Sermon #247                                                            Series: Isaiah

 

          Title:            Mourners In Zion Called to Rejoice

          Text:           Isaiah 66:10

          Readings:   Office: Mark Henson   Auditorium: Rex Bartley

          Subject:      Reasons for Joy Among God’s Saints

          Date:           Sunday Evening - September 15, 1996

          Tape #        S-93

 

          Introduction:                   Isaiah 66:10

 

          “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:"

 

          God has great regard for those who “mourn in Zion.” Our Lord Jesus speaks to souls who mourn over their sin, saying, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). He was specifically sent into this world "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3). But in our text the Lord God speaks to another class of mourners. These are men and women who mourn not for themselves but for others. These are people who mourn for Jerusalem, for the church and people of God. Those who love the church of God share her joys; and when she passes through the fires of persecution, the troublesome waters of discord, the deep valleys of spiritual declension, and the weary nights of heresy and darkness, they mourn for her.

 

          Whenever the church of God languishes, they languish. They carry in their hearts the care of the church and kingdom of God. Loving Christ they love his church; and loving the church they mourn for her when she is in trouble, just as a loving parent mourns for his child when the child is in trouble. Gracious souls bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Truly gracious souls mourn for Zion when Zion is languishing. They pray for the peace of Jerusalem (the church and kingdom of God {Ps. 122:6}), and mourn when that peace is disturbed. It is to you who mourn in Zion that our text is addressed. This is God’s word to you. “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:" The title of my message tonight is Mourners in Zion Called to Rejoice.

 

Proposition:       Though we have great cause to mourn for the church of God in her present condition, the Lord here assures us that we have reason rejoice for joy with her.

 

Divisions:           Three things are revealed in our text. I want us to look at each of them and prayerfully consider each of them. May God the Holy Spirit, who caused these words to be written in the Word of God by the hand of his prophet Isaiah, now inscribe these three facts upon each of our hearts by his grace.

1.     All who are born of God love his church.

2.     All who love the church of God have reason to mourn for her in these dark, dark days.

3.     All who mourn for God’s church have reason to rejoice and be glad with her.

 

I. Let me begin by showing you that ALL WHO ARE BORN OF GOD LOVE HIS CHURCH.

 

          The Lord God speaks in this text only to those who love his church. “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her.” The city of Jerusalem in the Old Testament represented the church and kingdom of God. Matthew Henry very properly wrote, “All that love God love Jerusalem; they love the church of God, and lay its interests very near their hearts. They admire the beauty of the church, take pleasure in communion with it, and heartily espouse its cause.” David certainly did.

 

Psalms 84:1-4  "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! (2) My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. (3) Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. (4) Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah."

 

Psalms 122  "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. (2) Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. (3) Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: (4) Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. (5) For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. (6) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (7) Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. (8) For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. (9) Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good."

 

          "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

 

·        I am glad there was a place to go.

·        I am glad someone asked me to go.

·        I am glad God gave me a will to go.

·        I am glad I had the ability to go.

·        I am glad I did go!

 

          The fact is, all who love God love his church. All who love Christ love the church which he purchased with his own blood. All who are indwelt by and love the Spirit of God love the church which is “a habitation of God through the Spirit.” I have said this before, and I say it again without the least fear of contradiction - The most important aspect of every believer’s life is the public assembly of God’s saints for worship. Here are seven reasons for that statement, seven reasons why all who love God love his church.

 

A.    This is the place where Christ has promised to meet with his people (Matt. 18:20).

 

B.    This is the place where his family meets.

 

C.   This is the place where his honor is maintained.

 

D.   This is the place where his glory is revealed. This is the temple of his presence (1 Cor. 3:16).

 

E.    This is the place where his Word is published.

 

F.    This is the place where his ordinances are upheld, practiced, and maintained.

 

G.   This is the house of God!

 

          Every true gospel church, every assembly of true believers for the worship of God might be rightly named Beth-El; for where God’s saints gather in Christ’s name, that is the house of God!

 

II. Secondly, I have to tell you that ALL WHO LOVE THE CHURCH OF GOD HAVE REASON TO MOURN FOR HER IN THESE DARK, DARK DAYS.

 

          This is not something that must be proved. You who love Christ and his church know it without me saying a word. I am not sent tonight to persuade you to mourn for Zion. I am sent with a word from God to “all ye that mourn for her.”

 

          I am not by nature of a morbid disposition. I am not a whiner. I am not a naturally morose, melancholy person. I am not given to depression. But I am a man with a heavy, heavy heart. I carry a burden in my soul constantly. There is in my heart a mourning that never lets up, never abates, never eases. I mourn for the church of God in this day. I cannot imagine living in a time when the care of the churches is greater and heavier than it is in this day. I know that none of you have exactly the same burden. You are not pastors, and must not be expected to sense things as I do, or to be as sensitive to things as I am and must be. Yet, I know that you, many of you, have the same concerns as I do. While we must not, and I trust we do not, despise the day of small things, we do sense that we are in a terrible mess in our day.

 

1 Peter 4:17  "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"

 

          I am sure that I do not understand the full implications of Peter’s words. But I do know this - In so far as the outward, visible church is concerned, it is obvious to anyone with even the slightest spiritual discernment that we are in trouble. Perilous times have come, not only in the world, but in the church! We have reason to mourn for Zion.

 

A. The most obvious reason for mourning is the departure of the professed church of Christ from the gospel of Christ.

 

          In these days churches where the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ was once proclaimed without compromise to the saving of men’s souls now poison the souls of men with the spiritually toxic waste of Arminian, free-will, works religion. Entire denominations which were once valiant for the truth have now departed from it altogether. And many who give lip-service to the truth of the gospel never bother to preach it! May God be pleased to revive the pulpits of the church in our day. So long as the pulpit is dead and reeks with the smell of dead works religion, there is no hope for the church. If there is any hope for our generation, there must be a return to the foundational truths of Holy Scripture.

 

1.     The Inspiration and Authority of the Word of God.

2.     The Glorious Sovereignty of Our God.

3.     The Utter Depravity of Man.

4.     The Unconditional Election of Grace.

5.     The Almighty, Effectual Atonement of Christ.

6.     The Irresistible Grace of the Holy spirit.

7.     The Infallible Security and Preservation of God’s Elect.

 

B. When the pulpit is weak ceremonialism is strong and the ordinances of the Lord’s house are perverted into idolatrous sacramentalism.

 

1.     Baptism is not a means of grace, but the confession of Christ.

2.     The Lord’s Supper is not a means of grace, but the remembrance of Christ through whom grace has come.

 

C. Another cause for grief and mourning is the increasing worldliness and spiritual declension of those who profess faith in Christ.

 

          Now I have come close to home. I am not talking now about people in other churches. I am talking to you who are dearest to me. I have very great concern for you. If I speak out of order, I beg your forgiveness. If what I have to say does not apply to you, there is no need to take offense. If it does not apply to you, it is not intended for you. If it does apply to you, take it to heart. These are the things I see, things for which I mourn, things for which my heart constantly cries out to God on your behalf. I am neither accusing nor condemning you. I am simply telling you what I see.

 

·        Too Much Love of the World.

·        Too Much Neglect of Worship.

·        Too Much Half-Heartedness in Worship.

·        Too Much Self-centeredness.

·        Too Little Love for One Another.

·        Too Much Evil Speaking.

·        Too Little Edifying Speech.

·        Too Little Concern for the Souls of Men.

·        Too Little Concern for the Furtherance of the Gospel

 

D. My soul mourns for the barrenness of the church’s womb in our day.

 

          I am fully aware that all around us churches are swelling everyday. I know that hundreds of thousands have this very day been brought into religion by slick soul-winners who have made them twofold more the children of hell than they were before. But where the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace is faithfully preached conversions are few in our day. Real, genuine conversions are few. I am not talking about one or two churches here and there. I travel the length and breadth of this country every year. I have preached in numerous foreign countries. I correspond with preachers and believers around the world. And I have to tell you that things are the same everywhere. Conversions are few in our day. That grieves me. I know that it grieves many of you as well.

 

          We have reason to mourn. Much more could be said. But enough has been said, I hope, to rouse our hearts and cause us together to cry out to God for mercy. But I will say no more about causes for mourning. I want to close my message with a better thought. In our text the Lord God calls for all who mourn for Zion to rejoice. “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:" If God calls us to rejoice, we may be assured of this last thing...

 

III. ALL WHO MOURN FOR GOD’S CHURCH HAVE REASON TO REJOICE AND BE GLAD WITH HER.

 

          In the text, the call for joy was given in the prospect of the Jews being delivered from Babylonian captivity. They were here called upon to rejoice, though their deliverance did not come until many years later. They were expected to rejoice in the hope of deliverance, believing that God would do as he had promised. I have shown that this prophecy had direct reference to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the accomplishment of redemption by him. Though that did not come to pass until hundreds of years later, God calls upon his people to rejoice in the prospect of it. Though their present circumstances were mournful, believing God they were expected to rejoice in the thing promised.

 

          Matthew Poole put it this way - “Faith being the evidence of things not seen, there is a rejoicing of hope, hope giving the soul a union with its object...These things were now present to believers who by faith called the things that were not as if they were, because they had security of a Divine revelation for them, and they were already existent in their necessary causes.” In other words, when God has given his word of promise, we are to so thoroughly trust him, to so completely believe him that we look upon his promise as already accomplished and rejoice in its fulfillment even while we wait for him to do what he has promised. That is called faith!

 

          In the light of that, let me show you that though we must mourn for God’s church in her present circumstances, we must never be despondent regarding her. While we lament our present condition, we must never despair of the success of Christ and his gospel. The battle is not ours, but the Lord’s. And he will win the day.

 

A.    God has not changed (Mal. 3:6).

 

B.    God’s purpose has not been and can never be frustrated (Rom. 3:3-4; 2 Tim. 2:19).

 

C.   The providence of God is still at work for us (Rom. 8:28-30).

 

D.   All God’s elect shall be saved (John 10:16).

 

          This is what I am telling you - God’s kingdom will come. God’s will will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. God’s name will be hallowed (sanctified) everywhere, by everything!

 

Application:        I can think of no better way to conclude this message than by directing your hearts to the very words of God our Savior.

 

1. Let us each mourn, lament, and repent of our own failures.

 

Revelation 2:5  "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

 

Revelation 2:16  "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth."

 

Revelation 3:2-3  "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. (3) Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

 

Revelation 3:20-22  "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (21) To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (22) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

 

2. Let us so thoroughly believe God that we rejoice together as we labor together for salvation of his elect and the glory of his name.

 

Psalms 126:5-6  "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. (6) He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

 

Ecclesiastes 11:1  "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days."

 

Isaiah 55:11  "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

 

1 Corinthians 15:58  "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

 

Galatians 6:9  "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."