Isaiah 60 - The Glory of the Church

INTRODUCTION

Let’s open together our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 60.

Since we read the full chapter in our Old Testament reading this morning, we will read together only the last verses of the chapter to remind ourselves of the important theme.

I will begin reading at verse 17 and read to the end of the chapter, and I invite you to follow along:

[READ ISAIAH 60:17-22]

The first question I have when I read this whole chapter is “When is this time of glory?”

Some Jewish commentators might think this describes the return from captivity in Babylon, but the Israel that returned was never so glorious as we see here.

So most other Jewish commentators point to the reign of the Messiah, that glorious age He will inaugurate when He comes.

And I think that is EXACTLY what is being described here:

Isaiah 60:1–2 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

This is looking to the glory of Christ.

Isaiah 60:19 “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.”

And when you consider WHO this Messiah is, we read verse 6:

Isaiah 60:6 “They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”

Gold and Frankincense - that sounds familiar.

But what about Christians: when do they see this time of glory?

And, in that timing, WHO do they see being glorified here?

There are some who see this is a golden age for Israel, ethnic Israel,

A revival, a miraculous outpouring of grace upon Jewish people we see alluded to in Romans 11:25 “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”

This would be the case for those who believe God has a different path of salvation for the Jews, a view I think Paul would have been appalled by.

Paul isn’t describing some “dispensational” path for Jews to be saved;

he is describing God’s sovereignty in EVERY salvation, giving it and withholding it by His perfect wisdom and good pleasure.

So, while I do not think Jews are excluded from the promises here,

These promises are NOT just for the Jews.

It must be a promise for the FULL people of God, the church, Jew and Gentile in Jesus Christ.

Which brings us back to “WHEN?”.

The parallels between this chapter and Revelation 21 are undeniable:

Isaiah 60:3–5 “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

Revelation 21:24 “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,”

Isaiah 60:11 “Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.”

Revelation 21:25 “and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.”

Isaiah 60:19–20 “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.”

Revelation 21:11 “having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”

Revelation 21:23 “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

Seeing these things, there is certainly no possible doubt that our chapter this morning is eschatological.

By that I mean that the final and complete fulfillment of these promises IS the end result of God’s redemptive plan.

The glory of God is the reward He promises to all who come to Him through Jesus Christ:

Romans 8:28–30 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

We have to be careful thinking that eschatology, or the study of the Last Things, is simply about what will happen as the day of Christ’s Appearing comes closer.

It includes that, but at its heart, the study of the Last Things is the study of our DESTINATION in Christ,

The city to which God is taking us,

The eternal life for which the Spirit of God is making us fit.

It is the anticipation of the GLORY of God yet to be bestowed on His people.

His uninterrupted, unobscured presence with those who love Him.

It is longing for the day of our wedding to our Beloved Savior, never to be parted or separated from Him.

This life is the time of our betrothal, the time of our preparation, and the time of our waiting in hope.

Paul describes this as Colossians 1:26–27 “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The Glory of the Church

But we still haven’t answered the question of “When will all these things occur?”

Do we have to WAIT for the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Last Day before these promises are fulfilled?

And just like we have seen over and over again in these chapters of Isaiah, the answer is “No”.

The promises he makes here are for the CHURCH, the people of God,

From the moment of its beginning - planted at the Resurrection of Christ and inaugurated at Pentecost.

Perhaps you read these promises and think “But these haven’t happened yet.”

The promise in Isaiah 60:3 “And nations [Gentiles] shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

You might read that and think “But EVERYONE hasn’t come yet.”

But this promise is about the EXTENT of the gospel, the places and peoples it will reach.

He even clarifies it in v. 4: “Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.”

Stand up, look around you, turn and see all around you,

Like Abram did when looking at the comparatively small land of Promise he was given.

Who is coming?

Your sons and daughters.

Those in YOUR family, your household.

This message is to the church: all who God has chosen and called by His name - those are the ones you see coming in.

But then you look in v. 5 and see: “the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

And maybe you are thinking to yourself, “But I don’t feel rich.”

Certainly not that I have the wealth of nations.

But what IS the wealth of nations?

Silver, land, or gold?

What does God need with those things that are perishing?

Why would the Holy Spirit inspire Isaiah to set the hearts of His people onto these temporal things?

The wealth of the nations are the beloved children God has called from EVERY tribe and people group to come to Him and be joined to His bride, the church.

Or in v. 7, we see the promise: “All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house.”

I will confess, I don’t own a single sheep or ram.

But look at what these flocks are for: they are there to be acceptable SACRIFICES to God.

They come up with acceptance on my altar...

And an acceptable sacrifice - I do have.

The Lamb of God paid the debt and freed me from sin by His sacrifice.

And, what’s more, we are told in Romans 12:1–2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We could go in detail through every promise here, but I think you understand how we should interpret this poetic prophecy in the full light of Scripture.

But I want to move on to the POINT of this prophecy for us today.

To move beyond simply reading and nodding and understanding the pictures,

Toward an understanding that, I pray, will transform our life AS the church.

The Glory of the Church NOW

Because this GLORY of God’s people is here NOW in the church.

Not just in the “Sweet By-and-by”, but right here, right now.

If you are in Christ, you are right here, right now, a member of God’s glorified people, known as His church.

1 Peter 2:9–10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

We have to get past the idea of the church being somewhere we GO; it isn’t.

The church is something we ARE.

You don’t “Go to church” - You ARE the church.

Not a few hours a week, but all day, every day, 24-7.

You are the Church of the Living God, the holy people of God Most High.

You are the children of the Great I Am.

Called FROM many families, nations, heritages, and backgrounds,

And called TO Ephesians 4:5–6 “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in [us] all.”

Is there more glory to be revealed in the Appearing of Jesus Christ? Certainly.

But you have a foretaste of that glory in you right now.

You have the down payment, the earnest that guarantees your resurrection, your eternal life, and your glory in Christ.

And after that Last Day, every day, for all eternity, I am convinced you will discover new glories of God and the Risen Christ every morning.

New things to praise.

And the depths of God are such that we shall never reach the end of new praises and new songs.

When we see the billions of mercies God has given us even in our short lives.

When we become aware of the graces, the gifts, we were too dull to even recognize with these eyes of flesh.

Is your life glorifying God right now?

Are your actions as a member of Christ’s church uplifting or selfish?

The church is, here on earth, the outpost of heaven.

It is the embassy of God, made and decorated to look just like our homeland.

Isaiah 60:17–18 “Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”

Everything in this promise is that God will make everything more precious and stronger in every way.

What oversees our actions? Peace.

Do we work toward peace with each other, every member? I hope you do.

What drives us? Righteousness.

The desire to be obedient to Christ before God, and to help each other be the same.

Violence and destruction shall no more be heard.

Perhaps the gravest sin a believer may commit is violence, enmity with another.

Hatred, even speaking against another believer, is, by the word of the Lord, as guilty before God as murder.

And gossip against another is like swinging a running chainsaw in a crowd.

Romans 16:17–18 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

What protects us? Salvation.

We are the assembly of the Redeemed.

We are enclosed within God’s realm by His eternal assurance of our salvation.

How shall we go? Praise.

Is your life praise-worthy and praise-filled?

Does every word coming from your mouth lift up Christ?

Is every thought of your heart on loving Him and caring for His people?

That is who we ARE as a church.

It’s not a slogan.

It’s not a goal.

It’s not an ideal.

It’s not a dream.

It is who we have been made together to BE in Christ.

That’s why Peter warns the dispersed church:

1 Peter 2:1–5 “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 2:11–12 “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”