Sermon
# 209 Series: Isaiah
Title: “ZION, CITY OF OUR GOD”
Text: Isaiah 60:1-22
Subject: The Church Militant and
Triumphant
Date: Sunday Evening – April 16, 1995
Tape
# R-25
Introduction:
The Church of God is both local and universal. We certainly believe that the local church is God’s institution in this world by which his gospel, his truth, his worship, and his ordinances are maintained. The gathered assembly of God’s saint in any place, in any generation, whether large or small, is the house of God…the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15).
But
the church of God is also universal and is spoken of as such throughout the New
Testament. By universal I simply mean
that the church of God, the body and bride of Christ consists of all God’s
elect in every age, those on earth and those in heaven. All who were chosen by God the Father in
eternal election, all who were redeemed by God the Son at Calvary, and all who
are born again by God the Spirit in time, are one body, one church and one
kingdom. Paul is speaking of this universal
church when he says, “Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.” (Eph. 5:25). It is this universal church which is
described as “Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem…(and) the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” unto which
all believers have come (Heb. 12:22-23).
In
this universal aspect the Church of God is described by many different names in
the Scriptures. Each name, or title
given to God’s church is significant.
That
is the subject of our text tonight – “Zion, City of
Our God.” Isaiah 60 is a prophetic word,
which describes some of the glorious things promised to the church, “The City
of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
“Glorious things of thee are
spoken,
Zion, city of Our God!
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed thee for His own
abode!”
Proposition: In the Old Testament the church of God, called by
Stephen “The Church in the wilderness”
(Acts 7:38), was made up of the nation of Israel; but it was always God’s purpose to gather his elect from the Gentiles into his
Church, and at last to present it to himself a “glorious church not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish” – In our test Isaiah describes the latter day glory of God’s Church
which began with The Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, coming to Zion and will
be consummated when our Redeemer comes again and brings his church into it’s
consummate glory “as a bride adorned her husband.”
Obviously,
I cannot give a detailed exposition of this chapter tonight; but I do want us
to look at the chapter as a whole and so what God has promised concerning his
church, which is the City of God.
In
chapters 58 and 59 The Lord God displayed his utter disdain and contempt for
the formality, hypocrisy, profaneness, and immorality of the religious world in
which we live. But the last two verses of chapter 59 gave us a promise of Christ our
Redeemer coming to Zion to fulfill to us all the blessings of God promised in
the covenant. Read Isaiah
59:20-21. This is one of the many
prophecies of Christ’s coming that includes both his first and second
advent. They are spoken of as one event
because the salvation of his church and people, which he purchased at his first
advent, shall not be completed in them until his second advent.
In
these verses the Lord God makes seven absolute, unconditional promises to the
church of his elect. These are the
glorious things, which God has spoken to “Zion, City of
Our God.” When the Lord Jesus said, “I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” this
is what he was talking about. This is
how the Son of God builds his Church.
I. First, God promises that He Would Enlighten His People (vv. 1-2).
The
light of Zion is the reflected light of Christ who is “The Light of the World,”
“The Sun of Righteousness” who has risen upon us with healing beneath his
wings. Though “the darkness covers the
earth and gross darkness the people.”
Christ has brought us light.
A. He brought to light the types and shadows of
the law.
B. He is the revelation of the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God (John 1:4, 5, 18).
C. That light shines in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit through the preaching of the gospel in the new birth (John 3:3; II Cor.
4:4-6).
D. Now, we are called upon to dispose his light
in this dark world as his witnesses.
(Matt. 5:14-16).
“Arise, shine!”
II. In verses 3-4, The Lord
promises To Enlarge The Borders of Zion to Include All Gentile Nations As Well
as Jews.
The inhabitants of Zion are to come from all parts of the world (Matt. 8:11).
God
has his elect everywhere! The fulness
of the Gentiles must be brought in (Rom. 11:25-26).
This,
“the City of God,” the Church of Jesus Christ is the only truly cosmopolitan,
multicultural city in the world, where people of all races, all classes, and
all places are truly one. In Christ all
God’s saints are truly one. All are
radiant with one life, one light, and one love (Col. 3:11).
III. Read verses 5-9 – As God enlarges his church
so to His promises that the house of His Glory Shall be
Enriched.
B.H. Carroll wrote, “The very best of everything in the material world is here mentioned as coming to Zion, illustrating both the temporal and the spiritual blessings of Zion, the temporal being used to transport Zion’s sons and daughters, i.e. for missionary purposes. This is literally fulfilled in every material thing that is consecrated to the King of this splendid city. The ships, the lower animals, the gold and the silver – the best of it all has been made to serve the purposed of Christianity from the days of Paul to the present day.”
What the prophet is telling us is this, when sinners come to Christ and consecrate themselves to him in faith, they also consecrate their gold, and cattle, and all earthly possessions to him, “to minister” to the needs of his kingdom.
NOTE: God’s church never lacks for anything needed to do the work God puts in her hands because God’s people give of their means to support his cause.
We are here called “the house of his glory,” the house where he shows forth his glory. He has “glorified thee.” Therefore we “show forth the praises of the Lord by that which we give to him.
NOTE: None are asked to give more than according to this measure. And none should give less. Don’t give Christ your best. Give him all; and he shall have the best.
ESTABLISHED
IV. Then the Lord God promises that His Church Shall Be Established Throughout All The Earth (vv. 10-12).
Here is a City, the City of Morey…
· Where walls are Established by Strangers (I Cor. 1:26-29).
· Served by Kings, according to God’s Providence – (v. 10).
· Where Gates are Always Open for All Who Will To Enter In – (v. 11).
· And any nation or kingdom that will not be of service to God’s Church and Kingdom shall perish (v. 12).
EXTOLLED
V. Read on –
verses 13-14. Here God Promises that The City of The Lord Shall Be Extolled.
Since the prophecy has not yet come to the day of judgment. I cannot imagine that these verses refer to that time. Rather, it is a prophecy of the conversion of chosen sinners. When God saves a sinner, he makes his house, the place of his feet, glorious in the eyes of a sinner. Those who once despised and afflicted God’s Church, like Saul of Tarsus bow and assay to join themselves to it saying. “This is The City of the Lord, The Zion of The Holy One of Israel.”
“I love Thy Kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The Church our blessed Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.”
EXCELLENCY
VI. In verses
15-17 The Lord Promises to “Make Thee An
Eternal Excellency.
What on earth can that mean? It simply means that we are excellent in his eyes. Because The Lord himself is “Thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob,” he will see to it that his church has all the benefits of all things in this world. For us he will make brass gold, iron silver, and wood brass – (Rev. 12:16; Rom. 8:28). “Thou shalt know…” v. 15.
· Make his Church the “joy of many generations.”
· Make the Officers of His Church Peace, or Peacemakers.
· Make the Pastors, Bishops, Rulers of His People Righteousness –
In Doctrine! – In Behavior! – In Direction!
EXALTATION
VII. Lastly,
verses 18-21 give us God’s Promise to
Exalt His Church in Everlasting Glory.
The crowning glories of Zion described in these verses and the description John gives of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21) are identical.
v. 18 – Everlasting Praise!
v. 19 – Everlasting Glory!
v. 20 – Everlasting Happiness!
v. 21 – Everlasting Righteousness!
Application: Of all this, God says, “This is the work of my hands, that I may be glorified” (v. 21: Eph. 2:7; 5:25-27).
v. 22 – God will bring it to pass!