Well, if you would, let's open up our Bibles once more to Isaiah chapter 55.
And this is our last week, believe it or not, here in this chapter.
For six weeks, six weeks we've been in this chapter, Isaiah chapter 55, sitting under these words.
And I hope that you have been as encouraged as I have from these words here in Isaiah.
And so this morning we're going to be in verses 12 and 13 this morning.
Isaiah 55 verses 12 and 13.
And would you please just follow along with me as I read.
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing.
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress.
Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle.
And it shall make a name for the Lord.
An everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Amen.
Let's pray together once more.
Lord, we thank you for your unfailing word.
This promise of hope that you've given us.
And we pray now as we unpack it.
As we bring this chapter of Isaiah to a close.
Lord, that you would bring your word down from heaven to earth.
Into fertile soil in our hearts this morning.
We pray.
In Christ's name.
Amen.
Well, have you ever noticed that some of the most religious people in the world are sports fans?
They may or may not believe in God.
But when it comes to their favorite team, the way that they talk, the way that they act,
the way that they believe, the way that they celebrate can only be described as religious.
And, of course, the sports world is filled with language of blessing and cursing.
Religious rituals and superstition.
Especially this language of cursing.
Sports fans in the room, you may be familiar with the curse of the Bambino.
Have you heard of this?
Babe Ruth, he played for the Red Sox but was sold away to the New York Yankees.
Where, of course, he made himself a baseball legend.
And the Red Sox then went 86 years before the curse was finally broken and they finally won the World Series.
That's the curse of the Bambino.
A little bit deeper in the archives is the Billy Goat Curse.
I wonder if anybody's familiar with that one.
The Billy Goat Curse was allegedly placed on the Chicago Cubs by a man named William Sianis,
who owned the Billy Goat Tavern in downtown Chicago.
And I guess as a way to advertise the Billy Goat Tavern,
he would bring his goat, Murphy, to the baseball games.
Well, in game four of the 1945 World Series,
apparently Murphy the goat was disturbing some of the fans.
And so Murphy and William both were asked to leave.
And as the story goes, on his way out,
William Sianis shouted out for all to hear these hateful words,
Them Cubs ain't gonna win no more.
A curse had been pronounced.
Those who heard those dreadful words interpreted it to mean
that as long as William Sianis lived,
the Chicago Cubs would never again win another National League pennant.
As, again, sports historians would know,
the Cubs lost the series that year,
and they would not return to the World Series until 2016,
when they finally defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers
and finally won the National League pennant.
Get this, on the 46th anniversary of William Sianis' death.
After 71 years, the curse was finally broken,
and the Chicago Cubs went on to win their first World Series
in 108 years of losing.
Now, I'm a Braves fan myself,
so I don't know what it's like to lose for that long,
that consistently, to go that long without winning,
but you can put yourself in their shoes
and imagine the joy and the relief
and the triumph of every individual player for the Chicago Cubs,
but not just every individual player of that entire city of Chicago
as the curse was finally broken,
their hope has finally been manifested,
everything they've waited for is finally here,
the curse was gone,
now they finally get to rest and rejoice.
Why in the world am I talking about this this morning?
It's because, as we bring our time to a close
in Isaiah chapter 55 this morning,
what we see in these two verses at the end of chapter 55
is our future hope.
What we see in these two verses is the triumphant reversal of a curse,
but this is no superstition.
This is the certain, sure promise of the unfailing Word of God
for any who come to Him.
Church, I would just remind you this morning
that our certain hope,
what we live in light of every day
is that one day Christ will come.
One day Christ will return.
And all that was broken,
all that was lost,
everything that's been twisted and marred
and ruined by the curse of sin
will one day be undone.
And all who know the Lord will rejoice
and rest and know peace.
That's the certain hope of the gospel.
And as Christians, again,
we ought to live every day
in light of that coming day.
That's our hope.
And so this morning,
in our conclusion to this chapter of Isaiah,
I want to remind us of three parts
of our hope this morning.
Three parts of our hope,
and this will be our outline this morning,
three parts of our hope
that we see here in Isaiah 55, verses 12 and 13.
Rescue from exile,
redemption of creation,
and the reversal of the curse.
Three R's, three parts of our hope.
Rescue from exile,
redemption of creation,
and reversal of the curse of sin.
First, we are trusting the promise of God
that one day we will be rescued from exile.
Let's remember again the context of our passage
here in Isaiah.
The Israelites are in exile.
After everything that they've been through,
the Lord redeeming them out of slavery in Egypt,
carrying them through the wilderness,
giving them his law,
providing for them food and water,
bread from heaven,
providing for them every step of the way,
conquering their enemies,
paving the way,
bringing them into the promised land.
How did they respond to the Lord?
They sinned against him.
They continued to pursue and chase after idols.
They did not listen.
They did not incline their ear to the word of God.
And so the Lord brought judgment upon them.
He brought the Babylonians down,
sent them to bring the Israelites away from their land
and into exile in Babylon.
You can imagine how they must have felt
after all of this,
being brought away from the promised land,
back into captivity.
Psalm 137.
Psalm 137 gives us a look into how they felt.
It says this,
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there,
we hung up our lyres,
for there our captors required of us songs,
and our tormentors mirth,
saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill.
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.
If I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
See, their joy had been taken away.
Their joy was the presence of God
and that place where they could dwell with Him
and be with Him and worship Him.
And they traded it all away for chains.
And their peace had been taken away.
What peace could they have
when they dwelled among their enemies
and served their enemies?
What peace could they have
when they were experiencing
the heavy hand of God's wrath against their sin?
What hope could they possibly have
in the midst of this terrible exile?
And in the middle of all of this anguish,
here comes a prophet.
Here comes Isaiah.
And he brings a word from God,
like rain coming down from heaven
to give life to all who would listen.
And he says this.
Listen, verse 12.
He says,
You will not always be here in exile.
Verse 12.
He says,
You shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace.
What a promise.
What a promise for those who are in exile.
Imagine what it would be like
if you were in exile
and you heard these words.
If you knew that you did not belong
in this land of sin and darkness,
in this land of false gods
surrounded by your enemies,
longing to be in your place with your God.
And God sends this word here in verse 12.
You shall not belong here.
You shall go up from here.
You shall not always be here in exile.
This judgment is not forever.
There's future hope ahead for you.
And my unfailing word,
which always accomplishes my purposes,
it will succeed in bringing you out from here
in unspeakable joy,
in unimaginable peace.
Could you imagine?
Well, you know, of course,
for us who are in Christ this morning,
we don't have to imagine
if we were in exile, do we?
Because as we know,
if you are a Christian church,
the Bible tells us that we are in exile right now.
You and I are strangers,
aliens,
exiles here in this world.
Just like Israel,
we have been displaced.
We are displaced from our home.
And just like Israel,
we dwell in a foreign land.
We dwell in a foreign kingdom.
Just like Israel,
we live amongst foreign gods.
And just like Israel,
our only hope is God's promise,
His word,
that one day He will bring us home.
But unless we understand that we're exiles here,
this promise of deliverance
won't sound like good news to us.
And so I remind you, Christian,
that this place,
this land,
this country
is not our home.
America,
as great as it is,
as many blessings as we enjoy here,
is not our home.
We are in enemy territory.
And this place,
it does not even have
the slightest fraction
fraction of the joy
and the peace
and the freedom
that lies ahead
that we will enjoy
when we finally reach
our final home.
So I remind you
that our hope
is not in politicians.
Our hope is not
in political policy,
political gain,
is not in American revival,
though we may care deeply
for these things.
Our hope, church,
is rescue
from a strange
and foreign land
where we do not belong,
where we will never belong.
We have to remember, Christian,
that we are first and foremost
citizens of the kingdom of God.
And the church
is an embassy
of that kingdom.
And we are individually
ambassadors of that king.
So when we come here,
when we gather here,
we don't gather primarily
as Americans.
This is not an American gathering.
This is a gathering
of the kingdom of heaven.
We're gathering as citizens
of another kingdom.
And our hope,
according to the promise of God,
is that one day
Christ will return
and reign
as the King of kings
and the Lord of lords.
Not just for one people,
not just for one place,
but for every tribe,
tongue,
and nation.
Church,
our hope
is that we will be ransomed
from here.
Ransomed
from our exile
here in this place.
But we're not there yet.
So what
do we do?
The book of 1 Peter,
he addresses
that very question.
He addresses this book
to those who are
elect exiles.
The book of 1 Peter,
that is the church,
that is us,
those who have been
delivered from the domain
of darkness
and transferred
into the kingdom
of his beloved Son.
And he says this
starting in 1 Peter 1,
verse 13.
He says,
Therefore,
preparing your minds
for action
and being sober-minded,
set your hope
fully on the grace
that will be brought
to you
at the revelation
of Jesus Christ.
So look there.
Orient your lives there.
Don't place your hope
here or in anything
in this place.
Look there.
He says in verse 14,
As obedient children,
do not be conformed
to the passions
of your former ignorance,
but as he who called you
is holy,
you also be holy
in all your conduct.
Since it is written,
You shall be holy
for I am holy.
And if you call on him
as father
who judges impartially
according to each one's deeds,
conduct yourselves
with fear
throughout the time
of your exile,
knowing that you were ransomed
from the futile ways
inherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things
such as silver or gold,
but with the precious blood
of Christ,
like that of a lamb
without blemish
or spot.
Again,
in chapter 2,
he says,
Beloved,
I urge you as sojourners
in exiles,
that's us,
church,
to abstain
from the passions
of the flesh
which wage war
against your soul.
Keep your conduct
among the Gentiles
honorable,
so that when they speak
against you
as evildoers,
they may see your good deeds
and glorify God
on the day
of visitation.
So what's the call?
Live as those
who don't belong here.
Set your hope
on the coming
kingdom of God.
Place your identity
in that kingdom,
not in this kingdom.
Live as citizens
of the kingdom
to come.
Don't look backwards.
Don't conform
to the ways
of this present age.
Don't regress.
Don't define yourself
primarily by earthly kingdoms.
Don't fix your identity
on anything.
Here is quickly
passing away.
Identify and claim
that eternal kingdom.
Live in light
of that coming kingdom.
Live as citizens
of the kingdom
to come.
Live as those
who have been washed clean
by the precious blood
of Christ.
So that
when others see
the way that you live
here as strangers
and say,
that's weird,
they would glorify God
on the day
of the return
of Christ.
Our hope is
as the hymn says
that Emmanuel,
God with us
would return
and we would be rescued.
O come,
Emmanuel
and ransom
captive Israel
that mourns
in lonely exile
here
until
the Son of God
appears.
Rejoice.
Emmanuel
shall come
to thee,
church.
shall come
to thee,
O Israel.
So the first part
of our hope
here in these verses
is that we would
be rescued
from our exile
here.
We don't belong
here,
but there's more.
We're not just
rescued from
our exile,
we are also brought
into something
glorious.
So second,
the second part
of our hope
here in these verses
is the redemption
of creation.
redemption.
The redemption
of all
creation.
You might ask,
well,
where are we being
brought into?
Do we just disappear
and poof,
we're in the clouds?
Well,
no.
The hope
that lies ahead
of all
who know
the Lord
is a totally
redeemed
creation.
Look there again
to verse 12,
chapter 55,
verse 12.
And notice
what happens
when the people
of God
are brought
up out
of their exile.
It says this,
it says,
the mountains
and the hills
before you
shall break
forth into
singing,
and all the
trees shall
clap their
hands.
Now,
if you are
not used
to this
type of
language
in scripture,
this admittedly
has to sound
completely weird,
right?
This is
strange,
but this
is normal
biblical
language
for the
creation.
Creation
in the Bible
is often
talked about
with almost
human language.
It is personified,
so the creation
rejoices,
and it exalts,
and it sings,
and it claps.
And this language
with the creation
rejoicing
is often
connected
with the coming
of the Lord
to the earth.
And so we see
in places
like 1 Chronicles
chapter 16.
It says,
Let the heavens
be glad
and let the
earth rejoice.
Let them
say among
the nation,
the Lord
reigns.
Let the sea
roar and all
that fills it.
Let the field
exult and
everything in it.
And then the
trees of the
forest shall
sing for joy
before the
Lord,
for He
comes to
judge the
earth.
Now,
here in Isaiah,
this promise
of being rescued
from exile,
being led
out of exile
into the
promised land
is connected
again with
creation,
rejoicing,
and mountains
and hills
breaking out
into song,
trees clapping
their hands.
Now,
obviously,
this language
is poetic.
Trees don't
have hands,
right?
Right?
Okay.
But this
is describing
something very
real that we
need to
understand.
It's important
for us to
understand here,
and it's this.
Creation
shares a
trajectory with
the children
of God.
We are
bound up
together.
God created
all things.
He created
the world
that we live
in, and He
created us,
and all was
good.
And then Adam
and Eve
sinned.
They rebelled
against the
Lord.
And not only
were we
messed up,
people messed
up individually,
not only were
we messed
up, so was
the creation.
The creation
is also
impacted and
affected by
the curse
of sin.
It's not
just us.
This whole
world is not
as it should
be.
It's marred
and broken.
and twisted
and cursed
by the
presence of
sin.
And I
know that
I'm new
to all
and all.
How else
do you
explain
mosquitoes
the size
of helicopters,
anthills
about five
feet tall?
The creation
is cursed.
It bears
on it
the marks
and the
curse
of sin.
Romans 8
tells us
that the
creation
itself
groans
under the
curse of
sin.
Romans 8
verse 19
says,
For the
creation
waits
with eager
longing
for the
revealing
of the
sons
of
God.
Why?
What does
creation have
to look
forward to?
Verse 20,
For the
creation
was subjected
to futility,
not willingly,
but because of
him who
subjected it
in hope
that the
creation
itself
will be
set free
from its
bondage
to
corruption
and obtain
the
freedom
of the
glory
of the
children
of God.
For we
know that
the whole
creation
has been
groaning
together
in the
pains
of
childbirth
until now.
This is
what Isaiah
has told
us as
well.
Earlier
in the
book of
Isaiah
chapter 24,
he says,
The earth
mourns
and withers.
The world
languishes
and withers.
The highest
people of
the earth
languish.
The earth
lies defiled
under its
inhabitants
for they
have
transgressed
the laws,
violated
the statutes,
broken
the everlasting
covenant.
In other
words,
the earth
languishes
because people
have sinned.
Therefore,
a curse
devours
the earth
and its
inhabitants
suffer
for their
guilt.
Therefore,
the inhabitants
of the earth
are scorched
and few
men are
left.
The creation
bears the
marks of
the curse
of sin.
Again,
our personal
sin is not
just personal.
It doesn't
just have
personal
effects.
Our
personal
sin has
cosmic
ramifications
for all
of creation.
The creation
itself has
been cursed.
When Adam
and Eve
sinned
against the
Lord in
the Garden
of Eden,
Adam was
told,
what?
Cursed
is the
ground
because of
you.
In pain
you shall
eat of
it all
the days
of your
life.
Thorns
and thistles
it shall
bring forth
for you
and you
shall eat
the plants
of the
field.
We live
in a land
of thorns
and thistles.
But our
hope,
what we
have to
look forward
to,
is not
only that
we will be
redeemed out
of this
world,
but that
the world
itself will
be set
free from
the curse
of sin
and remade
into the
most glorious
home imaginable.
no sin,
no death,
no suffering,
no howling
winds,
no crushing
waves,
no bites,
no stings,
no burns,
no fumes,
no death
at all.
It's just
beauty and
joy and
peace and
comfort and
delight in
the presence
of God.
I can't even
imagine what
that will be
like.
Some of
you may
remember the
2009 film
Avatar.
Have you all
seen that
one?
If not,
it's a
three hour
long movie
about a
bunch of
blue aliens
that live
on another
planet that
somehow became
the number
one highest
grossing film
of all time.
Did you know
that?
So if you
haven't seen
it, you're
in the
minority.
The highest
grossing film
of all
time.
And the
planet that
these blue
people lived
on, stick
with me, I
promise we'll
have a point,
the planet
that they
lived on
was beautiful.
Okay?
And what
happened for
so many
people was
that after
they saw
the movie,
they went
into a
state of
depression.
And some
of them
even became
suicidal.
You can
look it up.
They call it
the Avatar
Blues.
Look it up.
And this
wasn't just
one or two
people.
This was
widespread.
It was a
phenomenon,
the Avatar
Blues.
but here's
why they
were all
depressed.
This is
what they
said.
They said
that they
longed to
experience the
joy and
the beauty
of this
imaginary
planet,
but they
knew in
their heart
of hearts
that they
never could.
And it
crushed them.
Sent them
spiraling to
imagine something
so profoundly
spectacular,
just to get a
glimpse of
something so
beautiful,
and then to
know that it
wasn't real,
that you
could never
actually
experience them.
It led
them into
an increasing
state of
despair.
What a
terrible way
to live.
And to
have a
glimpse of
something so
beautiful,
and to
know that
it's all
just make
believe.
You can
never go.
But church,
our experience
ought to be
the exact
opposite,
shouldn't
it?
We have
in these
verses a
glimpse,
just a
glimpse,
of what
lies ahead
of us,
a totally
redeemed
creation.
It's free
from the
curse of
sin,
free from
the pains
of suffering
and death,
no more
thorns,
no more
thistles,
just peace
and joy
and beauty,
the whole
world,
a garden
to walk
with our
God for
all of
eternity.
To know
that this
is not
imagined,
that this
is real.
Church,
that ought
to lead
us into
an increasing
state of
ecstasy,
to long
for that
place,
to long
for that
day when
Christ will
return and
make all
things right.
It ought
to lead us
to wish
for it,
to long
for it,
to pray
for it.
When can
I go
and be
in that
promised
land?
Do you
long for
the Lord
like that?
See,
the promised
land is not
just a patch
of dirt
on the
earth
somewhere,
okay?
The promised
land is
all of
creation,
totally
restored,
totally
remade,
totally fit
for the
presence of
God with
his people
forever.
That's our
hope.
Our hope,
church,
is not this
place,
not this
country,
it's not
even ultimately
heaven.
Our ultimate
hope is the
new heavens
and new
earth,
a redeemed
creation
in the
eternity
that we
have to
look forward
to with
God.
But to
get there,
something
must first
be done.
God
cannot
just
bring
sinners
into this
perfect
creation.
The word
says nothing
accursed
shall ever
be in it.
So something
must be
done about
this curse
of sin
that we
deal with
here,
here in
ourselves,
here in
our creation,
here in
our lives,
something must
be done
with this
curse,
which is why
third,
the third
part of
our hope
here in
these verses
is the
reversal
of the
curse.
Our hope
is that
the curse
of sin
would be
reversed.
Look with
me to
verse 13.
Look with
me to
verse 13.
Isaiah
says,
Instead
of the
thorn
shall
come up
the
cypress.
Instead
of the
briar
shall
come up
the
myrtle.
And
it
shall
make a
name
for the
Lord,
an
everlasting
sign
that
shall
not
be
cut
off.
Now,
here in
this one
verse,
we have
the story
of the
entire
Bible.
And so
with the
time that
we have
left,
we're going
to cover
the whole
thing.
All right?
And we're
going to
summarize the
entire thing
here.
This big
picture,
so stick
with me
because it's
all here.
This is the
climax of
this chapter.
It's the
crescendo that
Isaiah has
been building
up to,
giving hope
for sinners
like us.
If you've
been tracking
with us for
the past
six weeks,
this is it.
This is what
Isaiah has
been building
to give
us this
hope.
The hope
for any
sinner in
the world
is that
God would
take it
upon
himself
to fix
what we
have broken
by our
sin.
Our hope
is that
he would
reverse
the curse
of sin
and bring
us home
with him.
So here
we go.
Here in
this verse,
we see the
problem,
the plan,
and the
point of
the whole
Bible.
The
problem,
the plan,
and the
point of
the whole
Bible.
Do you
see it?
What's
the problem?
Thorns
and
thistles.
Thorns
and
thistles.
The
problem
is the
curse
of sin
in the
world.
Thorns
and
thistles
it shall
bear
for you.
All
of our
lives
are
marked
and
cut
and
scraped
and
made
difficult
by
thorns
and
thistles.
Our
relationships
are
made
difficult
by
thorns
and
thistles.
Our
work
is
filled
with
difficulty.
We
get
sick.
We
get
tired.
We
get
weary.
Eventually
our
bodies
will
fail
us
and
we
will
die.
That's
all
a
part
of
the
curse
of
sin
in
the
world.
And
the
worst
part
of
it
is
that
we
are
separated
from
God
in
our
sin.
There's
this
infinite
gap
between
us
and
God
that
we
cannot
possibly
bridge
by
our
own
doing.
That's
a
problem
for
sinners.
So
what's
the
plan?
God
is
going
to
reverse
the
curse.
Verse
13
Instead
of
the
thorns
there
will
be
a
big
healthy
flourishing
cypress
tree.
Instead
of
briars
there's
a
big
healthy
myrtle.
And
I
don't
know
much
about
plants
but
Google
has
told
me
that
these
are
evergreen
trees
which
means
that
they
bear
fruit
year
round.
Is
that
right?
God
is
going
to
reverse
this
curse
and
here
in
the
pages
of
the
Old
Testament
as
an
Israelite
hearing
this
prophecy
you're
stuck
wondering
how?
Are
you
trust
that
he's
going
to
do
it
but
how
will
this
happen?
How
will
this
ruined
world
be
redeemed
and
this
curse
finally
be
broken?
And
you
have
some
of
the
pieces
of
the
puzzle
but
the
answer
isn't
quite
completely
clear
yet
but
what
is
clear
is
the
point
of
it
all.
What
is
it?
It's
the
glory
of
God.
This
reversal
it says
shall
make a
name
for
the
Lord
forever.
An
everlasting
sign
that
shall
not
be
cut
off.
That's
the
point.
So
the
point
of
this
entire
incredible
act
of
redemption
is
that
God
would
be
glorified
and
his
holy
name
prays
forever.
That
his
glorious
name
would
be
magnified
throughout
the
world.
That
the
new
heavens
and
the
new
earth
would
be
united
in
this
universal
chorus
of
worship
as
it
should
be.
The
point
of
your
redemption
Christian
is
the
glory
of
God.
The
point
of
all
of
this
out
working
of
God's
unspeakable
unimaginable
thoughts
and ways
in human
history.
The
point
of
it
all
is
that
his
name
would
be
magnified
and
exalted
in
and
worshipped
for the
rest
of
eternity
that
the
glory
of
God
would
be
magnified
but
how
will
it
be
done?
Of
course
on
this
side
of
the
cross
we
know
the
answer
don't
we?
is
in
the
gospel
of
Jesus
Christ.
The
wonderful
plan
of
God
from
before
the
ages
began
was
to
send
his
son
into
a
broken
world
to
redeem
it.
This
was
the
plan
of
God
that
Jesus
Christ
would
enter
into
the
brokenness
of
this
world
and
live
in
the
place
of
sinners
and
die
in
the
place
of
sinners
and
rise
on
behalf
of
sinners
to
secure
a
glorious
hope
of
eternal
life
in the
new
heavens
and
the
new
earth
the
eternal
kingdom
of
God
for
any
sinner
who
would
come
to
him
in
faith
to
the
praise
of
his
glorious
grace
for
the
rest
of
eternity
so
you
can
think
of
the
story
of
the
Bible
as
a
story
of
three
trees
three
trees
the
Bible
starts
with a
tree
in the
garden
of
Eden
the
Lord
God
commanded
the
man
saying
you
may
surely
eat
of
every
tree
in
the
garden
but
of
the
tree
of
the
knowledge
of
good
and
evil
you
shall
not
eat
for
in
the
day
that
you
eat
of
it
you
shall
surely
die
and
in
the
worst
decision
in
the
history
of
the
world
that
each
of
us
would
have
made
if
we
were
there
Adam
and
Eve
ate
rebelled
and brought
upon
themselves
and all
of their
children
and all
of creation
this
curse
of
sin
but
you
know
the
Bible
also
ends
with
a
tree
the
very
last
chapter
of the
Bible
in
Revelation
chapter
22
it
gives
this
vision
of
our
future
hope
where
we
are
headed
John
says
then
the
angel
showed
me
the
river
of
the
water
of
life
bright
as
crystal
flowing
from
the
throne
of
God
and
of
the
Lamb
and
through
the
middle
of
the
street
of
the
city
also
on
either
side
of
the
river
the
tree
of
life
with
its
twelve
kinds
of
fruit
yielding
its
fruit
each
month
the
leaves
of the
tree
were for
the
healing
of the
nations
and
listen
to
this
no
longer
will
there
be
anything
accursed
but
the
throne
of
God
and
of
the
Lamb
will
be
in
it
and
his
servants
will
worship
him
they
will
see
his
face
and
his
name
will
be
on
their
foreheads
and
night
will
be
no
more
they
will
need
no
lamp
of
sun
or
light
for
the
Lord
God
will
be
their
light
and
they
will
reign
forever
and
ever
that
that is
but
right
in the
middle
of
it
all
is
a
third
tree
that
makes
all
of
our
hope
certain
you know
what it
is
it's
the
cross
first
Peter
2
24
says
he
himself
bore
our
sins
in
his
body
on
the
tree
that
we
might
die
to
sin
and
live
to
righteousness
by
his
wounds
you
have
been
healed
for
you
were
straying
like
sheep
but
have
now
returned
to
the
shepherd
and
overseer
of
your
souls
the
plan
of
God
that
accomplishes
the
redemption
of
sinners
that
rescues
his
people
from
exile
that
brings
us
into
the
promised
land
the
new
heavens
and
the
new
earth
is
the
death
of
his
son
on
the
cross
in
their
place
and
what
was
on
his
head
but
a
crown
of
thorns
and
thistles
the
problem
we are
under
the curse
of sin
the plan
Jesus Christ
became a
curse for
us
the point
the glory
of the name
of the
Lord
sung forth
in a chorus
that cannot
be stopped
as every
heavenly being
every redeemed
sinner
every hill
every tree
every mountain
every beast
of the field
sings out
glory
to God
in the highest
glory
to God
for the
gospel
of Jesus
Christ
so church
as we bring
this chapter
to a close
this morning
I want to
remind you
one more time
of this
message
if you
do not
know
the Lord
if you
have not
personally
repented
of your
sin
and trusted
personally
in the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
listen to
this invitation
come all
who are
weary
come all
who are
thirsty
come all
who are
hungry
listen
to the
promise
of God
and receive
this promise
of hope
that he
offers all
who come
to his
son
in faith
turn to
the Lord
that he
might have
compassion
on you
and for
those who
do know
the Lord
let your
heart be
filled
with hope
as we
remember
these promises
this Christmas
let your
heart be
filled with
the hope
of the
eternity
that lies
ahead
of us
that we
will be
rescued
from this
place
and brought
home
to be
with the
Lord
that the
curse of
sin
will not
last
forever
and it
will finally
be brought
to an
end
and God
will be
praised
I know
I've
shared this
with you
before
but it's
worth
repeating
joy to
the world
is not
a Christmas
hymn
at least
not
originally
Isaac
Watts
when he
wrote
the hymn
he did
not write
it about
the first
coming
of Christ
at all
the baby
born in
a manger
was not
on his
mind
when he
wrote
joy
to
the
world
he
wrote
it
about
the
second
coming
of
Christ
and so
once again
I move
that we
sing this
song
year round
not only
at Christmas
time
but
but here
we go
I want to
remind you
of these
words
joy to
the world
the Lord
has come
let earth
receive
her king
let every
heart
prepare him
room
and heaven
and nature
sing
joy
to the
earth
the savior
reigns
let men
their songs
employ
while fields
and floods
rocks
hills
and plains
repeat
the sounding
joy
no more
let sins
and sorrows
grow
nor thorns
infest
the ground
he comes
to make
his blessings
flow
far as
the curse
is found
he rules
the world
with truth
and grace
and makes
the nations
prove
the glories
of his
righteousness
and wonders
of his
love
wonders
of his
love
and wonders
wonders
of his
love
would you pray
with me
Lord what a
hope you've
given us
father we
in each
of our
own
individual
ways
are burdened
by the
curse
of sin
and father
we want
to be
reminded
of the
promise
that you've
made to
us
that if
we know
you
by faith
if we've
come
to you
by faith
if we've
received
the gift
of new
life
in Christ
Lord we
have so
much to
look forward
to
in eternity
with you
Lord you
are our
joy
you are
our
peace
you are
our
hope
and we
pray God
that our
hearts and
our minds
would be
fixed on
you
this morning
and as we
go from
this place
if there's
any that
don't know
you Lord
we pray
that you
would call
them to
yourself
we pray
all of
this in
Jesus name
amen