The Believer's Reward

Isaiah 35:1-10 November 25, 2018 Pastor Chris Oswald

Audio coming soon

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Thesis The believer's reward in Christ is more dire than we imagine in its necessity, more miraculous than we imagine in its accomplishment, and more satisfying than we imagine in its present and future reality — secured by Jesus' redemptive work on the cross.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticcelebratory

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalcanonical

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

34 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #10

"Oswald addresses specific pastoral realities: anxiety, fear, sorrow, repeated sin, and doubts about God's presence. He names the lies the listener may be believing ('Jesus doesn't really care,' 'God has left me') and traces them back to the inability to see the promised transformation in the present wilderness."

Doctrinal loci· 10 surfaced

Soteriology · 18 Sanctification · 15 Eschatology · 6 Christology · 5 Hamartiology · 5 Bibliology · 4 Anthropology · 3 Providence / Sovereignty · 3 Pastoral Theology · 1 Pneumatology · 1

Bible citations· 18

Illustrations· 1

The Lion King and the Eternal Kingdom cultural reference · unit #14 — Oswald uses The Lion King as an analogy for the transformation promised in Isaiah 35 — the land ravaged and then restored. But he immediately qualifies the analogy: Disney's restoration is temporary (Simba will die, enemies threaten), but God's restoration is eternal and heart-level. The gospel's transformation is more miraculous than Disney because it is permanent, internal, and complete.

Theological claims· 7

Contemplating our reward in Christ is the one truth that can silence inadequacy, confirm God's love, and prevent self-deception. unit #5
Your repeated return to sin reveals that your soul is longing for transcendence — longing to return home to God. unit #11
When discipline gives way to delight, the recompense can be tasted and become the seed of further good fruit — God commands you to stand and receive His blessing even when you have nothing left. unit #19
The way to appropriate God's recompense is through being redeemed and ransomed — not by redeeming yourself or meriting salvation, but by receiving what God has done for you. unit #24
No matter how deeply you have fallen, God's promise stands certain: He will come with vengeance and recompense, save you, and bring you home singing with everlasting joy. unit #26
If the joy set before Jesus was Isaiah 35's promise, then we have access to the same joy through the Spirit, and can endure by looking to Jesus and sharing in that joy. unit #31
What drove Jesus' joy was the promise of lavish, miraculous blessing for insufficient, insecure impostors — and that same promise stands for you even when you feel forsaken and afflicted. unit #32

Quotations· 4

"I will never leave you nor forsake you" — God (via Scripture) (unit #10)

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." — Hebrews 12 (unit #18)

"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed." — Hebrews 12 (unit #18)

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" — Jesus (quoting Psalm 22:1) (unit #30)

Read it

Full transcript

20,653 characters 34 units ~23 min reading time

0 · Oswald opens with a seemingly mundane observation about Basecamp titles to set up a larger point about identity

And you please be seated. If you have taken the leap of faith into the land of Basecamp, you will notice that next to your name there is a title. There's a space for a title. If you don't know what Basecamp is, it's a tool that we've been using to facilitate communication in the church. But it comes a little bit from the corporate world. So in the corporate world it makes perfect sense because you can say Victor Chinanimbuele, Principal Technical Consultant. And you get a pretty good idea of where this person is in the chain of command, and you know, strikes your ego and everything in between. But when I was looking at the church— oh, and I need to take a pause there, I need to dismiss the children, don't I? Yes, that's what I need to do.

1 · Oswald narrows from Basecamp titles in general to his own title, 'Santito,' unpacking its three-layered meaning: literal (little saint), affectionate (beloved saint), and ironic (deceiver)

I was thinking about the church and I was wondering, you know, what would this be used for? And it's come up with some pretty creative uses. You know, some are pretty straightforward. Community group leader. Others are more creative, like full-time uncle. Others are more message-driven. I rest in you, abide in me. Mine is Santito. And I don't know if you wonder what that means, but you know, it means little saint. Literally, it means little saint. And I'm short, so there you go. But that's not it. In my region of Ecuador, we use a diminutive form to express love, affection. So it also means beloved saint. But that's not it. It also means when you're in the playground and you kick the other guy, you start acting really santito to make sure nobody knows that it was you. You. So it also means a deceiver.

2 · Oswald moves from illustration to confession, identifying three core struggles (insufficient, insecure, imposter) and describing the flesh's relentless assault on gospel identity

And that's my reality, right? I'm insufficient, I am insecure, and I'm an imposter. And my flesh is constantly giving me thoughts that I'm too small, that I'm not enough, that I'm not a child of God, that I am not beloved, that I'm not justified, that I'm not sanctified, that I am not ultimately glorified. My flesh's reaction to the truth and to my own sin is to deceive, to act holy, or even not even wanting to be holy.

3 · Oswald explicitly signals that the Basecamp illustration was not digressive but purposeful, bridging from personal confession to the sermon's theological argument

So all of these may sound to you like one of my stories that have nothing to do with the point, but I assure you it does.

4 · Oswald locates the sermon within the church's recent preaching series (Acts 2) and identifies the concept of 'reward' as the animating idea for today's sermon

Because as we have gone through 3 weeks of going through Acts chapter 2, looked at the men, look at those 3 specific ways in which the crowd, the cross, and the chosen were brought to light. One of the points in those sermons that came to my mind very profoundly was the idea of a reward. You can't have a hard word with somebody without explaining the gospel to that person and without bringing the hope of the reward.

5 · Oswald argues that contemplating the Christian's reward is necessary to combat inadequacy, confirm God's love, and restrain sin

So I said, "What will the Lord guide me to preach about?" And I think that as we think about our reward, we need to set our minds on seeing the reality of the reward. Taste the reward, we need to long for the reward. Sometimes we need to mourn that we are far from the reward. We need to long for it. And it is this because I need the one truth that can speak to my nagging sense of inadequacy. You're too small. I need what can confirm the truth of God's love for me to me when I'm down. And I need the one thing that's going to keep my sinful flesh from being a deceiver.

6 · Oswald directs the congregation to the sermon's text (Isaiah 35) and prays for God's help in the preaching and hearing of the word, asking that he would not distract but serve as a conduit for God's truth

So I want to ask you to turn to Isaiah chapter 35 with me. That's where we're going to camp this morning, Isaiah chapter 35. If you join me in prayer as you do that. Gracious God, thank you for your gospel. Thank you for opening our eyes, our hearts, our ears to your beauty, to the splendor of your glory. Will you show us more of you this morning, Father? Would you help us to rely more upon on you, would you show us more of Jesus? Do not let me be a distraction, Father, but let me be a window through which people can hear your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

7 · Oswald lays out the sermon's three-part structure (return, recompense, redemption) and begins with the first point by reading Isaiah 35:10

I want us to take away 3 things from this text. Number 1, return. Number 2, recompense. And number 3, redemption. Or put another way, I want us to leave this place knowing that things are more dire than you can imagine, that things are more miraculous than you can imagine, and that this is more satisfying than you can imagine. We're looking at poetry, we're looking at prophetic poetry, so buckle up and let's go. Point number 1, return. It's more dire than you can imagine. A healthy understanding of our rewards requires that we be sober and acknowledge how dire our situation is. And let's face it, we never want to accept it. If we go to our text, I want us to start with chapter— with verse 10. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. They are longing to return. When do we long to return? When we're homesick. When we're not home. They are not in the land that was promised to them. It sounds like they're struggling to sing. Whatever joy they may report may perhaps only seem really short-lived, if anything at all. Their joy probably lasts for as long as they don't notice that they are still in the wilderness. And the gladness and joy becomes really hard-fought. Something is radically wrong with the present circumstances. And they know it.

8 · Oswald reads Isaiah 35:1-2 and focuses on the initial state described: the wilderness, dry land, and desert — places devoid of beauty, abundance, joy, and glory

Go with me to verse 1. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. Verse 2. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. What is the starting point of this contrast? The wilderness, the dry land, the desert, a place without flowers, without abundance, without joy, without a song, a place with no glory or renown or majesty.

9 · Oswald applies the wilderness imagery directly to the listener: apart from Christ, you are in the desert with no hope for beauty, joy, or glory

The starting point for seeing the mighty works of God is to acknowledge the wilderness for what it is. To know that apart from Jesus, you are in the dry land, in the desert with no hope for beauty, abundance, joy, song, glory, renown, or majesty. It truly is worse than you can put words to it.

10 · Oswald addresses specific pastoral realities: anxiety, fear, sorrow, repeated sin, and doubts about God's presence

Perhaps anxiety, fear, or sorrow are winning the day and they're lying to you. And when Jesus says that he cares for you, that he's not really meaning that because you cannot see any flowers in the desert. Perhaps you blew it big time again. You went back to that broken cistern of filthy water and you sinned again because you saw nobody standing by your side. And you said that it must not be true when God said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

11 · Oswald argues that the very fact the listener keeps returning to sin reveals a deeper longing — not for the sin itself, but for transcendence, for home, for the reward God promises

The starting point for seeing the mighty works of God is seeing that he has a reward for you. And you cannot sugarcoat how this is more dire than you can imagine. You are, after all, longing for return. Your soul longs for return. Because it just isn't there yet. If you look at it, if you keep going back and back and back to the same broken system, the same filthy water. Doesn't that just tell you that you're longing to go back to something else? That there's a transcendence that you're longing for.

12 · Oswald signals the shift from point one (return — the dire reality) to point two (recompense — the miraculous promise)

So that takes us to our recompense, that it's more miraculous than you can imagine.

13 · Oswald returns to Isaiah 35:1-2 and focuses on the crocus — a flower that blooms in the wilderness

Let's go back to verses 1 and 2 again. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. One image stands out in verse 1, the crocus. So picture that dry land, dead of winter, dry, full of rocks. What do you see? Beautiful little crocus flowers. God made these flowers to blossom in the middle of the wilderness. Do you see how beautiful the promise of the recompense is? That it's not just for when you're not in the desert. When you are in the desert, God gives you flowers. It's not for one day, it's also for now. While it's being made new.

14 · Oswald uses The Lion King as an analogy for the transformation promised in Isaiah 35 — the land ravaged and then restored

And if you have not watched Disney movies for a while, I apologize for the reference, but when I was looking at the text, I thought of The Lion King. Because you know, you have that moment when Simba actually overcomes and becomes king again. And the land had been just destroyed, totally ravaged by the kingdom of the hyenas and Scar. It's just dark. There's nothing there. And all of a sudden Simba gets up there and there's the flowers and the animals are singing and everything is great. And you say, of course, that's Disney for you. And we've been conditioned to think like that. But when I look at this text, I propose to you that it's even better than that. That it's even far more difficult to believe than that. It's far more miraculous because there will be gladness, joy, abundance, and singing in the once dry and weary land. These are the mighty works of God. He transforms wilderness into abundance, dry souls into joyful souls, hardened hearts into singing hearts, anxious hearts into hearts at rest. He puts the song in this heart. He gives the flame for the heart to want to sing. He gives the insufficient, insecure, impostor santito a sight of His glory and majesty. We will behold the King in His beauty, in all His glory, in all His majesty, and we will live forever in that sight. The land of Simba is always under potential attack because at some point Simba is going to have to die. And of course Disney spawned off the Lion Guard out of that to make more money. But our reality is so much different. Because that's just not it. There's no end to it. It's more miraculous than we can imagine because we will live forever free from fear and attack and sorrow and sighing. It is not just a visual transformation. It's not just something you see on a screen. God is changing not just the appearance of the thing, but he's changing the core, the heart.

15 · Oswald reads Isaiah 35:5-7 and interprets the miraculous healings (blind see, deaf hear, lame leap, mute sing) alongside the environmental transformation (waters in the wilderness, burning sand becoming pools)

Verses 5 to 7: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. In the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. Another image of creation being restored. Water breaking forth from the wilderness, streams in the desert, burning sand becoming a place of rest and refreshment, the place ravaged by predators becoming a green, green, beautiful place. And it's more miraculous than that. Again, because the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, the lame shall leap, the mute will sing. Physical restoration, spiritual transformation. Change to your physical weakness, to your inability to deal with that one sin. Change to your spiritual weakness.

16 · Oswald applies the miraculous transformation to the present moment: the listener's presence in the worship service is itself a foretaste of Isaiah 35's promise

And just like the crocus image, It's not just something for that day. There are foretastes of that today. There are foretastes of that. The mere fact that you're here today is a foretaste of that glory. The mere fact that God made a way for you to be here today, even if you don't think you can see Jesus, even if you don't think you can hear the gospel, Even if you cannot, if you could not lift your hands and raise your voice like the song was saying, right? Even if that happens, God brought you here today.

17 · Oswald pauses the exposition to give personal testimony: he speaks as one who knows his own wickedness and yet has experienced God's transforming grace

And I tell you that the testimony is certain that knowing myself as wicked as I can be, that if He could do this for me, there is a recompense. There is a recompense and it's far more miraculous than you can imagine.

18 · Oswald reads Isaiah 35:3 and identifies its quotation in Hebrews 12:12-13, establishing a canonical connection between the two passages

And look at that. Look at verse 3 for a moment with me. "Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees." This is quoted elsewhere. It's quoted in Hebrews chapter 12. When God allows the writer of Hebrews to talk about the discipline of the Lord, this is the conclusion of that passage. Where it says, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." "Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." He starts with that. He speaks about discipline, and then he says, "Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."

19 · Oswald quotes another pastor ('Pastor Chris') to introduce the idea that discipline leads to delight, then applies it to the listener's desert experience

Pastor Chris would say that when discipline gives way to delight, I like that. When discipline gives way to delight, I add, we're now entering a realm where the recompense can be tasted, enjoyed, and be the seed of further good fruit. So here you are, you're in the desert, and there's nothing. And you're just about to give up. And the text tells you, right before all your strength dries up, Strengthen up your weak hands. Make firm your feeble knees. Stand up and receive God's blessing. Stand up and receive God's recompense. In standing there with almost nothing left to give, nothing left to hold on to, God tells you this, verse 4.

20 · Oswald reads Isaiah 35:4 and identifies the word 'recompense' as coming directly from the text itself

"Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.'" And maybe you thought I was using the word recompense because of some English as a second language thing, but it's because of here, it's because of this text. He will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. And what is that? He will come and save you.

21 · Oswald moves from Isaiah 35:4's promise ('He will come and save you') to the gospel: Jesus lived a perfect life and died a brutal death to make this recompense available

Jesus Christ came into the world to die a brutal death after living a perfect life of obedience like we could have never done. So that this recompense could be available to you right now. He paid that price once and for all. There's nothing that you can do that can make it worse. There's just absolutely nothing you can do right now that is not covered at the cross. When you repent and you take the weight of your sin, your past sin, your present sin, and your future sin to the You are washed clean. When you are anxious, He will come and save you. When you are afraid, He will come and save you. When you are angry and you want your own vindication, He will come and save you. When you have nothing left to give, He will come and save you. The Word of God is true. It is far better than you can imagine. Your recompense is far better than you can imagine. Far more miraculous than you can imagine.

22 · Oswald transitions to the third point (redemption) by framing the question the listener is now asking: How do I appropriate this recompense for myself? He acknowledges the reality of repeated sin (the cry of the soul to return) and the promise of recompense (God will come and save), but now asks how the promise becomes personally effective

And it is there that we go to redemption because it's more satisfying than you can imagine. So we have the reality of the cry of the soul to return. That's why you keep going to the false gods over and over again. There is the recompense that God will come and save you, but sometimes you say How can I appropriate that reward for myself?

23 · Oswald reads Isaiah 35:8-9 and repeats verse 10, focusing on the 'Way of Holiness' and the two key words: 'redeemed' and 'ransomed

Verses 8 and 9: And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it; it shall belong to those who walk on the way. Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there; Nor shall any ravenous beast come unto it. They shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. The redeemed shall walk there. Verse 10 again: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing.

24 · Oswald makes explicit the gospel logic: the recompense is appropriated by being redeemed and ransomed — passive verbs, not active

That's where the gospel comes in. The way we can know that our God will come and save us, the way that we can appropriate the promise that will help us ultimately fight our anxiety, our fear, the way that we can truly be strong, the way that we can look at the future with confidence is found in those two key words. Redeemed and ransomed. Have you been redeemed? Have you been ransomed? Note that it is not, have you redeemed yourself? Or have you merited your redemption? Or have you screwed up your redemption so far beyond belief that you cannot merit it?

25 · Oswald returns to Hebrews 12:1-2 and focuses on the cross as the means of redemption

Let's go back one more time to that Hebrews 12 passage. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The cross. That is how the redemption was accomplished. Jesus Christ became man in every way as you are, but without sin. Again, he endured that brutal death at the cross at the hands of sinful men. He endured the mockery, the humiliation, the violence. That ugly picture from our first point, he took that upon himself. Willingly. He willingly went to the wilderness. He laid down his glory, his majesty, so that you could turn to him and be redeemed. He paid the debt, all of it. He made you free. And he did not remain dead. He rose again, and he's making all things new even now. He is working the miracle of redemption even today.

26 · Oswald summarizes the gospel promise: no matter how bad the situation, the reward is certain

A reward so certain that no matter how badly you have dug the hole, how deeply you are in it, how bleak the future may look to you, how alone you may feel, how afraid you may be, or how broken you may be, behold, your God will come with a vengeance with the recompense of God, He will come and save you. The way of holiness is an unobstructed highway for you, narrow as it may be, and you will walk in there as the redeemed of the Lord, and you will return to Him singing with joy, with everlasting gladness and joy. Sorrow. Sighing, fear, anxiety will be a thing of the past.

27 · Oswald synthesizes the sermon's vision: future reward is miraculous, heart-level transformation — from darkness to gladness, from emptiness to abundance, from tears to joy

So that's the picture. That's the beautiful picture of our future reward. Miraculous change. Heart-level change. Songs from once dark, hard, but now glad and joyful. Blood-bought children being ransomed by Jesus Christ and being made perfect in him. Every day, one degree of glory unto the next degree of glory, being made into the image of God. Tears will subside. Emptiness-filled, generous abundance.

28 · Oswald steps out of exposition to address the listener directly as a fellow struggler

And trust me when I say that the fact that I'm behind this pulpit doesn't make me any less likely to not want to believe these words myself. Because that's just how we are. That's just how our nature is. Do I know him to be faithful? Do I know him to be faithful to deliver this reward that is here indelibly in this beautiful, precious, true, clear word? Then I will take the step of faith and I will see the glory and the majesty of God as he comes and saves me.

29 · Oswald distinguishes between past salvation (justification — 'He saved you once for all') and present salvation (sanctification — 'He is saving you now')

You know, sometimes we think of salvation as something that happened at one point or as something unattainable, right? We either look at salvation as that one day that I was with this person and I prayed this way, God saved me. Yes, of course He did. He saved you once for all. Sometimes we also think of this as I am just so bad and so dirty and so unworthy that I just cannot even go near that Jesus Christ. I cannot go near Jesus because He won't take me. And there is that reality of that past salvation that is so certain. It was not your own doing. Faith alone. Grace alone. In Christ alone. For the glory of God alone. But there's also present salvation that He's affecting for you right now in your sanctification. He is saving you. And I don't want us to lose sight of that.

30 · Oswald proposes a speculative biblical-theological move: that the 'joy set before Jesus' in Hebrews 12:2 is the very promise of Isaiah 35 — the redemption and restoration of His people

So as I wrap this up, I want you to look at, to think about something with me. This is a little bit of a stretch perhaps, but the more that I looked at Hebrews 12, The more that I could not get away from the reality that the writer of Hebrews quoted Isaiah 35. And when Isaiah 35 and Hebrews 12 are connected that deeply in the canonical text, we need to try to figure out why. There is a connection. I'm going to give it my best shot. I don't know. But entertain this idea with me. Could it be that the writer of Hebrews, as he writes about the joy that was set before Jesus as he endured the cross, because of this connection between his text and Isaiah 35, that he was helping us see that the joy that was set before Jesus is this miraculous reality that we're looking at here? Because Jesus knew Isaiah 35 quite well. And as he's looking to the prospect of the cross, as he's looking at the actual time at the cross, as he's looking at the actual separation, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Is it possible that this is in Jesus' mind? "Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.'" He will come and save you. Is it possible?

31 · Oswald draws the application from the speculative move: if Jesus' joy was Isaiah 35's promise, and we have the same Spirit, we have access to the same joy

And if it is, and we have the same spirit and we have the same motivation, we have access to the same joy. We can run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.

32 · Oswald concludes the speculative move by identifying what drove Jesus' joy: the promise of lavish, miraculous, abundant blessing for insufficient, insecure impostors

If this is plausible at all, Here is where we end up. What drove Jesus' joy? You may feel right now objectively forsaken by God, mocked by man, afflicted severely, even seemingly unto death. But the truth remains. The truth remains lavish, miraculous, abundant blessing for insufficient, insecure impostors like me. Behold, your Father will come with a vengeance with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.

33 · Oswald closes the sermon with a brief prayer acknowledging the congregation's (and his own) struggle to believe the promises just preached

Would you pray with me? Oh, help our unbelief.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Sep 2, 2018

Earth, Wind Fire

God's sole definition of success — the only one that matters for all eternity — is God's presence with God's people producing God's praise, and if you are not wholeheartedly pursuing this with your entire life, you are wasting your life.

Acts 2:1-5

Oct 28, 2018

When the Whole Church Speaks

Biblical worship requires creating space for Spirit-prompted congregational contributions during corporate gatherings, because the Holy Spirit gives speech to all believers for the common good, not just to ordained leaders.

Acts 2

Nov 11, 2018

A Theology of Change

Lasting change in human lives comes not from inner goodness, moral evolution, or human willpower, but from the sovereign work of God—displayed primarily as salvation—which is accessed through prayer, hard conversations, the work of the Holy Spirit, and face-to-face encounter with Jesus.

Acts 2:36-39

November 25 · This sermon

The Believer's Reward

The believer's reward in Christ is more dire than we imagine in its necessity, more miraculous than we imagine in its accomplishment, and more satisfying than we imagine in its present and future reality — secured by Jesus' redemptive work on the cross.

Isaiah 35:1-10

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Isaiah 35, the wilderness is transformed into abundance — the desert blooms, the blind see, the lame leap. What does this physical restor…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on the gospel's power to transform our wilderness into home: from the dire necessity of Christ's redemption, through the miraculous accomplishment of His cross, to the present joy we taste and the endurance it fuels.

Prayer

Prayer for Joy in the Promise of Recompense

Father, we adore You for Your sovereign grace that transforms the wilderness into a garden and makes a way where there is no way. We marvel…

Family table

The Desert and the Song

This prompt invites your family to imagine the concrete transformation Isaiah 35 describes—from barren wilderness to blooming garden. The go…

Couples

Tasting the Reward That Sustains Us

What aspect of Isaiah 35's promise — the blooming wilderness, the opened eyes, the ransomed singing — stirred your heart most deeply, and wh…

Memorize

Isaiah 35:10

This verse captures the sermon's core claim: that the believer's reward in Christ is both secured by Jesus' redemptive work ('ransomed of the Lord') and presently satisfying through faith in that finished work ('everlasting joy'). It anchors the hope that transforms wilderness into abundance and silence into singing.

Memory verse this week

Isaiah 35:10

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Why this verse: This verse captures the sermon's core claim: that the believer's reward in Christ is both secured by Jesus' redemptive work ('ransomed of the Lord') and presently satisfying through faith in that finished work ('everlasting joy'). It anchors the hope that transforms wilderness into abundance and silence into singing.

Draft · pending review

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Isaiah 35, the wilderness is transformed into abundance — the desert blooms, the blind see, the lame leap. What does this physical restoration in the text reveal about what spiritual restoration looks like in our own lives right now?

Isaiah 35:1-2, 5-6

→ Can you think of a specific area where you've experienced this kind of transformation — where barrenness has given way to fruitfulness?
Chris highlighted that our repeated return to sin often reveals a deeper longing — a homesickness for God. When you notice yourself drawn back to old patterns or broken sources of comfort, what do you think that hunger is actually pointing you toward?
The sermon emphasizes that the recompense — the restoration and reward — is not something we earn or deserve, but something we receive through redemption. What's the difference between trying to redeem yourself through effort versus receiving what God has already accomplished for you in Christ?

→ Where do you find yourself still striving to earn God's blessing, and what would it mean to simply receive it instead?
Isaiah 35:4 says, 'Be strong, fear not; behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.' Given that the sermon connects this promise to Christ's finished work on the cross, how does Jesus' redemption change the way we understand God 'coming with vengeance'?

Isaiah 35:4
The sermon suggests that the joy set before Jesus in Hebrews 12:1-2 was the promise of Isaiah 35 — the restoration and redemption of His people. How does knowing that Jesus endured the cross motivated by this same joy shape the way you face your own suffering and difficulty this week?

Hebrews 12:1-2

→ What would it mean for you to access that same joy through faith in what Christ has accomplished?
The sermon notes that the fact we are here today, believers in Christ with opened eyes and hearts, is already a foretaste of Isaiah 35's fulfillment. How does recognizing what God has already begun in you this side of eternity affect the way you live with hope?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Hebrews 12:1-2

The author of Hebrews invites us to fix our eyes on Jesus—the author and perfecter of faith—who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. We discover that the very joy sustaining Christ through His suffering is the promise of Isaiah 35: our complete restoration and homecoming. When inadequacy whispers that we are too broken, too weak, too lost, we turn our gaze to Christ's finished work and hear the gospel's answer: God has already secured what our soul most desperately needs.

Tuesday Matthew 27:46

In Christ's cry of dereliction on the cross—"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"—we see the Son bearing the very forsakenness our sin deserves, tasting the exile we earned. His willingness to experience spiritual homelessness in our place reveals the depth of our need: we are homeless wanderers, our souls perpetually aching for restoration. Every sin we commit is an echo of that homesickness, a futile grasp for the transcendence only God can give.

Wednesday Hebrews 13:5

"I will never leave you nor forsake you," God promises—a word spoken not to the strong or sufficient, but to the wandering, the empty, the afraid. As we learn to rest in this promise through faith, we move from the fear that God has abandoned us to the delight of His faithful presence. We taste the recompense even now: not as future fantasy, but as the Spirit's seal assuring us that we belong to the Father and are being brought home.

Thursday Hebrews 12:12-13

"Strengthen the drooping hands and weak knees," the passage commands, calling us to active response to Christ's redemptive work. We do not redeem ourselves through self-improvement or moral striving; rather, we "make straight paths" by receiving and resting in the salvation Jesus has purchased. Our part is to stand firm, to lift our heads, to believe that we have been ransomed—and in that believing, we appropriate the recompense Christ has won for us.

Friday Hebrews 12:1-2

As we enter the week, we carry with us the knowledge that Jesus' joy—the promise of lavish, miraculous blessing for the broken and insufficient—is our joy too. The Spirit grants us access to this same gladness not merely as distant hope but as present strength, fueling our endurance in trials and our witness to others. We look to Jesus, share in His joy, and find that we can run the race set before us, compelled by grace to press toward our eternal home.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer for Joy in the Promise of Recompense

Father, we adore You for Your sovereign grace that transforms the wilderness into a garden and makes a way where there is no way. We marvel at Your character — that You come with vengeance and recompense, that You save us not because we have merited it, but because You delight to lavish miraculous blessing upon insufficient, insecure impostors like us (Isaiah 35:4). We confess that we often live as though we dwell in a barren desert, tempted to believe that You do not care for us, that You have forsaken us in our affliction. Our souls grow weary, and we return again and again to broken cisterns, searching for transcendence in places that offer only emptiness. Yet we acknowledge that this very longing reveals our deepest need — to come home to You.

We rejoice in the gospel: that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Ransomed One, endured the cross and secured for us the very recompense Isaiah promised. In His finished work, the blind receive sight, the lame leap, the mute sing, and the desert blooms (Isaiah 35:5-6). What drove His joy was the promise of our restoration — and that same joy is now ours through the Spirit (Hebrews 12:1-2). We receive what You have done for us, not by redeeming ourselves, but by faith in Christ's blood shed for our complete salvation.

Grant us grace this week to stand and receive Your blessing, even when discipline has left us with nothing left to give. Open our eyes to see the flowers already blooming in the desert — the foretaste of Isaiah 35's glory that You have already begun in us. Strengthen our weak knees and feeble hands by fixing our eyes on Jesus and sharing in the joy that sustained Him through suffering (Hebrews 12:12-13). Let the promise of our future recompense become present delight, the seed of further good fruit in our lives and witness. Make us certain that no matter how deeply we have fallen, Your promise stands: You will come with vengeance and recompense, save us utterly, and bring us home singing with everlasting joy (Isaiah 35:10). To this promise we commit ourselves, together as Your people, in grateful response to immeasurable grace.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

The Desert and the Song

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to imagine the concrete transformation Isaiah 35 describes—from barren wilderness to blooming garden. The goal is to help them see that Christ's redemption isn't abstract; it's the difference between spiritual desolation and genuine joy, available to them right now through faith.

In the sermon, Pastor Chris described the believer's life as sometimes feeling like a desert—dry, empty, with no flowers or water. Then Isaiah 35 shows what happens when God comes: the desert blooms, the blind see, the lame leap, and people sing with joy on the way home to Zion. If you could pick one thing from that picture—eyes opening to see beauty, ears opening to hear God's voice, or a heart so full of joy it wants to sing—which one matters most to you right now, and why?

works for ages 8+; younger children can listen and answer with help from a parent

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Tasting the Reward That Sustains Us

What aspect of Isaiah 35's promise — the blooming wilderness, the opened eyes, the ransomed singing — stirred your heart most deeply, and what does that reveal about what your soul is truly longing for?
When we look at our marriage, where do we tend to settle for the desert instead of reaching toward God's recompense together — and how might tasting His reward reshape the way we encourage one another through hardship?
What is one specific struggle — spiritual numbness, inadequacy, fear of abandonment — that the other could pray for you this week, asking God to open your eyes to the joy that Christ's finished work has already secured for you?

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

Plan a visit →

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Earth, Wind Fire (Acts 2:1-5, 2018-09-02)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2018/09/earth-wind-fire-2018-09-02-2)
- [When the Whole Church Speaks (Acts 2, 2018-10-28)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2018/10/10-28-18-raw)
- [A Theology of Change (Acts 2:36-39, 2018-11-11)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2018/11/a-theology-of-change)
- [The Believer's Reward (Isaiah 35:1-10, 2018-11-25)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2018/11/11-25-18-sermon)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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