Isaiah chapter 57, and reading
from verse one. The righteous perisheth, and
no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men are taken away,
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to
come. He shall enter into peace, they
shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. But draw near hither, ye sons
of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
Against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom make ye a wide mouth
and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression,
a seed of falsehood? inflaming yourselves with idols
under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under
the cliffs of the rocks. Among the smooth stones of the
stream is thy portion. They are thy lot. Even to them
hast thou poured a drink offering. Thou hast offered a meat offering.
Should I receive comfort in these? Upon a lofty and high mountain
hast thou set thy bed, even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also, and the
posts, hast thou set up thy remembrance. For thou hast discovered thyself
to another than me, and art gone up. Thou hast enlarged thy bed,
and made thee a covenant with them. Thou lovest their bed where
thou sawest it. and thou wentest to the king
with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send
thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. Thou art wearied in the greatness
of thy way, yet, saidst thou not, there is no hope. Thou hast
found the life of thine hand, therefore thou wast not grieved.
And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied,
and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? Have not
I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not? I will
declare thy righteousness and thy works, for they shall not
profit thee. When thou criest, let thy companies
deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all away, vanity shall
take them. But he that putteth his trust
in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. And shall say, cast ye up, cast
ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of
the way of my people. For thus saith the High and Lofty
One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in
the high and holy place with him also, that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and
to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend
for ever, neither will I be always wroth, for the spirit should
fail before me and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity
of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him. I hid me, and
was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have
seen his ways and will heal him. I will lead him also and restore
comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit
of the lips. Peace, peace to him that is far
off and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal
him. but the wicked are like the troubled
sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. I was taken by the opening couple
of verses of this passage that we read today in Isaiah 57, and
I want just to dwell somewhat in a perhaps slightly extended
introduction on some of the thoughts that flow from these opening
verses. Is there any prospect more precious
for a believer than going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there any expectation more
thrilling for a child of God than the promise from our Saviour's
lips I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. Where I am, there ye may be also. Is there a prayer more comforting
or reassuring than the Lord's prayer when he prayed, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me,
for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Brothers and sisters, soon we
all who believe we'll be in the company and the presence of our
Saviour, Jesus Christ. And what a blessed prospect that
is for us. We know that this fallen flesh
recoils from dying because It's time bound and it's earthly. And yet we also know that it
must give out because that is the wages of sin. We know that
our natural passions find many things to cling to in this world. Just a little bit longer, just
a little bit longer. And yet have we not, as believers,
spent our whole Christian life trusting in the timing of our
kind, wise and gentle Saviour? Will He err now on this matter? Will He err now on such an important
matter as when He welcomes us into glory? We know that the process of parting
fills us with fear and anxiety. But what of the Lord's people
to dread from a process sanctified by our Lord's own footsteps through
the valley of the shadow of death on our behalf and sweetened by
his presence in it? Has he not said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee? Lo, I am with thee always. These are the promises that the
Lord's people have. And while this body, while this
flesh does indeed struggle with the prospect of our mortality,
the soul, the inner man, the secret man of the heart, The
new creation rejoices to know that soon we will be with the
Lord, and sin will be gone, and hurt will be gone, and the trials
of this world, the righteous are taken away from the evil
to come. And Isaiah was thoughtful of
this very thing. He was thoughtful about the mortality
of the Lord's people. thoughtful of the departing of
the Lord's people from this world. He knew, as he was writing, that
the troubles, the times of the Babylonian captivity and the
Assyrian warfare were still to happen. Yes, he's projecting,
he's foretelling, he's prophesying about things that are yet to
be. He is encouraging the people of his day, the people of his
age, with views and visions of what is yet to happen with the
coming Messiah, and the great expansion of the Church of Jesus
Christ but he knew that all of these to whom he wrote in the
moment would soon be giving up their lives. It was to encourage
them now that they had this glimpse of what lay ahead and the assurance
and the peace that it brought. So Isaiah is thoughtful as to
the departing of the Lord's people from this world and their entrance
into glory with the Lord. And he describes it beautifully. He describes it beautifully,
I suggest, as he describes it as the end of our trouble. the end of our trouble, the end
of our experience of sin, the end of our weakness, the end
of our weariness here in this world. They being preserved and
protected from the evil yet to come. And their souls being present
with the Lord Jesus Christ instead. He describes it as walking in
holiness. and with the purity of their
Saviour. He describes their physical remains
resting in the grave, which to them, he says, is become a soft
bed of comfort and ease until their bodies should be required
again and reunited with their souls at the coming of the Lord
Jesus. And the prophet understood that
God's people, his church, the righteous, for that is how they
are described, the righteous perisheth. The prophet understood
that the righteous are of little value to this world and that
the passing of the righteous was considered to be no loss. but those very people are loved
by God and precious in his sight, so that even our passing from
this scene of time, even our passing, is a blessing. and no one who
loves the Lord should balk at his timing when he comes to gather
his jewels. The observation by the prophet
here that no man layeth it to heart when the righteous perish,
no man layeth it to heart when the righteous perish, seems to
refer to the indifference of the wicked if not their delight
when the Lord's people pass, when the Lord's people die. The
men and women of this world little realise how blessed they are
to have the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ scattered among
them. We sometimes talk about being
scattered and feeling really quite isolated and even lonely
when it comes to our opportunities to fellowship with the Lord's
people. But the fact that we are dispersed, the fact that
we are distributed throughout this world is actually a blessing
to the world. It is something that the Lord
has shown kindness to, to the whole world. The Lord's people are not called
the salt of the earth for nothing. They are not called the light
of the world for no reason. Every grain of salt that is removed
Upon the death of a believer, every grain of salt removed tends
to the corruption of the earth. The earth is a more sinful place
for the removal of the Lord's people from this world. Every
light that goes out makes the world a darker place. and brings it one step closer
to final judgement and everlasting torment. And the men and women
of this world have no idea that that is what is happening. The
only thing holding back the wrath of God against this present evil
age is the presence of the church in the world. The only thing
holding back judgment, eternal judgment, is the presence of
the elect of God. And when the final sheaves are
gathered, Christ will return to judge the earth. And I think
there's an implication as well in what Isaiah says of a warning
missed, an opportunity lost. Here's a question that every
unbeliever ought to ask themselves. Every unbeliever ought to ask
themselves this question. If those who love the Lord thus
perish in the world, How will it be for me at my end? If those who love the Lord encounter
weakness, encounter sickness, encounter weariness, encounter
old age, encounter the troubles and the trials, even the violence
of this world and perish and these are they
whom the Lord loves. How will it be for me at my end? How will I do in the swelling
of Jordan? It were a question I'd hope that
every unbelieving son and daughter would ask themselves at the side
of their parent's grave. What will happen when it's my
turn? so that even the death of the
righteous is a testimony and a warning to sinners. I'm going
to take three points from this passage and try to show again
how clearly Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus and how he testified of
him even in these ancient writings. My points are these, the first
one is this, there is no rest for the wicked. My second one
is that Christ will inherit God's church. And thirdly, I want to
consider the specified examples of the Lord's goodness to his
people. No rest for the wicked, Christ
will inherit God's church and the Lord's goodness to his people. First point then is this. There is, says the Lord, no rest
for the wicked. There is no peace to the wicked. Now, just before I begin my thoughts
on this matter, I just want to clear up a little detail of definition. And if you're younger listening
to this, then listen carefully because this is principally for
you. I want to begin by clearing up a little matter of definition. I looked up the word wicked and
I was given the following alternatives. Good, great, terrific, cool,
fabulous and impressive. Let me say that's exactly the
opposite from what I expected to find. When I looked up alternative
words for wicked, I was given good, great, terrific, cool,
fabulous and impressive. Now this is not what I mean by
the word wicked. Nor is it what the Bible means
in this passage or elsewhere. Wicked means opposed to God and
the Lord says there is no rest for the wicked. Wicked means
opposed to God, opposed in attitude imposed in actions, opposed in
our hearts, opposed in our minds, opposed in our attitudes towards
God, and in what we do, the way we act, the things we value,
the things that motivate us. It means, wicked means sinful. It means evil. It means corrupt. It's the condition of all men
and women, boys and girls by nature because of the fall of
Adam into sin. Adam rebelled against God in
the Garden of Eden and all of Adam's progeny, all of Adam's
children down through the ages have had this opposition, this
innate natural rebellion against God, which the Bible describes
as wickedness. And it's the condition in which
we shall all remain unless and until the Lord is pleased to
show us mercy and grant us forgiveness and bring us to repentance. And
here Isaiah describes one consequence of sin in the life of an individual. He says that sinners, that those
who are rebels against God, that those who are wicked have no
peace and they have no rest. because these are some of the
words that are used in this passage to describe this situation. Fear, weariness, discontent are
characteristics of wickedness in the soul of man. Unrest is
a product of sin. Satan tempted Adam and Eve in
the garden. He tempted them with the knowledge
of good and evil. Well, they had known good all
along. And now because of their disobedience
against God, they got to know evil as well. And well, it wasn't
good because sin agitates the mind and it troubles the conscience,
it stirs up dissatisfaction, it provokes envy, it disturbs
and distresses the soul and men and women pursue all manner of
ambition and desire and experience hoping that it will bring them
happiness and contentment But outside of Christ there is
no peace, there is no rest. There is no peace, there is no
rest for the wicked. Only in him who said, Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. It is only as we learn Christ,
it is only as we come to Christ, it is only as we trust in him,
it is only as he becomes our Lord. that we shall find rest
for our souls. People say I want to throw off
the shackles, I want to throw off the yoke, I don't want to
be dominated, I don't want to be ruled by anyone, I want to
be free, I want liberty. Freedom and liberty is discovered
in Christ. Bondage and dissatisfaction is the portion
of the wicked. We could speak about this all
day, we could speak more and more about this, but I just want
to leave this message with you. And perhaps with those young
people, I've mentioned you a couple of times, but really this is
something, because older people, I think, we get to realise, and
of course by then it's too late, we get to realise that all our
aspirations and ambitions and all the things we hope for, so
often they don't materialise and even when they do, they don't
bring the happiness that we thought they would. So this is for the
young people. When Isaiah says, the wicked
are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters
cast up mire and dirt. He's speaking about our hearts,
which are by nature deceitful, hearts that are not right with
God, out of which the Lord Jesus says, proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, lies,
blasphemies, We shall never know peace with God. We shall never
know rest in our soul until our hearts are made anew. Until the Lord Jesus Christ comes
into our lives and gives us that peace that passes understanding
and we enter into Christ's rest. Outside of Christ there is neither
peace nor rest. In Christ we shall have both. Isaiah knew this, and I hope
that we learn it too. So that's our first point, that
there is no rest for the wicked. The second thing I want to mention
to you from this little passage is that Christ shall inherit
God's church. And having inherited that church,
he will gather, he will bring them to himself. In verse 13,
the Lord compares, so we've got a bit of a comparison going on
here, the Lord compares the wicked who make their little idol gods,
make them for themselves, make them of themselves. make them of the things that
they see around about them. So the Lord is comparing those
who are wicked with those who trust in God for life and salvation. And he says of the wicked on
the one hand, the wind shall carry them all away, vanity shall
take them. And then he goes on to say of
the righteous, but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess
the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. Now, when we're
speaking about the land and we're speaking about the holy mountain,
we're not speaking about a physical piece of ground. So much confusion
in the world today about a physical piece of ground in Israel. That's not what we're talking
about at all. That's not what the Holy Mountain
is. The Holy Mountain is a spiritual
kingdom. The Holy Mountain is the Church
of Jesus Christ. And here is one who puts their
trust in God and inherits the Church of Christ. not a physical
piece of land, not a country, but a spiritual kingdom. Now the one, because we are just
speaking about one, the one who first trusted in God was the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the covenant of grace, before
the world was even created, in the covenant of grace and peace
when promises were made between the Father and the Son and the
Spirit. Promises were given to the Lord
Jesus Christ concerning the redemption of his people, his bride, that
church whom he loved and gave himself for. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ who by his sacrifice and death fulfilled all the demands
of God's holiness and delivered his people from their sin, guilt
and condemnation. And it is entrusting the Lord
for those promises that were given to him that upon condition
of the fulfilment of his death upon the cross, he would inherit
the church, he would get the bride of his desire, the people
whom he loved. Having done that, having fulfilled
those requirements, Christ was given the kingdom of the elect,
the church, which is Zion, the holy mountain. the bride that
he loved. So let us be under no misapprehension. All whom the Lord redeemed belong
to him and he shall lose none of those for whom he died. That's what Isaiah saw. That's
what Isaiah is telling us here in this passage. The gospel Christ's
success, the gospel of Christ's accomplishment, the gospel of
Christ's inheritance going out into all the world and the nations. Coming to the holy mountain speaks
of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is gathering out and gathering
in from all those nations that elect people for whom he shed
his blood. And it's done through the preaching
of the gospel. In this gospel age, it's done
through the preaching of the gospel, taken first by the apostles
and then those whom the apostles put in place in the various congregations
that were established. Look how it's described in verse
14, this sending the gospel out into the world. The cry goes
forth by the Lord Jesus Christ himself because it's him that's
speaking. And he says, cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way. Take up the stumbling block out
of the way of my people. Now, cast ye up means preaching
the gospel. That's what he's talking about
here. Preach the word, build a highway, open a door, open
the gate, open the way through preaching Jesus Christ crucified. for the salvation of sinners
and for the gathering in of Christ's church. And that means that casting
up the highway, opening the door, showing the way is the means
by which God is accomplishing the gathering of his people.
What's the stumbling block that is spoken about here? What is
the stumbling block that has to be removed out of the way?
Well, it's the wickedness that we've been thinking about. It's
that innate, natural rebellion that we have because of Adam. It is the wicked, unbelieving
heart of man which has to be removed, which can only be removed
by God himself. by the creating of a new heart,
by the work of God the Holy Spirit, so that the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit coming together accomplish the deliverance of
the holy mountain and the gathering in of the church. a new heart
is implanted, the preaching of the gospel, there is a granting
of a new life, and it is effected ordinarily through the preaching
of the gospel and the new birth in conversion. The Lord Jesus
Christ said to Nicodemus, you must be born again, and that's
the message of the gospel, you must be born again. And having
been born again, we enter into the experience of the Lord Jesus
Christ as our saviour. Verse 15, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the one who is the high and lofty one that inhabiteth in
eternity, whose name is holy, who dwells in the high and holy
place. But look at this. Here is the
Lord. What a beautiful picture that is of our saviour, the high
and lofty one inhabiting eternity. What a great and glorious name
he has. Holy. But look who he's with. Observe with whom he dwells in
eternity. Isaiah foresaw Christ in his
glory dwelling with his church. Because he says, him also, using
him, one singular for many, him also, that is of a contrite and
humble spirit. Not naturally. Not naturally
have we got contrite. repenting, if you like, or humble
spirits, but by the grace of God, through the preaching of
the gospel, we are brought to that place of confessing our
need before God, confessing our sin, and trusting in the cleansing
blood of Jesus Christ. and all those brought to repentance
and faith, all those brought to confession and trust, all
those chosen to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief in the truth shall be saved and brought into a knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's what we're saying then,
Christ shall inherit God's church and bring them to himself. So,
those are my first two points. There's no rest for the wicked,
but Christ, having inherited God's church, shall bring them
to himself through the precious blood that he shed. Finally, let us note the promises
of help and mercy and support for those to whom the love and
grace of God comes through conversion, through the preaching of the
gospel. And here are five explicit blessings that are intended to
bring both peace and rest and comfort to the souls that the
Lord Jesus Christ brings to himself. The Lord promises goodness to
his people. Here are the five things that
he says. I will heal. I will guide. I will comfort. I will inspire. I will console. And before I touch briefly on,
and it's only going to be very briefly, on these graces, let
us be sure to note how God takes the initiative in doing all these
things. He says, I will, I will heal. I will guide. I will comfort. I will inspire. I will console. The Lord is going to do it. He
doesn't ask our permission. He doesn't wait upon our will. He doesn't look for us to acquiesce. The Lord says, this is what I'm
going to do. I have a people. I have saved
them. I have redeemed them. I will
heal, guide, comfort, inspire and console them. They are mine. They are my inheritance. God
takes the initiative, Christ takes the initiative to bring
his people the peace and rest that they need. He makes us willing
in the day of his power. We cannot obtain this for ourself. Man, we're told, goes on throw-wardly. That means we do what we want,
we do what the wicked nature drives us to do. That's what
motivates us, that Adamic nature. That's the way of our heart until
the Lord creates a new heart within us and converts the heart
and quickens the spirit and transforms the affections of those upon
whom his blessings come. And we call that sovereign grace.
We call it sovereign grace, not freewillism. Not every man deciding
for himself, but God taking the initiative and accomplishing
his purpose of grace and goodness and ultimately blessing for his
people. The Lord says, I have seen his
ways. and I will heal him. I will lead
him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips. The fruit of the lips is praise
and worship and gratitude to God. Peace, peace to him that
is far off and those who are close at hand. So that was peace
to the people of Isaiah's days and peace to those that were
far away. That's you and me. That's us. In the distant future, in the
distant countries, the gospel goes forth and Isaiah saw it.
Here's what the Lord promises in his blessings. I will heal.
The Lord heals. Jesus said, And that's so true. Some of our friends, some of
you who are here today are sick. You're sick in your bodies. And
just now you're eager to hear what your physician can do to
help you. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
great physician of body and soul. And we pray that our friends
will know his healing in their bodies. But whether they do or
not, we all need his hand upon our soul. I will heal, says the
Lord. May he heal the sickness of sin. May he heal the disease of defiance. May he heal the infection of
iniquity. May he quicken those dead in
trespasses and sin and give us new life in Christ. That's the
healing that we need. He says, I will guide. Having
healed, He will guide. He will guide us into all truth. He will guide us under the sound
of the Gospel. He will lead us by the still
waters and in the paths of righteousness. He will show us Christ in all
of His beauty, all of His glory, in all of His accomplishments.
And we will lay hold upon the great work of our Saviour. He will see if there is any wicked
way in me and he will lead me in the way everlasting. And the Lord says, I will comfort.
May the Lord comfort our hearts as only he who is the God of
all comfort. truly can. He is the God of all
comfort. If you need comfort, if you need
help, if you need consolation, this is the God who provides. The wicked have no rest, the
wicked have no peace, there is no rest for them. There is trouble,
there is distress, this is their portion in life, but the Lord
will comfort. He will lift the guilt. He will
cleanse the mind. He will create in me a clean
heart. He will renew a right spirit
within me. And I will inspire, says the
Lord. The Lord promises to create the fruit of the lips, praise,
worship, love, thanksgiving, a desire to work, a willingness
to serve, a hunger for the gospel, a passion for fellowship, a love
for the brethren. These are not natural inclinations,
but God, the Holy Spirit, our Holy God inspires these graces
in the children of God. And finally, I will console. and when the way gets hard and
trials abound, when our bodies grow old and weak or sick, when
temptation overwhelms, when sin brings us down, when guilt surges
and doubt afflicts, as it will and must to test every true child
of God, to see if we are in the faith, then the Lord will console
our spirits and soothe our anxieties and calm our fears. May the Lord grant these goodnesses
and graces to us and may they be our experience in this pilgrim
way. Amen.