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God Himself Will Wipe the Tears

Isaiah 25

Dec 11, 2016


by: Jack Lash Series: Isaiah 25 | Category: Advent | Scripture: Isaiah 25:8

I. Introduction
A. We’ve been looking at Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 25 of what Christ’s coming will mean.
B. Last week we looked at a ugly & disturbing aspect of Isaiah’s vision of the future, namely that a day is coming when those who do not embrace the God of Israel will be pressed into a hill of dung.
C. This morning, from the same passage, we’re going to focus on one of the most beautiful and touching images of the meaning of Christ’s coming. Today we’re going to talk about the Lord wiping away the tears of His people.
D. Remember the bully scene from last week. Think of two frames: before & after. In the before frame a bully is pressing a child’s face into the dirt. But in the after scene the big brother is pushing the bully’s face into the dirt and wiping the tears of the bullied child. That’s the picture here.
1. The bully is Moab, who represents all the enemies and persecutors of God’s people.
2. The child is the people of God.
3. And Jesus is the older brother, comforting His people and punishing their bullies.
E. Last week we skipped verses 8b-c and 9 of Isaiah 25. Those two verses will be the subject of the next three sermons: this week and next week on v.8, and then we’ll look at v.9 on Christmas day.
F. V.8 says that in the day of Christ,“the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces.” (Isaiah 25:8)
II. Isaiah 25:8b
A. The image of a little child and a comforting parent.
B. “How expressive is the picture of the Master of the Universe tenderly wiping the tearstained faces as a mother might her child’s. He is touched by that which rends our hearts, and his purpose, begun in Christ, is to put an end to it all.” – Oswalt
C. Motyer tells us that the Hebrew wording here translated “from all faces” implies “Passing from one to the other, individually, until every tear is dry.”
D. We primarily know this image from the book of Revelation:
1. Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
2. Rev.21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
E. But Isaiah 25:8 is where it begins. This part of John’s revelation is drawn from Isaiah’s vision.
III. God has compassion on His people in their suffering.
A. There are real tears in this world.
B. Sometimes there are a lot of tears. “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief.” – Psalm 6:6–7
C. God knows it. He’s not the kind of father who scolds His child for crying when His child is hurt or broken-hearted.
D. Jesus has been here. He knows what it’s like to live in this veil of tears.
1. John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” Jesus wept!
2. Three times we know He wept:
a. Lazarus (above)
b. Jerusalem (Luke 19:41 “When He approached, He saw the city and wept over it.”)
c. Gethsemane (Hebrews 5:7 “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death.”, Matt.26:37, Mark 14:33)
3. Is.53:3 tells us that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
4. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tried as we are, yet without sin.” – Hebrews 4:15
E. But this doesn’t mean He doesn’t want us to suffer.
1. “God wants me to be happy!”
2. God is no sadist — He doesn’t enjoy our suffering! But because He loves us, He allows us to suffer, in order to chisel, purify, etc.
3. Jesus knows that “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.” (Ecclesiastes 7:3)
a. Notice it doesn’t say, “Sorrow feels better than laughter.” but “Sorrow is better than laughter.”
IV. Three aspects of the Lord wiping tears from the eyes of His people
A. No more tears
B. Special compensation for our tears
1. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” – Psalm 126:5-6
2. Stored up in a bottle (Ps.56:8) — implies there’s more than just ending the pain – tears revisited
3. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. – Matt.5:4
4. He who weeps now will laugh later. – Luke 6:21
a. Not he who weeps now will stop weeping later.
C. Comfort now in the midst of tears
1. 2Corinthians 1:5 “As we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
2. This is the way we’re supposed to live: abundant sufferings, abundant comfort from Christ
3. We understand tears, we know there’s a good purpose for them. So, they don’t ruin us.
4. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” – Psalm 126:5-6
5. We also know that they open the door for us to “the fellowship of His sufferings.” – Phil.3:10
V. Faithful tears
A. Faithful tears and unfaithful tears
1. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, 11 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven ...4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance. 11 He has made everything appropriate in its time.”
2. Sometimes people laugh when it’s time to weep: like when a celebrity falls in scandal.
3. Sometimes people weep when it’s time to laugh: like when someone we know gets blessed.
4. If there is a time to weep, that implies that there is also a time not to weep.
B. Tears of trusting grief born of love
1. Lazarus
2. Veldhuyzen tears
C. Tears of repentance and grief over sin (e.g. Mark 14:72)
1. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:6–10
2. Tears over our sin: “A broken and contrite spirit, You will not despise.” (Ps.51:17)
D. Tears of compassion
1. Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
E. Tears of sorrow over the Lord Jesus being mocked and opposed
1. Luke 19:41 And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it,
2. Philippians 3:18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
3. Psalm 119:136: “Rivers of water run down mine eyes because they keep not Thy law.”
F. Tears of love (zeal for the welfare of others)
1. Acts 20:31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”
2. 2Corinthians 2:4 I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
3. See also Acts 20:36-38; 2Timothy 1:4
G. Tears of desperate prayer = groaning to God (Ps.30, 42:1-8)
H. The tears of trust
1. The agony of things not happening the way it seems they should
2. Impossible dilemmas
I. Tears of finding Christ
1. The woman’s tears on Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50
VI. This is not just a truth, it is a calling.
A. God calls us to weep, to take up our cross every day, to suffer, to die to ourselves, to weep over our sin and the sin of others, to weep with love for His people.
B. Reacting with frustration or anger or self-pity versus reacting with tears
C. Tears as an important part of parenting. Too many times I should have wept and didn’t.
D. The Bible says Flee from youthful lusts! But instead we often flee from painful duties!
1. The Bible knows what our enemies are.
E. So, weep to the glory of God! Don’t hold back.
F. The sin of tear avoidance – E.g Not wanting to speak with people who we know are hurting.
G. My pain: I was shoving it down into the dungeon of my heart, and not bringing it to the Lord.
H. The comfort we miss because we run away from suffering.
VII. Conclusion
A. God sent His Son Jesus into the world to wipe away human tears.
B. But tears come first — the wiping of them comes after the shedding of them.
1. Don’t expect — or even ask — God to give you a tearless life.
2. He can’t wipe tears we never shed.