Well, let's open to Isaiah chapter 63. Last week, I promised I'd get through chapter 63, verse 5. I didn't do it. So we're going to cover all of chapter 63 tonight. Now, at the time, remember that Isaiah was prophesying. Where were justice and righteousness in the world? Where could they be found? Nowhere. There was no justice and no righteousness. But God had committed himself to a righteous future kingdom. Now, how's he going to do this? Who's he going to bring into this kingdom that's going to be composed of all righteous people? You see the situation humanity found itself in. See, only God could bring righteousness into the world. So God promised to send who in order to do this? the Messiah, His servant. And He would establish His righteous kingdom in His first coming. And He would one day return to judge the wicked. He would fulfill all of the promises that God made all through the Old Testament. Christ, the servant of the Lord, would fulfill. So let's look at Isaiah 63. And we'll review a little bit of chapter 62 tonight. But let's read our passage. Who is this who comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors from Batra, this one who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the Weintrauf alone, and from the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiment. For the day of the vengeance was in my heart. And my year of redemption has come. I looked, and there was no one to help. I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my wrath upheld me. I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. Where have we heard something like this before in Scripture? We read this in Revelation 14 and Revelation 19, where the cup of His wrath is poured out. But let's read on. I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion. and according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, Surely they are My people, sons who will not deal falsely. So He became their Savior, and all their affliction He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence saved them, and in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them. And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy. He fought against them. Then his people remembered the days of old of Moses. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name? who led them through the depths. Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble. As the cattle go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people to make for yourself a glorious name. Look down from heaven and see your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your mighty deeds? The stirrings of your heart and your compassion are restrained toward me. For you are our Father. Though Abraham doesn't know us and Israel does not recognize us, you, O Lord, are our Father. Our Redeemer from old is your name. Why, O Lord, do you cause us to stray from your ways and harden your heart from fearing you? return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage. Your holy people possessed your sanctuary for a little while. Our adversaries have trodden it down. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who were not called by your name." This ends very sadly. The time Isaiah is prophesying, remember, no justice. And we've seen Just to refresh ourselves, as Jesus went into that synagogue in Nazareth, in Luke chapter 4, He affirmed that He is the servant of the Lord who's been promised here. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, He read. And then He said, This Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. What has God promised? What is it that He has promised here in Isaiah? He's promised a righteous kingdom in which all of the people are not struggling with sin. He has established and will establish a righteous kingdom where there will be all righteousness, all justice, and there will be mutual love between God and His people. See, God loves us. despite who we are. We don't return that love. But one day we will be a people who truly love, serve and worship God. One day in the eternal state, we will be faithful to Him. This is the meaning of all of human history. This is what it's all about. It's not about whether we can create robots who can be people, whether we can create a new race of beings. No, it's about God's plan for eternity. In 62 verses 6 and 7, there's an exhortation that we saw last week, an exhortation to prayer, to persistent prayer. And he talks about watchmen reminding the people of the Lord to give him no rest until he blesses us. Who's that remind us of in the Old Testament? Who did we see praying like that in the Old Testament to God? I will not rest. I will not stop wrestling with you until you bless me. It was Jacob. And that's what we're exhorted to hear in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 62. He calls us to pray for revival. Look, what he wants his church to be about is calling people into this kingdom, calling people and teaching them about himself. But he wants the world to see glimpses of his kingdom in here and among us when we go out into the world day by day. This is what we're to be about, seeking to be more like Christ each day. And so he calls us to pray that his people would be revived. And this verse and these passages that we saw last week show us that our prayers are to give God no rest. So we should be praying every day, God, please restore and revive your people and bring people into your kingdom. Remember what Spurgeon said, some mercies are not given to us except in answer to importunate prayer. Nagging of God, we might put it. Some blessings, he said, are like ripe fruit in autumn time ready for the picking. Others require the tree to be shaken violently. And we also looked at this prayer of Christian Hallisby, a Norwegian theologian who was imprisoned by the Nazis in World War II. Prayer, he said, is like mining. Prayer is like boring holes deep into the rock of human hearts. It's work. It tries our patience. We don't see the results immediately, but in God's time. He answers. Now, that passage doesn't have a lot to do with what we're talking about tonight, but it is important. And I want it to be impressed upon all our minds, including my own, to stay at prayer for revival. And he tells us we will not be disappointed. God's committed himself to this righteous kingdom. And here he promises that the judgment that's coming on Israel and has already come on the northern kingdom for its failure under the old covenant is not going to mean he's not going to keep his promises. When his new covenant purposes are fulfilled, his people will eat, drink, and do all for the glory of God. That's the picture he gives us of this feast in the New Jerusalem. And so he says, go through, go through the gates, clear the way for the people, build up, build up the highway. Isaiah sees this walled city that was formerly desolate, forsaken, but now is filled with joyous, redeemed people brought back from bondage. To whom are we in bondage? Satan and sin. This is what keeps people from Christ, bondage to Satan and sin. But now in this picture that we have here, and this is what Isaiah is largely about, is showing us this picture of the New Jerusalem that we see again in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. City gates open, this highway, and there's highways leading. You know how they used to say all roads lead to Rome? Well, all roads lead into this kingdom, but you have to take the narrow road. Only through Christ can you come. So God proclaims this salvation everywhere in the world. But on the day that Christ returns, there will also be those who rejected him. See this. Imagine this day. Here he comes. It's glory. It's joy for those who are believing in him, expecting him, wanting him to come. And then there's those who have rejected him and who will die, as he said, in their sin. The same day is the greatest day for those believing in him. And it's the worst day ever for those who are not on his day of vengeance. You know what's going to happen? God is going to vindicate himself and rid the entire world of all evil. He's going to rid the world of all evil, both people and nations. So, this is what we have in these first six verses of chapter 63. It's a picture of God's judgment of the wicked. It's a graphic portrayal of God's wrath, and it's pretty similar to what we read in Revelation 14 and in Revelation 19, to a lesser degree in Revelation 6. But all three of those chapters deal with God's final judgment. So, look at the passage. "'Who is this,' he says, "'who comes from Edom, with these garments of glowing colors from Batsra?' Batsra is the capital of Edom. Edom was founded by whom?' Who would be the patriarch of Asa? Asa was the brother of whom? Jacob. Asa was the younger brother or older brother of Jacob? He was the older brother. Did Asa get the birthright from his parents? No. How did Esau take that? Is he happy about that? No, he wasn't. What did he want to do to his brother Jacob? He wanted to kill him. So the Edomites and the Jews were enemies. The Edomites opposed the Jews all along. Meanwhile, we have this strong person in these crimson robes. And it's clear that these robes weren't red when they started. And he comes and the servant speaks here, he says, It's I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. And he asks, Why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads the winepress? There's the language from Revelation. Who is this strong person who's coming from Batra? And what was he doing there? Well, this is God coming in judgment. That's the picture we have here. Edom, like Babylon, had become a symbol of the malice and hatred of people toward God. Usually it's Babylon, but in the Old Testament, it's often Edom. And what's noteworthy about this man marching, you look at it, is the greatness of his strength, his clothes, and his stride. He's marching in. He's majestic in his apparel. And the Anointed One speaks in righteousness. He reminds us He's mighty to save and that His saving work is righteous. So why is this strong man wearing red? Why are the clothes red? Well, they weren't read originally. And one possible explanation would be that the clothes were stained because he was out working in the farms, making the wine. But that isn't what was happening here. No, God answers the question for us in verse 3. I have trodden the wine trough alone And from the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger. I trampled them in my wrath. It's written in past tense, but it speaks of His coming in judgment. And their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiment. You see, the one coming from Edom is God Himself, pouring out His wrath on evil. The world needs to know this is going to happen. Not literally with red clothes, but this judgment is coming. It's going to be final. It's going to be swift. This is a picture of God taking vengeance on his enemies. God wants us to know. He wanted them to know. He wants people today to know there will be a day of vengeance. He approaches, he's marching, he's righteous, he's just, he's powerful. The one thing we've got to truly fear, there is one thing in all of this world that we must truly fear, and that's this day. This is it. There's nothing else to fear. He came to save and he will come to judge. He will rid the world of all evil. And if you're part of evil and look, we're all part of evil apart from Christ. There's no way to get into that non-evil group. But Christ. He comes to judge you. It's going to be because you rejected Christ. Lord indicates he did this work alone. You know, he didn't get an army. Remember how he got the army of Assyria and used it as an axe in his hand to go and punish earlier in Isaiah, not using any army. And he's not going to need any army. Not going to be any big battle. I mean, I know it's pictured that way in some places in Scripture. When God judges, it's like that. It takes him no time. He doesn't have an ebb and flow of some warfare, folks. God doesn't have setbacks. So he had used the nation of Assyria as his rod, but not when he returns. Not when he returns. The day of vengeance. Look at these words. The day of vengeance was in my heart. Look, God's vengeance is not sinful vengeance. It's not the kind of vengeance we have where somebody offends us or gets something we wanted or takes something from us and we want to get even. That's not what this is. God's vengeance is justice. And He's righteous and He must punish injustice. He has to punish sin or else He's not a righteous God. And Satan would never have thought of this. But you see, this is what substitutionary atonement is all about. Christ was the one and the only one who could make up for our sinfulness. So that's why trusting in Him is the way to escape this vengeance. But it is just. It's the just do of the wicked for their persistent refusal of the Word of God. And redemption, of course, is the act of a kinsman who redeems, who doesn't want to see his next of kin suffer any longer. That's how Christ looked upon us. Once He took on flesh, He was one of us. You realize we are related to Christ because we're all related to Adam. He became part of what we are, this race of people. And he wanted to save us. So he says here, I looked, there was no one to help. I was astonished there was no one to uphold. So my own arm brought salvation to me. Isaiah has been talking about this more than once. You know how when Adam looked at all the animals to see if he could find a helper suitable to him, He couldn't find one. So God created woman from man. Well, God looks down and sees, is there somebody here who can save these people? Now, He knows that there isn't. But you see, He couldn't find anyone out of all, not only all of us, but of all of those people we read about in the Bible. Peter, and John, and Andrew, and Paul, and Barnabas, and Moses, and Abraham, and David. He couldn't find one. who would be worthy enough to be our Savior. He says, my own arm brought salvation to me. My wrath upheld me, upheld His justice. And He says, I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. That still lies ahead. He's astonished there was no one who could oppose the evil that runs wild in this world. It's God's justice and hatred of sinfulness that are behind this judgment. It's our calling to share not only the way of salvation, to be a light in the fallen world, to live and pray with persistence for the blessing of God on people, and to at least let them know that the alternative is gloomy indeed. Well, following these six verses that affirm the certainty of God's judgment on all evil, the remainder of chapters 63 and 64 are spent in prayer. And then in 65 and 66, he's going to tell us about the New Jerusalem. This is their situation, and to some degree they recognize their situation, at least the one praying does. We don't know who's praying here, by the way. It may be Isaiah. What begins in verse 7 may be a community prayer. It may be one of these watchmen that he was telling to pray back in chapter 62. But when they go to pray to God, when we go to pray to God, what are some of the elements that should be included in our prayers? Thanksgiving? What else? Acknowledgement of His holiness, mercy, and that is connected to what? We need mercy because we are sinners. So we go in thanksgiving, we acknowledge His holiness, and we acknowledge we're sinners. This is important in prayer. And then these people do something else, and it's something that we probably don't do as often as we should, but that thanksgiving should be for what? What kind of things should we be thankful for? I'm sorry? Everything. Yeah, our salvation, but all of the things. So it's not a terrible idea to do as this speaker does and look back upon the blessings of God. It's one thing to say, well, thank you very much for all you've done. But when we remind ourselves of the things we're actually thankful for, That's something different. And we're going to see some of the things that they had need to be thankful for. Well, look at the words here. I shall make mention of the loving kindness of the Lord. That's his unfailing love. The praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has granted them according to his compassion and according to the abundance of his loving kindness. For he said, Surely they are my people. Sons, they will not deal falsely. So He became their Savior. When they were afflicted, He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy, He redeemed them. And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. Well, that's a pretty good summary. But there'll be more of one in a moment. So again, we don't know who's speaking here. Whether this is some sort of a community prayer. Whether it's one of the unnamed watchmen of chapter 62, verse 6. Or whether it's Isaiah himself. But we have here a prayer and a lament. Whoever the speaker is, he praises God for the blessings He has granted. His goodness, His compassion toward them. God created these people, remember. He chose them. He became their deliverer. He blessed them with His very presence. Remember that cloud that was going? That pillar of fire and pillar of cloud by day and by night? It was indicative of God's presence with them. What do we have that assures us of God's presence today? The Holy Spirit dwelling within us, His Spirit within us. So He had blessed them with His presence. And you know, this prayer that we're going to see, it resembles some of the Psalms and it resembles Nehemiah chapter 9. You might want to make a note and look at that later. But the one praying reminds himself and those who hear him of God's unfailing love, which I think is the best translation of this term, loving kindness. Isaiah doesn't provide any information. He doesn't tell us what particular setting this is. Some see this as before the fall of Jerusalem. Some see it after the fall of Jerusalem. Some see it after they return, because in all three times they were in desperate situations when they were rebuilding the city. Things weren't going well. So when he says, I shall make mention of the loving kindness of the Lord, this is the highest form of love. It's unfailing, steadfast love. And the God's agape love is a love for people who do not what? Deserve it. You see, this is this is the amazing part of God's plan of salvation. We don't deserve any of it. And we don't have the righteousness within us to earn it. It's a gift. And it's why, he says, my own arm has to come and save. Look at some of the things that he had granted them as of then. First, he makes this covenant with Abraham. Then Joseph goes into prison, and he's taking care of Joseph, watching over him in prison. He protects Moses. When did he begin protecting Moses? when he was a baby. He's got Moses, they're killing all the Jewish kids. Here's Moses off in this little ark in the thrushes in the Nile. It's amazing. Exodus 6, 2 through 7, I put in your scripture sheet. God remembered his covenant with Abraham and he promised to bring them into the land of Canaan. They're in bondage. They're making these bricks out of straw and mud. He heard their cries though. in slavery, and he promised to deliver them. And look what he said, Exodus 6-7, Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. He said that before he did it. Before he did it. Did he do it? He sure did. Then he causes the walls of Jericho to fall down while the people shouted and the priests blew their trumpets. And then, of course, there was Gideon's great victory over Midian. And then they had this Philistine giant. No one could oppose him. And here comes this little shepherd boy named David. And he kills Goliath. And very recently something had happened that was not unlike these things for the people in Judah. Anybody remember what it was? What had God just done for them in a military sense? Well, who was attacking them throughout the first 39 chapters? Assyria. And how did the Assyrians do when they got to Jerusalem and laid siege to it? Who did God send out there? sent out his angel and we had a death toll of how many? 185,000 woke up dead the next morning. God had just done that within 20 years or so for these people. Destroying the Assyrian army. He wants them to remind them because it's always uplifting and encouraging for people to retell these stories of God's love and deliverance of his people. How did you respond in your own hearts as I just recounted all these great blessings of God? I hope it was encouraging and uplifting to you to hear what God had been doing. Because what he did for us is way better than what he did in any of these instances. He wiped the sin right off of us. He gave us his own spirit. So all believers should remember the blessings of God and tell others about what God has mercifully done for us. This is something we should do. It should be part of our witness. Not so that people will think their earthly life's going to get better because they come to Christ, but so that they know that the God we read of in Scripture is the true God and He will deliver all that He's promised. God had entered into a covenant relationship with these people. That was the basis for all these blessings. He had committed Himself to them at Mount Sinai to provide food, shelter, and security for them. The blessings and curses that we read about in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, which we seem to make reference to almost every week now. Leviticus 26. What was the one thing the people had to do? They had to obey Him and serve Him. If they would do that, they would have food in abundance, drink in abundance, protection from their enemies, protection from the wild beasts. And He would be in their midst. They would have God. Of course, they had committed themselves to love Him, to fear Him, to worship Him and obey Him. And they failed over and over and over again. And this verse, verse 9, look what it says here. In all their affliction, He was afflicted. This communicates the idea that when God's people suffer, it affects Him. When God's people are unfaithful to Him, He's grieved. God is not some emotionless being. He takes delight in His people. He's grieved at the sin of His people. And then he says here, the angel of his presence here, the angel of his presence saved them. We see this phrase a lot in the book of Exodus. This likely refers to the angel of God that I just spoke of that traveled before the nation when they came out of Egypt. Exodus 14 and verse 19. And it may be the same manifestation of God himself that appeared to Moses at the burning bush. And you can see this here if you look at Exodus 3-2. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked. Behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. But then, look who speaks, when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from where? From the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. He said, Here I am. So this is certainly indicative of God's presence. Here's the sad thing, the tragedy of the nation of Israel, they did not respond to God's love of them with love of him. And in verses 10 through 14, the speaker is going to reflect on Israel and Judah's rebellion against God, their failure to keep his covenant. Look at verse 10 because that's where this really is centered. They rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. Now you notice we have the Holy Spirit here in the Old Testament. We have God being grieved. We have again their rebellion. And therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy. He fought against them. Isaiah addressed this way back in chapter 1. Verse 19, He said, If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. See, it wasn't the Assyrians or the Babylonians who ultimately were the undoing of the nation of Israel. It was their own rebellion against God. They defeated themselves by their own unfaithfulness. That's not to say that there won't be a period of Jews coming into the church again. Romans 11 is very clear about that. But this nation had turned away, and Israel's rebellion against God grieved His Holy Spirit. And I don't know any other way to read this, nor did any of the other of the theologians I read, other than to say it's a way of explaining that God was afflicted and saddened by His people's distrust in Him. How do you suppose He feels when He looks down upon those of us He loves so much, and is blessed so much, and sees us ignore Him? Holy Spirit was poured out on all mankind in about 30 A.D. at Pentecost. But He's always been present in the Godhead and in all the works of God. All the works of God have always involved Father, Son, and Spirit. Way back to creation. First Samuel 16, 14, we read that God had removed His Spirit from Saul. Look at Psalm 51, 11, David praying after he had sinned with Bathsheba. kill Uriah. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. The Holy Spirit wasn't poured out on the whole world in the Old Testament like He was at Pentecost, but He was present. And certainly in many isolated cases, we see the Spirit at work. Look at Nehemiah 930. See, the Spirit of God spoke to these prophets. Numbers 11, 1626, God's spirit was on Moses but distributed among the 70 elders of Israel so that they could help Moses in ministering to the people. Well, he then again recalls God's goodness to them in verse 11, his deliverance of them from bondage in Egypt specifically. And this prayer, take a look at this. They wonder, where is God now? You did all these things for us. Where have you gone? They remember the days of old, of Moses. Where's he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where's he who put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them? who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. What's that tell us about why God did those things? Glory to God to make for himself an everlasting name. Did people hear about what God had done for the Israelites, letting them through the Red Sea? Who's somebody we know who heard about it? The harlot at the wall, Rahab. Look at Joshua 2.8. Here she is speaking. Rahab the harlot who helps Joshua and the people. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. How did that happen? Well, we've heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. God to make for himself an everlasting name. We lose sight of the fact that what God does and that all things and that our existence is for what purpose? His glory. His glory. But of course, fallen man thinks everything is about him. So what the scripture does for us is leads us away from that thought to right thinking. He led them through the depths. Notice He led them through the depths when He's talking about the Red Sea here. Now if you turn on the History Channel, they'll tell you that, well, what they probably did was found a real shallow part there of the Red Sea and they were able to walk through. Then after they got across, then a big hurricane came and the waters rose up and they drowned all the Pharaoh's people. No. He led them through the depths. This wasn't some shallow part of the Red Sea. He parted the deep part of the Red Sea. The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Probably referring to bringing them into the promised land. Why did he do it? Again, to make for yourself a glorious name. It's about Him. So this prayer and this reminder of all these things He's done, there's an assumption behind it that the Lord doesn't change. Whatever He could do then, He can still do now, so why aren't you doing it? Well then, the speaker asks God to bless them again, and there's a change in tone here. Now he's talking about all these great things the Lord has done, and he says now, he cries out, look down from heaven and see your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your mighty deeds? The stirrings of your heart and your compassion are restrained toward us. You're our Father. Even if Abraham doesn't know us and Israel doesn't recognize us, You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer, of old is Your name. So they no longer see God's blessing among them, and they call Him Father. This is a term we don't see much of in the Old Testament. Father. They no longer see the Lord working among them. They don't see His blessing. Why not? What caused you to turn away? What caused Him to turn away? sin and unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness to Him. He's turning now the speaker from celebrating God's love and compassion to question, where are you? Where is your compassion? His focus is now turned from remembering these past acts of compassion and saying, well, what do you got for me now? Almost seems to blame God here, doesn't he, for the nation's problem. In chapter 64, the speaker is going to admit and realize that it's the people's sin that caused their problem. But look, when we're desperate and we go to God, this is how we sound sometimes. Lord, why aren't you responding? That's where they were. But it was their sin. And folks, this is how the old covenant worked. The covenant with Israel was blessings for what? Obedience. The New Covenant is blessings for grace, as an act of God's grace. Our eternal life, our salvation is not in any way dependent on our own goodness. It is dependent on our own faith, belief in Him, and trusting in Him. That's the difference. They had blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. But that covenant with Israel did the same thing the law did in terms of what our understanding is. What did it do? What did it reveal? What did we learn from the old covenant? We need a Redeemer. No one was going to be able to get into God's presence to be reconciled to him by his own righteousness. That's what they learned. And that's what we learned. You couldn't be saved by that old covenant because you couldn't live a life of perfect obedience to God. It demonstrated, as the law does, the unrighteousness of all men. So only, only, only under a new covenant of grace could anybody be saved. And as I said, this is one of the rare places in the Old Testament where we find Yahweh referred to by the name Father. We often see the Israelites called sons, but the title Father here, it speaks of a close, personal, spiritual relationship to God. And God was a father to them and God was a husband to them, as we read in Jeremiah 31, 32. He was a husband to them, but they were an unfaithful harlot to him. What's he mean by these words, you're our father, even though Abraham doesn't know us? From their point of view, what they're saying to God here is, look, even if they wouldn't recognize us, you are our father. You should know who we are and recognize that we're the ones you've promised to bless. But of course, they were so mixed up. Well, in verses 17 through 19, the speaker expresses his fear in light of his belief that God has now hardened their hearts so they'll continue to stray from Him and from His ways. Whose heart did we see God harden after He had hardened it? Pharaoh. Pharaoh. I believe what he's saying here is this. He says the words are this, O Lord, why, O Lord, do you cause us to stray from your ways and harden our heart for fearing you? He's saying that you're hardening our hearts. He prays, return for the sake of your servants. Your holy people possessed your sanctuary for a little while. Now our adversaries have trodden it down. We've become, look at this verse, because I think it's very significant. Verse 19, We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who were not called by your name. His fear, the one praying, is that they are no longer the people of God. That they had possessed His sanctuary, His place of dwelling for a little while, but now their city has been overrun by enemies. They are now as those who never were the people of God. And I believe he's portraying the end of the nation, the kingdom of Israel. You know, of course, there was never another king in Israel after the exile in Babylon. It was never another king. Some interpret this question, why do you cause us to stray? Why do you cause us to wonder? Some interpret this as saying that, look, God, you're sovereignly in control of everything that happens on earth. So you must be responsible, at least partially, for our falling into sin. You could stop it if you wanted to. But this is a false assertion. Why is it a false assertion? Say again. That's right. And who makes the choice to sin? We do. God doesn't force us to sin. We choose to sin. Look at James 1 13. I think this is our last scripture for tonight. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil. And he himself does not tempt anyone. Look at this, "...each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." It's inside us. "...Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." The heart, choosing disobedience and choosing to sin, I can tell you, the more you sin, the more comfortable you're going to get sinning. And that's what he calls the hardening of hearts. Choosing disobedience progressively hardens us against God's ways. Until the moment which is known only by Him, which is fixed by Him, there is a point of no return. And there's a final, decisive choice of sin is made. Now some see God disciplining Israel here. But I'm going to tell you, I believe that what's at work here is the judgment of God on the nations of Israel and Judah. With the conquering of Jerusalem by Babylon, the kingdom ended. And it would not be restored. It still hasn't been restored. It's not going to be restored. But when Christ came, He announced what? What did John the Baptist say when he came into the wilderness? What are the first words we hear after the word repent? Kingdom of heaven is at hand Daniel wrote chapter 2 verse 44 in the days of those kings He will set up a kingdom that will last forever and when Christ came during the days of the Roman Empire He set up this kingdom the heavenly kingdom He inaugurated in his first coming the kingdom of heaven was at hand the kingdom of heaven He said is in your midst So we're awaiting the coming of the kingdom of God in all its fullness, in all its glory. And we're called in this passage to pray that the world would see glimpses of this kingdom in the likes of us, in His church, and be drawn into it, to want to come into it. We should be a place that people want to be. The whole church should be. So what's Isaiah doing here? What's he teaching us how to do here, would you say, in this passage? He's teaching us how to pray. And He's going to continue teaching us how to pray here in chapter 64. He wants us to pray with boldness. He wants us to pray with passion for the growth of His kingdom. That's revival in our understanding. And we learn to pray where? Where do we learn to pray? Bible, right here. He's teaching us how to pray in this Bible. He taught us before we pray for our daily bread to pray for His kingdom to come. My kingdom come, Your will be done. He invites us to make our requests known to Him. And one writer says if it matters to us, it matters to Him. So this prayer It begins with Isaiah agonizing over the way God is withholding His blessing from His people. And it ends with Isaiah asking God to visit us again and pour out His blessing. At the heart of this prayer, folks, is a cry for revival. And this should be our prayer today. You know, God also, He didn't just choose Israel for their purpose. He chose us and He became our Savior. And He didn't just share in their afflictions. He shared in our afflictions. He didn't just give them His presence. He's given us His very presence within us. He's redeemed us and delivered us. He's provided us not only with temporal earthly blessings, He's provided us with heavenly blessings. And so let us pray without ceasing that His kingdom on earth would grow and that sinners would come into it and bring Him glory. Lord, we thank you for this prophet that you sent, for the promises over and over again, Lord, of your kingdom. We look forward to it. We believe in it. We're here because we believe in it, Lord. We thank you for the blessings you have poured out on us, both large and small, both those that we have been appreciative of and those that we have taken for granted. Lord, I thank you for this gathering of believers. I pray you would instill in each one a love for you, a desire to know you better, a desire to share the glories of the blessings that you've poured out on all of us. In Christ's name. Amen.