Isaiah 26-27 The Lord Will Restore Series

Isaiah 26-27

The Lord Will Restore

The Strong City vs. 1-6

The Level Path vs. 7-11

The Life Giving Dew vs. 12-21

The Fruitful Vineyard vs. 1-13

Intro:

This second part of Isaiah takes us through God’s plan of restoration

It first starts with His judgement of Judah and the surrounding countries

Then it shows us the final judgment of the world

Then ultimately His redemption through the second coming of Jesus Christ

Today we see what a restored kingdom will look like

He shows us a holy city that He will reign over and the benefits that come from that

At the same time we see how God brings restoration in our lives

We go through a period of time where our sin

Read Isaiah 26:1-6

Transition:

We have seen some strong cities in the bible

Tower of Babel

Jericho

Babylon

Rome

All seemed so powerful but all ended up falling not because of military, but because of sin

Contrast that with what we see this morning

We see a strong city as well but one that is different

The Strong City vs. 1-6

Twice we will see the the phrase “In that day”

This is a reference to the Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns and reigns over Israel

In that day there will be a lot of singing

That is what Isaiah 26 & 27 is, a song

They will be singing about what the Lord brings with this city

The first thing that will be established is a strong city

Cities came into being after the fall so man has never know a truly godly city

The purpose of the city is salvation and people will find that behind the walls of this city

The gates will be flung wide open and only the righteous will be able to enter

Ps 118:19-20 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

The New Jerusalem is a city filled with glory, which excludes the unrighteous

Vs. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you

Peace is always the result of trusting in the Lord

This is an incredible promise! Perfect peace

God promises that we can have perfect peace

In the Hebrew the term perfect peace is actually shalom shalom

Repetition communicates intensity

The place of perfect peace is the mind that is “stayed on You.”

When we keep our minds settled on the Lord himself, then we can be kept in perfect peace

To be kept in this perfect peace it is a matter of the mind

This isn’t so much our spirit, soul, or heart but our mind

We are to love the Lord our God will all of our mind (Matt 22:37)

We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2)

We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16)

We are to set our mind on things above (Col 3:2)

Where we set our mind is essential in our walk before the Lord

So because of this promise we are exhorted to trust the Lord forever and therefore receive the blessing of perfect peace

Peace isn’t manufactured but a gift that comes from trusting Jesus

He is coming again to establish a new city

We hold to that trust and from that will come peace

The Level Path vs. 7-11

Next God makes our path level

Sidewalk Shavers

Have you seen these guys going through the neighborhood who are shaving the sidewalks?

Roots from tree have cause sidewalks to become unloved

Instead of removing the roots and pouring new concrete they are just shaving the sidewalk down to make it level with the other parts

They have these carts with machines that take the cement and shave it down to make it level

It doesn’t really makes the sidewalks level but gets rid of the bumps that prevent tripping

It’s indicative of who we try to handle the issues in our life as well

Instead of getting to the root of the issue we carve our life around it

In the new city Jesus is going to root out unrighteousness and make the path level

In the Kingdom of God, His people will walk in a way, the way of righteousness

Isaiah gives the sense of order in this

The Lord makes his people just by a relationship of faith

Then they walk in righteousness

Why do they walk in righteousness? Because the Lord is righteousness

As we trust in the Lord we walk in His way

1 Sam 2:9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.