Isaiah 61
Inexpressibly Full of Joy
The Messiah’s Mission Vs. 1
A Priestly People Vs. 2-7
An Everlasting Covenant Vs. 8-11
Intro:
Hungary Video
A group of eight of us went to Hungary and taught english to over 100 non-christian kids
They are so excited to have Americans come and all of them dream of coming here
That is the open door to share the gospel with them
It starts with 3 hours of class everyday then extends into sports and activities in the afternoon and finishes with 2-3 Christians sharing their life story or testimony in the evening
I got to do that on Friday night and it was powerful
Best yet the life story time is not mandatory but 90% of the kids always show up
You fall in love with these kids and they really open up to you
They notice something different about you and the difference is the Joy of the Lord
The flavor of Christianity is joy.
That’s significant, because life stinks
What God offers is “good news of a great joy” for everyone.
When people living lives in this world demonstrate joy, it’s living proof that God saves sinners
God’s message to the world was distilled into one essential drop by the angel at the birth of Jesus: “I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people”
Just telling people to be happy won’t work. That’s annoying.
But the gospel doesn’t do that. It gives us a hope beyond everything that beats us down.
The Apostle Peter called it “joy … inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8)
Read Isaiah 61:1-4
Transition:
Isaiah 61 is the John 3:16 of the OT
It tells us why God sent his Son and what his mission is going to be
On top of that God shows us what our role will be and what promise he makes to us
He describes a life of Joy that he desires for his followers
This joy isn't dependent on our circumstances
According to one archaeologist, the apartment buildings of ancient Rome were so poorly built that “the city was constantly filled with the noise of buildings collapsing or being torn down to prevent it;
The tenants of an [apartment] lived in constant expectation of its coming down on their heads.”
That was the setting in which the Roman Christians raised their families.
The classical world was not all gleaming marble and flowing white togas and sumptuous banquets.
It was messy. The streets of Rome were deepest darkness after nightfall.
There was no medical care as we know it, no inoculations for children, no retirement benefits, no air-conditioning, no refrigeration.
But the early Christians, living in that world, stood out because God gave them a gift from beyond that world
This morning we are going to see what God intended when He sent his son
We are going to see the power of the Gospel in action
And we are going to see the fruit that comes from a changed life
The Messiah’s Mission vs. 1
His mission is to bring good news to the poor and to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives and to comfort all who mourn and anoint them with gladness, so that the Lord may be glorified.
And he has made us partners with him in that mission.
Vs. 1a The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me:
Here, Isaiah prophetically speaks for the Messiah, and the Messiah announces that He is blessed and empowered by the Spirit of the Lord GOD.
In Luke 4:16-22, Jesus spoke in the synagogue of Nazareth, His hometown.
He opened up the scroll to Isaiah 61 and read from the beginning of the chapter through the first line of verse 2.
When He sat down, He simply said today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Jesus is the person described in Isaiah 61 and He is the one the Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon.
The Spirit came upon him after John baptized him.
Jesus wasn't able to do any of the miracles or other ministries without the Spirit
If Jesus, the Son of God, needed the Spirit of the Lord GOD, how much more do we!
We would be wise to head this and not try to do it under our power
Vs 1b Because the LORD has anointed Me:
This identifies the speaker as the Messiah, because Messiah means “Anointed One.”
The word “anoint” means to rub or sprinkle on; apply an ointment, or oily liquid to.
Persons in the Old Testament were often literally anointed with oil.
Literal oil would be applied, but as a sign of the Holy Spirit upon their lives and service.
The oil on the head was the outward representation of the spiritual work going on inside them.
As Christians under the New Covenant, we also have an anointing:
1 John 2:20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
In the New Testament, anointing has the idea of being filled with, and blessed by, the Holy Spirit.
This is something that is the common property of all Christians, but something we can and should become more submitted and responsive to.
Jesus was given the greatest anointing of the Spirit in the history of the human race for one reason: to bring good news to the poor
Vs. 1c “The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor
He defines his ministry as helping people in trouble, people in bondage, people whose hearts are broken
Whose heart hasn’t been broken?
Into our age Jesus says, “I came to bear your guilty despair, and to replace it with joy inexpressible and filled with glory.”
He does it single-handedly. He has the Spirit. He has the Word.
That’s all he needs to remake the whole world, beginning with you and me.
How does he do it? By Preaching the Word
The gospel announces that Christ has won the victory over everything that’s against us
The Messiah announces that He is here to heal the damage that sin brings.
Sin has done great damage, so there needs to be a great work of redemption.
Because sin impoverishes, He will preach good tidings to the poor. Because sin breaks hearts, He will heal the brokenhearted. Because sin makes captives, He will proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Because sin oppresses, He will proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.He continues to free people today through the preaching of the gospel.
Vs. 2 Usher in a New Era
When Jesus came on the scene He ushered in a new era
To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
2 Cor 6:2 “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
But what is “the day of vengeance of our God”?
When Jesus read this passage at that service in Nazareth, he didn’t read these words.
He stopped reading at the end of the first line of verse
Christ fulfills all the prophecies, but not all at the same time.
At his first coming, he inaugurated the year of the Lord’s favor.
At his second coming, he’ll bring in the day of the vengeance of our God, when the door of grace will shut forever
It’s as if Isaiah looks into the future and sees two mountain peaks far away, one beyond the other. But he can’t see how much distance there is between them
So there is a year of God’s favor and a day of vengeance, why
The year of favor is the time where Salvation is available to everyone
The Day of vengeance is the wrath of God being poured out on the earth for judgement
You can't have favor without a looming judgment
Christ will come back for his church and the Tribulation will take place
Verse 3 says, “… that they may be called oaks of righteousness.”
In the meantime God is growing his people
The restored people of God’s are glorious.
Not only will they be comforted but beauty will rise out of the ashes
You see God is not just interested in rescuing us
He is interested building us up and clothing us in majesty
Why do we sit in the ashes, why do we mourn, why do we indulge the spirit of heaviness when Jesus gave us something so much better?
In mourning, ashes would be cast upon the head (2 Samuel 13:19). Here, the ashes are replaced with a beautiful crown
Most importantly he wants to plant something in us that grows into a mighty oak
He wants us to be as strong, beautiful, and useful as trees - and trees of righteousness at that.
Most wonderfully, when people look at the trees, they see they are the planting of the LORD.
The gospel builds strong Christians
Isaiah wants to inspire in us such admiration for our Messiah that we gladly exert ourselves for his cause in our generation.
So Jesus' mission was to preach the Gospel to the poor, rescue the brokenhearted, usher in a new era, and build His church and then give us the the ability to do it
A Priestly People vs. 4-7
Vs. 4 God’s people will rebuild what is ruined.
The mourners of verse 3 become the repair experts of verse 4.
And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
This is a reference to what Ezra and Nehemiah will do when they return
They shall rebuild the old ruins: God loves to restore ruins.
He wants to use His people to restore and rebuild things that are broken down and ruined.
Under the empowerment of the Spirit, and the ministry of the Messiah, God’s people will be rebuilders.
The desolations of many generations:
Even if the rubble has stood for many generations, God can still use His people to rebuild.
We need this. That’s what sin does.
Sin creates victims, who feel entitled to retaliate, which creates more sin and more victims
Vs. 5-6 God’s people will be set apart to serve the LORD.
But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, they shall call you the servants of our God.
God’s people, under the anointing of the Spirit and the ministry of the Messiah, have a holy occupation.
They are Priests of the LORD, and Servants of our God.
God works not in spite of us or instead of us but in us and through us.
Serving God isn’t punishment; it’s nourishment.
God is as concerned about the servant as He is the service.
If all God wanted to do was get the work done, He could send His angels, and they would do it better and faster.
But He not only wants to do something through us, He also wants to do something in us;
Vs. 7 God’s people will rejoice at God’s great blessings.
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
What a change under the anointing of the Spirit and the ministry of the Messiah!
No more shame. Now, you shall have double honor.
No more confusion. Now, they shall rejoice in their portion.
Indeed, everlasting joy shall be theirs, a joy that can never be taken away.
An Everlasting Covenant vs. 8-11
This is who God is: He loves what is right and he hates what is wrong with all the intensity of the divine being
He desires for his people to be Holy
But he makes a covenant with his people saying he will keep them
Vs. 8 The heart behind the covenant.
For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering:
The LORD explains how sacrifices such as a burnt offering can really just amount to robbery if the heart isn’t right.
Instead, the LORD loves justice.
Sacrifices alone, and the sacrificial system in itself, are not enough.
God has an alternative to the sacrificial system: I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an everlasting covenant.
As God directs the work, and as He makes an everlasting covenant, then His heart will be fulfilled among the people.
Vs. 9 The covenant brings prominent blessings.
They are posterity whom the LORD has blessed: This everlasting covenant brings blessing, and blessings so prominent that the blessed shall be known among the Gentiles.
In fact, all who see them shall acknowledge them.
Vs.10-11 The covenant brings salvation and righteousness.
a. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD: One’s joy isn’t in the blessing itself, but in the LORD.
Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
b. For He has clothed me
There are two things here that we given
First is a garment of Salvation
He takes our tattered rages and replaces it with a garment suitable for a wedding
Is 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
Second is a robe of Righteousness
Phil 3:9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness: The granting of salvation and righteousness to God’s people is represented by the picture of clothing them.
These are glorious garments: As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
These are given garments: For He has clothed me . . . He has covered me.
The blessing of God grows. It isn’t manufactured, but it grows. Even as the earth brings forth its bud . . . so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
There is a sense in which we can never make something grow. No one can get inside of a seed and “turn on” the genetic component that makes the seed spring forth, and bud. The blessing of life and growth is miraculously within the seed. But we can provide the right environment for the seed to bud, grow, and be fruitful. That’s also how we receive and flourish in God’s blessings. We can’t “make” or “manufacture” them. But we can put our hearts and minds in the right environments of faith, fellowship, and obedience, to see blessing grow and flourish.
Closing:
