May I please God to bless the
reading of his holy word this evening. Let us turn to the prophecy
of Isaiah and we'll read chapter 35. Chapter 35 in the prophecy
of Isaiah. This is quite a short chapter
but it has a lot of instruction and especially as we realise
it was written in Isaiah's day by Isaiah and he lived not in
a very easy time although of course when Hezekiah was on the
throne there was prosperity really so chapter 35 the wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice even with joy and singing The glory of Lebanon
shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall
see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands
and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance,
even God with a recompense, He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then
shall the lame man leap as an heart, and the tongue of the
dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters
break out and streams in the desert, and the parched ground
shall become a pool, and thirsty land springs of water, in the
habitation of dragons, where each lay shall be grass with
reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there,
and a way in it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean
shall not pass over it, But it shall be for those, the wayfaring
men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be
there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall
not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. and the ransom
of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. We know that the prophet Isaiah
was a blessed prophet, and as we read through his prophecy,
as we sometimes refer to it as the Gospel of Isaiah, because
it does direct us on many occasions to the glory of Christ, which
of course is exceedingly glorious and very wonderful. But we should
recognize that it was written at a time when Israel generally
were walking contrary to God. They'd backslidden, they turned
away from God and Isaiah was raised up to speak about the
times that they were in. And you can read really some
of the solemn positions in the previous chapters in this prophecy
of Isaiah. but by the grace of God he was
able to set before them a picture really I think it has a double
meaning as so many parts of the Word of God do first of all it
directs them to the situation which they were in at that time
but then as we especially come to the end of this chapter it
directs us to the eternal habitation of the Church of God. And what a blessing it must have
been for the Israelites when they were in captivity because
it wasn't very many years After this was written, that what the
prophets had been telling them came to pass. They'd said, if
they didn't obey the Lord, they would go into captivity for 70
years. And of course, they ignored it,
just the same as our nation today. Not in the same situation, not
in the same time scale, but nonetheless, our nation as a whole is happy
to disobey the Word of God, to cast it aside, to consider it
has no reference to the day and age in which we live. And so
we find ourselves today in a very sad and desperate condition,
needing the mercy and the power of God to come once again upon
our nation, individually and collectively, when it would of
course be suitable if our leaders were to read such And it counts
as this, to realise the relevance of it. And so the prophet commences
by saying, the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad
for them. Well we can imagine, can't we?
If it is a wilderness, if it's a solitary place, it's a lonely
place, there's not much evidence of any goodness and yet we're
told and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose naturally
impossible again the things which are impossible with men are possible
with God and that should encourage us today that our faith may be
increased to believe we have a God who is the same today that
same God that was in existence always and in existence when
Isaiah wrote this prophecy and then he goes on it shall blossom
abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing The glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it. The excellency of Carmel and
Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency
of our God. Well, that's really an introduction
to this situation, how the Gentiles will be brought to praise and
bless God. And then he says, strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Well, Israel
came to a time when they were indeed weak and that they needed
their hands to be strengthened and they needed their knees to
be confirmed. But God was very gracious as
we look ahead those 70 years spending captivity and how then
the king who was ruler of Babylon agreed to send people to once
again build the temple and also to hear the desires of Nehemiah
and to allow him to go and organize the building of the walls of
Jerusalem. So what we find is this, nothing
is too hard for our God. And he goes on, say to them that
are of a fearful heart, we may be fearful, We have a right to
be fearful. Be strong. Fear not. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He
will come and save you. And of course, he did with ancient
Israel. And what a mercy it is to believe
that still today he can come and deliver our nation. We don't
deserve it, do we? We turn our back upon God. And
we're part of that nation. We shouldn't think that somehow
we are excluded because we've been guilty and we very often
have turned our back upon God. You and I only have to look,
don't we, into our own hearts and see how often we failed in
our natural lives, we failed in our spiritual life to do that. which we should have done. And
so we have a God who is merciful. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong and fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and save you. That's a wonderful promise. And
it came to pass. Well, what a mercy if you and
I can plead with our God that he will come and have mercy and
save our nation, deliver us from those who would bring us into
captivity and grant freedom and blessing. And I love that word,
which I often quote, If the Son shall make you free, you shall
be free indeed. No one can bind us if we're blessed
for that glorious freedom. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Things which
men cannot do, but God can do. God worked so many miracles in
the history of the world. As we read the Word of God again
and again, we find the Lord did those things. which were impossible
for men, but were possible with God. The result, then shall the
lame man leap as a heart. I don't know if you've seen the
heart, the deer leap. It's quite an amazing thing.
They leap so high, well beyond what you would think was their
capabilities. Then shall the lame man leap as a heart. the
tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break
out and streams in the desert and the parched ground shall
become a pool thirsty land springs of water the habitation of dragons
where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes and then
he goes on to tell us and an highway shall be there and a
way and it shall be called the way of holiness you see when
the nations turn to God my friends when you and I turn to God This
will be the blessing. There will be a way, a holy path. The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men. Though fools
shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any
ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there. And they shall walk there peaceably,
because God is with them. And really, it's this last verse
which drew me to this chapter. And this last verse reads, And
the ransom of the Lord And who are the ransomed of the Lord?
Those for whom Christ has died. You see how we see the Gospel
in the Old Testament. And the ransomed of the Lord
shall return and come to Zion. Israel of old returned to Jerusalem. Natural Jerusalem. They came
there with songs. And then we're told, an everlasting
joy upon their heads. But of course, it doesn't follow
with ancient Israel. They came back to Jerusalem,
but they didn't, weren't there with everlasting joy upon their
heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing,
shall flee away, but to the church of God. that's the glorious prospect
that we have when the things of time have ceased when the
things of time have ceased for you and me to realise that we
have before us that heavenly Jerusalem that heavenly Zion
whereby the grace of God we shall come with songs and everlasting
joy you see it will be a perfect place a piece of wonder place
of glory everlasting joy upon their heads and we should obtain
joy and gladness not because what we have done but because
of what the Savior has done for what he is wrought out that we
should enjoy eternally peace and happiness they shall obtain
for mercy, all the church of God shall obtain that which the
blessed Saviour brings to pass on their behalf. And sorrow and
sighing shall flee away. There's no sorrow and there's
no sighing in heaven. All the former things will be
forever forgotten and there will be joy and peace for eternity. Well just a few remarks tonight
but my friends may they stick in our minds and realize that
today our God reigns just like Isaiah going going back in the
earlier part when he saw the Lord high and lifted up and my
friends what a blessing if you and I by faith see the Lord high
and lifting up, lifting up that one who is able, that one who
is willing to do great things because we have a great God. Well, may the Lord come and be
with us and bless us tonight and help our brethren as they
lead us in prayer.