Sermon 26-3 Is35 Guide

Isaiah 35:1-10 theme verse Isaiah 35:10

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this third Sunday of the Advent, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, on the second Sunday of the Advent, we looked at the qualification and the way to rule of the Messiah who inaugurated the kingdom of righteousness and peace, yet this week, on the third Sunday of the Advent, we would like to meditate on the kingdom of joy by Messiah together.

1)    First, to summarize today's text, Isaiah 35, as God challenges Judah who committed injustice and immorality when they were wavering in faith, asking ”Do you trust in God? Or do you trust in Assyria?" in chapter 34, God says that Assyria, represented by the fertile land of Edom, and all the nations of the world will ultimately be destroyed and turned into a desert due to their arrogance. Then, in chapter 35, God prophesies that the land of Israel, which had been a barren desert due to their sins, will now be transformed into a beautiful garden of flowers. This prophecy foresees the return of the captives from Babylon in the short term, but in the mid to long term, it foresees the kingdom of God, inaugurated by the coming Messiah becomes a kingdom that will blossom physically, socially, and spiritually through God's grace. In other words, human arrogance and trusting in the world will lead to the desolation and destruction, while trusting in God will lead to life in the garden filled with safety, blessing, glory, and joy.

Today’s text of chapter 35, can be divided into three paragraphs. The first paragraph of verses 1-4, as an introductory paragraph, promises that the desert will bloom again and proclaims that God will come and save them so God encourages the weak and scared minds. And then in the second paragraph of verses 5-7, God proclaims that this redemption of God will ultimately lead to the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame running, and the deaf singing. And also It will bring healing to the infirm, and water will gush forth from the desert, making the world abundant. And then finally, in the third paragraph of verses 8-10, it is said that those who are redeemed by God will walk in the Way of holiness, but the unclean and the foolish will not walk on it, and no wild beast will go up there. And then it is said that those who are redeemed by the LORD will enjoy joyful fellowship with God in Zion, I mean, in the flowery and well-watered garden.

2)    To delve deeper into these main themes of three paragraphs in today's text, first, in the first paragraph, the gloomy wilderness, filled with unclean animals, will be now transformed into a joyful place filled with blooming flowers. And It is said that God is the One who performs this transformation as the creator of all joy. We, human beings constantly try to create or find joy on our own. However, we can never do so. Rather true joy is always a byproduct of God's presence in His kingdom. Therefore, when we lose faith and turn away from God, the final result is the desolation. Instead, only when we acknowledge the futility of all else and turn to God, then we can experience true joy in the presence of God which only comes from Him. And then, in verse 2, it is said that all the world will see the glory of God. Yet, true glory is only possessed by God and God wanted to give and share His glory with His creatures. However, His creatures tried to create their own glory and so they ultimately ended with disaster. Therefore, in the book of Isaiah, presenting two roads, one way to God or one way of the world-way road, so if we pursue the way of the world, we will end with desolation, yet if we acknowledge God, then God will give His glory to us and we will see His glory. Furthermore, in verses 3 and 4, God promises His people, who tremble and bow their heads in fear to the powerful nations that mercilessly wield their power, that "God will come and repay and save them.” To elaborate further, to those who cry out, "God is too far away for me to reach Him," He says, "You don't need to reach God. God is coming to you”. As such, God came to us at the first coming of Christ to save His people, and He continues to come to us and be with us through the Holy Spirit until the day of Christ’s second coming, as our Lord said in Matthew 28:20 that “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3)    And then in the second paragraph of verses 5-7, it is said that when the Messiah comes, not only will all things be restored, but healing and restoration will also occur for His people. I mean, the eyes of the blind will be opened, in other words, when the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, comes and resides in them, their spiritual eyes will be opened and see the truth. And it is said that the ears of the deaf will be opened. This refers to that the ears of our hearts will be opened and hear the words of truth in the gospel. And also it is said that the lame will leap like a deer which refers to that they will walk in the way of truth, that is, the way of God. And finally, it is said that the tongues of the deaf will sing. This refers to that their lips will praise God and proclaim the salvation of His grace to all over the earth.

4)    And then in the final paragraph, verse 10 says that those redeemed by the LORD will return to Zion and rejoice. Here, the phrase "those redeemed by the LORD will return to Zion" means that those who were saved by God's grace will return to Zion which represented Jerusalem in the Old Testament from Babylonian captivity, yet in the New Testament, they will gather in the church after being saved from the world; and in the last days, they will reside in true Jerusalem which will be descending from heaven, the place where God's presence is there and there they will rejoice. Yet, as we saw last week that the Messiah's rule, based on righteousness and faithfulness, will result in a kingdom of righteousness and peace, it is said that in this kingdom of peace, joy arises and we will live in that joy.

5)    But, verse 2 says, "They will see the glory of God." Here, first, in today’s text, the glory of God is the majestic beauty of God. I mean, as Richard Muller says that God's glory is the "radiance" or "effulgence" resulting from the "infinite excellence of the divine essence," it is the radiance of His glorious attributes. And as Douglas Sweeney, in his book ”On the Beauty" explains that God's beauty by Jonathan Edwards is the majestic radiance resulting from seven Attributes of God, I mean, Self-existence of His being, Greatness, Loveliness, Omnipotence, Wisdom, Holiness, and Goodness. So, in today's text, it is said that this glory, I mean, the majestic beauty of God is reflected in all things He has restored, so that we can see the glory of God reflected in God's creation.

6)    And then, verse 8 says that in the kingdom of God, there will be a ‘Way of Holiness’. And on it, neither the unclean nor the foolish will walk, rather only the redeemed will walk on it and also there will be no lions or wild beasts on it. Here, the ‘Way of Holiness’ refers to the holy street where only those holy people redeemed by God can walk on it and since the world will now be restored to its original form of creation so that there will be no lion or wild bests on it. Yet, even though, on this earth, we, redeemed but not yet fully restored, have not yet attained perfect holiness, still we desire and walk in it, since the Holy Spirit has come to regenerate our hearts, and guides and leads us in that way. That’s why Psalm 84:5 says, "Blessed is the one whose strength is in the Lord, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." And thus, it is said that in this way of holiness, the unclean whose sin was not purified by the blood of Christ and the foolish who have not understand and believe in the mystery of the gospel cannot walk on it.

7)    As such, it is said that the kingdom of God ushered in by the Messiah is ultimately a kingdom of joy, established by righteousness and peace, as Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” And the reason why the kingdom of Messiah is the kingdom of joy is that: First, as joy is one of God’s attributes, as Psalm 104:31 says, “The glory of the Lord endures forever; the Lord rejoices in all his works,” it is because God gives this eternal, true joy to our hearts as a gift, as Psalm 4:7 says, “You have filled my heart with more joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” And second, after this joy of God is anointed upon Christ, as Psalm 45:7 says, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows,” it is because our Lord pours the oil of joy on us, as it is said in Isaiah 61:3, "To appoint to those who mourn in Zion a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." And finally, since this joy is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, as Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So against such things there is no law,” it is because the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of joy in us.

8)    By the way, since we still live on this earth, a land filled with suffering and under the influence of sin, and also since our sinful nature still remains within us, even though we have been reborn, and also since we cannot reach the perfection in this side of world, we cannot live in true joy. However, as verse 10 says, "Everlasting joy is upon our heads," I mean, the Holy Trinity, the essence and source of true joy, is above us, beside us, and within us to put joy in our hearts and produce the fruit of joy in us, we can taste and enjoy that true joy of the eternal kingdom on this earth. Therefore, I pray that on this third Sunday morning of the Advent, we may rejoice in the joy God has placed in us, and that through the joy of the Holy Spirit, we may not only endure in patience, but also share it to the world, while enjoying it.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that the kingdom of God which our Lord inaugurated when He came to the earth is the kingdom of righteousness and peace and also the kingdom of joy. So, after reflecting our life and meditating on whether we live being filled with joy, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, if is said that the reason why we can receive and enjoy true joy is because Triune God fives us this joy to us. So after reviewing our life and checking whether we receive and live in joy, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.