00:07:17.339 done and welcoming them into everlasting life. And he will speak to the wicked 00:07:17.339 –> 00:07:21.220 identifying what they have done and what they have not done. And he will do it in 00:07:21.220 –> 00:07:26.899 the hearing of the righteous and then he will assign all of us to our respective 00:07:26.899 –> 00:07:36.040 destinies. So the righteous will hear the sentencing of the wicked and the wicked 00:07:36.059 –> 00:07:44.500 will hear and see the salvation of the righteous. Jesus spoke about this in Luke 00:07:44.500 –> 00:07:51.160 chapter 13 in verse 28 and 29 where he speaks of the wicked and he says to 00:07:51.160 –> 00:07:56.859 them, you will see Abraham. You’ll see them. You will see Isaac. You’ll see Jacob 00:07:56.859 –> 00:08:01.359 and all the prophets in the kingdom. You’ll see them and you yourselves 00:08:01.839 –> 00:08:10.839 outside. In other words, you will see what you have lost, 00:08:10.839 –> 00:08:17.839 Jesus is saying. The converse is also true and I think it is stated here for us in 00:08:17.839 –> 00:08:22.799 Isaiah chapter 66 in verse 24. The last verse of Isaiah’s prophecy where he says 00:08:22.799 –> 00:08:27.880 of the righteous that they will go out and they will look upon the dead bodies 00:08:28.260 –> 00:08:31.579 of those who have rebelled against the Lord, whose wound does not die into his 00:08:31.579 –> 00:08:38.080 fire will not be quenched. In other words, the righteous will see what they have 00:08:38.080 –> 00:08:46.799 been saved from. And you will love and worship Jesus and your own mouth my 00:08:46.799 –> 00:08:54.219 mouth will surely be stopped completely as we see in full measure just what it 00:08:54.219 –> 00:09:02.940 is that Jesus saved you from. I want us just to ponder the significance of this 00:09:02.940 –> 00:09:07.780 for one moment. The righteous will hear the sentencing of the wicked and the 00:09:07.780 –> 00:09:13.479 wicked will see the salvation of the righteous. What that means is this. 00:09:13.479 –> 00:09:24.039 Some who have friends who love Christ and serve Christ will see their friends 00:09:24.880 –> 00:09:31.919 entering everlasting joy while they themselves enter into everlasting loss. 00:09:31.919 –> 00:09:40.760 Think about that. Some who have children who love Christ but they don’t, or 00:09:40.760 –> 00:09:48.119 parents who love Christ but they don’t. They will see parents or children 00:09:48.119 –> 00:09:55.780 entering into everlasting joy while they themselves enter into everlasting 00:09:55.780 –> 00:10:02.840 destruction. Think about that young person as you go on resisting the love 00:10:02.840 –> 00:10:07.880 of a father or a mother who wants to draw you to Jesus Christ. Think if you’re 00:10:07.880 –> 00:10:13.679 to stay on that path of what that will mean for you one day. Some who have been 00:10:13.679 –> 00:10:17.859 hypocrites within the church, blending imperceptibly into the 00:10:17.880 –> 00:10:23.900 congregation, pretending to be Christian but living a double life. You will see 00:10:23.900 –> 00:10:32.539 those you sang beside and served beside, you will see them who you know entering 00:10:32.539 –> 00:10:43.780 into everlasting joy while you yourself enter into everlasting sorrow. I want us 00:10:43.780 –> 00:10:50.760 to feel the weight in the reality of this because no one here will say why 00:10:50.760 –> 00:11:00.460 didn’t someone say something about this? Your Bible is open in front of you today. 00:11:00.580 –> 00:11:05.059 Now I want us to look at heaven first and we’ll spend most of the time here 00:11:05.059 –> 00:11:12.320 and I’ve described heaven as a world of love. And I want us to notice here, and 00:11:12.919 –> 00:11:18.780 to savor the delights that Isaiah lays before God’s redeemed people as he 00:11:18.780 –> 00:11:22.979 speaks about the New Heaven and the New Earth. Now, notice verse 17, that he is 00:11:22.979 –> 00:11:27.299 speaking about the new heaven and the new earth quite clearly stated. What 00:11:27.299 –> 00:11:33.320 Isaiah is speaking about here in chapter 65 according to verse 17, is the same 00:11:33.320 –> 00:11:39.559 thing as the Apostle John speaks about in chapter 21 and chapter 22 of the 00:11:39.619 –> 00:11:42.679 the Book of Revelation, that is the new heaven and the new earth. 00:11:42.679 –> 00:11:48.000 In other words, he’s speaking about what God will do after the thousand-year reign 00:11:48.000 –> 00:11:52.299 of Christ that is described in Revelation and chapter 20. That is very 00:11:52.299 –> 00:11:57.559 important to grasp what verse 17 clearly says so that we know how to understand 00:11:57.559 –> 00:12:03.080 the rest of this passage. It’s about, Isaiah says, the new heaven and the 00:12:03.080 –> 00:12:09.020 new earth. And in the new heaven and the new earth, here are some delights that 00:12:09.159 –> 00:12:14.619 God’s people will savor forever. Are you ready? 00:12:14.619 –> 00:12:19.599 Number 1, A restored joy, verse 17 through 19, 00:12:19.599 –> 00:12:22.559 Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. 00:12:22.559 –> 00:12:25.940 The former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind. 00:12:25.940 –> 00:12:32.400 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem 00:12:32.400 –> 00:12:37.260 to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take 00:12:37.299 –> 00:12:42.460 delight in My people and the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in 00:12:42.479 –> 00:12:48.239 it no more. Now, when the Lord says here, 00:12:48.239 –> 00:12:52.400 that the former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind, 00:12:53.539 –> 00:12:59.880 he is not saying that we will have a collective and total amnesia of life 00:12:59.880 –> 00:13:05.840 in this world. We will know one another in heaven. 00:13:05.880 –> 00:13:08.320 We will know Christ’s love for us. 00:13:08.320 –> 00:13:14.280 How could we ever forget the redeeming grace of Christ throughout our lives? 00:13:14.280 –> 00:13:19.039 And since the book of Revelation makes it clear that forever God’s people will 00:13:19.039 –> 00:13:23.679 center their worship around the blood of the Lamb who was slain and triumphed 00:13:23.679 –> 00:13:28.520 even over death and therefore is forever and ever our Savior, we will certainly 00:13:28.520 –> 00:13:34.140 not ever forget that or what it has meant for us to be redeemed out of our 00:13:34.359 –> 00:13:38.479 fallen and rebellious condition by the grace and the love of our lord Jesus 00:13:38.479 –> 00:13:42.960 Christ. So when Isaiah says that the former things will not be remembered 00:13:42.960 –> 00:13:50.280 what he’s telling us is this. What breaks your heart now will no longer be on your 00:13:50.280 –> 00:13:57.719 horizon then. What causes you pain and distress right now will no longer have 00:13:57.719 –> 00:14:04.919 power over you. It will no longer be present with you or to you. You will find 00:14:04.919 –> 00:14:10.640 joy the Lord says here in what I will create that will be your joy. You will 00:14:10.640 –> 00:14:15.580 find joy in the City of God and you will find joy in the people of God and your 00:14:15.580 –> 00:14:23.039 greatest delight will be in the joy that God has over you and Isaiah says the 00:14:23.039 –> 00:14:26.599 sound of weeping and crying therefore will be heard no more. 00:14:26.599 –> 00:14:34.900 John puts that in Revelation another way God will wipe all tears from our eyes, 00:14:34.900 –> 00:14:40.700 literally it means all tears out of our eyes as if the very source of weeping 00:14:40.700 –> 00:14:48.440 itself is now gone. This is such an intimate picture a loving father wipes 00:14:48.599 –> 00:15:00.500 tears from the eyes of a young child. Can you imagine God himself doing this for 00:15:00.500 –> 00:15:05.960 you? You being so close to God, him having such a depth of knowledge of every 00:15:05.960 –> 00:15:11.000 sorrow you have ever experienced in your entire life and him coming and in his 00:15:11.000 –> 00:15:19.500 loving touch removing not only the pain but the very source of it itself. You 00:15:19.500 –> 00:15:22.719 might think that mopping up the tears of Christians is the sort of stuff God 00:15:22.719 –> 00:15:27.840 would delegate to an angel but our loving father chooses to do that for you 00:15:27.840 –> 00:15:35.580 and for every one of his children himself. So that with unclouded joy, you 00:15:35.580 –> 00:15:46.940 can savor heaven the world of love. Now this I think touches on an important 00:15:46.940 –> 00:15:53.200 question that is often asked. I’ve been asked it many times and surely every 00:15:53.200 –> 00:15:56.919 pastor has asked this question at some time and it is a difficult question not 00:15:57.020 –> 00:16:05.380 easy to answer. It goes like this, «How could a person be truly happy in heaven 00:16:05.380 –> 00:16:13.179 if they have loved ones who are not with them?» I imagine that probably all of us 00:16:13.179 –> 00:16:21.500 including the speaker have asked and pondered and perhaps even agonized over 00:16:21.599 –> 00:16:27.260 that question. It is a difficult question. But I think we can say two things from 00:16:27.260 –> 00:16:35.479 these Scriptures. Number one, the former things will be remembered no more nor 00:16:35.479 –> 00:16:46.559 will they come to mind. Number two, God will wipe all tears out of your eyes and 00:16:46.700 –> 00:16:56.400 the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more. There is ahead of every 00:16:56.400 –> 00:17:05.140 redeemed person restored joy. Number two, there is ahead of every redeemed person 00:17:05.140 –> 00:17:11.520 restored vigor. Verse 20, never again will there be in it that is in now the new 00:17:11.520 –> 00:17:16.540 Jerusalem an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not live 00:17:16.579 –> 00:17:20.380 out his years who dies at a hundred will be thought of me or youth, and he who 00:17:20.380 –> 00:17:24.160 fails to reach a hundred considered a curse. Now, let’s take the last part of 00:17:24.160 –> 00:17:28.739 the verse first. Isaiah is telling us here, remembering that he’s talking about 00:17:28.739 –> 00:17:31.739 the new heaven and the new earth, he is saying in language that we can 00:17:31.739 –> 00:17:37.380 understand, death will be no more. He is using an analogy of what we can grasp to 00:17:37.380 –> 00:17:42.380 help us to lay hold in some measure of what really is beyond our grasp at this 00:17:43.040 –> 00:17:49.979 time. I can’t get my mind round eternity. I don’t suppose you can either. But I can 00:17:49.979 –> 00:17:53.280 get a notion of what it is for a man to live a hundred. I’ve known a few people 00:17:53.280 –> 00:17:57.900 who’ve lived to a hundred, so Isaiah’s speaking to us in language that we can 00:17:57.900 –> 00:18:02.400 comprehend so that we can begin to think out into the realm that we cannot yet 00:18:02.400 –> 00:18:07.380 fully lay hold of. And he’s saying this, look, as you think about it, living to a 00:18:07.380 –> 00:18:12.660 hundred would be nothing in the new heaven and the new earth. There will be 00:18:12.660 –> 00:18:18.839 no more death. There will be no more crying or pain because the old order of 00:18:18.839 –> 00:18:23.959 things will have passed away. Death, Dr. Alec McTeer says, will have no more 00:18:23.959 –> 00:18:31.579 power and sin will have no more presence. I want you to notice that the joy of 00:18:31.579 –> 00:18:35.719 heaven is not just the absence of death, it’s not just that it goes on for a very 00:18:35.859 –> 00:18:39.680 long time, it will be the quality of life that 00:18:39.680 –> 00:18:44.060 will be the joy of your experience in Christ in the new heaven and the new 00:18:44.060 –> 00:18:47.859 earth. Look at the first part of verse 20, never again will there be an infant who 00:18:47.859 –> 00:18:52.339 lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years. Now, here are 00:18:52.339 –> 00:19:00.339 two tragedies that we experience in this world. An infant, a young child who does 00:19:00.520 –> 00:19:08.260 have the opportunity or joy of reaching maturity, and dozens of us are thinking 00:19:08.260 –> 00:19:16.599 of a real person taken from us right now, and we wonder what the life of that 00:19:16.599 –> 00:19:21.800 person would have been if they had lived to maturity and to adulthood and wish 00:19:21.800 –> 00:19:27.260 that we could have seen that. And then at the other end of life, there are many 00:19:27.260 –> 00:19:34.359 circumstances. Here’s a guy who looks forward to his senior years and all that 00:19:34.359 –> 00:19:40.099 he’s going to do and, and then something happens in his life or in her life and 00:19:40.099 –> 00:19:44.920 perhaps some physical disability comes, this strength that was there in their 00:19:44.920 –> 00:19:49.939 youth is no longer there and, and the joys of life that you anticipated are no 00:19:49.939 –> 00:19:55.599 longer accessible to you. And all you know is your own limitations, and feel 00:19:55.719 –> 00:20:02.619 what you cannot do. Now Isaiah is saying in the new heaven and the new earth as 00:20:02.619 –> 00:20:09.160 there is restored vigor for both of these, the joy of fulliness of life, let 00:20:09.160 –> 00:20:12.119 me quote to you John Calvin who I think puts this very wonderfully, he says, I 00:20:12.119 –> 00:20:17.000 interpret these words of the prophet in this way. Whether they are children or 00:20:17.000 –> 00:20:25.400 old men, they shall arrive at a mature age, so as to be always vigorous. 00:20:25.560 –> 00:20:36.219 Like persons in the prime of life. I love that. So you who have seen a young person, 00:20:36.219 –> 00:20:43.160 very young person taken from you, in Christ among the redeemed, in the new 00:20:43.160 –> 00:20:46.119 heaven and the new earth, you will see them full of vigor in the prime of life 00:20:46.119 –> 00:20:58.540 and you who feel the limitations of your advancing years ahead of you, are 00:20:58.540 –> 00:21:05.160 unending ages full of vigor in the prime of life. Isn’t that glorious? 00:21:05.160 –> 00:21:13.760 Restored joy, restored vigor. Number 3, restored community. Verse 21, They will 00:21:13.900 –> 00:21:19.900 build houses and dwell in them. Love this! The important point here is that in the 00:21:19.900 –> 00:21:26.060 new heaven and the new earth, folks will settle down. That is wonderful because, 00:21:26.060 –> 00:21:31.579 of course, in this life, there are many people who find a home, but they don’t 00:21:31.579 –> 00:21:38.099 get to enjoy it. Thirty thousand Christians in Orissa, India, in the last 00:21:38.099 –> 00:21:42.680 month fled homes that most of them will have built themselves. Because of 00:21:42.719 –> 00:21:46.979 persecution, many of them may never go back again. Their homes were simply 00:21:46.979 –> 00:21:50.839 abandoned to violence and they have to start all over again. And that is 00:21:50.839 –> 00:21:56.920 repeated again and again and again, in thousands of situations across our world. 00:21:56.920 –> 00:22:03.479 For us in our culture, where we thank God for the blessings of freedom, how many 00:22:03.479 –> 00:22:07.780 folks have experienced settling down with a home and a young family and 00:22:07.780 –> 00:22:12.979 establishing relationships in a church and getting a rhythm of life and then 00:22:12.979 –> 00:22:16.099 someone from the head office of a large multinational company for which you 00:22:16.099 –> 00:22:21.339 work says, we need you the other side of the country. Your whole life is 00:22:21.339 –> 00:22:24.579 uprooted and all of the relationships and everything that’s become familiar 00:22:24.579 –> 00:22:30.859 and off you go. And a few years later guess what the same thing happens, again. 00:22:30.859 –> 00:22:35.280 Folks who get older. Some of us facing this right now, the house that you have 00:22:35.599 –> 00:22:40.079 it’s been the home for your family for a generation. You poured yourself into it 00:22:40.079 –> 00:22:44.040 it’s full of memories but it’s too big for you now. Can’t manage it, you need to 00:22:44.040 –> 00:22:48.479 downsize, you don’t want to leave it but you really don’t have any choice 00:22:48.479 –> 00:22:55.859 and then in our time for thousands of people in this economy, the home that was 00:22:55.859 –> 00:22:59.939 the home of their dreams and now they’re facing foreclosure on that home and the 00:23:00.000 –> 00:23:06.160 home that was theirs and that was their dream they no longer live in it someone 00:23:06.160 –> 00:23:12.180 else does. Now this continued forced movement and unsettlement of life wrecks 00:23:12.180 –> 00:23:17.479 community, it tears up relationships, it ruins stability but here in the new 00:23:17.479 –> 00:23:22.020 heaven and the New Earth folks will have the joy of seeing relationships grow in 00:23:22.020 –> 00:23:29.479 maturity. Sticking around long enough to see what comes of your work. Let me just 00:23:29.479 –> 00:23:33.380 read it they will live, build houses and dwell in them and they will plant 00:23:33.380 –> 00:23:37.459 vineyards and eat their fruit no longer will they build houses and others live 00:23:37.459 –> 00:23:42.380 in them or plant and others eat for us the days of a tree so will be the days 00:23:42.380 –> 00:23:49.880 of my people. My chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. Wonderful. 00:23:49.880 –> 00:23:56.239 And then he says they will not toil in vain or bare children doomed to 00:23:56.280 –> 00:24:01.359 misfortune. Now again he’s using an analogy from the world that we know to 00:24:01.359 –> 00:24:06.920 help us think about the world that we do not yet see and of course we will not be 00:24:06.920 –> 00:24:14.119 bearing children in heaven. How could you have a community some of whom knew 00:24:14.119 –> 00:24:19.560 what it is to be redeemed from sin and others who had no idea what we were 00:24:19.560 –> 00:24:22.040 talking about that that just didn’t make any sense? 00:24:22.099 –> 00:24:27.699 No no no. There is a whole new order for those who have been brought into the joy 00:24:27.699 –> 00:24:33.800 of Christ’s redeemed community. But what he’s saying here is, look in this world 00:24:33.800 –> 00:24:39.839 there are children who are born into desperate circumstances. Kids who are 00:24:39.839 –> 00:24:44.719 born into poverty, kids who are born into war, kids who are born into violence and 00:24:44.719 –> 00:24:51.800 hatred and crime and sometimes terrible abuse. But instead of war and hate and 00:24:51.920 –> 00:24:56.140 violence and crime God’s people in the new heaven and new earth will live 00:24:56.140 –> 00:25:03.839 together in love and in harmony and in peace and in joy. Restored community. 00:25:03.839 –> 00:25:11.439 Number four. Restored communion. verse 24. God says before they call I will 00:25:11.439 –> 00:25:18.079 answer and while they are still speaking I will hear. This is an amazing promise 00:25:18.160 –> 00:25:23.000 God. Nothing will inhibit your access to him. 00:25:23.000 –> 00:25:29.400 God will hear you. People say oh I need to be heard. Boy 00:25:29.400 –> 00:25:36.520 You will be heard for all eternity by Almighty God himself and because all 00:25:36.520 –> 00:25:47.680 your desires will be fully tuned to his, he will give you all the desires of your 00:25:47.680 –> 00:25:57.119 heart. Your fellowship will be closer with him than anything even Adam and 00:25:57.119 –> 00:26:04.280 Eve knew in the Garden of Eden. That’s what’s being said here. Before they even 00:26:04.280 –> 00:26:13.339 call I will answer and while they’re still speaking I will hear. And then 00:26:13.339 –> 00:26:17.660 fifthly as we savor the delights of the new heaven and the new earth please 00:26:17.660 –> 00:26:22.579 notice the new creation. Verse 25. Because God’s great purpose is not 00:26:22.579 –> 00:26:27.040 simply to restore people. To redeem people in Christ but rather to redeem 00:26:27.040 –> 00:26:32.180 all things in Jesus Christ and therefore there will be a new heaven and a new 00:26:32.180 –> 00:26:38.219 earth that is perfectly adapted to reflect his full glory untainted by sin 00:26:38.219 –> 00:26:43.079 and for all eternity and in this new creation notice that he says the wolf 00:26:43.079 –> 00:26:57.520 verse 25 and the lamb will feed together now just remember wolves destroy lambs 00:26:57.520 –> 00:27:03.239 so wolves and lambs eating together in the new heaven and the new earth means 00:27:03.400 –> 00:27:08.640 old hostilities have been reconciled god creates a new animal kingdom that 00:27:08.640 –> 00:27:14.339 reflects the reconciliation of all things in Christ and a new animal 00:27:14.339 –> 00:27:22.359 kingdom reflects the glory of this the wolf and the lamb feeding together now 00:27:22.359 –> 00:27:28.699 think of what that is telling us to live in the new heaven and the new earth 00:27:29.239 –> 00:27:39.699 old hostilities are reconciled what that means is redeemed Hutus and redeemed 00:27:39.699 –> 00:27:46.239 Tutsis who have warred and hated each other 00:27:46.239 –> 00:27:54.819 these two races for generations redeemed tutus redeem Tutsis will rejoice 00:27:54.819 –> 00:28:00.579 together as neighbors in the presence of Jesus Christ in the New Heaven and the 00:28:00.579 –> 00:28:11.479 New Earth. Jews and Arabs will rejoice in their oneness in Jesus Christ in the New 00:28:11.479 –> 00:28:16.439 Heaven in the new earth dare I say it today 00:28:16.439 –> 00:28:22.079 redeemed Republicans and redeemed Democrats will speak well of each other 00:28:22.599 –> 00:28:30.239 in the new heaven and the new Earth to the praise and the glory of God forever 00:28:30.239 –> 00:28:35.579 because old hostilities have been reconciled as we see all things clearly 00:28:35.579 –> 00:28:41.160 as none of us do right now. And secondly old natures are changed you notice here 00:28:41.160 –> 00:28:46.219 that the lion will eat straw like an ox. Has anyone seen a lion eat 00:28:46.219 –> 00:28:49.560 straw? Lions don’t eat straw in this world. Lions 00:28:49.560 –> 00:28:55.579 eat red meat and they kill to get it. It’s their nature. But in the new heaven 00:28:55.579 –> 00:28:58.640 and the new Earth every source of violence and pain and destruction is 00:28:58.640 –> 00:29:05.520 gone. The lion joyfully eats straw just like an ox and the end of old nature 00:29:05.520 –> 00:29:09.800 with all the trouble that it causes points us forward to what that will mean 00:29:09.800 –> 00:29:15.719 surely for us as well. The every remnant of your old fallen nature that you 00:29:15.719 –> 00:29:19.380 struggle with as a Christian right now will be gone too. The impulse of the 00:29:19.439 –> 00:29:24.060 flesh that tempts you will be gone. The coldness of heart that makes you 00:29:24.060 –> 00:29:29.099 sluggish even in in worship and reluctant to pray it will be gone. You 00:29:29.099 –> 00:29:32.859 will have joy in the presence of the Lord forever. All that you struggle and 00:29:32.859 –> 00:29:37.359 fight against as a Christian believer in your Christian life will be gone forever 00:29:37.359 –> 00:29:41.479 we will be changed is the way Paul says in the moment in the twinkling of an eye 00:29:42.119 –> 00:29:55.520 and at the last trumpet. Heaven, a world of love and it will endure forever. 00:29:55.520 –> 00:30:02.359 Restore joy, restore vigor. Restored community, restored communion, restored 00:30:02.599 –> 00:30:11.400 creation.” Now here’s the last thing, and much more briefly. But Isaa wants us to 00:30:11.400 –> 00:30:17.540 know, and he keeps it for the very last verse of his book, he wants us to know 00:30:17.540 –> 00:30:26.500 that outside heaven, the world of love, there is hell the world of hate. 00:30:26.699 –> 00:30:33.160 And he speaks there of those who have rebelled against the Lord. A life of 00:30:33.160 –> 00:30:41.619 sustained rebellion against Him. And he says of them, their worm will not die, and 00:30:41.619 –> 00:30:53.300 their fire will not be quenched. Now, we might pass over this verse, except for 00:30:53.300 –> 00:30:59.359 two things. One is, it is the last verse of the prophet Isaiah. It is the last 00:30:59.359 –> 00:31:05.359 word God spoke to this remarkable prophet. And last words often have great 00:31:05.359 –> 00:31:10.459 significance. They usually do. And so, I think we will want, having studied this 00:31:10.459 –> 00:31:16.880 book to pay due attention to the last word God spoke to the prophet Isaiah. The 00:31:16.880 –> 00:31:21.180 second reason for drawing attention to this verse is even more compelling. That 00:31:21.180 –> 00:31:27.660 when our Lord Jesus Christ spoke during His ministry on the subject of Hell, and 00:31:27.660 –> 00:31:34.380 He spoke more clearly about the subject than any other place in the Bible. Of all 00:31:34.380 –> 00:31:41.180 the texts in the Old Testament that He could have quoted, the one He chose when 00:31:41.180 –> 00:31:46.000 He spoke about Hell was the one open in your Bible in front of you right now. 00:31:46.020 –> 00:31:51.380 Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 24 and you’ll find it in the lips of the Lord 00:31:51.380 –> 00:31:56.819 Jesus in Mark chapter 9 in verse 48 and Jesus says quite clearly He’s using 00:31:56.819 –> 00:32:01.900 these words to describe Hell. So on the authority of Jesus we know that Jesus 00:32:01.900 –> 00:32:06.319 tells us that’s what Isaiah was talking about. He was talking about Hell. And 00:32:06.319 –> 00:32:12.180 Jesus picks up these words, of all the words He could have chosen to say and 00:32:12.859 –> 00:32:16.400 gets at the heart of it. This is what you most need to know about it 00:32:16.400 –> 00:32:22.640 Their worm will not die nor will their fire be quenched. 00:32:22.640 –> 00:32:30.540 What does that mean? The fire speaks of God’s presence the 00:32:30.540 –> 00:32:38.239 Bible speaks of our God as a consuming fire and for this reason it says with 00:32:38.699 –> 00:32:43.359 the wicked, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God 00:32:43.359 –> 00:32:52.900 because our God is a consuming fire. Sometimes people speak about hell as 00:32:52.900 –> 00:32:56.680 being separated from God forever and there is a sense in which that is an 00:32:56.680 –> 00:33:00.959 appropriate way to speak. But I think actually it’s far more biblically 00:33:00.959 –> 00:33:08.400 perceptive to say, because no one can ever escape God, that sinners in hell 00:33:08.400 –> 00:33:14.939 will find that they can never escape the God they hate or the burning of his 00:33:14.939 –> 00:33:24.219 hostility towards them. Sinners hate God. They’re fire. 00:33:24.300 –> 00:33:30.140 They do not love him. They are never reconciled to him. How 00:33:30.140 –> 00:33:36.699 could they be? Without a redeemer? Without the operation of the Holy Spirit to 00:33:36.699 –> 00:33:45.760 change the human heart? The Bible says, as the tree falls so shall it lie but while 00:33:45.760 –> 00:33:52.060 they can never be reconciled to him or never outgrow their own hatred of him, 00:33:52.079 –> 00:33:59.920 they cannot escape from his presence either. The tragedy of the sinner in hell 00:33:59.920 –> 00:34:08.979 is that he or she is locked into a war that they cannot win and they can never 00:34:08.979 –> 00:34:20.159 end. Think about that. They’re fire. To use an old phrase, you know the old 00:34:20.159 –> 00:34:25.239 you can run but you can’t hide, you can run from God all your life but you 00:34:25.239 –> 00:34:34.159 cannot escape him in eternity. And God’s so gracious to tell us that, isn’t he? 00:34:34.159 –> 00:34:42.239 They’re fire. Secondly, sinners not only hate God, they’re fire. Sinners in 00:34:42.239 –> 00:34:47.939 eternity will hate themselves. That is the meaning of the worm. The worm of 00:34:48.320 –> 00:34:53.820 speaks of conscience that eats away on the inside of the heart or the mind of a 00:34:53.820 –> 00:34:58.540 person. I want you to think about this. Paul says, and Christians rejoice in this. 00:34:58.540 –> 00:35:02.500 Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, 00:35:08.379 –> 00:35:13.500 …to be forgiven and redeemed and enter into all the joy of that. 00:35:13.500 –> 00:35:17.000 But, you know, the same thing is true of the sinner in hell. He will know, she will know 00:35:17.040 –> 00:35:24.199 himself herself, fully even as they are fully known. That is, a person in hell 00:35:24.199 –> 00:35:31.159 will see and know the full extent of their own resistance to Christ, rebellion 00:35:31.159 –> 00:35:35.719 against God. They will, therefore, see and know that God’s judgement upon them is 00:35:35.719 –> 00:35:41.360 entirely just. There will not be a person in hell who goes on doing the sort of 00:35:41.360 –> 00:35:46.159 thing that so many people do in their own life here, you know, telling himself 00:35:46.219 –> 00:35:49.639 what a great good guy he is and just how wonderful he is because he cares for his 00:35:49.639 –> 00:35:52.520 family and all that’s really wrong in his life is that he’s just been 00:35:52.520 –> 00:35:58.639 misunderstood and so forth and so on. A sinner in hell will know that the single 00:35:58.639 –> 00:36:02.719 reason that he or she is there is their continued resistance and rebellion 00:36:02.719 –> 00:36:06.959 against the god who made them, and that is why Jesus speaks about weeping and 00:36:06.959 –> 00:36:12.199 gnashing of teeth, because sinners in hell not only hate God forever, they hate 00:36:12.320 –> 00:36:20.959 themselves forever. Their worm does not die. That’s what it means. 00:36:20.959 –> 00:36:25.040 So here then are these two death days, one indescribably good and 00:36:25.040 –> 00:36:29.919 one indescribably bad. Let me just say this in these last moments. 00:36:29.919 –> 00:36:35.199 The Bible speaks about being saved, and honestly I think there are a lot 00:36:35.199 –> 00:36:39.139 of folks who find it difficult to really understand what it is that they need 00:36:39.260 –> 00:36:42.500 be saved from. I mean after all you doing okay in your life. 00:36:42.500 –> 00:36:46.159 You could use a little bit of help from God now and then, you reason, 00:36:46.159 –> 00:36:49.280 and you’re glad that you can say a prayer when you feel that you need to, 00:36:49.280 –> 00:36:52.540 and it’s a good thing to come to church. But you don’t actually feel that you’re 00:36:52.540 –> 00:36:56.959 in such a condition that there’s much that you need saving from. 00:36:58.020 –> 00:37:06.560 Listen, Isaiah tells you what you need saving from. 00:37:07.439 –> 00:37:13.860 And that leads me to this last thing, the Bible’s teaching about hell perhaps 00:37:13.860 –> 00:37:18.159 more than anything else helps us to understand why Jesus Christ came into the 00:37:18.159 –> 00:37:27.320 world, and why He had to die on the cross. See, what would be on a scale, 00:37:27.320 –> 00:37:33.280 that would call for the God who can create the universe just by speaking that would 00:37:33.399 –> 00:37:41.840 call for Him to take human flesh in Jesus Christ and then to go to a cross 00:37:41.840 –> 00:37:53.080 and in the flesh die as a man in agony. What would be on a scale that would call 00:37:53.080 –> 00:38:05.120 for God to do that? Now here’s the answer, Jesus Christ entered hell so that you 00:38:05.120 –> 00:38:12.600 should never know what it is like. He saves people from hell by going there 00:38:12.600 –> 00:38:18.699 himself. See when Jesus died on the cross this is the very heart of what was going 00:38:18.860 –> 00:38:29.699 on, he experienced all that hell is. The Bible tells us he bore sin, the worm, 00:38:29.699 –> 00:38:38.320 and he came under the judgment of God, the fire. That’s why Isaiah says the 00:38:38.320 –> 00:38:46.780 punishment, the fire of God’s judgment that brought you peace, was upon him. This 00:38:46.780 –> 00:38:50.739 is why in agony on the cross, the Son of God cries out to the Father, 00:38:50.739 –> 00:38:58.780 my God, my God why have you forsaken me. What do you think this was about? Christ 00:38:58.780 –> 00:39:05.179 entered hell on the cross, so that you should never know what it is like. That 00:39:05.179 –> 00:39:09.459 is how the Reformers understood the marvelous words of the Apostle’s Creed. 00:39:09.459 –> 00:39:14.260 Do you remember these words? I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. He 00:39:14.300 –> 00:39:18.300 was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius 00:39:18.300 –> 00:39:25.219 Pilate, was crucified, dead, buried. What does it say next? He descended into hell. 00:39:25.219 –> 00:39:29.959 The Reformers said this is what it means. Now that he went on some trip between 00:39:29.959 –> 00:39:35.120 his death and his resurrection into the underworld. This is what it means, on the 00:39:35.120 –> 00:39:44.139 cross, on the cross, he bore your sin, he took your punishment, he took your hell. 00:39:44.620 –> 00:39:48.760 He went there for you so that you should never know what it is like. Think of it 00:39:48.760 –> 00:39:58.620 this way, hell has a summons for every person who has ever lived. Because we are 00:39:58.620 –> 00:40:06.979 all sinners. And either you go there yourself or Jesus Christ goes there for 00:40:07.300 –> 00:40:13.580 and I say with heartfelt thankfulness to God today 00:40:13.580 –> 00:40:19.600 Christ answered my summons. If you’re a Christian you’ll be able to say that too. 00:40:19.600 –> 00:40:27.020 He went there on my behalf, this is how he is able to save me and this is how he 00:40:27.020 –> 00:40:30.939 is able to save you today because he didn’t end in hell the Lord Jesus Christ 00:40:30.939 –> 00:40:35.879 rose in triumph and the living Christ actively seeks even in the preaching of 00:40:35.879 –> 00:40:45.760 this gospel today, he seeks your salvation died so that you should never 00:40:45.760 –> 00:40:52.600 know what hell is but rather enter into heaven so today don’t turn away from 00:40:52.600 –> 00:40:59.780 Jesus Christ as if he were your enemy, you embrace him with faith because he is 00:40:59.780 –> 00:41:11.100 your friend. Lets buy in a moment of prayer together. Father seal your word 00:41:11.100 –> 00:41:20.360 into our heart for the salvation of many today and for the joy of many today 00:41:20.360 –> 00:41:24.419 through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.