Isaiah this evening, in Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54. I'm taking the title for the message from what's said in verse 5. And I love the description that's given here of our Lord Jesus Christ. For thy maker is thy husband. Believers are well married. They're married to the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant of grace. He's the Lord of hosts. He's the Lord of the people. The Lord of hosts is his name. God's given him a name above every name that at that name every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that he's Lord, thy Redeemer. He's thy Redeemer. Think about it. Our husband is our Redeemer. Our husband is our creator. Our husband is the Holy One of Israel.

Believers have a husband, Christ himself, and he's the God of the whole earth shall he be called. What a blessing we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm entitling the message from the words found in verse 5, married to Christ. Married to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is true of every believer. The Lord Jesus Christ is God our Savior. He's our husband, our head, our maker. Christ has chosen us. Think about this. He has chosen us to be his bride. He wrote our name in the Lamb's book of life. The people given to the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant of grace, it's a covenant of marriage, eternal marriage, that nothing will end or separate. Christ had chosen us. He said, you didn't choose me, I've chosen you. And I've ordained you. We studied in Revelation 19, talk about the marriage supper of the Lamb. Right blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. There's a marriage feast. Believers are married to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ married his church in that eternal covenant of grace, died for their sin to justify them by his blood, called them out of darkness into his marvelous light, made us new creatures in Christ Jesus and clothed us in his righteousness as it says there in verse 14. Isaiah 54 verse 14 in righteousness thou shalt be established again he repeats it down in verse 17, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment shall be condemned. You remember Romans 8, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness, their righteousness is of me. Believers have a blessed, perfect righteousness. It's called the righteousness of faith. And we know that Christ himself, he's all our righteousness before God. Being his bride, being his church, being his children, and made one with him, we shall never be separated from him. As the husband and the wife are made one in marriage, and that's what happens in marriage as we read in Ephesians chapter 5, these two shall be one flesh. So is Christ and his church. Believers are happily married to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a prearranged marriage in that eternal covenant of grace that shall never be altered, changed at all. It's an eternal covenant.

In Isaiah 53, We see the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ redeeming his church. He said, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Remember, Peter said he bear our sin in his own body on the tree, the just suffering for the unjust that he might bring us unto God. We see in Isaiah 53, the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in Isaiah 54, we see the fruit of his redeeming work of the Lord that shall prosper in his hand. I love that word prosper, don't you? Everything our Lord puts his hand to prospers. because the Lord Jesus Christ cannot fail.

The death and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the death and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is our life. We live because he died. We live because he gave his life for our sin. He laid down his life for his sheep. He said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take again this commandment, however, received of my Father.

Without Christ crucified, we would have no salvation. We wouldn't. We'd still be dead in our sin. Without Christ crucified coming to put away our sin, we'd have no forgiveness of sin. Without the Lord Jesus Christ crucified, we'd forever remain like the cast-out infant that we read about in Ezekiel chapter 16. polluted in the blood, cast out into the open field. A helpless little baby thrown out in there to the field. An infant, newborn. It wouldn't survive, would it? The Lord Jesus Christ found us that way and picked us up and married us and took us home and made us one with him.

Now, I want to take a look at the first 10 verses of Isaiah 54. I think we can look at these verses and get through it in a timely fashion. And as we look at these verses in the Word of God, may the Lord be pleased to bless us and bless His Word to our heart, the power of the Holy Spirit to cause us to understand the gospel of Christ and see the blessings that we have enjoyed See the blessings we have been joined to Christ by faith, married to him in that eternal covenant. It's ordered in all things certain and sure.

Verse 1. Sing, O barren. Sing. Rejoice. Break forth into singing, O barren that did not bear. Here's that barren, dead, dried-up sinner. And God says, sing, sing now, break forth in the singing. Cry aloud, thou that not travailed with child, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.

Now here's a picture of God's church. God's church are sinners saved by the grace of God. God's church are sinners chosen to salvation in Christ Jesus. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is compared to a barren, childless woman, but they are sinners saved by God's grace. And now we're instructed by the grace of God to sing about the glories of being blessed in Christ with the multitude of believers. We sang that new song of redemption, worthy is the lamb that was slain, receive all honor, glory, blessing, and power both now and forever. They sung that new song unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin in his own blood.

The visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the days of his freshly ministry, had a small number. There were just 12 apostles and one of them was a reprobate, Judas. And when the Lord gathered his church together after his resurrection, he lived among men for 40 days and upon his ascension to glory, there were just 120 believers in that early church. And then after the day of Pentecost, remember, Peter preached the gospel, and the Lord added, such as should be saved, 3,000 souls. They heard, they believed, they were baptized. And then later on, not too long afterward, the gospel was preached to a great multitude, and 5,000 people believed. See how this is multiplying? 8,000 in the early church we read about in the book of Acts. But think about this. In the revelation, it's described as believers as 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under heaven. That was amazing, the questions. when people find out that I'm a preacher and a pastor of the church. And they ask sometimes, usually it's along the line of, how big is your church? Well, I figured out how to answer that. 40 by 80. And then I was in a plumbing store on Monday buying some plumbing parts for our bathroom repair. And I was filling out the paperwork, and the man asked me, he said, well, how many members do you have?

Why would he ask that? Why wouldn't he ask something like, what do you preach over there? Who do you preach over there? How many members do you have? I should have said this, and I'm gonna try to follow this away next time somebody asks me that. Next time they ask you, how many members are in your church? I'm going to say 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands. Really? Yeah. Yeah. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ has a great multitude of sinners. A great multitude of sinners. Anytime somebody asks you that question, remember that answer. Well, there are 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands. Really? Yeah.

Our Lord gives this parable in John chapter 12. You take that little, and all of you have done this, when you planted a little corn seed, a little shriveled up corn seed, and you put it in the ground, and the Lord does His marvelous work, germination, and rain, and sun, and it grows, and grows, and grows, And it gets corn, and it multiplies. Our Lord said, this the hours come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit. Much fruit.

Remember what God told Abraham when God told Abraham he was going to have a son and a people? And he said, Abraham, come out here and look at those stars. Oh, those stars. He said, so shall your people be. God has a multitude of sinners, my friend, saved by the grace of God. Since his resurrection and glorious enthronement, a multitude of sinners have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light, begotten by the incorruptible seed of the word of the Lord. Of his own will be he us with the word of truth. We do break forth into singing as it says in verse 1. We do break forth unto singing, singing about His redeeming blood, singing about His graciousness. We do rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ as He's on the trail of His sheep and will find them and save them by His grace.

None for whom He died will perish. None for whom he loves can perish. There's nobody in hell for whom Christ died. There's nobody in hell for whom the Lord Jesus Christ loves. He loves his people with an everlasting love, and with love and kindness, he does draw them to himself with an everlasting love. You see, he came to seek and to save the lost. He said in John chapter 6, all that the father had given to me, they'll come to me. Those that come to me, I'll never cast them out. I'll raise them up again at the last day. I will not lose one, one sheep. He won't lose one of his children.

Therefore, we break forth in the singing. For more are the children of the desolate. than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Verse 2. Enlarge the place of thy tent. Matter of fact, there's so many children in this household of God, among the children of God. Enlarge the place of thy tent. Let them fetch forth the curtains of thy habitation. Spare not, lengthen the cords, strengthen the stakes. You see an enlargement taking place. Build a bigger tent, a bigger house, a bigger building. The Lord is telling us that the gospel that is to be preached in all the world, he will bless to the glory of the Lord. He said, I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The preaching of the gospel, it shall prosper.

Turn one page over to Isaiah 55, verse 11. Isaiah 55, verse 11. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. His word shall prosper. You got it? Isaiah 55, 11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return and be void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it. He's going to send his word out, that seed of life, and he's going to use that word preached, quickened by the Holy Spirit, to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. It shall prosper. Gospel preaching is the instrument and means that God uses to build his church, to call out his elect.

Going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, it pleased God to do so. Paul traveled, the apostle Paul traveled to many cities preaching the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed the gospel. That's a blessing, isn't it?

I got a note today from a pastor friend of mine I've known for 40 plus years. And he sent me a thank you note. He said, thank you for putting up all Brother Henry Mahan's sermons. We put up, we took them little cassette tapes and converted them into a digital format. It took me three years to do that. And we put them up on Sermon Audio 20 years ago. And the Lord has blessed that ministry so much. Over 1.8 million downloads in the last 20 years. Just this month alone, almost a thousand sermons a week go out of here. And already this month, 20 foreign countries preaching the gospel all over the world.

I should have told that man at the plumbing store, We're located over here on Zebulon Highway, but we have a worldwide ministry. We preach the gospel all over this world, and we do. It's amazing. You know, technology and computers, people always misuse things that are good. I mean, guns are good things, but people misuse them, don't they? Swords or knives are good things, but we've recently seen that people misuse them, don't we? Computers are a good thing. I use my computer. First thing I do when I come into work in the morning, first thing, I fire up that computer. I boot up, it's just sleeping, it's hibernating or something but I move that mouse and it comes up and I put in my passcode and that computer has been a It's been a blessing, been a blessing.

Preparing sermons and studying for sermons. I used to have a large library of books back before the 2009 flood when I had my office downstairs. But all those books were flooded and I threw them all away. But now all the books that I had in my library They're all accessible on the internet. You can look up any old writer and read his comment. John Gill, Matthew Henry, Robert Hawker, you name it. John Newton, John Owen, John Wesley. I wouldn't read John Wesley. Strike that one. But I'll sing his song, but I won't read his writing. Jonathan Edwards, John Owen. You can find all those old writers. I click here and I click there with a mouse. It's amazing. But people misuse those things too, don't they? So I'm not going to go on a bandwagon of banning computers because people misuse them. I make good use of my, I use my computer to preach the gospel. And the Lord has promised to bless His Word to His people.

Look at verse 3. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Desolate cities shall be inhabited with the gospel church for the believers. This was certainly true in the early establishment of gospel churches. In a city in the region of Galatia, Paul preached there. Over in Corinth and in Rome and many Gentile pagan cities, the gospel was preached and God blessed the preaching of the gospel.

We read in the Revelation study, letters to those seven churches of Asia, Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, all them different churches. Pagan, desolate, Gentile cities, but the Lord sent out the gospel, didn't he? And the Lord blessed the gospel. God, even in this day, is still sending out the gospel and blessing it to his people in different cities.

Ashland, Kentucky. A gospel preacher came to that city in 1950. And it's never been the same. Never been the same. The gospel came to this city in Pikeville, 1985, 40 years ago. God was pleased to raise up a gospel ministry from Iceland, Kentucky. Gotham went to Pikeville, went to Lexington, Kentucky, went to Kingsport, all different places. Cottageville, you can draw a big circle about a hundred mile radius from the city of Ashland. There's Wheelersburg, Ohio. There's Ripley, West Virginia. There's Lexington, Kentucky. Madisonville, Kentucky. Kingsport, Tennessee, Pikeville, Kentucky, all came from that ministry of one Henry T. Mahan.

The Lord will bless his word. He will bless his people. He will bless his people. And then he says, verse 4, Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt Forget the shame of thy youth, and shall not remember the reproach of thy widowhood. Fear not. Fear not. That phrase is used quite often in the book of Isaiah.

Let's look at a few of them. Turn back to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 verse 10. Fear not. Fear not. For thou shalt not be ashamed, fear not, neither shall be confounded. Isaiah 41, 10, you got it there? You should have this marked in your Bible, because we preached from it several times. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Same chapter, Isaiah. 41 verse 14, Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, ye men of Israel. I will help thee, sayeth the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One, and the Holy One of Israel. Turn one page to Isaiah 43 verse 1. Isaiah 43 verse 1. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, for I have called thee by thy name, you're mine.

Fear not, thou shalt not be ashamed, thou shalt not be confounded. No need to be ashamed, we have in Christ everlasting righteousness. No need to be confounded, We're resting on the rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. No need to be mindful of our past religious pride and religious idolatry, barrenness, and unfruitfulness. We've been turned to God from our idols to serve a living and true God. Fear thou not.

Verse 5. Isaiah 54, verse 5. Fear thou not. Look how verse 5 starts, for, and that word can be rendered, because. Here's the reasons we should not fear. Because thy maker is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. He's thy redeemer. He's the Holy One of Israel. Call his name Emmanuel, God with us. He's the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth. Shall he be called, no need to fear. Our husband's gonna take care of everything. He has, and he will. He'll take care of all of our debt. He'll pay all of our bills off in full. He'll give us an everlasting inheritance. We have in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're gonna take care of everything for us. We have a blessed, good, glorious husband in the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

He's called the Lord our maker. You see that in verse five? I am what I am, Paul said, by the grace of God. Everything I have, everything I know, everything I will be is by his grace. I am what I am. David said this, Psalm 100, verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He that made us, not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. He created us. He made us. He chose us. He redeemed us. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.

The Lord of glory is our husband. We're one with Him. We're vitally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. No closer human relationship than a husband and wife. Where Paul says, these two shall be one flesh. Christ and the church are one. He's the head, we're the body. Our Lord prayed this in John 17. Father, thou in me and me in thee. that Christ may be glorified in all things, that thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as the father had given him. I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. I in them, and thou in me, that we may be perfect in one.

You see, we're one with Christ. The old timers had a phrase to describe that. They called that a vital union. Believers have a vital union with our husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our husband. We're one with Him. He's called the Lord of Hosts. Do you see that? He is the Lord of a special, purchased people. He's the Lord of a host of people. Sinners saved by grace. Brought with His blood. Called out of darkness into His marvelous light. He's called the Lord of Hosts. Who's going to enter into glory. You remember Psalm 24 where it says, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath pure hands and a clean heart, who has never lifted up a soul to vanity, he shall enter in, and that's describing Christ and those in him. He is the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory, who's entering in with a host of people.

And he's called here, thy Redeemer. You see that? And twice he's called the Redeemer. Verse five, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Again, verse eight, in a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting kindness, while I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, the Lord Jehovah, thy Redeemer. He's our deliverer. He bought us with his own blood, didn't he? He's a Redeemer like Boaz was to Ruth. Remember that story in the book of Ruth? The Lord Jesus Christ is near akin to us. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The one who has the right to redeem, the one that has the power to redeem, and the one who is able to redeem, able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. So he's called our husband. He's called the Lord of a people. God has made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He's our Redeemer, who really redeemed us from our sin with His own blood, and He's the God of the whole earth, the sovereign ruler and King of all the earth, who does according to His will in the army of heaven among the heavens of this earth, and no one can stay His hand or say to Him, what are you doing?

He is God, our Savior. I love how the Apostle Paul and Peter and the Apostle Jude, nine times, I looked it up today, nine times our Lord Jesus Christ is called God our Savior. He's God our Savior. God our Savior. Listen to this scripture. Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2 verse 13. He is our great God and He's our Savior.

Call His name Jesus, why? He shall save His people from their sin. From their sin. Look at verse 5 again. Isaiah 54 verse 5. For thy maker is thy husband, The Lord of hosts is his name, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He's a just God and Savior. The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth when thou wast refused, saith the Lord.

He called us. We are called upon him first. He chose us and He called us, translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Look at verse seven. For a small moment I have forsaken thee, but with great mercies I will gather thee. It is of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. We have great mercies in Christ Jesus.

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee. Who says so? Who says so? What does it say there? Saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah. For as I've sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth. Remember what God told Noah? that he would never destroy the earth again by water. And what sign did he give? That rainbow. That rainbow. Every time we see that rainbow, we should remember that covenant that God made with Noah.

God saved Noah in that ark. And that ark's a picture of Christ. And that rainbow's a type and picture of the eternal covenant. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. Verse 10 in closing. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed. God going to destroy this Heaven and earth as we know it is going to make a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

For the mountains and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from me, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed. saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. This is that everlasting covenant of grace, the God of peace that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Covenant mercies. Covenant mercies. What a blessing we have in our Maker, our Lord, our Redeemer, our Righteousness, God our Savior. That's a good hope.