God’s People: Ideal vs. Reality (Isaiah 56:1-57:21)
The sermon outline can be found in the ministry guide.
Earlier this week, I received an email from a friend who pastors a church in South Asia requesting prayer. His church has come under increasing pressure from the authorities and people in the neighbourhood. They want the church to stop meeting and have threatened the leaders and members with arrest and violence. After a church service last Sunday, some trouble-makers from the neighbourhood showed up. They hurled abuse and threats at church members. The members were tempted to retaliate, but thankfully they refrained. My pastor-friend has experienced such trouble before, but he thinks the situation is getting worse. He wrote, “Often it feels like one wrong step and it will all come tumbling down.”
The difficulties facing my friend’s church in South Asia are not unique either. Churches worldwide face all sorts of trouble. Sometimes the challenges come from the outside. Other times, problems arise within the church. In Singapore, churches do not face the same external pressures as my friend’s church. Thankfully, we have the freedom to meet together for worship. A bigger challenge here seems to be that we take gathering for granted. So, we choose not to gather although we can. Churches here face all sorts of internal difficulties, whether it’s sin or suffering, distractions or division.
What are we to make of the challenges facing churches everywhere? If we’re not prepared for trials, we might become disillusioned with church. Some of us may have been hurt by a church we attended before. Some respond by giving up on church altogether. They stop gathering with other Christians. Others might even become disillusioned with the faith, drifting away from God and the gospel.
We may have seen photographs of popular tourist destinations contrasting the ideal from the reality. The ideal typically shows a beautiful, idyllic place with gorgeous scenery. The reality, on the other hand, shows dreary weather, blighted surroundings, and crowds of tourists. The gap between ideal and reality can be very disappointing. This is the challenge confronting the people of Israel as they wait for the fulfilment of God’s promises. The ideal is far from the reality.
Over the last few weeks, we have heard the good news concerning the Suffering Servant, who lays down His life to save sinners. We’ve heard about how the Servant’s atoning work will bring about a new family, a new relationship, and a new city for God’s people. We have heard God’s great invitation to come to Him. The Book of Isaiah could have closed with chapter 55, ending on a high note. But in our text, the focus changes from triumph to trouble. Why the dramatic difference in tone?
Today, we begin to make our way through the third and final section of Isaiah. The Lord saves is the main message of the entire book. The first 39 chapters focus on how the Lord saves through His chosen King. Chapters 40-55 focus on how this Saviour is also a Suffering Servant. From chapter 56 to the end of Isaiah, the Saviour is presented as a Conqueror. This speaks hope to God’s people as we grapple with life in the gap between promise and fulfilment, between ideal and reality. The full and glorious fulfilment of God’s promises, which we heard about in chapters 40-55 (also known as the “Book of Comfort”), has not yet happened. How should live in the meantime? Isaiah 56-66 teach us how to wait well. Yes, the Conqueror will come. But, for now, God’s people live in the tension between the already and not yet. Waiting is hard. We face trouble and temptation. Waiting tests our patience and faith.
God calls his people to display His glory through repentant trust.
What we should be is not what we are. Our text reveals God’s ideal for his people: what God’s people should be. It describes the struggles of God’s people in reality: what God’s people are. Thankfully, it also points us to the remedy: how God’s people will be renewed. The ideal, the reality, the remedy—these are the three points of our outline. This is the big idea: God calls His people to display His glory through repentant trust.
The Ideal: God’s people as they should be (Isa 56:1-8)
The original readers of Isaiah’s prophecy looked forward to their return from exile in Babylon. God promised salvation, comfort, and hope. Israel’s banishment, due to its own sin, would not be the last word. God, in His grace and mercy, will ensure that a remnant will return. Yet, it is merely a remnant. The return from exile was a far cry from the glorious redemption God had promised. Those who returned continued to look forward to something far greater. How ought the people to live in light of this hope?
We look forward to future glory, when we are resurrected with Christ.
We, too, live in the already-not yet. God has already kept His saving promises by sending His Son, Jesus. He died and rose from the dead, so that all who trust in Him can be forgiven of their sins. Having already known God’s promises fulfilled in Christ, we are in a more privileged position than Old Testament Israel ever was. Yet, like them, we too await an even greater fulfilment. Jesus is coming back to complete the salvation He has begun. We look forward to future glory, when we are resurrected with Christ.
How, then, should we live now? Look at Isaiah 56:1. God’s salvation will soon come. He will, in His time, reveal His righteousness. But for now, this is what He wants of us: Keep justice and do righteousness. Because God is just and righteous, His people should be as well. What does this look like? God has revealed His righteousness in Christ. Therefore, we must look to Jesus. He shows us how justice and righteousness is not about legalistic law-keeping. Rather, it has to do with how we treat one another. For example, it says in 1 John 3:10, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Doing justice and righteousness means loving and serving others, as Christ has loved and served us.
God also calls Israel to keep the Sabbath (Isa 56:2). Blessed is the one who does not profane the day God has set aside for rest. Because God rested on the seventh day of creation, Israel was to do likewise. The Sabbath, which was the sign of the old covenant, was to be a day of rest. But it is not just about doing nothing; it is about keeping from doing any evil. It is about holding fast to their covenant relationship with the LORD (Isa 56:4, 6). Sabbath-keeping was not supposed to be legalistic. It had to do with living a God-centred life. Israel was to re-order their life around God — including how they spend their weekends. Israel was meant to rest in God by trusting Him to provide.
What does this mean for us today, since we are no longer under the old covenant? Now that Christ has come, we find our rest in Him. Therefore, Jesus is to be the centre of our lives. We re-order our lives around Him, including the practical matter of how we organise our days. So, we set aside time on the Lord’s day (not Saturday, but Sunday) to gather for worship and mutual encouragement. We do this because we trust Jesus. The world tells us to live for ourselves, to make everything and everyone else revolve around us. Thinking it all depends on us, we feel compelled to keep going, to keep working. All this does is to make us insecure and exhausted. But Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” So, keeping the Sabbath today means entrusting ourselves to the loving care of our all-sufficient Saviour, who sets us free from our slavery to sin and self-salvation.
Isaiah 56:1-2 call us to be an obedient people, as we wait for Jesus’ return. True saving faith is demonstrated through obedience. We do not obey to be saved, but we obey because we have been saved. When we rest in Christ, we will be busy doing justice and righteousness. Resting in Jesus is active, as we live and labour for His glory.
Besides being an obedient people, we are also to be an open people. Look at Isaiah 56:3-8, which describe how God will include foreigners and eunuchs among His people. This is surprising, because both these groups had formerly been excluded from Israel. Why the change? We have already heard about how God will raise up His Servant to be a “light for the nations” (Isa 42:6; 49:6). Thanks to the Servant, peoples from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be joined to the people of God. There will be one people of God, comprising all who trust in the Servant for salvation. Unlike old covenant Israel, the new covenant people of God are not defined by race or nationality, but by faith.
Consider God’s heart for all peoples. The foreigner need not fear that the Lord will separate him from His people (Isa 56:3). The eunuch need not fear that he is a dry tree, that he is barren and unfruitful. There are no “second-class” citizens in God’s kingdom. So, we should not look down on others or think more highly of ourselves. God’s plan of salvation is inclusive. At the same time, it is also exclusive — salvation is only for those who trust and obey the Lord. See Isaiah 56:4 and 6: God says it is for the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant. Acts 8 records the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, who was, interestingly, reading Isaiah at that time. Likewise, it is for foreigners who join themselves to the Lord. It is for those who love and serve the Lord for His glory, because they love the name of the Lord. Have we personally put our faith in Jesus to save us? Do not presume on His grace. Simply being with Christians either in the church or the home will not save us. Join ourselves to the Lord by coming to Christ. We must believe before we can belong.
Those who trust in the Lord receive the rich blessings of salvation. Eunuchs cannot have biological children, but God gives them a monument and a name better than sons and daughters… an everlasting name that shall not be cut off (Isa 56:5). God joins us to His spiritual family. He adopts us as His children. Unlike biological families, God’s family is eternal. This is especially comforting for those of us who have had to leave our earthly families to follow Jesus, as well as for those of us who struggle with loneliness. The Lord includes us in His family.
The openness of God’s heart challenges our lack of love for one another.
Foreigners, likewise, are blessed in the Lord and will dwell with God (Isa 56:7). Formerly, they were not allowed in the temple. But now, they shall be joyful in God’s house of prayer. Their worship will be pleasing and acceptable to God. God is a missionary who seeks and saves the lost — not only from Israel, but also from all peoples. As Isaiah 56:8 says, “The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered”. This has been wonderfully fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He calls not the proud or self-righteous, but the broken, weak, and weary who know themselves to be sinners in need of a Saviour.
The openness of God’s heart challenges our lack of love for one another. We are so easily offended by others, so quick to judge and despise one another. We are prone to segregate ourselves along worldly lines of race, age, culture, or background. May God increase our love for one another, especially those who are different from us. Get to know the new members, whom we voted in at last week’s members meeting. The church staff have been reading a helpful book, entitled “Love The Ones Who Drive You Crazy”. Are you seeking encouragement to love others, especially difficult people? I highly recommend reading this book. Fellow members of GBC: May God help us to “be devoted to one another in brotherly love”, as it says in our membership covenant. Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Rom. 15:7).
The Reality: God’s people as they are (Isa 56:9-57:13)
This is God’s ideal for His people: that we should be obedient and open. We ought to be marked by faith, love, praise, and prayer. But the reality falls short of the ideal. Isaiah describes three challenges facing Israel, while they wait for the fulfilment of God’s promises. Like them, we too will face difficulties and distractions. The challenges are selfish shepherds, suffering saints, and idolatry.
First, selfish shepherds. Look at Isaiah 56:9-12. Israel is vulnerable because of its irresponsible leaders, who have been silent and sleeping on the job. Instead of guarding God’s people, they have been greedy for gain. They themselves have gone astray like sheep; they have all turned to their own way. They have no knowledge or understanding. Instead of feeding God’s people God’s word, they have fed themselves at others’ expense. They are complacent, imagining they can keep sinning without being called to account.
These verses echo what the New Testament says about the last days we live in: “There will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-4). There will be false teachers who undermine the faith of God’s people by “teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (Titus 1:11).
The spiritual health of God’s people depends on the leaders. Godly leaders are needed. To my fellow elders: May God help us to be faithful. May we love God and His people, by shepherding them with God’s word. Members of GBC: Pray for your leaders — elders, deacons, and CG leaders. Pray also for the husbands and fathers among us who are the heads of their families. May those of us who lead reflect Christ-like character and “hold firm to the trustworthy word” (Titus 1:9). May we not abuse our authority but use it well to bless and serve others. Pray that we would follow the Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve, by sacrificially laying down His life for the sheep.
The second challenge: suffering saints. Look at Isaiah 57:1-2. The righteous man perishes. Perhaps it is because bad leaders are exploiting God’s people. To make things worse, no one cares. No one lays it to heart. As long as we still live in a fallen world, we must be prepared for suffering and opposition. So, do not expect our best life now. We will be disappointed. As Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation” (Jn 16:33). We will have to endure trials and trouble while we wait for the Lord.
But take heart, for not even death can separate us from God’s love. Death is deliverance, not defeat. The righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace. Because Christ is risen from the grave, we need not fear death. To be away from the body is to be at home with our Lord. Therefore, if we are in Christ, we can confidently say, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).
A third challenge: idolatry (Isa 57:3-13). Here, the focus shifts from the righteous to the unrighteous. Among Israel, there are some who profess to know God, but deny Him by their works. In Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah uses shocking language, describing them as sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. They are unfaithful to God. Instead of loving only the Lord, they prostitute themselves to other lovers. They stick out their tongue at God (Isa 57:4), mocking Him with their hypocrisy. They claim to worship God, but they are actually worshiping idols, even going so far as to offer up their own children (Isa 57:5). How might we also be sacrificing our loved ones to our idols of success, comfort or control?
We forget God because we make much of our fears, but little of Him.
Isaiah 57:6-10 describe idolatry as spiritual adultery. It is deeply offensive to God, to whom we rightfully belong. He is our Creator and Redeemer. We belong to God twice over. Will we trust Him and be satisfied in Him? In Isaiah 57:9-10, we see that the people of Israel wore themselves out seeking security in the world and in false gods. How many of us are feeling exhausted from all our running around? Isaiah 57:11 diagnoses the problem: We forget God because we make much of our fears, but little of Him. We fear man instead of God. What are we fearful about? It may be our work, health, wealth, our children’s future, loneliness, or what others think about us. Our fears become so large that they block our view of God’s greatness and goodness. Our idols cannot save us (Isa 57:13). These sobering verses call us to examine our spiritual state. Being a Christian in name only will do us no good. Do we truly trust and obey God?
The Remedy: God’s people renewed through repentance (Isa 57:14-21)
Rather than taking sin’s side against God, we take God’s side against sin. Repentance begins inwardly, but it will show outwardly in our actions and words. Repentance is a gift of God. He graciously enables us to return to Him. So, cry out to God for help.
How will God’s people become as they should be, closing the gap between reality and ideal? Isaiah 57:14-19 reveal what we need: Repentance is the remedy. In Isaiah 57:14, the Lord calls for a highway to be built that will enable His people to return to Hm. Every obstruction or obstacle is to be removed. This is a picture of repentance. Our sins have separated us from God. We must humbly confess them to Him and turn away from them. Repentance is a change of heart and mind, that leads to a change of our life’s direction. We start moving towards God, no longer towards sin and self. Rather than taking sin’s side against God, we take God’s side against sin. Repentance begins inwardly, but it will show outwardly in our actions and words. Repentance is a gift of God. He graciously enables us to return to Him. So, cry out to God for help.
Why repent? Because of who God is. As we see from Isaiah 57:15-17, the eternal God is holy and exalted. His thoughts are not our thoughts; neither are His ways like ours. There is a great divide between God and us. He is holy; we are sinful. So, we must forsake our sins if we are to come to Him. When the prophet Isaiah encountered the holiness of God, he cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” If we cherish sin in our heart, the Lord will not listen to us. Therefore, “let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord” (Isa 55:7).
Because of who God is, we can also be assured that He will not turn us away if we return to Him. He is exalted in glory, yet He also delights to draw near to those of a contrite and lowly spirit. God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. He gives grace to the humble. He encourages the fainthearted. He helps the weak. He strengthens those who have been bruised, battered and broken by life in a fallen world. So, do not hide from God when we sin. Run to Him and humbly confess that we are sorry for our sins. God will revive the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the contrite. Trust that God is gracious and merciful. He will have compassion on us, for He knows our weakness, He remembers that we are dust. He will not always be angry, because He shows mercy to the breath of life that He has made.
We have strong encouragement to return to the Lord. Our confidence is anchored in God’s unchanging character; it does not depend on our merit or performance.
We have strong encouragement to return to the Lord. Our confidence is anchored in God’s unchanging character; it does not depend on our merit or performance. We are prone to wander. The Lord has seen how we are bent on backsliding in the way of our own heart. But in spite of our unfaithfulness, He will heal us. How will God do so? Look at Isaiah 57:18-19 — “I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the LORD, and I will heal him.” Blessed are we if we mourn over our sin, for we shall be comforted. The Lord will lead us back to Himself. He will speak peace to us, cleansing our unclean lips and creating praise — the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.
The Lord promises to heal sin-sick sinners like us through His Servant — “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5). The righteous Servant bore God’s wrath against our sins, so that we can be forgiven if we trust in Him. There is no peace for the wicked who reject the Lord (Isa 57:20-21). But all who trust in the Servant will enjoy God’s everlasting peace.
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, Jesus, the promised Servant. He is the glorious, eternal Son, through whom all things were created. Yet, He humbled Himself and took on flesh. Jesus lived among us. He ate and drank with sinners, preaching the good news to gather outcasts into God’s family. Because Jesus is gentle and lowly, He can revive the spirit of the lowly. In Ephesians 2:19, Paul says Jesus “came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near”. Jesus Himself is our peace. He died the death we should have died, in order to bring us back to God. He rose from the dead to give us life. In Christ alone, we have peace with God. Jesus has created one new humanity, comprising all who trust in Him — peoples from every nation, tribe and tongue.
Jesus has also reconciled us to one another, that we might have peace with one another. We are no longer strangers, but brothers and sisters in God’s family. Jesus has made us one. He enables us to love one another with humility, gentleness, and patience. So, welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed us.
God calls us to display His glory through repentant trust in His Son. We are not yet what we should be. No. But by His grace, we are not what we once were.
How should we live while we wait for the fulfilment of God’s promises, while we live in the gap between ideal and reality? My friend’s prayer request for his church in South shows us how. He asked prayer: for wisdom and perseverance in the face of adversity, for the gospel to grow, for boldness to stand firm without compromise, for joy in the Lord always. Amen. God calls us to display His glory through repentant trust in His Son. We are not yet what we should be. No. But by His grace, we are not what we once were.