"Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
His Glorious Presence (v. 6).
Although a male voice praises throughout, but in v. 6 shout is a feminine singular verb. The inhabitant of Zion is also singular and feminine. What is that to us then? Well, while the daughters of Zion in Isaiah 3 were a depraved group, yet, like Miriam in Exodus 15:20, 21, a woman (here in v.6) urged the praise of the Lord upon others. “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion…”
And what does this female voice urge others to sing? She says, “…for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” In other words, the whole congregation of God’s people, the inhabitant of Zion, sings of His presence among them. Before, these people do not know God. Now they know who is among them and they sing about His glorious presence. Together they boast of God’s awesome presence in their midst. They sing, “Emmanuel – God is with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us?”
We as the New Testament church sing the same theme. We sing, "God is with us" in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God came down to us, lived with us, and walked with us in Christ. And even if our Lord Jesus has ascended back to the Father's side he promised to be with us in our discipling the nations even to the very end of time. Indeed Christ is always with us. He does not leave us as orphans. He is very much involved in our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. He not only empower us for faithful witness but also for joyful and obedient living even in the midst and in the face of many trials and testings of our faith.
Now, Isaiah looks for the day in which the Lord would be recognized as present in the midst of the people. This was reason for joy. This was reason enough for anticipated joy – joy amid the trials and stresses of surrounding chaos and impending doom. Isaiah challenged the people to live the joy of the hope in promised redemption.
Nowadays, it’s easy to complain about many things – about our government and our politicians, about our husbands or wives, about our children or parents. It’s easy to blame others and criticize others of their unpleasant behavior. And our complaints and criticisms are endless.
Here God calls us to consider His gracious salvation in Christ. He directs our attention to His great commission, in His work of making disciples from every nation, tribe and tongue. And finally, He reminds us of His glorious abiding presence with us in the person of the Holy Spirit who empowers and dwells in us.
These are reasons to sustain heartfelt worship not only on special occasion. these are reasons to drive us to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Rather than dwelling on failures and shortcomings – either our own or others, why not consider the glorious work of God or think about how He averted His anger toward us because of Christ. Why not dwell on the glorious harvest of many souls in Christ in many parts of the world as a result of God’s great commission?
I think when we dwell on these things we have all the reasons to stop murmuring and complaining about many things and start praising God. We ought to boast in God’s wonderful grace and love for us in saving us from our sin and misery. And as our appropriate response to His saving grace, we ought to praise Him and proclaim to the world His glory and honor.
May we continue to sing His praises everyday and declare His glorious name and deeds among the peoples of the earth. May our lives shine forth in such a way that the world could truly say, “God is indeed great in your midst.” May God be praised!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
"Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples" - Part 2
(Point 2 of a sermon on Isaiah 12:1-6)
His Great Commission (vv.3-5)
Now this song of praise is not only intended to be sung by an individual believer. Here the believer who received and experienced the saving grace of God calls the rest of the people of God to declare His praises.
Beginning in v. 3, a shift from individual salvation to salvation in community is revealed by the use of the plural pronoun “you.” The single male voice in vv.1-2 is now calling others to draw water of salvation from the same source. Once, the water supply was cut off from Judah because of her sin. Now in v.3, there is an endless water supply. Their gloom is now replaced with joy.
Clearly the water here is another picture of salvation. Life of sin and rebellion against God is portrayed in Isaiah as a desert and dry land (Isa.35:1ff). There is no life without water. Life in sin and unbelief is like a desert. No plant can grow and bear fruit there.
It’s the same in our spiritual life. Sin turns your life into a waterless desert, a place that cannot sustain spiritual life. Sin makes your life fruitless and brings you sure eternal death.
But Isaiah is talking about drawing water with joy from the "wells" of salvation (v.3). “Wells” or “springs” here refer to Christ. Congregation, salvation in Christ is like springs of water where flowers and trees blossom and those who are thirsty are satisfied. A well-watered place is an appropriate metaphor for the person who lives his life in living fellowship with God. That person is like a tree planted by a river of water that brings forth its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.
Now take note how this song of salvation is multiplied. After Isaiah has portrayed salvation experience as a joyful drawing of water from the wells of salvation, he then issues a series of commands to the congregation to participate in singing God’s salvation as a community.
So we read a great company joining Isaiah in worshiping God, calling upon His Name. They proclaim, sing, and broadcast to the far reaches of the earth. Their testimony is affected by their experience, but the testimony was centered in what God has done (v.4, 5). They are singing praises to the LORD for He has done gloriously (v.5a). And they say to one another let this glorious work of God be made known among the peoples (v.4b) in all the earth (v.5b).
These people who did not know God in the beginning of this prophecy (1:3) now make Him known to all the earth. They can’t help singing God’s great commission. They are singing the glorious work of God’s saving grace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word of God calls you today to fulfill His great commission not only by singing it but also by bringing the message of salvation to the ends of the earth, to all the peoples, nations and languages of the world, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will worship God in spirit and in truth.
We bring this salvation message to conquer the whole world not with human power, for the gospel message itself “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” It is mightier than the sword or any man-made weapon.
So you and I should not limit ourselves to singing and declaring God's work of salvation to one another. We should also declare God's deeds to all the nations of the world. Evangelism and mission involve our praising God through telling all people everywhere about the wonderful work of salvation which God has accomplished in Christ and which we have experienced.
We need to exhort the people of this world to look to the One living and true God for their only hope of salvation. There is no other way of salvation but our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. This is our only message to the whole world.
If we really are filled with gratitude for what God has done for us, we can't help but tell others about it. We can't hold it in. When something is especially meaningful and precious to us, we can do no other but to talk to others about it. That is what evangelism is. It is sharing the good news which is too good to keep to ourselves.
Isaiah exhorts God's people to proclaim God's salvation to the world. This is consistent with what we learn in the New Testament. The gospel is the power of God unto to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek. God's people are from every nation, tribe and tongue. Therefore our proclamation is universal. We need to carry the light of the gospel of Christ to the jungles of Asia, South America and Africa as well as to the big secular cities of Europe and North America. God’s glorious name must be proclaimed to peoples of the Middle East and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean.
So Isaiah in our passage looks at salvation. What he looks at immediately is the then coming restoration of the nation Israel. The nation Israel hadn't even been exiled yet, but Isaiah as a prophet looks forward to Israel's future salvation from the future time of exile. Isaiah does not see all the details of the way his prophecy of salvation would be fulfilled in coming redemptive history. There were mysteries about the new covenant which were not revealed until the time of the new covenant.
I believe this prophecy about God's gathering His people continues to be fulfilled in our day and age as the gospel is proclaimed to all the nations, and people from all direction come to sit down at the banquet of salvation with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This prophetic word also looks forward to that glorious day when God's people will be gathered in that great final harvest and will be privileged to live forever on a glorified new earth.
His Great Commission (vv.3-5)
Now this song of praise is not only intended to be sung by an individual believer. Here the believer who received and experienced the saving grace of God calls the rest of the people of God to declare His praises.
Beginning in v. 3, a shift from individual salvation to salvation in community is revealed by the use of the plural pronoun “you.” The single male voice in vv.1-2 is now calling others to draw water of salvation from the same source. Once, the water supply was cut off from Judah because of her sin. Now in v.3, there is an endless water supply. Their gloom is now replaced with joy.
Clearly the water here is another picture of salvation. Life of sin and rebellion against God is portrayed in Isaiah as a desert and dry land (Isa.35:1ff). There is no life without water. Life in sin and unbelief is like a desert. No plant can grow and bear fruit there.
It’s the same in our spiritual life. Sin turns your life into a waterless desert, a place that cannot sustain spiritual life. Sin makes your life fruitless and brings you sure eternal death.
But Isaiah is talking about drawing water with joy from the "wells" of salvation (v.3). “Wells” or “springs” here refer to Christ. Congregation, salvation in Christ is like springs of water where flowers and trees blossom and those who are thirsty are satisfied. A well-watered place is an appropriate metaphor for the person who lives his life in living fellowship with God. That person is like a tree planted by a river of water that brings forth its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.
Now take note how this song of salvation is multiplied. After Isaiah has portrayed salvation experience as a joyful drawing of water from the wells of salvation, he then issues a series of commands to the congregation to participate in singing God’s salvation as a community.
So we read a great company joining Isaiah in worshiping God, calling upon His Name. They proclaim, sing, and broadcast to the far reaches of the earth. Their testimony is affected by their experience, but the testimony was centered in what God has done (v.4, 5). They are singing praises to the LORD for He has done gloriously (v.5a). And they say to one another let this glorious work of God be made known among the peoples (v.4b) in all the earth (v.5b).
These people who did not know God in the beginning of this prophecy (1:3) now make Him known to all the earth. They can’t help singing God’s great commission. They are singing the glorious work of God’s saving grace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word of God calls you today to fulfill His great commission not only by singing it but also by bringing the message of salvation to the ends of the earth, to all the peoples, nations and languages of the world, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will worship God in spirit and in truth.
We bring this salvation message to conquer the whole world not with human power, for the gospel message itself “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” It is mightier than the sword or any man-made weapon.
So you and I should not limit ourselves to singing and declaring God's work of salvation to one another. We should also declare God's deeds to all the nations of the world. Evangelism and mission involve our praising God through telling all people everywhere about the wonderful work of salvation which God has accomplished in Christ and which we have experienced.
We need to exhort the people of this world to look to the One living and true God for their only hope of salvation. There is no other way of salvation but our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. This is our only message to the whole world.
If we really are filled with gratitude for what God has done for us, we can't help but tell others about it. We can't hold it in. When something is especially meaningful and precious to us, we can do no other but to talk to others about it. That is what evangelism is. It is sharing the good news which is too good to keep to ourselves.
Isaiah exhorts God's people to proclaim God's salvation to the world. This is consistent with what we learn in the New Testament. The gospel is the power of God unto to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek. God's people are from every nation, tribe and tongue. Therefore our proclamation is universal. We need to carry the light of the gospel of Christ to the jungles of Asia, South America and Africa as well as to the big secular cities of Europe and North America. God’s glorious name must be proclaimed to peoples of the Middle East and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean.
So Isaiah in our passage looks at salvation. What he looks at immediately is the then coming restoration of the nation Israel. The nation Israel hadn't even been exiled yet, but Isaiah as a prophet looks forward to Israel's future salvation from the future time of exile. Isaiah does not see all the details of the way his prophecy of salvation would be fulfilled in coming redemptive history. There were mysteries about the new covenant which were not revealed until the time of the new covenant.
I believe this prophecy about God's gathering His people continues to be fulfilled in our day and age as the gospel is proclaimed to all the nations, and people from all direction come to sit down at the banquet of salvation with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This prophetic word also looks forward to that glorious day when God's people will be gathered in that great final harvest and will be privileged to live forever on a glorified new earth.
Monday, February 7, 2011
"Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples" - Part 1
(based on a sermon from Isaiah 12:1-2)
Where shall we find joy to sustain us beyond the excitement of the New Year or any special occasion such as birthday or wedding anniversary?
In Isaiah 12:1-6, we will find reasons to be joyful and sing praises to the Lord our God. The passage discloses the joyful response of the faithful remnant of Israel to God’s promised salvation. As an individual and a congregation, we sing the glory of our God regardless of our situation. He preserves us through many dangers and threats in life. And through all the difficulties we don’t stop praising Him.
That’s the message we get from this. The chastised people of God sing the glories of the Lord. Yes, Isaiah 12 is Israel’s response song to God’s promised salvation. Here, the saved community of God, although suffering the rod of His chastisement, proclaims to one another, and to the world, the wonders of God.
Here in Isaiah 12, we are given three important truths of God that we shall sing about to one another and proclaim to the ends of the earth. First, we ought to sing His Gracious Salvation; second, we sing His Great Commission; and third, we sing His Glorious Presence.
His Gracious Salvation (v.1-2)
When Isaiah wrote this prophecy the people of Jerusalem and the whole kingdom of Judah were sinning against God. In fact, Isaiah started his prophecy with a series of accusations of the people of Judah (Isa. 1:2-4). Isaiah accuses them of rebellion (1:2), ungratefulness (1:3-4), false worship (1:13-15), hypocrisy (1:15), and many other transgressions. God sees all these iniquities and transgressions in us.
We cannot hide anything from Him. He sees our outward devotion to Him but He can also see our hearts’ deep longing for this world and all the material things in it. He knows how we go through the motions of worship, even pretend to listen to His Word, but our minds are wondering somewhere else and our lips are filled with vile things and our lives with uncleanness.
If you and I are brutally honest, life in the holy presence of God is unbearable for sinners like us. Even the prophet Isaiah would confess, having seen the presence of God in a vision, he would admit that he is lost. He curses himself for being a man of unclean lips, dwelling among proud and ungrateful people, people with dirty tongues and thoughts. That’s us, people of God.
And so if God is going to judge us, we deserve nothing but His anger. We deserve His punishment. But thanks be to God that Someone has appeased God’s anger toward us! Somebody has satisfied the wrath of God for you and me. Even Isaiah himself could testify that although he deserved to die in the presence of God, yet God has touched his unclean lips and has taken away his guilt and has atoned for his sin.
Now the question is, “How can our holy God do that to a sinner like Isaiah, like you and me?” “How can a just God change His disposition toward us who are so idolatrous, ungrateful, and greedy?” Well, of course, the answer is in verse 1. The prophet testifies that although God was angry with him, yet in that day, God’s anger will be turned away once and for all.
God’s anger was turned away at the altar when Isaiah’s sin was atoned for. As a result Isaiah had comfort, and his fear of God’s wrath was gone when he believed the word of God. Trust, rather than fear, has overpowered Isaiah (8:17).
Ultimately, God’s anger against us His people was turned away only through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Matthew Henry says, “Though God may for a time be angry with his people, yet his anger shall at length be turned away; it endures but for a moment, nor will he contend for ever. By Jesus Christ, the root of Jesse, God's anger against mankind was turned away; for he is our peace.”
Salvation for sinners is a rescue from the wrath of the God Who is offended by our sin. But it is this same Lord God Who made a provision for our sin. God, in His great mercy and love, poured out His wrath against our sins upon Jesus as He suffered upon the cross so that God would not have to pour out that wrath upon us. The cross is the place where the fires of God's judgment consumed our sacrifice, even Christ Jesus our Lord. He bore the fires of God’s anger upon Himself because of our sin and transgressions so we don’t have to carry them anymore.
Boys and girls, Isaiah 53 gives us an awful picture of what Christ has suffered in bearing our iniquities upon Himself (see esp. vv.4-6). And so when God calls us to the cross in faith, He calls us to the one place of safety from His holy wrath against our sin. The cross is the place where God’s anger was satisfied. So when Christ first came, the day of salvation has dawned!
This is the gracious salvation that Isaiah is singing about in vv.1-2. Although God is angry with us because of sin (and let us not forget that), yet He does not treat us as our sins deserve because of the atoning work of Jesus on our behalf. When God is angry with His people, His anger is that of a father to a son. It’s going to be a temporary anger intended to correct and discipline but not to harm. This is the anger of chastisement and not the wrath of judgment. It’s for our good. It’s for our holiness, for without which we cannot see God.
In contrast, God's anger against the pagan Babylonians, against the unbelieving world of Isaiah’s time, was the wrath of judgment, and God permanently destroyed them as a people and culture. They were erased from the face of the earth. The same thing will happen to all the unbelievers who will persist in their rejection of God, who abuse the kindness of God as a license to their wickedness and sinful lifestyle. There will come a day when God’s anger will forever consume the unrepentant and the unbelieving world. So be warned, beloved congregation!
Israel’s exile to Babylon was a discipline for their idolatry and immorality. God used the hardships of the exile in pagan lands to cleanse Israel of their idolatry, to give them a sorrowful heart for their sins and to work faith in them. Then, when they repented as a people, God comforted them and restored them.
So don’t be discouraged when God chastises you. Don’t be dismayed when you feel the rod of God’s discipline. It’s for your good. He loves you with that rod. That’s why you and I could sing with Isaiah, “God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
What troubles you today? What hinders you to offer your sacrifices of praise to God? Are there any unconfessed sins, or troubled past, or unsettled relationships that bother you? Does it make you feel unworthy before God? Are there sins or failures that cause you to think that God is angry with you?
Be comforted! There is freedom and deliverance. In Christ you can find God’s gracious salvation. Though it’s costly for God, yet it’s free for you! God has promised that anyone who trusts in His Son, anyone who calls upon Him in faith, asking His forgiveness, He will turn away His wrath. He will comfort those who are sorrowful and seek refuge in Him.
Then as God’s comforting grace overwhelms you, sing His praises with all your heart. Join the chorus of God’s people in singing His gracious salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ!
Where shall we find joy to sustain us beyond the excitement of the New Year or any special occasion such as birthday or wedding anniversary?
In Isaiah 12:1-6, we will find reasons to be joyful and sing praises to the Lord our God. The passage discloses the joyful response of the faithful remnant of Israel to God’s promised salvation. As an individual and a congregation, we sing the glory of our God regardless of our situation. He preserves us through many dangers and threats in life. And through all the difficulties we don’t stop praising Him.
That’s the message we get from this. The chastised people of God sing the glories of the Lord. Yes, Isaiah 12 is Israel’s response song to God’s promised salvation. Here, the saved community of God, although suffering the rod of His chastisement, proclaims to one another, and to the world, the wonders of God.
Here in Isaiah 12, we are given three important truths of God that we shall sing about to one another and proclaim to the ends of the earth. First, we ought to sing His Gracious Salvation; second, we sing His Great Commission; and third, we sing His Glorious Presence.
His Gracious Salvation (v.1-2)
When Isaiah wrote this prophecy the people of Jerusalem and the whole kingdom of Judah were sinning against God. In fact, Isaiah started his prophecy with a series of accusations of the people of Judah (Isa. 1:2-4). Isaiah accuses them of rebellion (1:2), ungratefulness (1:3-4), false worship (1:13-15), hypocrisy (1:15), and many other transgressions. God sees all these iniquities and transgressions in us.
We cannot hide anything from Him. He sees our outward devotion to Him but He can also see our hearts’ deep longing for this world and all the material things in it. He knows how we go through the motions of worship, even pretend to listen to His Word, but our minds are wondering somewhere else and our lips are filled with vile things and our lives with uncleanness.
If you and I are brutally honest, life in the holy presence of God is unbearable for sinners like us. Even the prophet Isaiah would confess, having seen the presence of God in a vision, he would admit that he is lost. He curses himself for being a man of unclean lips, dwelling among proud and ungrateful people, people with dirty tongues and thoughts. That’s us, people of God.
And so if God is going to judge us, we deserve nothing but His anger. We deserve His punishment. But thanks be to God that Someone has appeased God’s anger toward us! Somebody has satisfied the wrath of God for you and me. Even Isaiah himself could testify that although he deserved to die in the presence of God, yet God has touched his unclean lips and has taken away his guilt and has atoned for his sin.
Now the question is, “How can our holy God do that to a sinner like Isaiah, like you and me?” “How can a just God change His disposition toward us who are so idolatrous, ungrateful, and greedy?” Well, of course, the answer is in verse 1. The prophet testifies that although God was angry with him, yet in that day, God’s anger will be turned away once and for all.
God’s anger was turned away at the altar when Isaiah’s sin was atoned for. As a result Isaiah had comfort, and his fear of God’s wrath was gone when he believed the word of God. Trust, rather than fear, has overpowered Isaiah (8:17).
Ultimately, God’s anger against us His people was turned away only through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Matthew Henry says, “Though God may for a time be angry with his people, yet his anger shall at length be turned away; it endures but for a moment, nor will he contend for ever. By Jesus Christ, the root of Jesse, God's anger against mankind was turned away; for he is our peace.”
Salvation for sinners is a rescue from the wrath of the God Who is offended by our sin. But it is this same Lord God Who made a provision for our sin. God, in His great mercy and love, poured out His wrath against our sins upon Jesus as He suffered upon the cross so that God would not have to pour out that wrath upon us. The cross is the place where the fires of God's judgment consumed our sacrifice, even Christ Jesus our Lord. He bore the fires of God’s anger upon Himself because of our sin and transgressions so we don’t have to carry them anymore.
Boys and girls, Isaiah 53 gives us an awful picture of what Christ has suffered in bearing our iniquities upon Himself (see esp. vv.4-6). And so when God calls us to the cross in faith, He calls us to the one place of safety from His holy wrath against our sin. The cross is the place where God’s anger was satisfied. So when Christ first came, the day of salvation has dawned!
This is the gracious salvation that Isaiah is singing about in vv.1-2. Although God is angry with us because of sin (and let us not forget that), yet He does not treat us as our sins deserve because of the atoning work of Jesus on our behalf. When God is angry with His people, His anger is that of a father to a son. It’s going to be a temporary anger intended to correct and discipline but not to harm. This is the anger of chastisement and not the wrath of judgment. It’s for our good. It’s for our holiness, for without which we cannot see God.
In contrast, God's anger against the pagan Babylonians, against the unbelieving world of Isaiah’s time, was the wrath of judgment, and God permanently destroyed them as a people and culture. They were erased from the face of the earth. The same thing will happen to all the unbelievers who will persist in their rejection of God, who abuse the kindness of God as a license to their wickedness and sinful lifestyle. There will come a day when God’s anger will forever consume the unrepentant and the unbelieving world. So be warned, beloved congregation!
Israel’s exile to Babylon was a discipline for their idolatry and immorality. God used the hardships of the exile in pagan lands to cleanse Israel of their idolatry, to give them a sorrowful heart for their sins and to work faith in them. Then, when they repented as a people, God comforted them and restored them.
So don’t be discouraged when God chastises you. Don’t be dismayed when you feel the rod of God’s discipline. It’s for your good. He loves you with that rod. That’s why you and I could sing with Isaiah, “God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
What troubles you today? What hinders you to offer your sacrifices of praise to God? Are there any unconfessed sins, or troubled past, or unsettled relationships that bother you? Does it make you feel unworthy before God? Are there sins or failures that cause you to think that God is angry with you?
Be comforted! There is freedom and deliverance. In Christ you can find God’s gracious salvation. Though it’s costly for God, yet it’s free for you! God has promised that anyone who trusts in His Son, anyone who calls upon Him in faith, asking His forgiveness, He will turn away His wrath. He will comfort those who are sorrowful and seek refuge in Him.
Then as God’s comforting grace overwhelms you, sing His praises with all your heart. Join the chorus of God’s people in singing His gracious salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ!
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