Alright brethren, let's turn
in our Bibles to Isaiah 54. I'm going to bring both messages
from these, Isaiah 54 and Isaiah 55 because they just go so well
together. You see down in verse 17, Isaiah
54, 17, it says there, Towards the end, the last sentence
says, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. That
means this is the inheritance of his people. Isaiah 53 declared
how the Lord Jesus came and laid down his life for his people
and accomplished our redemption. And then Isaiah 54 opens up with
his promises to the church and what he promises to do. This
is his covenant promise. We're gonna see in chapter 55,
he talks about the sure mercies of David, the covenant God made
with Christ, our spiritual David, and the covenant he makes with
his people like he did David. That's his covenant. Well, Isaiah
54, he's declaring that covenant to us. He's telling us what his
promise is to his people. He said there in verse 9, Isaiah
54 9, this is as the waters of Noah unto me. I've sworn that
the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so I've sworn
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. This is
his covenant, everlasting, ordered in all things and sure in Christ
Jesus. This is what he promises his
church, what he promises his people. Now let's begin with
these promises. He's gonna do these things for
his church. And in fact, by His grace, He's
gonna use us to preach the gospel. This is what He's gonna do through
His church. He's gonna use us to exalt Him,
to preach Him, and this is what Christ will do through His church,
and this is what He'll do for His church. Every individual,
elect, child, chosen, redeemed, regenerated by Christ, this is
what He's gonna do for us right here. He promises to build his
church. He promises he will build his
church. He speaks here of stones, precious
stones, valuable stones. That's what his people are to
our Lord Jesus. He makes us to be living stones. Look here, verse 11. O thou afflicted,
tossed with tempest and not comforted. Behold, I will lay thy stones
with fair colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires and
I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates of carbuncles and
all thy borders of pleasant stones. He addresses his people, his
church, as afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted.
You remember that little 120 When our Lord had arisen and
he was sending them back to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, that
little 120 were in that upper room, they were afflicted. They
were tossed with tempest. They were very afraid. They were
being sent right into the city full of all the religious folks
that had just crucified the Lord Jesus, their Savior. And they're
going in there to preach the gospel. They were afflicted.
They were tossed with tempest. And that's our case a lot of
times in this world. Our Lord told us, you shall have
tribulation in this world. We're going to have it. We're
going to have it. But He's promised us, I have
overcome the world. And brethren, in Him, every one
of His people has overcome the world. And by Him, we shall overcome,
trusting Him alone. He's gonna comfort us. We're
tossed and afflicted, but he comforts us with the promise
of what he shall do. He's given us this gospel. He's
promised us, reminded us he accomplished the redemption of all his people.
And they must be called out. They must be called to him because
he's justified them. Justice will not be poured out
on them a second time. He's gonna save them. And that
day when he poured out the Holy Spirit on that 120, they went
in there right into the mouth of the lion and they stood up
boldly and they preached the gospel. They gave them the ability
to preach in languages they had never learned. They preached
to those men in their own language of those people. And they preached
the wonderful works of God. And Christ blessed it and he
made them hear that gospel and he saved a multitude. And he's
promised you and me, he's given us this gospel that we henceforth
be no more tossed, be no more tossed to and fro, carried about
with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and the cunning
craftiness of men. He's gonna comfort his people
through this gospel. Now, he's the builder. He's the
head, he's the builder. He said here, I will lay thy
stones. Verse 12, I will make thy windows
and thy gates and all thy borders. I will, I will. That's the Lord's
promise. The church is the city of God
which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. Aren't you
thankful for that? We don't have the ability. We
don't know who God's elect are. We don't know who his lost sheep
are. We don't have the ability to make any come, we don't have
the ability to make any stay, but our Lord's the builder. Scripture
says that in Acts, it says, he added to the church daily such
as should be saved. He's been doing it ever since
then, he's doing it now, and he'll continue to do it till
he's called every single one of his people. Now these precious
stones we're looking at here, that's basically what all these
are, they're just precious stones. And really what it amounts to
is this. You and me come into this world,
and we're dead as a stone. By nature, we have no spiritual
life, no interest in the gospel, no interest in spiritual things.
We're dead as a stone. But Christ, by his grace, through
the spirit, through this gospel, he makes us living stones. Living stones. And the metaphor
here is because the temple was made of stones, built up a house,
And he uses that as a picture of his church. He's the precious
cornerstone. He's the foundation. The apostles
are called the foundation. They laid the foundation, Christ
Jesus. But we're living stone built
up by Christ. Go to 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter
two. And this is such a comfort, not
only to the preacher, but it's comfort to each of us, brethren.
We saw not long ago, remember in Isaiah 43, he said, I'll call
them from the north, the south, the east, the west. He said,
I created them for my glory. And he's gonna call each one
that are his and bring them to be united. But look what he says
about us right here. First Peter two, verse four. To whom coming? To Christ Jesus,
as unto a living stone. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stone, living
stones, you're built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices. The calves of your lips, praise
and glory to God, thank in God. And he said, and I create that
peace. I create that fruit of the lips, the Lord said. And
those are spiritual sacrifices. What you do by the grace of God,
by the spirit of God, in the name of the Lord Jesus for his
glory is spiritual sacrifices. They're done in spirit, they're
created by spirit, they're spiritual sacrifices. And look how they're
accepted to God. Acceptable by Jesus Christ. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. That's so of his people. Without
crying, scripture says, The plowing of the wicked is abomination
of God. Plowing something as innocent
as plowing a field, he said it's an abomination of God. But in
Christ, what he works in his people is acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ. Go to Ephesians 2, Ephesians
chapter 2. Just trying to show you here
what these stones typify, Ephesians 2.20. to typify Christ and his
people, Ephesians 2.20. It says in verse 20, we're built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, the foundation, in whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord. Our Lord was a carpenter when
he walked this earth. and he's the great carpenter
of his church. He's the builder. Frames us together
unto a holy temple in the Lord in whom ye also are builded together
for a habitation of God through the spirit. It means God dwells
in us in spirit. He's in his church in spirit. And that's the description here
of these beautiful precious stone. He said, I will lay them I will
build my church. You don't have to worry if I'm
going to build my church. I'm going to call my people.
I'm going to build my church. I'm going to build it up. And
he said this about these precious stones. In Malachi 317, he said,
They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when
I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. That's his point. Now that's
his covenant to us, brethren. call his people through this
gospel, he will lay the stones in this building. Fitly put us
right where he'd have us to be in the local assembly, in the
church overall, he puts his church right where he'd have us, his
people in particular. Now go back to Isaiah 54. Here's
the second promise. He's gonna teach us. And this
is how he lays these stones. This is how he fitly frames us
in his house as he teaches us. And he's gonna teach each one
of his people. He says here in verse 13, and
all thy children. Now you realize, those that he
calls, I know that the Catholic church, they exalt the church,
calling her the mother church and all that. And I know that
they preach that in a false way, but listen. And Brother Don used
to say, I don't care if Buddhists preach it. If it's in the word
and it's true, he said, we're preaching it. And this is the
truth. The church is the mother. That's how he describes us here
in Isaiah 54. And those he calls are thy children. They're thy children. And think
of the beautiful picture. A husband and a wife. The husband,
the child is conceived by the husband's seed in the woman and
created through the woman. That's what Christ is doing.
The gospel, the gospel of Christ is the incorruptible seed by
which we're born again. The preaching of his word, the
mother, within the mother the child is born, conceived by the
Lord Jesus. and we're taught of the Lord.
Every one of us shall be taught in spirit and truth by the Lord. All thy children shall be taught
of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children. Our
Lord declared this when he walked this earth. Go with me to John
chapter six. When he walked this earth, now,
you know, he calls us and he's God, he's sovereign to call and
all, but when he walked this earth, He served God, and he
believed God, trusted God, and this was his faith. This was
the faith of our Lord Jesus. He wasn't chasing after people.
He wasn't concerned when this multitude that he fed, they came
after him because they just wanted their belly filled, and they
wouldn't hear him. They were murmuring against him,
and he said, don't murmur. He wasn't worried about it. When
they walked off, he didn't chase after them. Here was his faith
right here. Isaiah 6, and look down at verse
45. He said, well, let's read verse
43. He said to them, they began to
murmur what he was teaching. He said, murmur not amongst yourselves.
No man can come to me except the father which has sent me
drawing, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written
in the prophets, this is our text, it's written in the prophets,
they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me. And so that was his faith right
there. He trusted the father would draw
his people to him and so That's the faith he gives us. He teaches
us. He's gonna teach all his people.
And not one's gonna go untaught by him. And when he teaches his
people, they come to Christ. They come to Christ. He said,
every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
to me. And our text says, and great shall be the peace of thy
children. You put those two things together.
He's our peace. And when you come to Christ,
he gives you his peace. My peace I give unto you, not
like the world gives you. He said, I give it unto you. It's spiritual and it's eternal
and he is that peace. It's peace with God. Listen,
you might be young and you don't think about meeting God, but
the older you get, the more you're gonna realize you are going to
meet God and you're gonna stand before God. And if you don't
have Christ and you're not in Christ and you're not in him
alone, you're gonna be more and more bothered in your conscience
by your sin because you're gonna stand before God. A fearful looking
for of the judgment of God without Christ. But when he gives you
an understanding and he teaches you that he laid down his life
for his people and put away all the sin of his people, that by
his blood he has made peace with God for his people. He gives
you the peace of God. And you want to talk about something
that you cannot put a price on having, peace with God, peace
in your conscience, knowing God is not angry with you. He receives
you, he accepts you in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. That's the
peace of God Christ is for his people. and you don't wanna get
to the end of your days and be facing God and your heart be
hardened and you spent your whole life living for self and now
you know you're about to die and stand before the holy God
who knows every single thing about you. You don't wanna get
to that place and not have Christ. Scripture says, believe on him
today. Seek him while he may be found today, today. But this is the peace he gives.
It's a spiritual peace in the heart. It's a peace that's lasting
because Christ's work will never be undone. It is finished and
he has made peace. He reconciled his people to God. And here's why this is such a
lasting peace and such a valuable thing to God's child. It's established
in Christ's righteousness. This peace is established in
his righteousness. Look at verse 14. He says, in
righteousness shalt thou be established. That's what he says. Do you believe
Christ? Has he saved you and given you
faith to believe him? This is his promise to you. You
shall be established in righteousness. It's not a righteousness of your
own. It's not a righteousness we work. It's his righteousness. Established in it, immovable. established in his righteousness.
He's the foundation, the sheer cornerstone, the foundation,
and his people are built on the rock Christ Jesus, established
in his righteousness. You know what it is to be righteous?
To be righteous is to be perfect before God's holy law, before
God himself, for God to look upon you and say, no sin, only
righteous, no sin, perfect right, perfect obedience. That's what
Christ did. He, by one man, by one man's
disobedience, we became guilty sinners. It's by one man's obedience,
Christ the Lord, that his people are made righteous. But it's
even better than that, brethren. It's even better than that. How
good do you have to be to come into God's presence and be accepted?
You have to be as good as God. You have to be righteousness.
You have to be righteousness itself because God is righteousness.
That's what Christ has made us in him. We've been made the righteousness
of God in him. Now brethren, that's peace. Go
with me to 2 Corinthians 5. It's all of God, the God that
had an issue with us, who we sinned against, sent his own
son. And in his own son, he reconciled his people to himself. And be
sure to get this, God didn't have to be reconciled to us.
God didn't do anything. We're the ones that sinned against
him. He was angry with us. We had to be reconciled to him.
We had to, and God himself had to be appeased and our sins had
to be atoned for so he would be at peace with us. But then
he had to come create a new heart in us and make us quit fighting
against him and make us bow down and thank him for what he'd done.
He had to make you and your own heart be reconciled to God. Both
those works, the work for us and the work in us is all of
God in Christ. Look here, 2 Corinthians 5.18,
all things are of God who hath reconciled, that means made peace,
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself. That means his people scattered
throughout the world, not just the Jews, but Jew and Gentile,
male and female, rich and poor, his people all over the world.
He reconciled the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them. How can God be just not to charge
you with the sin that you are and the sins you've committed?
How can he be just to do that? Look at verse 21. For he hath
made him sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. That's what we've been made.
Not only are we righteous and have, before God, have perfectly
obeyed the law, but we have been made the very righteousness that
God is in Christ. Don't that just, oh boy, that's,
talk about being established now. That's his promise, that's
what he's done for us. Now let's go on, let's move on. Look back now at our text. What
a blessing, brethren, just peace. Peace with God because you've
been made the righteousness of God in Christ. All right, look
at this next promise. Because we're established in
Christ's righteousness and have peace with God, He promises us
the full protection of God. Full protection. Look now, verse
14. Second part there, He says, Thou
shalt be far from oppression. Oppression is when somebody presses
you down. They oppress you. They try to
bring you under their power and their yoke and their bondage
and they press you. You will be far from oppression,
for thou shalt not fear. And that's a great part of oppression.
Oppression involves you being tormented and fearful of somebody. He said, you're not gonna fear
anybody. You're gonna be far from that. You're gonna be far
from terror, for it shall not come near thee. That's his promise. Now the devil and his messengers,
the devil and his children, the devil and men that are the devil's
seed, as scripture says, they are full of oppression. The devil's
called the accuser of the brethren. Go with me to Hebrews 2. He's
the accuser of the brethren, accusing us to God day and night
using the law. And he accuses us in our conscience,
and he has people he rules that he uses to oppress his people. But Christ came to deliver us
from the devil and his seed, and that's what he's done. Look
here, Hebrews 2, look at verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. That's how religion, false religion,
false religion is of the devil. The Lord Jesus in Revelation
calls them the synagogue of Satan. And this is how false religion
operates. They terrify sinners to keep them under their oppressive
yoke, to make them do what they would have them to do. So that,
as Paul said in Galatians, so they can glory in their flesh,
so they can glory in what they made them do. Christ said they'll
stand before him in the day of judgment and say, Didn't we do
many wonderful works? Didn't we cast out devils? Didn't
we preach in your name? They'll point to these people
that they constrained to jump through hoops for them and say,
look at all these wonderful works we created. These people we created. And Christ will say, depart from
me, I never knew you. You workers of iniquity. He came
to deliver his people from the devil and from all his oppressive
religion and his oppressive Men, that's what he came, and he did
that. Now, they will gather together, and they will try to oppress
with the law and with accusations of sin and all of that, but listen
to Christ's promise in verse 15, Isaiah 54, verse 15. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. That's his promise to his
church, to his people. Our Savior's gracious to tell
us, they shall surely gather together. You're gonna face some
oppressive people. There are gonna be some oppressive
men. They're gonna rise up. And he says, but they're not
by me. Now, let me tell you what that
does not mean. That does not mean they're out of Christ's
control. He's sovereign God, and everybody is under his control.
And if he comes to pass, it's gonna bring glory to his name.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
shalt thou restrain. So if it comes to pass, he permitted
it to bring glory to his name. They're not out of his control,
but what he's saying is, but I didn't raise them up to oppress
you. I didn't send them to oppress
you. The devil's the accuser and his
people are, but self-justifying men rise up because of the sin
of their own flesh. The sin of a man's own flesh
makes him rise up in judgment and condemn others and accuse
others and oppress others. Christ didn't have to create
that in a man. It's the sinful nature of a man. We're legalists by nature. Paul
said this very thing. If you want to look at it, Galatians
2, this is what Paul was addressing. Remember whenever Peter got up
from the table and went to the other table, he got up from the
Gentiles' table and sat down at the Jews' table, And Paul
addressed that, and he said, while we seek to be justified
by Christ, he said, if we ourselves are found sinners, he just said
that about Peter, and that's what he's talking about. He's
talking about the sin of self-sanctification, of self-justification, of making
yourself to be better than others. He said, if we ourselves are
found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? He said,
did Christ produce that? No, he did not. That means most
of what people in false religion think is sanctification and claim
that, you know, stand over there, we're holier than thou, that
they claim is of the Lord, that they're holy and part, you know,
them working with God to make themselves holy. He said Christ
didn't work that. Christ didn't work it. He's not
the minister of sin. God forbid. He said, For if I
build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. Remember Ephesians 2, the middle
wall of partition, the law, that was the enmity. Men used the
law to accuse another and try to make themselves out to be
better than another and oppress with it. Christ came and fulfilled
the law for his people and took down that middle wall of partition.
He fulfilled the law and took it out of the way for his people,
made us one in him. He said, now, if I build that
wall back up again, If I bring that law back in, he said, I've
made myself a transgressor. That's what Christ said in our
text. They're going to rise up, but I didn't put it in their
heart to be self-righteous and self-justifying and oppressive.
It's their sin nature. It's their sin nature. He's ruling
it. He's over them. He's controlling all, but he
didn't make them to rise up and oppress it. That's all over man's
sinful flesh. He says, they shall gather, but
he says, but they shall fall. Look at verse 15. Behold, Isaiah
54, 15. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Listen to me, brethren. As believers who trust Christ,
don't ever rise up against your brethren. Don't rise up against
your brethren. You know, Galatians, if we think
we're something when we're nothing, we deceive ourselves. But don't
do it. We've got a sin nature that wants
to be a Pharisee, and we want to be oppressive at times, and
we'll have this trouble as long as we live, and we will sin that
way just like Peter did, but the Lord will do what he did
for Peter. He'll make us remember you're nothing. Without Christ,
you're nothing. Without Christ, you have no righteousness.
Without Christ, you have no holiness, you have no redemption, you have
no wisdom, you have nothing. And he keeps you knowing he's
all to us. And he keeps you humble, keeps
you trusting him. But here's his promise. Anybody
that rises up and oppresses his people, just think about it. This is what Peter meant when
he said, the men that came down and said, To Cornelius, he said,
except they be circumcised and keep the law, they can't be saved. The Pharisees, it says, said,
they came down saying it's needful to teach them to be circumcised
and that they must keep the commandments of Moses. And Peter said, why
are you tempting God? Why are you tempting God? You're
tempting God to make you fall. If you rise up and you start
oppressing somebody, he made righteous. You think about that.
He sent the gospel to Cornelius and he created a new holy man
in him. Christ's righteousness robed
him. Christ's holiness was in him,
making him the holy holiness of God in Christ. He was everything
in Cornelius. And these men came down and had
the audacity to say, but there's something else you gotta do.
You see why that's tempting, God? It's discrediting His Son. It's saying His Son's not enough.
It's putting down His Son and trampling underfoot the blood
of Christ. And a man does that's gonna fall. They shall fall. This is God's promise. But His
promise to you and me, brethren, is they're gonna fall for your
sake. That's His promise. Verse 16,
behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the
fire, the, what do they call that, the metal smith that works
in metals and creates things. I created him that bringeth forth
an instrument for his work, and I've created the waster to destroy. Christ said, they have a purpose,
he created them. He made them for that purpose.
He overrules them to accomplish that purpose. But listen to this
promise to his church, to you that are his. Verse 17, no weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper. Now that, that's his covenant
promise. No weapon formed against you
shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. Why is that? Listen to Romans 8, 33. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. They can't lay a charge to
you because Christ justified you. God justified you. Here's
the one reason no charge will ever, God won't hear a charge
against His people, and here's why He's gonna vindicate His
people, because He is our righteousness. Look at verse 17 at the end. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. That's why nobody will ever be
able to charge His people. He's gonna guard us right now,
He's gonna be our righteous advocate with the Father right now. And
he said, my little children, sin not. Now, don't sin. God's
people, he given you a heart to obey him, you wanna honor
him, you wanna glorify him, and God's people are some of the
finest people on this earth. They have a character you can
trust, and they're faithful, they're hardworking, they're
gonna do what they promise you they'll do. They're gonna show
up, do the job they're supposed to do. And they're merciful people,
they're long-suffering, they're forbearing, they're forgiving,
because we see how much Christ forgives us every single day.
But we do sin. We know, and we'll be the first
to tell you, I am a sinner. We see sin that we didn't even
see when we started in the faith. He's made you see now that it's
all your sin nature is. You may not sin as much outwardly,
though you still do, you may not sin as much outwardly, but
you see your sin more now than you did when you started. Because
you see, it's what my nature is, it's in my thoughts constantly. I sin in ways I don't even recognize. I do it every day. And you grow
in that understanding. The more that light comes on
in this condemned house, the more you see how condemned the
house is. Christ is that light. The more his light shines, the
more you look around and see this whole house is condemned.
And the only one that delivers us from this body of death is
Christ. He does it every day. Salvation's
not just something that's gonna happen in the end. It's happening
every single day for his child. He's delivering us from us every
single day. And he's the only one. I thank
God through Jesus Christ my Lord. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. And so, in that great day of
judgment, he gonna protect you right now. But in that great
day of judgment, before everybody in this world, Christ is gonna
declare, their righteousness is of me. They are righteous. He gonna vindicate us in the
day of judgment. Every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment Thou shalt condemn it. Brethren, that's
an inheritance. That's the sure mercies of David. We're gonna look at that again
next hour, but he's gonna add to the church daily his precious
stone. He's gonna teach us, and we're
gonna come to Christ our peace. He's gonna establish us in his
righteousness and his peace forever, and we have his continual protection. No weapon formed against you
will prosper. and he's gonna avenge us and
vindicate us. Every tongue that arise against
him in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is why. This is the inheritance
of the servants of the Lord. Their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord. That's his covenant promise.
That's our inheritance. Don't you want in on that? If
you hadn't believed on him, I'd be just climbing over people
to get, I want in on that. I want to be found in him. I
wanna know that promises to me. Come back, second hour, we're
gonna hear what he says about that. Let's go to him. Father,
thank you for your word. Lord, bless us and keep us. Lord,
bless this word to the hearts of your people, those that know
you and believe you and some lost sheep, Lord, we pray you
call them. Bless this word and keep these
precious promises new in our heart. Thank you, Lord, for everything.
It's all of you. We thank you for everything that
you've done for us. In Christ's name, amen.