(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, Isaiah chapter 60, there's really a couple of main themes I'm going to be touching on tonight. And the first one, you'll maybe notice this, maybe you didn't in the chapter, but there's multiple references to the contrast with light and darkness. And there's multiple verses here that are going to kind of talk about that, and later on we're going to see that, you know, there's going to be no more sun at this place and references to end times. And I believe that this whole chapter is a prophecy of the new Jerusalem, or the city of the Lord. And we're going to get into that in a minute, but I want you just to look down real quick on this concept of light and darkness. Verse number one says, arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Now, we're talking about the glory of the Lord. Glory means like shining or brightness. So when the glory of the Lord is coming upon something, it means that God is shining down. God's glory is emanating from him, is now lighting upon this place. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people. So when it's talking about gross darkness, that's going to be a darkness like that can be felt, is another place in the Bible that describes such a great darkness, darkness where you can't see anything, where you can practically feel the darkness, it's so dark. And it's talking about darkness covering the earth and a gross darkness the people. So the people are going to be walking and living in darkness. And then it says, but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And I think that darkness that's being referred to here is, of course, like, you know, at the end of days in the last times, when perilous times shall come, when the whole world's going to be walking in darkness and that the love of many is going to wax cold because sin is abounding. And the more you have sin abounding and more blindness, more people walking in darkness and in wickedness, and we know that that's the case right before Jesus Christ comes back, just like Matthew 24 says, as it was in the days of Lot, so shall be in the days of the Son of Man, as it was in the days of Noah. Again, so shall be in the days of the Son of Man comes back. What happened right before Noah got in the ark? The whole world was full of wickedness. Man's heart was just, you know, only evil continually. And God repented, they even made man and was just getting upset that all these things had happened and mankind had gotten so wicked that he decided just to destroy the earth and he saved Noah. He said Noah was a just man, just like the Bible says that Lot was a just man. Lot was taken out of Sodom right before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone out of heaven. And that place, we all know, was extremely wicked, was extremely dark. And when we're looking at this contrast between light and dark, you know, we got to think of, obviously, there's some truth to that physically, but mostly what the Bible is trying to teach here is spiritually, you know, spiritually dark places. People who are, you know, the more dark of a place there is, you think about not being able to see and people's actions when they're really wicked and just walking in darkness, you know, you're given to be able to do all manner of different things, especially when no one can see, no one knows what's going on, there's going to be confusion and a lot of wicked works are done in the cover, under the cover of darkness. But it's all the more important for those who are, what the Bible calls children of light, to let that light shine through the darkness, because if you think about this, no matter how dark this place gets, and in fact, the more dark this world gets, the more bright that that light that you have should be shining, you know, when it gets towards dusk, think about this, you have a flashlight in the daytime, you turn your flashlight on, it's really hard to see, right? You're just shining one more light when there's already an abundance of light. So that one light doesn't really have much of an impact. And then when it starts to get towards dusk, towards sunset, you turn that same light on, well, you can see a little bit better. As it darkens, that light becomes increasingly brighter in the darkness and you think about if you're just in an enclosed room, no windows, anything like that, middle of the night, no lights on, you turn that light on, that's going to illuminate as bright as it possibly can be. You're going to see the full effect of that light. We ought to, you know, and obviously, the more darker places, the more necessary that light is going to be so that you can at least show people, hey, if there's a whole, I mean, just imagine, like, this whole room is full of people and it's super dark and people are running into each other and, you know, people might be getting hurt and whatever, and then someone has one light, you know, some people might be going, hey, turn that light off, right, I don't want to see that, that's hurting my eyes. That hurts, I don't want that, you know, get that away from me. But other people are going, no, I want, you know, I want the light, I want to come to the light. And in the same sense, you know, we need to be preaching the truth of God's word because as the world becomes more dark and rejecting of God's word, the darkness is, you know, it's the exact opposite of the light. You know, Jesus Christ is a light, the ways of God are truth and light, and, you know, the more wicked people get, you know, the people who love their wickedness and their wicked deeds are going to want to walk in darkness, but we need to be all the more bold to be able to shine that light regardless of the wicked people who don't want you shining that light. And the Bible is talking about here that, you know, rise, shine for thy light is come. So notice there in that verse one, it says, arise, shine. So he's telling something or someone else to shine, and he said, why? Because your light has come. So you shine because your light has come. We shine, you know, we don't shine our own glory, our own brightness, we're like, wow, look how great I am. I'm going to stand up here and shine and everybody look at me. No, what we need to be shining is the light of the Lord, right? We're the vessel, we're the torch, we're the lamp, but the light that should be shining should be the light of Christ. So it's never about you to bring all the attention and like, your own glory, your own glowing. No, it's the Lord's. I mean, think about Moses. This is a real good example. When Moses was speaking with God on the mountain, we, you know, received the Ten Commandments, he's going communing with the Lord, spending a lot of time with God, he was really, really close with God. And he got so close with God and, you know, God has a glory, has a brightness, he's shining, right? And Moses is there speaking to him like a man speaks face to face. And when he came down from the mountain, his face was shining because he had been in the presence of God for so long to the point where he had to put a veil over his face because it kind of freaked out the people that his face was shining. Now, when his face was shining, was that just because of Moses' greatness and his own personal glory, like coming forth out of his body? No. It had received of the glory of God and was reflecting that glory that God had still. But because he spent so much time and was so close to the Lord, he was able to literally shine. And obviously, teaching, even a greater example for us, hey, you need to get, you want to shine in a dark world, get close to God, get really close to the Lord. And he's saying, hey, arise and shine, for thy light has come. And we live in a dark world, but as we get closer to the coming of Jesus Christ, we need to make sure that we're shining and make sure you're already close to Christ. So when he comes back, it will be a joyous occasion for you because you've already grown close to him and now it's just going to be like, oh, great, there you are. And it says, then glory of the Lord has risen upon thee, for behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, verse 2, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. God's glory is going to be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. And this is, you know, when the Bible is referring to Gentiles, it's referring to people who are not the people of God. Especially in the Old Testament, right? In the New Testament, we see, that's why Romans really goes into, in Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek, you know, there's neither Jew nor Gentile, and it makes a big deal to talk about how the Gentiles are able to be in Christ and that, you know, whatever God has cleansed, call not thou uncommon or unclean, and to not treat the Gentiles anything different. But the reason why is because they were different, because they were a different people. They were a people who didn't serve the Lord. That's who they were, especially in the Old Testament, that's how they're identified as. But this is talking about, hey, when that light is shining, it says, hey, arise, shine. Now he's talking about the Gentiles come to thy light. Gentiles are going to come to that light, and what we need to do is not be afraid when people are pointing out your light is shining in a dark world. Don't be afraid when someone's going, wow, can you believe this person's saying that, and they want to put a spotlight on you and put you out in the media or whatever and try to get a lot of people, maybe, and maybe they're doing it to get people to hate you, but here's the thing, there's going to be some people looking for that light, and if you could make it known, if other people make it known, hey, there's this light shining, then amen and amen, you give other people an opportunity to come to that light, because now they know, hey, there actually is light in this dark world. These people that have been trying to slander these churches that are standing up on the word of God and preaching what the Bible literally says to be true, they think they're going to cause damage to come, but there's other people out there that want the light, and I'm going to cover a lot more about this on Sunday when I kind of go over our four years of existence as a church, but there is a reason why we're growing as a church, there's a reason why we've been growing year after year after year, and it's not because I'm some awesome person, I'm the best speaker there's ever been, and it's not because of that at all, it's because the truth is here, the truth is in the word of God, we've got a whole group of people that love the truth and that are shining that truth, and people who care about the truth are coming and joining. The Gentiles, as it were, are coming to the light. And that's what happens, because the word of God is powerful. There's a power to change, power to save, power, you know, all power. It's not our own power, it's the power of Christ, it's the power of the light. Now, I mentioned this at the very beginning, too, I said there's two main themes, and we're going to get into light and darkness a little bit later, so this could come up multiple times, but as you read this, you keep on seeing these pronouns, you go thy, thee, thee, and you might be confused, going like, well, what is this talking about, like a rise, shine, because it sounds like you're speaking to a person, and sometimes it can be difficult reading the Bible, and you're kind of thinking, like, well, is this talking about God arising, it's talking about man arising, it's talking about Isaiah, like, who is this talking about, who is thy? You know, rise, shine, for thy light is come, your light is come, the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And then, you know, we keep on seeing that the Gentiles are gonna come to your light. Verse number four says, lift up thine eyes round about and see, all they gather themselves together, they come to see, thy son shall come from far, and thy daughter shall be nourished at thy side. So now it's talking about your sons and your daughters, like, who is this person? Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged. And that's kind of an odd statement, too, because you're thinking, like, is this talking about Christ? Well, if it's talking about Christ, Christ's heart isn't gonna fear. You know, you're thinking, like, who might this be? Well, when you jump down to verse number 14, we're gonna ultimately see, and we're gonna go, obviously, go back through all these verses, so pay attention as you go, but it finally gets spelled out in verse number 14, who is thou? Who is the, you know, who's a thee, who's a thy? That keeps on being spoken to and spoken about in this passage. Verse number 14 says, the sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. This is who it is, so as you go through this, now we'll go back through, and as you read it, think, oh, this is talking about the city of the Lord. This is talking about Zion. Now it's gonna make a lot of sense when we go through this, when you start remembering, okay, this is a city that's being referred to. It's not one individual, it's not, because if it's an individual, you're thinking, like, well, who could this be? Your sons and your daughters? I mean, that's not talking about Isaiah. It's not talking about Christ. I mean, even if you say spiritual sons and daughters, we're just saying, well, your heart's gonna fear. It's not talking about God, it's talking about the city. And now when we read that, it actually makes perfect sense. So he's saying to the city, and this is why I believe, this is gonna happen at the end times. We're gonna see other, at the end of the sermon, we're gonna go through Revelation chapter 21, and we're gonna see all the similarities between this passage and when the Bible talks about the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven, and we're gonna see how many times there's so much similarities going back and forth that that's what I think that this passage is prophesying about. It obviously brings up the city of the Lord in Zion. We also know just by reading the Bible in general context that God doesn't care about some literal physical plot of earth as much as he cares about the place where he's gonna put his name. That place can change. It's not about some, it's not like he loves the sand more in that physical location on the earth, or whatever is growing there. It's a place where his name is. It's a place of, like that's the place of the Lord. And that's what's being referred to here. And actually, the place of the Lord, the heavenly city, it's a heavenly city, it's a city of Jerusalem that's gonna come down out of heaven. It's not even the physical aspect of it being here on earth although it is going to come down earth. We'll see that a little bit later. But now, let's reread some of these verses with that in mind. Now we're thinking about a city. Arise, shine. So a city could shine. Right, you got a righteous city? Let's say he's gonna shine. Right, no man, when you set a city on the hill, it's to be seen, it's not to be hidden, right? And this city is supposed to shine. That light has come. So the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. So God's gonna come to this city. And we know that Jesus Christ is gonna be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem, literally from Zion. And he is going to bring his glory into that city. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth. And we know about this. The world's gonna be a real dark place before Christ comes back, before he sets up millennial reign, and before then the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. And his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. So we know that during the millennial reign of Christ, all the nations of the earth, the kings, the other foreigners, they're gonna be coming unto that holy city and every knee is gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of the glory of God the Father. So we're gonna see that happen as well. This matches up perfectly with what we're reading here. Verse number four, lift up thine eyes round about and see all they gather themselves together. They shall come to thee. Thy son shall come from far. So thy sons are gonna be the native people of that city that have been dispersed, the people of God. This is God's city who belong in this place that have been spread abroad in the earth before. And now we're gonna come back home, as it were, to be with God. Says all they gather themselves together, they come to see, thy sons shall come from far and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. You know, being nursed at thy side, that's comforting. That's a picture of comfort of his children coming back home to be in that city at home. Verse number five, then thou shalt see and flow together and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. So basically, when we're talking about the city fearing, it's not like this total like trembling, shaking type of a fear. It's just gonna be this, I think, the shock of how many people, the multitudes of people that are gonna be coming in unto the city, and again, it's personifying a city. So the fear here, that heart shall fear, it's just because, man, you see all these people, it's kinda like, whoa, where are all these people coming from, that heart shall fear, but also it says, and be enlarged, right? So hearts could be enlarged, wow, it's a great thing. It's not like a terrifying thing, when it's talking about the fear there. Because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee and the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee the multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. And I mean, this is talking about a glorious time where all the people of the earth are gonna be bringing in their goods, bringing in their valuables, there's gonna be all of these blessings just coming into the city of the Lord. Verse number seven, all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaios shall minister unto thee, they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee, glorifying the city. So these people are gonna be a great homecoming with all kinds of riches, all kinds of joy, coming back into the city. I mean, there's so many ways these keep on stating basically the same thing that's going on, but we see this big picture of how grand this is going to be. Verse 10, and the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls. So the sons of strangers, right, the foreigners, and what this is, this is the contrast between the people who had broken down the walls, physically speaking, earlier on, the people who trampled underfoot the city of God and would chase the people of God and go hunt down the people of God and try to destroy the things of God and destroy the city of God from all the places. It's essentially saying, hey, now the strangers, they're gonna be the ones building it up. They're gonna be building up the walls, and their king shall minister unto thee. They're gonna be your servant now, for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. And it's true, in the past, God had to bring his wrath down. We're going through, obviously, the book of Isaiah, which he's physically bringing judgment down upon the city of Jerusalem, upon Judah, when they're gonna go captive. It has been prophesied quite a bit in the book of Isaiah, still to come, but that punishment, ultimately it was only gonna be temporarily, and he said, yeah, I smote you, but I've had mercy on you, and then the people of God are gonna come back. So, and here's the thing, with a lot of the prophecies in the Old Testament, I've mentioned this before, you could usually find multiple applications on how these prophetic events are being spoken here. It's usually not just any one thing, and even as I've already been saying, I said that the city, either they was talking about New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, however, there's aspects that seem very, to line up with Jesus Christ's millennial reign, which happens before the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, and that's a time, though, where he's ruling and reigning, and I think this kind of describes all of that, which is why at the beginning, we're starting to see those types of similarities of Jesus Christ ruling and reigning, and then near the end of this passage, where we're gonna see the symbolism much more clearly on the heavenly Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, but also, in the short term, you have the people of God being removed and judgment coming before being brought back in and everything being rebuilt, right? The rebuilding of Jerusalem, the walls being built and things like that, so I think this has more to do prophetically than in the long term than in the short term, however, there's gonna be applications throughout all of this that are gonna be applicable at different levels in time, and that's what I believe. I think the Bible works that way, and we can see that, especially when you start lining it up with other scriptures. We can see that it's very clearly in many places talking about some other events, so let's keep reading here. Verse number 11, therefore, thy gates shall be opened continually. They shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles and that their kings may be brought, and that also signifies how safe this place is. You'll be able to see that a little bit later as well, but when the gates don't need to be closed at all, normally you close the gates because hey, it's time, bad things happen at night. You don't want people sneaking in and creeping in and the bad people getting in and doing bad things, so the walls being closed at night was for protection. You don't want enemies coming in and doing a sneak attack. They can't tell. The gates are open. Doesn't matter, day or night, the gates are gonna be wide open because there's no fear at all. There's gonna be total safety in this place, and even the forces of the Gentiles, right? Doesn't matter, come on in. There's gonna be no fear. They're not gonna have any power to do anything in this place, in this city at all, and in fact, they're gonna be coming in to serve, not for ill intent. Verse number 12, for the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. So you're saying yeah, the gates are gonna be open because anyone who's not gonna serve you, they're gonna be destroyed, and the Bible talks about Jesus Christ when he comes back to rule and reign on this earth, he's gonna rule with a rod of iron, and we can't forget that, right? I mean, you want to understand Jesus. You want to know Jesus more. You want to get close to him. Don't fall for the teddy bear Jesus that's like real soft and cushy that has nothing ever to say that might sound a little mean. Honestly, because that's not the real Jesus. Now look, is Jesus loving and comforting? Absolutely, I mean, more so than anybody, right? I mean, a great place. We could boldly come unto the throne of grace. We could go to our Lord and Savior, and as a child of God and as a brother through his blood, through his sacrifice, through Christ, I mean, how awesome is that, that he's not ashamed to call us brethren, like to have that closeness with him. All of those things are true and great, and I love thinking about those things, but at the same time, don't overlook the passages that say he's gonna be ruling with a rod of iron, because a rod of iron is rigid. It doesn't bend. It doesn't break. It's not gonna be flexible of going, well, you know, I mean, I know the law said this, but, you know, we'll just look the other way. It'll be all right, don't worry, I'm in charge. No, no, I mean, it's gonna be, this is the law, the land, and it doesn't mean that Jesus is a jerk. It just means he's gonna be firm, and there's gonna be a law, and it is the law, and it means, when there's a law, it means there's a law. I don't even know how else to say it. There's a law for a reason, and when people are guilty, they will get the punishment that's due to them. It doesn't bend. And Jesus is the same way now as he will be when he reigns. There is no bending of the rules with salvation. There were no rules bent for you to be saved, for you to be forgiven. You say, well, then how can people be forgiven? I mean, doesn't God just forget about your sins? The only reason God is even able to forget about your sins is because they've been paid for. God just didn't look the other way and say, all right, I'll forgive you, I'll let you in. It was Jesus Christ took your sins on the cross. He took them, and the law was meted out, and punishment was given to Jesus Christ, and they were paid for in full. 100%, the full ramification and impact of the law came down upon Christ for your sins. That even gives us the opportunity for those sins to be pardoned. They're pardoned for you because they were paid for by someone else. It wasn't a free pardon out of nowhere. It was already paid. So don't think that it's a bending or flexibility of the law with God. It's not, it never has been. I mean, otherwise, why would the Bible say, you know, every idle word that men shall speak shall be brought up to, you know, when you're facing God, you're gonna have to answer for everything, at least if you're not saved. Because every idle word that we've spoken and we've done and all the sins that we've committed and everything else, we can say, hey, Christ paid for all that already. Christ paid for every single one of it, but those are the people who don't have Christ, every single thing. There's no flexibility there. It's rigid. And that's who Jesus is, and that's how he's gonna rule and reign. And people think that like, you know, people hate and hate and hate how much we, you know, talk about the capital punishment crimes and stuff from the Bible, whether it be sodomy or adultery or any of these crimes, or like Jesus himself said, you know, who shall curse at the father and mother shall die the death. That's Jesus quoting the Old Testament law. He wasn't getting rid of the death penalty. Yeah, right. What law do you think he's gonna rule and reign by when he reigns on his earth? It's the law of God. Why is he gonna make up new laws? We say, look, we already have a law. This is the law, the law is good. I'm not gonna come up with a new set of laws. I don't need a new set of laws. We're bringing back, yeah. The Bible says the law of the law is perfect, converting the soul, but if it's perfect, you're gonna make another revision or an improvement? No, no. There's gonna be no need for any other law. That's what he's gonna be ruling and reign by. You know, and people who don't like it can lump it because, you know what, because if you're not gonna serve, you're gonna perish. That's it. Well, I don't like that, that sounds like a dictator. That's not like, okay. You don't have, then perish. There's your choice. I don't believe in a God like that. Well, then you don't believe in a God, in the true God. Not just the God of the Bible, yes, but just the real God that exists. You can accept it, and look, God's loving. Try loving God. The nation and kingdom will not serve thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. Verse number 13, the glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. The fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. Now, this is a pretty interesting statement. I'm gonna take a segue from what we're looking at here. Keep your place in Jeremiah 60, or excuse me, in Isaiah 60. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 10. I just wanna cover this real quick, and it's kind of an odd time to cover this because we're right in the middle of summer. We're exact opposite time of Christmas, but I wanna make this point. Because I think this is convincing. There was a time early on in my Christian life where I'd seen a lot of stuff about Christmas trees, being pagan, and all this other stuff, and I was kinda on the fence not knowing, man, I don't know if I should even have anything to do with Christmas trees and stuff. I knew I was already against Santa Claus and all this other stuff. Obviously, the commercialization of Christmas and everything is not good, and other pagan practices being brought in are not good, just different things. It's like, look, I don't wanna do that stuff. I wanna serve the Lord righteously. And what people turn to is Jeremiah chapter 10 to show you, try to show you, that this is talking about Christmas trees, and Christmas trees are evil and wicked, and you should have nothing to do with them, okay? And when you read it, and especially for, you know, if you don't read your Bible a whole lot, and someone points this out to you, and they just read a few verses, it is kind of interesting that some of the words used line up with famous songs about Christmas and about the Christmas tree, right? So it kind of sticks even more in your head going like, wow, they use the word deck. I mean, the only reason why anyone here knows the word deck is like, deck the halls with boughs of holly, right? Like, wow, this must be talking about Christmas. No, it's just an older word that's just not used today, except you know it because it's in that song. But let's read this. So Jeremiah 10, look at verse number one. The Bible says, hear you the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them. Now look, amen and amen. We shouldn't be learning the way of the heathen and trying to do everything that the heathen does and the practices that the heathen do. And specifically what it's talking about here, learning the way of the heathen, it's talking about the astrologers and prognosticators, and they're looking at the signs in heaven and saying, oh, you know what the heathen does that? Don't do that. And you know, I've been contacted by people trying to tell me that Jesus is coming back and they know the dates and they've studied it out because it all has to do with how the stars line up and the planets and this happened, and you know, it's like, you know what? Learn not the way of the heathen. Don't be dismayed at the signs of heaven. But in any case, I don't wanna digress that direction. Just keep reading here, verse number three. For the customs of the people are vain. Okay, the customs of the people are vain. What are those customs? Gonna say it right here. One cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe. Okay, talking about chopping down a Christmas tree, right? Verse four, they deck it with silver and with gold. Well, I mean, there you go. What else, you don't even need to read any further, because you said, I mean, it's like decking the halls, right? And it's silver and gold. I mean, I saw that Christmas cartoon. Silver and gold, silver and gold. I don't know any more of the words of that song, but I just remember that part. It's like Frosty the Snowman or something, right? So it's kinda like, well, I mean, this must be talking about Christmas. It must be. Says they deck it with silver and gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not. I mean, who wants their Christmas tree moving around at home, right? I mean, there's water underneath. You don't want it tipping over. It makes a big mess. They're upright as the palm tree, but speak not. They must need to be born because they cannot go. Be not, wait, be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. I don't know anyone who's afraid of the Christmas tree, but anyways. So look, if you believe that it's all about Christmas trees, I'm not mad at you and I don't even care. Honestly, like I don't really care that much. And if you don't ever have a Christmas tree in your house, great. Good for you. But here's what I'm gonna say. Don't call people wicked that have a Christmas tree in their house if you're gonna use this verse to support it. And here's why. Okay, now look, if you have other reasons why you think it's wrong, fine. Okay, and am I even gonna necessarily just say that it's wrong out of hand? But if this is gonna be the passage that you use to tell me that it's wrong to have a tree in my house that I decorate celebrating the birth of Christ and just having it up for fun and for festivity in my house, whatever, if it's this verse, this is not talking about a Christmas tree. As we take this, especially in context here, but even just the context I just read, what was the way of the heathen and what do we see over and over again, especially in Jeremiah? Jeremiah's a book where it's talking about the sins of Israel, the sins of Judah, very similar to Isaiah, similar timeframe, right before they're taken captive because the children of Israel turned from the Lord unto idols. And when you look up all the passages that talk about idolatry and how the Bible talks about idolatry, then you're gonna start to realize, you know what, when it talks about a tree being cut out of a forest, it's not about because it's used, the wood is used to make an idol. And then when you deck it with silver and gold, they overlay that wood with silver and gold. The carvings then are made to make a golden or a silver idol, which is why they fasten it with nails and hammers so it doesn't move, and how many times between the Bible it's talking about, look, they can't see, they're deaf, they're dumb, they're blind. Even in Jeremiah, you see this, in the context of Jeremiah, talking about the idol, and then, which is also why in verse five it says, don't be afraid of them, because it's not talking about going to someone's house and being afraid of the Christmas tree and being like, man, I don't wanna, that thing's creepy, that's spooky or something, or some demon's gonna come out of it. That's not why you're gonna be afraid of it, because it's not talking about that. It's talking about don't be afraid of the idol because it can't do anything because it's not a real god. Because people are bowing down and worshiping these graven images that they've built with their own hands, the work of their own hands, they've cut down a tree, they carved it, they overlaid it with gold and silver, but it can't do anything. So if someone's gonna tell you, oh, don't disrespect Joe Boo or whatever, nothing bad is gonna happen. You don't need to worry about it. I know they make movies about this stuff and try to make a joke out of it, but the real thing is Joe Boo can go to hell because Joe Boo isn't real, and nothing bad is gonna happen to me for saying that ever. Yeah. You have no reason to be afraid of it. Don't be superstitious with fake gods. Don't be superstitious just because people might revere Buddha or some idol or some statue of Mary or something. If you're out and about and for some reason you knock into some statue of Mary and it falls down and breaks into a million pieces on the ground and people are freaking out about it going like, God's gonna be so angry. No, he's not. Some stone statue is broken. God's probably gonna be happy. Yeah, yes, yes, one less idol. Great. You don't have to worry about that. So this is what Jeremiah 10 is talking about. This is what it's talking about. Talking about idolatry. It's not talking about a Christmas tree because honestly the tradition of having a Christmas tree isn't even like super old. I doubt it goes back to this time. It's a newer thing and even if it wasn't, I don't care. But here's what I wanna point out. So go back to Isaiah. Say, well, why would you even bring a tree in your house anyways, huh? Why would you even do that? Isn't that just weird? I could see where you might say that. But I mean, it looks like we've got some trees in here. Now, granted, these ones aren't real. But does it matter if it's a pine versus whatever this is supposed to be? I don't know what that's supposed to be or whatever that one's supposed to be. Does it really matter? I mean, is it like, well, the pine tree's evil. There's a fact that you put a decoration on it or lights. That's what makes it evil. No. Well, how are they talking about here in the city of the Lord about God's place in his sanctuary being beautified? Look at verse number 13 again. The glory of Lebanon. Lebanon was famous for its trees. That's, I mean, that's like the big thing. Just like the Ophir is known for its gold, Lebanon is known for its trees. That's where Solomon and David were getting all their trees from to build the house of the Lord and to build their house, you know, the Solomon's house and all this other stuff. I mean, they're making these deals because they want the best. They're getting that wood from Lebanon, man. And all throughout scripture, you're gonna see that. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. So what is it talking about? Their trees. The fir tree. The pine tree. Wow, imagine that. It actually literally says the pine tree. And fir, Douglas fir, you know, is another very common Christmas item. You think this comes from nowhere in the box. Again, in the box, it's all about a box tree. That's not talking about Boxing Day. It's talking about the box tree. To beautify the place of my sanctuary. God's endorsing fir trees and pine trees being brought in to make the place a little more beautiful. So what's the big deal about bringing in a tree into your house when you're celebrating the birth of Christ to make your house a little bit more festive and beautiful? If it's okay for the sanctuary of the Lord, is it not okay for us? That's what I gotta say. This is where I stand on this. So I don't care. And like I said, look, if you think it's a sin, don't do it. I'm not saying this to try to get people to go against their conscience and what they really believe. If you really think that it's wicked and wrong, then don't do it. I'm just saying it's not a big deal. It shouldn't matter either way. I don't care whether you do or you don't. It means nothing to me. But don't go judging other people for doing this. I mean, if you could present a solid argument, not using Jeremiah 10, because that is not talking about Christmas trees, be my guest. I mean, I'm open. I'm open to hearing why. But I've heard a lot of arguments already. Like I told you already before, I was on the fence of this a long time ago. But then I got a little bit more understanding and realized there's nothing wrong with it. Anyhow, let's keep reading through Isaiah. That's kind of a totally separate, we're talking about the city of the Lord. But this is the first verse that kind of gets into now how God is gonna be beautifying the city. And we're gonna see some other statements that are made too of the glory of the house of the Lord. In verse number 14, where we read this already, but the sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee. The people who were your enemies, now they're gonna be your servants. The people who were in charge, the people who were considered the ones that were gonna be the enemies and always holding you under their feet and the Christians as being persecuted by. Well, now that things have turned, the tables have changed, right? And they're gonna be the ones serving. And all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet. And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. So people have had despite unto the place of God because it was supposed to be the city of God. People who hated God wanted to destroy the city of God. They wanted to raise it and tear it to the ground. Now those same people that had that type of intent, they're gonna be praising the city of the Lord. Verse 15, whereas thou has been forsaken and hated so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. So you're saying where in the past, you've been just forsaken and hated where people don't even wanna go there. Like you're just a byword. Just no one even wants to go there anymore. It's destroyed, it's filthy, whatever. And God's saying, you know what? No, now you're gonna have an eternal excellency. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles. So sucking the milk of the Gentiles means you're receiving nourishment. You're receiving blessing from the Gentiles, right? And shalt suck the breast of kings. And thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. And look at verse 17. This is further just talking about how magnificent this place is gonna be. For brass, I will bring gold. And for iron, I will bring silver. And for wood, brass. And for stones, iron. So he's talking about these elements, right? These things that anything that you would use in the building or in the beautification, he's going up to the next level of going, oh yeah, where you would normally be using brass, we're using gold. Much more valuable. So anytime where people are gonna say, oh yeah, this would look really nice, but we can't really afford to make it look nice, we'll use some brass. Say hey, anywhere you're gonna use brass, we're using gold. Anywhere you're gonna use iron, we're using silver, right? Because of the, just the, because God is bringing it. And he's saying that's how much blessing is gonna be on that city. It also, we're gonna see here in a little bit, you know, remember, we'll read this in Revelation 21. Streets are gonna be paved with gold. God doesn't care about the money, but here's the thing, it's gonna be a very beautiful place. I will also make thy officers peace. Wow, a place that will literally have peace officers. Unlike today. We have a lot of police. But no true peace officers, you know, there used to be such a thing as peace officers. In a more righteous day, just in general. I'm not saying that people are always perfect or anything, anyone was ever perfect, for that matter. But having peace officers, people wanting to keep the peace, amen. I wish we had more of that. But this is what's gonna, this is the way it's gonna be in Jerusalem. Peace, the officers are gonna be officers of peace. And thine exacters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land. Safety, no one being violated. Wasting nor destruction within thy borders. Everything's gonna be running and operating perfectly. But thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. Wow, what a place to wanna be inside. Salvation and praise. Verse 19, the sun shall be no more thy light by day. And this is where we really get heavy into the illustration or the prophecy, I believe, of the New Jerusalem. I mean, we were talking about the sun shall be no more thy light by day. Like this isn't talking about any other time in history. This isn't talking about a domed building that the light can't shine through. So you're gonna have like some artificial light inside. It's not talking about some modern technology. It's talking about when the New Jerusalem comes down and there's a new heaven and new earth. 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 in thy God, thy glory. Now, I do believe that physically this will be true. But I think the reason why it's even stated in scriptures has way more importance on the spiritual aspect of it. That there's gonna be no more sin. There's gonna be only light. That there's gonna be no darkness because God is there. God is in your presence and the people of God are gonna be occupying the city who are born again and they'll have new glorified bodies and there's no more sin. So that's why this place is gonna be so awesome. So it'll be filled with people who don't sin and God's gonna be in the midst. So there's no opportunity for darkness at all. It's not like you're even far away from the Lord. Hey man, everything is lit up. Everything's illuminated. And from us, spiritually speaking, how much wisdom and knowledge and understanding we're gonna receive because we're gonna be so close to God. And just as Moses was so close to God, he was actually, the glory of the Lord shone upon him. I believe that's gonna be the way it is for everybody in the new Jerusalem. Verse 20, thy son shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thy everlasting light and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. No more sadness, no more grief. Thy people also shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever. The branch of my planting, the work of my hands that I may be glorified. God's glory is gonna come through his people receiving the land forever. Why? Because all throughout history, the evil has been persecuting the good. The darkness has been trying to persecute and go after the light and keeping the light down and keeping the children of God down. And people just want to be left alone. You want to do what's right, you want to serve God and have had their stuff taken from them. And they haven't been able to, many people haven't been able to be successful, prosper or anything, why? Because there's wicked people out there doing wicked things, stealing, hurting, saying all manner of evil against you falsely, getting you cast into prison, all these bad things. You know what, it's gonna bring God a lot of glory when all of that stuff is completely turned on its head and the righteous are all living in there. And then, you know what, you'll be able to flourish. I mean, just imagine living in a time where you can just enjoy the fruit of your own labor with nobody coming in and taking it from you at all. No government taking any, you know, like, you don't have to worry about people trying to rip you off, deceive you, anything. It's great. Sounds like heaven. Verse 22, a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time. Flip over to Revelation 21, we're almost done. I'm just gonna read through this a lot more quickly than I was planning on, but I just want you to see, I mean, it's one thing to say it, but let's kinda look at some of the things that come up about the new heaven and new earth and hopefully remember some of the passages that we were just reading in Isaiah chapter 60. Verse number one, Revelation 21, the Bible says, and I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. Amen. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. Isn't that what we just got done reading about in Isaiah, that there's gonna be no more mourning? It says that in the days of thy mourning shall be ended. In verse number 20 of Isaiah 60, the Bible says in verse five, and he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done. And I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give a name that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcome shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Remember, this is gonna be a place of safety. Why? Because all of these people are gonna be thrown in the lake of fire. And because the people who are left are no longer sinners. There's no more sin there, it's not allowed. There's no wiggle room. Because those that aren't gonna serve are gonna perish. Remember, I read that in Isaiah chapter 60. Verse number nine, and there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying, come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. And this couldn't be more clear. Wow, we're finally gonna understand who is the bride, who is the lamb's wife. And I've covered this in sermons in the past. But verse number 10, it says, and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Now, notice, he didn't say, we're the bride, right? It's us, we're the bride. No, he says, look, it's over there. Now, wasn't John saved? Yeah. So, yeah, it's over there. There's the bride. And if it's a city coming down from heaven, look, other people are, like, around, and here comes this city coming down. That's the bride. It's the heavenly Jerusalem. I don't know, I mean, I've heard the verses where people try to say, well, the church is the bride, the church is the bride, the church is the bride. But nowhere does the Bible say that the church is the bride of Christ. Nowhere, nowhere. But there actually is a verse, literally, specifically right here, that says, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife, and he showed me, verse 10, that great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. Okay, well, I'm gonna keep moving on, because, to me, it's like, I guess I'll just accept the word of God, and say the holy Jerusalem is the bride. Verse 11, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and had a wall great and high, and had 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels, and the names written thereon, which are the names of the 12 tribes of children of Israel, on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates, and the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Now, well, we'll get to the gates in a little bit here. There's another reference to the gates. We'll get to that in a minute. Verse number 15, and he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof, and the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth, and he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, the length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal, and he measured the wall thereof, and 144 cubits according to the measure of a man that is of the angel. The building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass, and the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third a chalcedony, the fourth an emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth a topaz, the 10th a chrysoprosus, the 11th a jacinth, and the 12th an amethyst. Again, we could go into all the symbolism with that in itself, I'm not gonna do that tonight, but just the beauty of it, all this great beauty. God's not holding back, just like we saw in Isaiah chapter 60, where you were gonna use iron, we're using silver, just beautifying the place. Verse 21 says, in the 12 gates, or 12 pearls, every several gate of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. God's streets are paved with gold. He didn't care about the gold, but it's also beautiful. You know, and if that's the lowest part of the city is made of gold, what a great place to be, you know, what a great place to live in, and to dwell in, and to be in. And we don't see any references of gates being opened or closed, but Isaiah chapter 60 said the gates were always gonna be open, so I believe that. Obviously, Isaiah 60's talking about a place that has gates, well, the New Jerusalem has gates, too. They're gates made of pearls, pearly gates, right? But they're always open. Verse 22, and I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it, and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of the Lord did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Now, this alone just matches up perfectly with Isaiah chapter 60, obviously talking about the same event. Now, I do think Isaiah 60, as I mentioned before, isn't only talking about this one event, but by the time we get down to that portion of scripture near the end, it is referring to this. I think it covers much more of a time span than just Revelation 21, but nevertheless, this is undeniable, this must be, Isaiah 60, in that passage, must be talking about the same event, because not having the sun, not needing the sun for the light, I mean, how many times did it happen, right? Verse 24, and the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it, we've seen this multiple times. That's why the children are gonna be nursing at the breasts of kings, and that the Gentiles are gonna be providing for the city and bringing in all their abundance and glory and honor. It says, and the gates of it, there we go, shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. If there's no night, it's always day, and the gates are always open during the day, guess what, they're not gonna be shut. I forgot about that reference, that reference is there too, so another tie-in with the gates not being shut. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. You know what they're just telling me? No one that even makes, no one that even tells a lie is gonna be there, and it's contrasting that with, well, those are written in the Lamb's book of life, so the saved are there, which means that the saved won't ever tell a lie at this point. Never gonna sin, because we won't have the sinful flesh. New man, new creature, all things new, living in a perfect new holy Jerusalem, which is where our minds need to be focused on in this life, because we're not there yet. Behold, there cometh a day of rest. The rest hasn't come yet. There is a rest coming to the people of God. You get there by faith, that's how you become a child of God, that's how you know that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. And one day we'll get to enjoy that perfect time and perfect place, dwelling with the Lord. And it's, I mean, it's gonna be so, light, to me, in my mind, light and goodness are like equal, so much goodness, so much virtue, so much light, so much light you don't even need the sun. What a place, I can't, it's hard to even imagine a place like that. Nobody's sinning, nobody. I mean, I love my family, but guess what, my family's a bunch of sinners. There's turmoil and stress and things going on, and look, I love them, right, I love them, and look, I'm a sinner. I cause some of the problems, stress at home. But just imagine the peace, the perfect peace of not having any sinners anywhere, but still having people. I mean, if you try to imagine that today, it's like, well, there's nobody then. We're all sinners. Someone's gonna screw it up. I mean, try to see how long you can go before someone screws up the peace, of living in peace with nobody sinning, right? It's not gonna last that long. But this time is just gonna be so awesome and so precious. Yeah, we oughta be remembering that. Anyhow, let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. Thank you so much for the awesomeness of your word. Thank you for providing for us. Thank you for the great things that come. God, it's exciting just to think about what that place will be like. It's fun to ponder on that, Lord. Thank you for all that you've done. Thank you for giving us that opportunity to be with you. In the future, and being able to dwell in the holy city, that the entrance to that place has bought and paid for and given to us for free. Lord, thank you for that. That's amazing. None of us here deserve that, but Lord, we love you for it. We do, we love you for it. We thank you for it, and we wanna show you our gratitude by serving you and trying to bring other people into that place so that your place may be filled, your house may be filled, dear Lord. I pray that you please help us in our endeavor to shine our lights, dear Lord. No matter how dark this world gets, help us to continue to shine, continue to serve you, and to do what's right. And God, we love you. We thank you for all that you do, and it's in Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.