This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you to week 8, our last week of our
"Look to the Book of Isaiah," day one of this week. We're going to start with
Isaiah chapter 58 and see in this chapter that Isaiah prophetically points
Israel to the promise that he's going to restore their nation. He reminds them
that God restores for a reason.

He reminds them that they are restored to rebuild. There's a principle here.
Whatever God restores, we need to rebuild.

He involves us almost always in the rebuilding. When God restores the joy of
your salvation, a devotional life may need to be rebuilt. When God restores a
relationship, that relationship needs to rebuild its communication, rebuild its
purpose.

When God restores a church or a business from the ashes, there's a lot that
needs to be rebuilt and God involves us in that. Israel is going to be restored
in order to rebuild their nation. A lot had been lost, but instead of focusing
on what was lost, they were going to focus their energies, Isaiah's
prophetically telling them here, on the rebuilding.

In today's world, rebuilding is absolutely vital. We can allow what we've lost
to keep us from seeing what we have. We need to look at what God has given or
given back and how we can build or rebuild what he's put into our hands.

You can focus on what you don't have or what you do have. You can focus on what
was lost or you can focus on what can be rebuilt. If you've ever built anything,
you know that two very simple things are needed, resources and labor.

You've got to have things to build with and then you've got to know what to do
in order to build with those things. We're going to look at those two things in
Isaiah chapter 58. First, God's resources for rebuilders, the blessings that
give you the ability to rebuild what God has put into your hands, three of them.

Number one is hope. You've got to have hope in order to rebuild. Isaiah 58 says,
"Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly
appear.

Then your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be
your rear guard. " This picture of your light rising out of the darkness. No
matter how dark it seems, God can bring light.

Remember, he's the one who created light out of the eternal darkness. So he can
bring light to your crisis, to your problem, to your confusion, to your
darkness. Second Corinthians 4.

6 says, "For God, who let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in
our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. " So you find that light in Christ, in the face of Christ. And when
you put God's light on it, you get hope.

And once you have hope, then you have the direction and the motivation to
rebuild. So God gives us hope as a resource. Second, he gives us guidance.

The second resource is guidance in Isaiah 58. 11, "The Lord will guide you
always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen
your frame.

" So God directs us. He guides us. He shows us what to do.

Usually we think of guidance as God showing us the way. But these verses reveal
that it's more than that. Not only does he show us the way, he gives us the
ability to follow.

What's the use of guiding us into what we couldn't do? So he will satisfy your
needs, even in a sun-scorched land. He will strengthen your frame.

He's going to give you the strength to do what he directs you to do. God's
guidance always comes with God's supply. Or it's famously said, "Where God
guides, God provides.

" So he gives us guidance. And the third thing he gives us, third resource for
rebuilders, is abundance. Isaiah 58, verse 11, the last half says, "You'll be
like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

" So this picture of the abundance of a well-watered garden, of a never failing
spring, abundance, the abundant life that Jesus has given you, is one of the
prime resources that enables us to freely give your life as a servant. That
abundance always comes from Christ in you. That's the power to rebuild.

So those are some of our resources laid out in Isaiah chapter 58. And then
Isaiah 58, 12. One verse tells us how God's work of rebuilding really goes
forth.

The labor and the skill that accomplish the task. So how does the labor get
done? Verse 12 says, "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise
up the age-old foundations.

You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings.
" So in this one verse we see four things that we must do in order to rebuild.
Four skills, abilities, perspectives, strengths that God has to give and will
give to us as his followers.

First skill is this, you have to value the ruins. Your people will rebuild the
ancient ruins. That meant they could see the value in the ruins of that city.

They didn't just walk by it and say that's too bad. They needed to rebuild it.
They would not only cry over what had been, but they'd also see the value of
what it could become.

How it could be rebuilt. Rebuilt. You're not going to rebuild unless you value
the ruins of what needs to be rebuilt.

That might mean the ruins of a relationship that's been shattered. You're not
going to rebuild that unless you value what could be brought back by God. Or it
could be the ruins of a person's life.

Washed out. Burned out. The ruins of a church that's lost its mission.

You're not going to rebuild unless you value what is there. When it comes to
valuing what's been ruined, I am so glad that Jesus Christ valued the ruins of
my life. That he rebuilt my relationship with God.

Jesus is in the business of rebuilding. But first you have to be willing to see
that he wants to rebuild from the ruins. Second thing you have to do is you have
to find the foundations.

The next phrase is, "We'll raise up the age-old foundations. " When it comes to
rebuilding, foundations are invaluable. Many years ago, Shondell and my wife and
I were looking for a house to remodel.

We found one that Shondell loved, but I noticed that the left side of the house,
it just seemed to lean a little bit. Looking underneath, the house was built on
a stack of bricks. It did not have a strong foundation.

So it should not be rebuilt because it didn't have a foundation worth building
on. How do you know if something should be rebuilt? You can see that there's
still a strong foundation there to build on.

And Jesus Christ is in the business of giving us a strong foundation to build
on. Rebuilders, people who know how to rebuild a relationship or a business or a
church, they have a knack for finding the real foundations, the strength upon
which a marriage or a church can be rebuilt. You find the foundations.

And then the next labor, the next skill we have to bring to bear is to repair
the broken. You value the ruins, you find the foundations, and then you repair
the broken. You will be called, it says, the repairer of broken walls.

There's that old phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. " And the phrase now
is, "If it is broke, don't fix it either. Just throw it away.

" We're in this very bad habit concerning this in our day. All of our things are
becoming more and more disposable, from water bottles to diapers to cameras to
utensils, whatever it is, it's easy to throw away. The problem is, that does
make its way into our thought process.

And as our things become more disposable, it's too easy to begin to treat our
relationships, our commitments, as more disposable. It becomes a habit of our
heart. Rebuilders repair the broken places, broken walls, it says here, but also
broken people, broken marriages, broken churches, broken dreams, broken visions,
broken commitments, broken plans, broken parents, broken children, broken
hearts, broken lives.

Rebuilders see that God wants to repair, God wants to be at work in those broken
places. We don't throw it away because it's broken. We look for God to work in
those broken places.

And then the fourth skill, the fourth labor of a rebuilder is you restore the
purpose. You'll be called the rebuilder of broken walls, and then the last
phrase, the restorer of streets with dwellings. Streets with dwellings.

They restored the city to its usefulness. Not only were the streets there, there
were houses there for people to live in. The purpose of a city is for people to
live in.

Just to rebuild streets with no houses, there's no use to doing that. Rebuilders
restore the usefulness, the purpose. It's not just that they make people feel
better or make things look better.

They restore the usefulness. To fully see a marriage rebuilt, you begin to see
again the purpose that God wants to work out of that marriage. A relationship
when one of your kids rebuilt, you begin to see the purpose that God wants to
work through in that, or a business, or a church, or your life.

You begin to see again God's purpose in your life. That's how God rebuilds.
That's God's miracle of rebuilding.

Let's talk to him about it. Father, we thank you that you are in the business of
rebuilding. Rebuilding broken hearts and lives.

Thank you also that you involve us in what you're doing. So help us to see how
you've put the resources into our lives and the wisdom from your word into our
lives to be involved with you in what you're doing in this world and show us a
place right now, today, where you want to rebuild something maybe in us, or you
want to use us to be a part of rebuilding somebody else's life. Thank you for
the hope you've given us, the guidance you've given us, the abundance of life in
Christ.

Help us to draw upon those resources, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Join us
tomorrow. We're going to take a look together at Jesus' favorite job description
for the Christian life.