Continuing in our study of the book of Isaiah, we come this morning to Isaiah chapter 63 verses 15 through the end of chapter 64. It's a kind of odd passage choice there, but I hope that you'll see why I chose it here in just a few moments. If you place your bulletin or your bulletin insert there in Isaiah chapter 63, Our complimentary passage is 1 Corinthians 3, verses 10 through 17. With your Bibles open to 1 Corinthians 3, in honor of this portion of God's word, please stand. 1 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 10, hear God's word. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is in Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple. Thus far in the reading of God's word, please turn to Isaiah chapter 63, beginning in verse 15 and continuing in God's word. Look down from your heaven and see from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. For you are our Father. Though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O Lord, are our Father. Our Redeemer from old is your name. O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage, your holy people held possession for a little while, our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood, and the fire causes water to boil to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence. When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God beside you who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry and we sinned. In our sins, we have been a long time. Shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised you has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins. Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord? Will you keep silent and afflict us so terribly? Thus far in the reading of God's word, let us pray. Mighty God, as we read, we come to the hearing, the preaching of your word. We pray that you would open our hearts, that we may see and seize our savior, be conformed unto his image. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. So, children. When you think of a beautiful church, what do you think of? Think of a big building? Think of maybe some cathedral? Or do you think of a nice country church in a setting? There's a drive that we take every once in a while. We drive along the interstate. It goes way high up in the mountains. You can look down in the valley, and you see this beautiful country church. out there. One of my children asked me one time as I was saying, wow, what a beautiful church that is. I said, boy, dad, wouldn't you like to preach or wouldn't you like to pastor a church like that? Isn't that kind of what we think when we think of a beautiful church? Well, Isaiah has been preaching now. He's been in ministry now for about 30 years, about three decades. He's lived and preached under at least three different kings in Judah. And did you hear kind of the brokenness of his heart here? Did you hear after years and years and years of ministry how Isaiah is just broken hearted? And why is he broken hearted? You'll see our passage is balanced with verse 15, look down from heaven and see from your holy and beautiful habitation. And then over to chapter 64 and verse 11, our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised you has been burned by fire and all our pleasant places have become ruins. There's God's holy and beautiful city. but then the holy and beautiful city here on earth is destroyed. It's in ruins. It's shattered. And so I want to look at this passage kind of from these two ends, and we'll kind of fill in the middle as we fill in between the wall of chapter 63, verse 15, and the wall of chapter 64, verse 11, these two images of a beautiful and holy city and a broken and desolated city. Now, because I don't want to leave us on a bummer, We're going to start with the second one. We'll start with the broken and desolated city, and then we'll end with the beautiful and holy city. But this broken and desolated city, this smoking rubble that Judah has become, Isaiah is responding, you know, we've already seen in the first part of this chapter this mighty warrior drenched in the blood of his enemies, marching up to the watchman on the walls, I have defeated sin and death. My wrath has been poured out upon all who would oppose me and all who would oppose my church. And then Isaiah, brokenheartedly, just immediately turns and says, God, why are we so broken? Why are we so torn down? Why does your holy city, Jerusalem, where our fathers praised you, why is it burned and cast down? Why is everything destroyed? Well, that's a good question. So to answer that question, when you say, hey, why did the chain on my bicycle come off? Why did the chain on my bicycle come off? How are you going to answer that question? You're going to have to ask, Is it too loose? Do I need to extend something on the bicycle? Do I need to fix something on the bicycle, right? A why question has an answer. So why is the holy city destroyed? Why is everything so desolate? Why is everything so shaken and torn down? Well, he gives some answers here. He actually gives one answer in a number of places. Chapter 63, verse 19. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name. And then chapter 64 verses 6 and 7. We have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you. So why is it that the holy Jerusalem, the beautiful church, the beautiful city is so broken? Well, we already know sort of the big picture, the historical event. Why was Israel, and by that I mean both Israel and Judah, taken into captivity? Isaiah has been saying all along, because you are wicked people. You're a sinful people. I've been preaching to you what God is calling you to do and you won't do it. And your sins have taken you away. And that's what makes the church look so broken and ugly today. That's what makes the world look at us in ways today They don't look and see a beautiful and holy shining light that represents Jesus Christ. If you paid any attention to the news this past week, we've had a glorious example of that. Depending on which news source you find, it's either pastor or evangelist. Either of those, Jim Baker has been issued an injunction by the Eternal General of New York to stop selling silver slime as a cure for the coronavirus. For $125, you can call the Jim Baker Show and get some prayed-over silver slime that will be guaranteed to cure the coronavirus. Now that's what the world thinks of when they think of the church. Con men, snake oil salesmen, people who are out for your money, people who are horrible, horrible people. That's what the world thinks. In another context this past week, I was having a conversation with someone who was struggling with the particular group of churches that they're members of, and they were discussing where they thought they would better fit, and they said, you know, it wouldn't be the OPC. Because the OPC is just contentious. We fight about everything. And I didn't respond because usually those things are not worth responding to, because you'd be contentious. But I'm sad that any denomination would have that reputation. I'm thankful that our own church, our own congregation does not. There's no contention at all in our own congregation, but it's sad to me that anybody would look at a particular group of churches and say they're contentious. But then, when we do sort of get into our congregation, When we do sort of get into our sense of community, how is that compassion of Christ, how is that care for the poor, how does that play out in the way in which we treat the weaker brother, the weaker sister in our own congregation? Do we get annoyed with someone who by virtue of age or inability is not at the same level that we are. Don't we often find ourselves kind of gritting our teeth within people within our own congregation? And that compassion and mercy is hard. It's difficult to live out. But let's narrow the focus down a little bit more even. If the walls of your house were transparent, And if every room had a microphone so that your neighbors could hear every conversation and see everything you do, would they say, oh, Christ is beautiful and holy. Look at this Christian family. Look at this Christian couple. Look at this Christian individual. Wow. What a beautiful and holy Savior they have. Or let's narrow it down one step tighter. If the thoughts on your head were projected on a movie screen for all to see, if everything you have thought just kept to yourself were projected for all the world to see, what would your response be? Would the world say, Christ is beautiful. Christ is lovely. This person is a Christian. I want to be like this person. You see, the sin, the sin is what causes the destruction. It causes the destruction in your life, in your relationships, in the congregation, and it destroys the reputation of the church around the world. And so, compared to that picture in chapter 63 verse 15, that beautiful and holy city, compared to the picture of Christ Jesus that people expect when they look at you and at me and say, this is a Christian. Compared to that, do you and I not look like a trampled, burned, and broken city? Compared to that one picture, the other looks horrible. And so Isaiah cries out. He cries out, God, why have you left us this way? God, why have you made us to do this? Why have you caused us to be this kind of ugly and wicked people? You know, part of the answer goes all the way back to Isaiah's first commission. in chapter 6. It was only commissioned. But that central moment of the start of his ministry in chapter 6. Remember, Isaiah sees the glory of God high and lifted up, and the cherubim falling down and covering their faces and crying, holy, holy, holy. And Isaiah says, woe is me. I'm a man undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, of dwellements, an unclean generation. The angel takes a tongue from the altar, touches his lips, and says, you're holy. And then a voice comes and says, who shall I go? Who shall I send? Who will go for me? And Isaiah says, here am I. So what did God say to him there in chapter six? Been a while since we've been there. What did he say to him? Okay, go and speak to a people who are not going to listen to you. Spend the next 30, 40 years of your life pounding your head against the pavement. Spend the next 30, 40 years of your life speaking to a people who are dull of hearing and hard of heart. And that gets to a guy after a while. That gets to a guy. And now here Isaiah is, crying out to God. Why? Why? We've been walking with Isaiah through the last 50, whatever 63 minus six is, through the last some odd chapters, 57, I think. Through the last 57 chapters, we've been walking with Isaiah and we've seen him preaching the same message over and over and over again. And he's finally come to this place of just being broken and saying, God, why? Why does the earthly holy city not reflect the heavenly holy city? But that's not enough to ask. It's not enough to ask why are we so broken. We have to also then look at the heavenly city. Look at that perfect city. And Isaiah in looking at that heavenly city, does something that you and I must do corporately as a congregation, all Christians should be doing, you should be doing in your home, and you should be doing in your private life, your private walk with Christ. 64 verse 1, oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. Oh, God, come in and change this. You see, that's where the earthly city is going to begin to reflect the heavenly cities. In your labors, in your ministry, in whatever it is that you do, you do as a person in the workforce, you do as a neighbor to try to share Christ, you do as an individual in an evangelistic meet-up group, In whatever you do, you are guaranteed to be a flop. You are guaranteed to be a failure. In anything you do for Christ, you are guaranteed to fail. As a father, you're going to be a failure. As a mother, you're going to be a failure. As a child, you're going to be a failure. In anything that you do for Christ, you are going to fail. Why? Because God has to step in and do it. If you and I could accomplish it, if I could be a godly father by virtue of just drilling down and guarding my heart even tighter and doing the stuff even more, then at the end of the day I'd say, hey, hey, look what I did with my children. If you could be a godly mother by ticking all the boxes and doing all the things, then at the end of the day, you would be proud and self-righteous. And if as a child you could grow up and say, I have never done anything wrong, then you would be the elder brother, the elder brother standing out in the cold. while the prodigal son is wrapped in the father's embrace. If you and I do anything, in and of itself, it's going to be a failure. And so you and I are called to do what Isaiah does and say, Oh God, rend the heavens and come down. Rend the heavens and come down. Only when God comes down does he by His Spirit, make His Word effectual. This image of this powerful God, this One who comes down and the mountains quake at His presence, the fire kindles the brushwood, the fire causes the water to boil, this mighty God who comes down and shakes the earth is the same One who comes down. and breaks the stubborn heart, brings to life the one who is dead. This powerful God in His awesome power is still doing that work today. And you and I are to call for Him to come down. What is it that you and I are to do for Him? How do we make that effectual in calling, Oh God, come down. Come down in your power. Come down in your might. Verse four. No, I has seen a God beside you who acts for those who wait for him. I said, we don't want to do that. Do it. I don't want to wait for God. I got to do it. I got to fix it. I gotta, I gotta be the one. I gotta be the one to do it. 30 years of a quote-unquote fruitless ministry. 30 years of speaking to these people of a dull heart and heavy ears. 30 years. And he just comes to this place where he says, why are we like this? God, come down. God, come down. Fix this mess. And I'm going to wait for you. I'm going to wait upon you. That plea of verses 8 and 9, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay. You are our potter. We are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord. Remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look. We are all your people. Now, the language immediately ought to take you to the New Testament. The potter and the clay. Paul's argument in Romans. It immediately turns our attention to the awareness that God did come down, didn't he? He sent his son, born of a virgin, lived the life that you and I could never live, died the death that you and I deserve to die. God did come down. He answered Isaiah's prayer. And that same Savior is now ascended and seated at his right hand. And if you are in Him, then you too are seated with Him in heavenly places, united to Him. God did come down. And that potter is the one who is continuing to shape, continuing to shape through your circumstances. We heard in the Sunday school this morning, most often through our suffering, through the unpleasantness of our circumstances, the unpleasant reality of illness, of death, of age, of financial issues, of lack of aspirations being fulfilled. All of these things that we would rather not have are what God uses to shape us. And we, the clay, are being shaped by the potter's hand. God is still doing this work. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians, You know this temple, this holy place, this holy city that has become desolate and broken because of sin, what did Paul say in 1 Corinthians? You, you are his temple. You are being built up in him. And whether it's gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble, that fire from God is going to reveal all. But beloved, God's promise Again, remember, is he who has begun a good work in you will see it through to the day of completion. It's not, you better be careful or else you're going to lose God's pleasure. You're going to lose God's presence. There are warnings, Hebrew passages, etc. I'm not going to get diverted on that. The focus, the focal point here is that it is God who comes down. It is God who changes the heart. It is God who is the potter. And throughout this passage, if you noticed, Isaiah over and over and over again has been saying that God is our Father. God is our Father. He said it numerous times in this section of verses that we've chosen to look at. I've said before, I don't like debating with Arminians because I think it's a silly debate. Now, when I said that some time ago, some people got upset and left the church because they said I didn't think Calvinism was serious. I actually mean the opposite. I don't think you can be a true blue Arminian and be a Christian. And here's one of the reasons. Here's one of the reasons. One of the tenets of Arminianism is that you can lose your salvation. Right? You can be a Christian and you can lose that salvation. You've got to work hard and stay strong and be in it. One of the tenets of Christianity is perseverance, unconditional love. And God refers of himself throughout the scriptures, and we see it strongly in this passage here, we see it in the Lord's Prayer in many places in the New Testament, as a father. So let me be clear, dads Is your love for your children conditional on whether they obey you? If your love for your child is conditional upon whether that child obeys you, let me be clear, you are a horrible, horrible father. You are a terrible dad. Your child can disappoint you, Your child can break your heart, but your love for your child can never be broken, no matter what they do. God is our Father. And that love that He has set upon us, that work that He has accomplished in Christ Jesus, That work that he is promising that he will continue to do in your life, in our life as a congregation, in the gospel work around the world, is something that is the work of a loving father, crafting and caring a sovereign Lord, building up a bride for who does he love best in all the world? His son. He's not going to give her an ugly bride. And He is going to do that work in your life. He is going to do that work in my life. And so this distinction between the heavenly city, the church as it is in God's sight, and the earthly city broken and ugly and marred by sin is one that God is going to bring together and bring together and bring together. He'll do it for you personally. He'll do it for us corporately as long as we are looking to Him. as long as we're resting in him, as long as that is where our identity is. I don't care how you vote. I'm not going to get on you about your schooling choices, not going to get on you about your clothing choices, not going to get on you about your dietary choices or which movies you go see. Because right here, right now, all I care about is seeing you and me more in love with Jesus Christ. That's it. And God is going to do that work. God is going to build us up. And God is going to make us into a holy city that reflects the heavenly holy city. And so, beloved, this broken-hearted pastor in Isaiah, this broken-hearted Christian who's looking at my own life and saying, God, why do you make me like someone who just doesn't even know your name? is called again and again to just say, come down. Break in. I'll wait for you. And you do that work in my heart. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would come down, rend the heavens and come down. Break into our sinfulness. Break into our isolation. break into our darkness and sin, we will wait. And we will love righteousness, pursue holiness, and joyfully be made that clay vessel that is fit to bear the gems of your storehouse. Do that work in us, we pray. In Christ's name, amen.