Isaiah Chapter 66 — Stephen Kaung

Isaiah 66: God's Universal Throne and the Contrite Worshiper

Will you please turn to the last chapter of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter sixty-six. Isaiah, the sixty-six chapter. The first chapter, the second chapter. Isaiah chapter sixty-six, verses one and two.

Thus said Jehovah, the heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What is the house that ye will build unto me, and what is the place of my rest? Even all these things hath my hand made, and all these things have been, said Jehovah.

But to this man will I look, to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word. Verse five, the fifth chapter. Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let Jehovah be glorified, and let us see your joy, but they shall be ashamed.

Seven through nine, the seventh chapter, the eighth chapter, the ninth chapter. Before she prevailed, she brought forth. Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing?

Who hath seen such things? Can a land be made to bring forth in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion prevailed, she brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, said Jehovah?

I who cause to bring forth, shall I shut the womb, said thy God. Verses twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four. Verse two, verse three, verse four. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, said Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.

And it shall come to pass from new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, said Jehovah. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me.

For their womb shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence unto all flesh. We have been taking out some of the passages in the book of Isaiah and meditating on them.

Isaiah's Prophecy Reveals God's Redemptive Mind

We find that Isaiah was one who knew the salvation of the Lord in such a marvelous way that when we read the book of Isaiah, it was almost like reading the New Testament. Isaiah is a prophet, and a prophet is one who knows the mind of God.

And in his prophecy, he reveals to us what are in the mind of God. Isaiah shows us not only Christ, our Redeemer, he also imparts to us the spirit of redemption. And when we come to this last chapter, it is like the summing up, the consummation of all the prophecies that he has prophesied before.

You remember that in the first chapter of the book of Isaiah, how God calls upon the old heaven and the old earth, and to bear witness to the fact that in spite of all God's love, the children of Israel rebelled against Him.

You remember in the first chapter it is said, who does not know, my people have no intelligence. God loved His people very much, and yet they rebelled against God. And God called upon the heaven and earth to bear witness to this.

But when you come to the last chapter of the book of Isaiah, you find God has made all things new. There is a new heaven and a new earth, and the Beloved of the Lord dwells. Man may fail, but God never.

And whatever He has purposed for His people, in spite of themselves, He will accomplish to His glory. And that certainly shall give us great comfort. Now, in this last chapter, we would like to point out just a few things.

God's Eternal Purpose Is to Dwell Among His People

Number one, what is the eternal purpose of God concerning His people? What does really God desire in His people? No doubt you will find in the Bible, God desires to dwell among His own people. God wants to find His rest, and this theme runs through the whole Bible.

In the very beginning, after God created Adam, God put man in the garden of Eden, and God came and fellowshiped with man. Adam and Eve were in Egypt as slaves. God raised up Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, in order that they might have a tabernacle.

And with that tabernacle, God was able to dwell among His redeemed. And after the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land, God chose David and Solomon to build Him a temple, in which His name.

So you find that God's purpose with His people has been and is still. Does God really want a temple? Does God really look for a house built with stone, called Moses, to build Him a tabernacle? It is true that God chose David and Solomon to build Him a temple.

And how the children of Israel look upon this temple, they consider it fitting to them, and they should. That it is almost an obsession to them. It becomes a deception to them. It even becomes a superstition to them.

They put so much emphasis on the temple. They thought that as long as they had the temple, as long as they had the sacrifices going on, as long as they had the priesthood, everything was fine. Everything was alright.

They put their trust in the temple, in their services, with desire more than a house. What could God ask more than these sacrifices? And as long as they had the temple, they had these sacrifices, God should be happy with them, God should bless them, and God should be with them.

It became an obsession. A deception, a superstition. But does God really want an earthly temple? A physical house? The heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. God is greater than the universe that He created.

And if the heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, how will a heaven built with precious stones and gold, how will that accommodate Him? Here you'll find in the last chapter of the book of Isaiah, God said, The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool.

The heaven is where He reigns. The earth is where He carries out His will, His authority. In a sense you'll find the heaven and the earth is His office, His court. That's where He exercises His authority.

That's where He carries out His will. It is His office. The whole universe is His office. But neither the heaven nor the earth is His home. It is His rest. It is that which He is really after. God is not looking for a physical house.

In the Old Testament time it is just a shadow, it is just a pipe. Even with the children of Israel, God is not looking for just a physical temple. God is looking for a people whose spirit agrees with the meaning of that temple.

And when that spirit is absent, even that temple is nothing. Here you'll find God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool. What is the house that ye will build unto Me?

And what is the place of My rest? Do you think that just by building a great temple, that is enough for Me? Do you think that this is the place of My rest? What God is really looking for is To this man will I look, to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at My word.

The Contrite Spirit as the Material of God's House

Dear brothers and sisters, what is God's house? Where is God's rest? Not in the physical, but in the spiritual. Not with temples made of stones, but with living stones. A man with an afflicted and contrite home, with kind of spirit.

Wherever God can find an afflicted and contrite spirit, God will use that as material to build His house. And it's only with that spirit that God can find His rest. And this is the eternal purpose. Brothers and sisters, we are the redeemed of the Lord.

Thank God for His redemption. But what is our spirit? What is the condition of our spirit? What is the attitude of our spirit? Do we exhibit a contrite and afflicted spirit before the Lord? Or do we have a proud and arrogant spirit?

Or do we humble ourselves before the Lord? What kind of spirit do we have? God cannot build His house with a proud and arrogant spirit. The Bible says God despises, rejects the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

What is the afflicted and contrite spirit? The spirit that is afflicted. Now, what does it mean by that? It can be touched by God and by His Word. A spirit that is meek and lowly. A spirit that is humble.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. This is the foundation stone of the building of God's house. There is nothing spiritually. But in the sense that in spite of all that God may have given to us, our spirit is yet so poor.

That is to say, we are not contented, self-satisfied. We do not consider ourselves as has arrived. But instead, because of the greatness of His grace, we humble ourselves even lower. We confess that we know nothing.

We have nothing. We are nothing. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom. How often we find among Christians a proud, self-righteous, arrogant spirit with the little grace that they know.

They think they know everything. They have received. They think they have arrived. But brothers and sisters, it is to the man with an afflicted and contrite spirit that God will look. Why afflicted? It simply means when the Word of God comes to that person, he is in and when he is out.

But the Word of God reaches him. He trembles at God's Word. He is wounded, afflicted by God's Word. His conscience is open to that kind of spirit. And because he is afflicted, he is contrite, he repents before God.

Do you think that we do not need to repent? Sometimes we think that only the unbelievers need to repent. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. That's true. But in the Bible you'll find how often the Word comes to us that we need to repent.

How we need to repent again and again before God. When His Word smith us, we need to repent before Him with a contrite spirit. You remember, David, in Psalm 51, verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

God does not look for a sacrifice of land, sacrifice of a broken spirit that does not stand arrogant before God, but a person that bows down, broken down before God. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

A broken and a contrite heart, thou will not despise. He is the material for the building. Remember the story of Job. He was a perfect man. He was righteous above all others during his generation. And yet, somehow, David was afflicted, he cried out, I have heard thee in the past, but now I abhor myself in repenting ash and dust.

Brothers and sisters, that is an afflicted and contrite spirit. And when that spirit is present, the presence of the Lord is manifest. We are proud of ourselves as long as we are arrogant and not righteous.

But when God finds a spirit that is afflicted, broken and contrite, even God... Not to say that you come into rest. Dear brothers and sisters, when we are arrogant, self-righteous, proud, do we have rest?

We don't. We become restless. But when we are afflicted by the Lord and we are humbled before the Lord, and when we really yield ourselves completely at His feet, we come into rest. Wonderful thing. Marvelous experience.

We come into rest. And in that rest, God too comes. And dear brothers and sisters, this is what God is looking for. That He will build His home in which He will dwell. Number two. What will happen to those in contrite spirit who tremble at the Word of God?

Persecution of Those Who Tremble at God's Word

Now, do we tremble at the Word of God? Hear the Word of God? Are we able to maintain our integrity? Hear the Word of God? Are we able to stand erect with our heads up? But when we hear the Word of God, we tremble.

Why? Because His Word smites us. His Word finds us out. What will happen to those who tremble at God's Word? What will happen to those who have an afflicted and contrite spirit? We just say that God will use this as material for the building of His house.

But what will happen to these people? We may think now, surely, we'll be greatly blessed by God. Surely, they will manifest great joy. Surely, the whole world will admire them. Surely, those who are the Lord will look up to them and try to imitate them.

But not so. What will happen to those who tremble at God's Word? Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said that Jehovah be glorified and let us see your joy. In other words, those who have the Spirit of the Lamb will not only be persecuted by the world, but even by their own brethren.

How strange it is. Instead of being admired, look up to them. Your brethren will hate you. They will ridicule you and say, let Jehovah be glorified. You say you want to glorify the Lord. Where is the glory?

In what respect have you glorified Him? You say you want to please the Lord. Where is your joy? You will be misunderstood. You will be ridiculed, mocked at. You will be persecuted and even cast out. And that will be your treatment.

A slave cannot be higher than his master. Our Lord, our Master. How He was persecuted by the world, cast out by the world. How He was hated even by His brethren in the flesh. Do you think we, who follow the Lamb, whithersoever He goes, that we will fare better?

We will receive the same treatment. Oh, brothers and sisters, do nothing because you love the Lord. Because you tremble at His Word. Because you allow His Word to do its perfect work in your life. Because you have a contrived spirit.

And therefore, you will be honored, respected. You will be trod upon. You will be despised. You will be misunderstood. You will be cast out. For the name of the Lord. Blessed are they who are persecuted.

For my name's sake, saith the Lord. With such, before He prevailed, He brought forth. Before Her pain came, She was delivered of a man child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be made to bring forth in one day?

Zion's Travail and the Birth of the Man-Child

Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion prevailed, She brought forth Her Son. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth a Jehovah? I who cause to bring forth, shall I shut the womb?

Saith, This is the travail of Zion. Zion, in the Scripture, always stands for the overcomers. As Jerusalem stands for the whole Church. This is the travail of Zion. Zion has to travel in order to bring forth a man child.

If there is no travel, there can be no birth. And spiritually, this is also true. It is through the travel of the soul of our Lord Jesus that the Church is born. It is through the travel of the overcomers that the Church is brought into maturity.

Brothers and sisters, all the sufferings that you suffer for the sake of Christ are not just sufferings. They are prevailing. As Zion prevails, it will bring forth a man child. And that reminds us of Revelation chapter 12.

The woman was in travail. And out of the travel a man child was born. And the man child was destined to rule the world with an iron rod. And as a man child is born and raptured to the throne, then there will be war in heaven and Satan will have no place in heaven.

He will be cast down upon the earth. Brothers and sisters, the travail of Zion is essential. We may think that Zion travails long and hard. She travails. She brought forth her son. You know, brothers and sisters, to our feeling, especially when you are in travail, travailing, you will think that the time is so long.

An hour becomes a day. A day becomes a month. A month becomes a year. Or maybe a century. But we find in the Bible, He said, He that is to come will come soon and will not delay for a little while. Only for a short time.

And He that is to come shall come. Brothers and sisters, the Zion of travail is short. It is not long. It is so short, as if before she travails, the child has come. Do you think God will give conception and not let it be brought forth?

Certainly. Oh, that Zion! The daughters of Zion are willing to travail for the purpose so that the daughters of Zion may be comforted. That their travailing is but for a short while. It is so short that before she travails, she brings forth.

Thank God. And brothers and sisters, it is through the travail of Zion that Jerusalem is brought back into the blessing of God. Therefore you find in verse 12,. For thus said Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nation like an overflowing point.

And ye shall suck, ye shall be carried upon the side, and be dangled upon the knees. As one whom his mother comforted, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. The overcomers in the church travail for the Holy Church.

And because of their travail, the church is brought into that a bridegroom may come to claim, Oh, brothers and sisters, this is to me. And then lastly, you'll find God is working staggeringly towards His full purpose.

The Church's Maturity and the Coming Bridegroom

As God apprehends for Himself a company of overcomers, those who have afflicted and contrite spirits, those who tremble at His Word, as those who are called by God enter into travail. Through their travail, God will bring the whole church into maturity.

And when the church is fully grown, the bridegroom will come back to claim as His bride. And then judgment will follow very speedily upon the nations. And there will be the millennium and the millennium will soon be past.

God's Purpose Culminates in a New Creation

And there will be a new heaven and a new earth, even eternal. Brothers and sisters, He who has purpose in the beginning, He shall surely. And this is the conclusion. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee, because Thy purpose can never fail.

Oh, how we praise and thank Thee. Man may fail, but God, we do praise and thank Thee that it does not depend upon us, but it does depend upon Thee. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou art calling us to be of people with an afflicted and contrite spirit.

A people tremble at Thy Word. Oh, Lord, if it means travail, we praise and thank Thee. It will not be long. And Thou will bring forth, we do praise and thank Thee, we can look forward to the day where the old heaven and the old earth shall pass away.

A new heaven and a new earth shall appear and a new city, the holy city, a new Jerusalem shall descend upon it, having the glory of God. Oh, Lord, Thou art to be worshipped by Thy people and by the whole world forever in Thy precious name.

Amen.