Series: Isaiah
Title: Eternal Excellency
Text: Isaiah 60: 15-22
Date: July 5, 2015
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Christ is speaking to his church, each believer in particular, Isaiah 60: 15: Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16: Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. 17: For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 18: Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19: The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20: Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21: Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22: A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.
During my recent trip, several older, faithful pastors told me of their children. Some spoke with great joy. The Lord gave their children a heart for Christ. Now, they faithfully arrange their lives around the preaching of the gospel. They sought a school, a job, a home based, first and foremost, on where the gospel is preached; they waited to marry faithful believers—who knew the Lord before they knew them; and they continue to this day under the preaching of the gospel.
Other pastors spoke of their children with great heartache. When young, their children sat under the gospel. Some made professions of faith. Then they left home and left the gospel. Some are very successful in the world. But they have no interest in Christ or even in hearing the gospel.. The world has swallowed them up
I have two young children. Hearing my friends speak makes me cast myself on God’s mercy for my own children. It makes me pray to God for every young professing believer I know who still lives at home with their parents. It makes me pray for those the Lord has not called.
Please hear this statement and heed it. Never remove yourself from the preaching of the gospel. When you look for a college, a job, a place to live make it your chief priority to be where God has established his faithful church and stay under the preaching of the gospel of Christ. And not just any preaching but the preaching of Christ according to the scriptures.
God saves his people, and continues to save his people to the end, through the preaching of the gospel. The sole purpose for which God leaves believers in this world is to be ministered to through the preaching of the word. Through the gospel, God gives us everything needed to send the gospel forth into all the world. Through the gospel, Christ calls out each and every chosen child, he has redeemed by his precious blood. Those who make anything else their priority in life are serving their belly and wasting the time God has given us on this earth. Nothing else is important!
In this passage, we see that there is no better place to be in this world, than united with Christ and his people in his church under his gospel. Christ declares in this passage that it is through the preaching of the gospel that he makes his church an eternal Excellency, a joy to others in this world who Christ calls out through the gospel.
AN ETERNAL EXCELLENCY
Christ makes his people what we were not—“Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” (Is 60: 15)
As we were born into this world—unrighteous, unholy sinners—we were of no spiritual profit to anyone. Like Jerusalem when God turned her over to her enemies because of her sin—we were “forsaken and hated, so that no man went through”—no man had a reason to come to us for any benefit.
How did we become what we were? When Adam broke God’s law, we were all in Adam’s loins, so we broke God’s law in Adam—made unrighteous by Adam. When we were born of Adam’s corrupt seed, we were made partakers of Adam’s sin-nature—made unholy by Adam. We were made sinners by the first Adam.
Therefore, we must be made the righteousness of God by the last Adam. So Christ declares in our text, “I will make thee an eternal excellency,…” He says, “I will.” This is Christ our Sovereign Savior. He says, ‘I will “make thee’”, speaking of all God’s elect, his church. He says, ‘I will make thee “an eternal excellency.’”
Exodus 15: 6: Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 7: And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Christ put away every enemy of his people and dashed them in pieces: the curse of the law, our sin, satan, death and hell. So if we know that then know this. Anyone in this earth that appears to be our enemy, is a puppet in the hand of our Sovereign Redeemer to work good for us and glory to him.
Deuteronomy 33:29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Where are we going as his church? Lastly, I have been concerned that this building may sell out from under us before we get the down payment to get a loan. After expressing that to Pastor Tom Harding, he said, “If it sells it is because the Lord has something better for you down the road!” That is true not only of the building but of anything and everything that lies in store for each of us, and for us together, as his church. Christ shall choose our inheritance and shall at last give us our eternal inheritance. Listen to the Psalmist.
Psalm 47: 1: O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 2: For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. 3: He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. 4: He shall choose our inheritance for us, the Excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
Psalm 68:34: Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 35: O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
Christ will even make us an eternal excellency by this ministry he has given us as his church because as Paul said, “The excellency of the power is of God and not of us!” (2 Cor 4: 7) So knowing all these things are true in Christ, we say with the apostle Paul,
Philippian 3: 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith 10: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
A JOY OF MANY GENERATIONS
Now, brethren, Christ also promises to make you and I, his church—“a joy of many generations.” (Is 60: 15) It means he will make us a joy from one generation to the next, generation after generation.
I turned 45 this year so I have been reflecting over my life. Unlike many, I grew up under gospel preaching. My grandfather, James Watson, preached Christ to me, taught me the scriptures. Then around 1985, Pastor Henry Mahan and other faithful preachers came to preach for us. Christ used those men to reveal himself in me. Doing so, Christ made those men of that generation, a “joy” to this young lad, to a younger generation.
Now Christ has raised up this church and called out some of his young sheep. He has made us a joy to them through making himself a joy to them. So it goes, Christ working this work in his people making his church a joy from generation to generation. He does it through the gospel of Christ.
When you are young, you have dreams to achieve great things! But there is no greater honor on this earth than to be the church of the living God! There is no greater honor than to be earthen vessels, filled with these unsearchable riches, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us! Christ promises, “I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.”
THROUGH THE GOSPEL
Then Christ declares that he shall do this work through the gospel—“Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (Is 60: 16)
We partake of milk from those Christ has already made kings and priests unto God so that they preach the gospel unto us. Notice, how the apostle Peter refers to the gospel of Christ as milk.
1 Peter 1: 23: [We are] born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever…25: And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you…2: 1: Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:…
This Milk, this Life, this Growth, is Christ himself. He says through the gospel, “thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (Is 60: 16) Christ promises, “thou shalt know!” Believer, “You have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things.” (1 Jn 2: 20) What do we know when we know all things? Christ says, “that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
We know all things when we know Christ is the LORD God—the Son of God. We know all things when we know Christ the LORD is THY Savior. Brethren, we can say, “God is MY Savior. God came and saved me, and is saving me, personally. God is thy Savior.” And we know all things when we know Christ is “thy Redeemer.” He purchased me with his own blood. God redeemed me from the curse of the law. We—his church—are his purchased possession. We know all things when we know “the mighty One of Jacob.” He makes us know Christ is also the Son of Man, the Mighty Seed of Jacob, called from among God’s elect Jacobs, mighty in holiness and righteousness. The GodMan is thy Savior and thy Redeemer!
BETTER! BETTER! BETTER!
What does Christ promise to give his child and his church?—“For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron:” (Is 60: 17) Simply put, it means, Christ is Better, Better, Better.
Hebrews 8: 6: But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Instead of a haughty, arrogant knowledge of a few doctrines in a defiled conscience—now we have Christ himself! Christ the Person is our Righteousness! Christ is our Salvation!
I say this to us all—especially our young people—when you attend services here or when you attend conferences, come to hear a message from Christ himself and come like a baby thirsty for milk, come quiet and ready to learn from Christ. And after services—“Redeem the time”—speak of Christ to one another. “Remember, there is always someone younger looking and listening to you.” Point them to Christ. Christ says he will make us a joy to that next generation—“Beautiful feet, bringing the glad tidings of the gospel.” (Rom 10: 15)
A SAFE, PEACEFUL PLACE
Lastly, Christ makes his church a safe, peaceful place. More of the better things Christ gives us in his church are listed here.
First, Christ makes his church a safe, peaceful place by providing faithful pastors—“I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.” (Is 60: 17) Christ’s preachers preach Christ our Peace and Christ our Righteousness. We wait on Christ to rule in the hearts of his people by his grace. The sharper the ax the less strength of man is required. The clearer, more boldly, the gospel of Christ is preached, the less personal rebuke has to be used. Occasionally, personal rebuke is required. But if it is faithful, it is Christ rebuking even then. I have experienced that rebuke a time or two myself from Christ’s faithful preachers. It is to turn us to focus on the message being preached because Christ works in the heart and creates obedience in his child through the message which declares his works. Let nothing turn you to you or to anyone else—keep your eyes and ears on Christ.
Secondly, Christ gives us peace through the gospel, making his people peaceful, making us deal righteously with one another—“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” (Is 60: 18) Those who seek security in this world—in their works—only find violence—wasting and destruction. But not so for those resting in Christ! This will be true perfectly when Christ takes us all home, but it is true now in Christ and in his church. We have peace with God in Christ our Peace! God’s preachers do not do violence to his word. His people do not do violence to one another. We love one another and look out for one another because we are constrained by Christ’s love for us. He said, “As much as ye have done it to one of these the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me.” Notice, the reason for this peace is that our walls is Christ our Salvation and our gates is Christ our Praise. Walls and gates are for protection. When we think we are our own protection, panic ensues, violence and destruction to one another. But believers have Christ for our wall of Salvation. We have Christ for our gate of Praise. We do not usurp authority over men because our protection and defense is Christ our Salvation and our Praise. We have peace in Christ! Christ is preaching as real through this gospel as he did in this earth and working in the midst of his people as real as he did in person! So we wait on the Lord!
Thirdly, through the gospel, Christ makes his church no longer walk by natural light but we have Christ our Spiritual Light continually, therefore we rejoice—“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: [believers are not guided by natural light any more] but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” (Is 60: 19) The glory of God in the face of Christ our Light is our Everlasting Light!—“Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself.” (Is 60: 20) Natural light eventually fades away. But for the believer, for his church, our light shall never fade—“for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” (Is 60: 20) One day God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sin. But even now, even when we mourn, we rejoice in Christ. We only mourn in the flesh, not in the new man. In the new man, the days of our mourning are ended.
Fourthly, we have peace and safety because through the gospel, Christ makes his church to increase in his time—“A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.” (Is 60: 22) We do not have to wring our hands and seek numbers to join us--“Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel.” (1 Cor 1: 17) Christ adds to the church daily such as should be saved. He will hasten it in his time. Last November’s conference at Lexington the most encouraging word I heard, “Todd preached on a trashcan turned upside down.” Now look at that congregation. Christ adds to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2: 47)
Please hear this: none of these things can be said about this world or this world’s vain religion. If you get all this world has to offer, it will be full of pain, suffering and sorrow; violence, destruction and misery. Then you will face God in judgment!
I am fearful for young people in this generation. The world is constantly going away from God but recently there has been a giant leap away from God. The wickedness this world accepts, thinking they are good for accepting it, is sad.
They reject God’s word and God’s people.
It will take God to make this happen but whether you are a believer or not, never remove yourself from the preaching of the gospel among God’s true church. If you have done something so that you have to apologize and eat crow—eat the whole crow! God works peace in his church. I want you to have the Peace that only God can give. If he gives it to you it will be through the preaching of this gospel.
Everything believers have is of Christ and is Christ! CHRIST IS ALL! That is why all these things are certain. How do we know? “Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” (Isa 60:21)
Amen!