The Restoration of the Church that We Must Enjoy (Isaiah 49:18-26)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these gather together and come to you. 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does.' 19 'For your waste and desolate places, And the land of your destruction, Will even now be too small for the inhabitants; And those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20 The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, 'The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.' 21 Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has begotten these for me, Since I have lost my children and am desolate, A captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; But these, where were they?' 22 Thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; 23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.' 24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or the captives of the righteous be delivered? 25 But thus says the Lord: 'Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, And I will save your children. 26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know That I, the Lord, am your Savior, And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.' ”
Introduction
There is a book called “The Door to Happiness” and if you look in the book, it talks about the common characteristics of people who are unhappy. When I looked at this book and read it, I thought that it was well written. The common characteristics of people who are unhappy, I will share them with you. If these apply to you, then pray about this. Perfectionists are unhappy and those who compare themselves with others are unhappy. I am talking about people who constantly compare themselves with others. Thirdly, people think that they are always right. It will be hard to converse with these people. Fourth, people who put you on edge over small things. There are people who obsess over things to small details. These people need to be healed. Fifth, people who see everything with eyes of doubt and constantly pessimistic. No matter what you say, they always make it negative and point out the bad things. You need to avoid these people because you will be influenced. Sixth, the people who don’t express love and don’t offer love to other people. These are people who are never satisfied with anything and never have peace in their hearts. They always have anxiety. They don’t live a long life. We need to be satisfied with Christ in our lives. We don’t need anything else and we only need Christ. When we have this kind of heart, then everything will happen well. If you look at these 6 things, these are the lives of non-believers of the world. They are digging their own graves. We need to start all things with peace in Christ. We have been reading the book of Isaiah 49 and we have seen the life of Christ. In Isaiah 49:1-7, it talked about the life of Jesus from birth to death, and His ascension. Isaiah 49:8-13 talked about the three offices of Christ. He solved all problems of mankind through those 3 offices. In Isaiah 49:14-17, it talked about the assurance of salvation. Today’s Biblical Scripture is about the blessing of the church that we must enjoy.
1. The Start of the Church
1) Fulfillment of prophecies
Verses 18-19 - It says here, “your” and many people interpret this as talking about the Israelites. But “your” is referring to the church as John Calvin interpreted as. I also interpreted it as the church as well. The scripture talks about the restoration of the church. The Israelites were in the midst of despair and discouragement as they were living as captives of Babylon. But God was telling them to open their eyes because tremendous things will happen for them. God was showing them the restoration that will come upon them and telling them to be encouraged. When Calvin saw this, he said that this needs to be interpreted in a spiritual perspective. This is what we need to do after Jesus resurrects. This will absolutely happen. Our clothes will be like an ornament. This is what happens to those who are saved and become a child of God. The blessing of the Holy Spirit will come upon them, which is the greatest treasure that we have received. This is incomparable to anything else. This treasure will come upon this, God promised us this.
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.” - God will pour out His Spirit to us which means His Spirit will come upon every nation. When the Holy Spirit comes upon His people, that is the start of a church.
Verse 19 - When Israelites were taken away to captivity and their lands were taken away, God was saying that their lands will be restored to them. The gospel that was lost, that gospel will be restored and the light will shine upon that land. Their enemies and darkness will flee from their lands and nation. If we look at this deeper, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, the light of life will come and all darkness will flee. The Holy Spirit who will work upon us by His power will give us victory. When the light of life shines upon us, all darkness will flee.
2) The start of the Early Church
Verses 20-21 - Babylon attacked Israel, and many children were lost and killed. When their children were lost, there were remaining children and the children who were born after the attacks.
This is talking about the remnants, the remaining ones as spoken in Isaiah 6:13 “But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” - The nation will stand up again and hope will be restored to them through the remnants. What does this mean? This talking about Jesus Christ who will come and die on the cross, and pour upon His Spirit into the 120 disciples. The works of revival took place and the church was restored.
Verse 21 - Unimaginable things occurred. How did these many people come together? It is not talking about the Israelites who remained after the Babylon captivity. This was the prophecy of the people who will gather in Mark’s Upper Room from all nations.
Acts 2:1-4, 12 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?' 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” - The works of the Holy Spirit came upon the people from 15 nations in Mark’s upper room.
Acts 2:12 - They were amazed by the works of the Holy Spirit that came upon Mark’s upper room.
Acts 2:42 - 3,000 disciples were raised and born. It didn’t end there.
2. Spreading of the gospel by the Church
1) The banner of the gospel
Verses 22-23 - It speaks about the banner for all nations. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected, this was what Jesus said to His disciples.
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen.” - Jesus proclaimed to His disciples to go to all nations and raise up disciples. Jesus promised that He will be with them and His disciples. The disciples that started from 120 disciples, it started spreading. All the apostles started spreading and Apostle Paul went out and shared the gospel to all nations. Wherever they went, the working of the Holy Spirit came upon them and people started turning to the Lord. It was talking about sons and daughters, this is talking about the fruit of life that was born and children coming back to the light of life. After the event in Mark's upper room, disciples were raised and they went out to all nations. They took the banner of Christ and went to all nations, and people were able to return to God.
Verse 23 - Long time ago, kings who blocked people from proclaiming about Christ and persecuted Christians. But after this, kings became foster fathers and evangelists. They held roles that paved the paths for the gospel to spread. Many kings and leaders came together and received the gospel, and paved the ways for the gospel to spread. The kings would go to church and give worship. There was a time when I visited Rome and saw many paintings in Saint Peter’s Cathedral. There was a painting that made an impression on me. There was a painting where Roman Emperor Constantine kissed the feet of a priest. The tour guide was saying that Constantine dedicated his life for the church and the priest. I saw that Constantine was different. The tour guide continued to say that due to Constantine, he allowed priests to be seen greater than emperors and kings. This shows that kings would come upon God and bow down to God. We can see these prophecies were fulfilled.
Romans 10:13 “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Apostle Paul said this. What Jesus said as the most important thing, “Anyone who calls upon His name, they will be saved.” Times will come when people who believe in Christ, they will be put to shame before the world.
2) The power of the gospel
Verses 24-25 - I think this was well written. How can a weak person steal from a strong person? You lost from a war but how can the defeated liberate those who are held captives? This is impossible. But this is only possible for God.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” - The gospel has been taken from the world. No matter how successful or mighty you are, you cannot overcome the world. No one can overcome the gospel. What is the gospel? It is Christ. Those who hold onto the gospel, then the power of Christ will come upon you. The power of recreation will come upon you. The moment you receive the gospel, then the dead will rise up and come back to life.
Verse 25 - If you hold onto the gospel, then four problems will be solved in your life. The captives of the mighty will be freed. This is talking about being liberated from the hands of Satan. The prey of the terrible will be delivered. This is talking about the power of sin to be broken. I will save your children. All curses that will go to your descendants and future children, that will be broken. This is the power of the gospel. Whenever we hear the gospel at church, these works and answers will come upon us. The problems of our sins will be resolved.
3. The True Principle of the Church (Three Bartizans)
1) Only the gospel
We need to raise up the bartizan of the gospel. Only the gospel, only the gospel of Christ.
Verse 26 - When God destroyed Satan, there was a method that He used. God’s method that they fight against each other so that they implode upon themselves.
Judges 7:22 “When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.” - God makes it where the men of their own nations fight among themselves. If the Holy Spirit works, nothing is impossible. We can have complete victory in the gospel. The gospel is the Christ. If we hold onto only Christ, then all problems will be solved. If we enjoy only Christ, then the same works will come upon us. Why is that? Jesus is our Savior, redeemer, and almighty. He has delivered us from our curses as the Savior. He is our redeemer because He has saved us from our sins. Why is He the almighty? He has delivered us from our sins and the power of Satan. If we hold onto only the gospel, then we will have victory.
2) Only the covenant
Always hold onto Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” - Hold onto the Word of God. The Word of God is living and active. As I was listening to the WRC messages, I received a lot of grace. The Word of God that was living and active truly came upon me. I could feel the living and active word of God in my heart. I realized that the word of God is living and active. Whenever I proclaim the word, I wonder if the word becomes living and active? I am lacking but the word of God is living and active. Do you understand? Whenever our remnants and church officers share the gospel and people are saved, this is what it means that the word of God is living and active. This is because the word of God is living and active. When you hear the word of God, it becomes imprinted in your heart. It becomes imprinted in your brain and it starts moving your body. Your heart and soul are connected so you will be changed for your life eternally. That is why the word of God is able to penetrate into our minds, hearts, and body. Do you have a problem that you cannot solve? Take the word of God and pierce it into your mind, heart, and body. May the power of the word of God change your DNA and heal you.
3) Only prayer
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” - The reason why we give up our walk of faith and prayer is because we stop praying and are falling in despair. If we don’t fall into despair and discouragement, then when the time comes, then we will be able to reap fruit. Why is that? This is because Jesus is the Creator. We may be weak but Jesus possesses the power of creation. When we enter into prayer and hold onto the gospel then we will experience the word of God taking place in our lives.
How should we pray? Hold onto Isaiah 40:31 “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” - Look towards the Lord. Only Jesus possesses the answer to our problems. The only hope we have is in Christ alone. Don’t be discouraged but continue to pray. Then new strength will come upon us. May the power of the Holy Spirit come upon you.
Conclusion
Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” - The light of life and light of power is already upon you. Don’t hold onto yourself but shine the light of Christ. For the sake of God’s glory, pray.
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