May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 35 and we'll read the
first verse. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter
35 and reading the first verse. The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them the desert shall rejoice and
blossom as the rose. Isaiah was a wonderful prophet
of the Lord and we're told when he lived in the first chapter
of this prophecy we're told the first verse the vision of Isaiah
son of Amos which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days
of Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah kings of Judah. Well that was quite a long period
and it was a period which encompassed godly kings and also ungodly
kings but really it was prophecy to direct Judah and Jerusalem
as to the situation which would occur and the situation which
would occur would be desolation for Jerusalem, the captivity
of the people in Jerusalem and taken away to Babylon and there
to spend 70 years. in captivity, but then there
would be a return to Jerusalem. Then there would be a time of
blessing and there would be a time of favor. Well that of course
was exceedingly true in the history of Judah, but also the prophecy
of course has really perhaps we might say a threefold relevance
Because again, when the years passed by, until before the time
of the birth of the Saviour, the Church of God was then in
a very dark and low state, just like it was before they were
taken captive into Babylon. But of course, the Lord graciously
and gloriously appeared and brought about the birth of the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore on both of those occasions
it was cause for great joy and rejoicing. And then we can look
further past that to the ages in which the Church of God has
lived for these 2,000 years or so up to the present moment of
time. And we can then take it if you like, as national situations,
but more especially as personal ones, or when the Lord sees fit
to bring his people into a time of spiritual need, spiritual
hunger, spiritual thirst, and then into a time of wonderful
deliverance. Because truly The true Church
of God is brought into a time of deliverance when they truly
praise God for His goodness and mercy. It is a sign of God's
love towards them, deliverance from that bondage of sin which
the evil one Satan loves to captivate us with, to keep us bound in
prison there's no looking up and there's no rejoicing and
there's no thanksgiving but we should be very thankful that
we have therefore this wonderful picture really in the word of
God to encourage us because it doesn't just occur in Isaiah
but perhaps it does very much in Isaiah and we should therefore
be very thankful even tonight the Lord gives us a picture a
quite vivid picture of times of darkness and times of light
and times of blessing. And in this first verse that
we read this evening, we're told the wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose. Well, you can I'm sure leave
aside the wonderful history of Israel and how the Lord gloriously
appeared for them and think perhaps more specifically of our own
situation and our own condition that we are in today. Indeed
really this chapter is a prediction of a glory and flourishing estate
of a gospel church and the blessings received by it from Christ. That is the true condition. That
is the state. The gospel church will be blessed
individually. They will be blessed. And they
will, therefore, rejoice. And there will be the evidence
of it. The evidence of it is described
in these words and blossom as the rose. Well, we're told here
condition. It's a desert state. A desert
of course is a very barren condition. Desert really means a dry and
barren state. It means a sterile place where
in reality it's barren, there's no life. And if we think of the
desert conditions today, not only sandy deserts but deserts
and wildernesses, I understand the sun, a third of the earth,
not the sea, but a third of the earth is really in this condition. So it's a very large proportion. And indeed the people of God
are called to be found in this condition before thou brought
out of this condition into this land of being able to then rejoice
and to blossom as the rose. So what a mercy it is then when
this is so, and when it is so there is a rejoicing, there must
be a rejoicing, and it's a wonderful thing to recognize the truth
of this. In the Acts of the Apostles and
chapter 8, Apostle recalls and records something
of a mercy and something of a blessing. And he tells us these words in
the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, perhaps commencing
at verse six, and the people with one accord gave heed unto
those things which Philip spake, hearing, and seeing the miracles
which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with
a loud voice, came out of many, they were possessed with them.
And many taken with pauses, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in the
city. Well, that was a wonderful time
in the early church. But the reality is It's the same
today with regards to the true church of God, because there
are unclean spirits, and there are many possessed with them,
and many taken with pauses, that means a sinful condition, and
that were lame were healed. You see, God graciously, still
today, heals his people of their spiritual disease. And what is
the result? The result will be, the result
must be, great joy in that city, great joy in the hearts and lives
of his people. So what a mercy it is for us
today to recognise the wonderful truth and the wonderful favour
of Almighty God to his church. And so in this 35th chapter,
this first verse, we're told the wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them. You know, God's servant, Jacob,
we're told he was found. There he was in the wilderness,
in a barren place. The Lord found him. The Lord
came to him. The Lord blessed him. And really
that's the same for us today. All of us, are found by almighty
God in this barren place, sad place. What a mercy, therefore,
if God is very gracious to us and doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve. Jacob's condition is recorded
in the book of Deuteronomy. And the 32nd chapter tells us
Moses records his condition and his situation. And we can read
in the 32nd chapter in the 9th verse, the Lord's portion is
his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land. Yes, sterile place, barren place,
in the wasteland and wilderness. Then you see, he led him about. He instructed him He kept him
as the apple of his eye. Wasn't that cause for Jacob to
rejoice? For Jacob to thank God for his
mercy and goodness toward him? What a mercy therefore for us
today if the Lord is gracious to us. The Lord does not deal
with us as our sins deserve and we understand therefore the mercy
and goodness of God toward us. The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad. All of God's people shall be
glad. It won't be those situations
where people pass out of time without any evidence, without
any knowledge of God's love and mercy and grace towards them,
because there will be times when they will be truly glad that
God has come to them, that God has called them, called them
as the darkness, the sinful condition they were born into, called them
out of nature, into the marvellous light of the everlasting gospel. It's a great truth, isn't it?
The marvellous light, and that light is centred in none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. It really means very simply this. The Holy Spirit leads his people
to Calvary. There we see the suffering Saviour. By faith we view him, suffering,
all that incarnate God could bear, with strength enough and
none to spare, so that we might receive the wonderful wonderful
gift of eternal life there is no greater gift that you and i can ever receive
other than the gift of eternal life because it means exactly
what it says it's life which is given which never perishes
which never fades away is always there eternal life My friends,
may God enable us to receive his word. May he enable us truly
to rejoice in the great truths. And if you see, we have therefore
the wonderful evidence that God has called us to come to Calvary,
to come to view the Saviour. This will and must be the joy
and rejoicing of our soul. Now Isaiah gives us a description
of this. He says, we shall indeed be glad,
glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as
the rose. What does it mean? It means this,
that we with the evidence of God's gracious and glorious work. The work of God is not hidden,
it cannot be hidden, because the life of God's people is to
show forth his praise. And if God has therefore come
and gloriously called us, there must be that concern to honour
him, for his love, for his mercy, for his grace to such unworthy
sinners. So this will be true. Rejoicing and blossom as the
rose. The Song of Solomon has a little
description of these great positions and Some of you may remember
I preached from it a few times, the Song of Solomon, but in the
second chapter we're told, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily
of the valleys. As a lily among thorns, so is
my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees
of the woods, so is my beloved among their sons. I sat down
under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my
taste." You may say, well, what does that really mean? Well,
it really means this, that you and I will be fed by the glorious
fruits of the gospel. And the glorious fruits of the
gospel is to be fed with all that Christ has done for unworthy
sinners. the life, the death, the resurrection,
the ascension and intercession would all be glorious themes
that will be food to our souls. We shall love to meditate upon
these wonderful, great and glorious truths because they are the evidence
of all that the Lord has done and all that has been accomplished,
and all that has been fulfilled, and to think that they've been
fulfilled on our behalf, because of his love, because of his mercy. And as we've already commented
upon this great truth, that these blessings, they'll blossom as
a rose, so as Solomon tells us, Further on in this same chapter,
in the second chapter, he tells us this in the 11th verse perhaps,
for lo the winter is past and the rain is over and gone, and
of course the winter is generally speaking a barren time, there's
no life evident generally speaking. But then he says the flowers
appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds has come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree
putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with their tender
grapes give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away. Well, there we have, do we not,
the wonderful evidence of life, life evident in the flowers appearing,
the birds singing. What a wonderful picture it is,
and I'm sure We will recognize the springtime which comes round,
and what a mercy if you and I know the springtime in our souls,
when the winter is past. Indeed, when we've been delivered
and come out of this time of the wilderness and the desert,
there is therefore that rejoicing. Well, I hope tonight you and
I can find and trace out in our own spiritual lives a time of
rejoicing. And it will be a time of rejoicing
as we believe that the great and wonderful Saviour has died
for us to take away our sin. That's the gospel. That is the
wonderfully good news. That is what saves our soul. know it's not just it's not just
words it's something which is known
and something which is felt within the evidence of life that stirring
within from that dead condition lifeless condition desert condition
stirring within And that stirring within is from and by the Spirit
of Almighty God. We realize, well, there's a change. May not be what we want to be,
but we may be able to come and say, one thing I know, whereas
I was blind, but now I see a sign of the work of God, spiritual
eyes, never had it before, but as this stirring occurs within
us, we realize it's a grand and glorious work of almighty God
and therefore to praise him from whom all blessings flow, great
joy, Deilus is again just referring to the Acts of the Apostles again
to realize that was this great joy in the city. And there is great joy in our
souls where we have the evidence of God's work within. It is true. And my dear friends, if you have
not known it, pray for it earnestly. Seek for it. because we don't
want to come down to our death without the knowledge of rejoicing,
without the evidence of this blossoming as a rose. We want indeed the wonderful
evidence of God's glorious work within. Nothing less than this will do,
because if you and I possess the evidence of the life of God
within, We'll be able to come in with Isaiah in that 60th chapter
that we read together this evening. The first verse speaks so beautifully.
Arise, shine. It's a reflection of God's light
into our heart. Arise, shine. Yes, for the light
has come. and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee. It's a very humbling truth, isn't
it? It's a very great truth. It's a wonderful truth. The glory
of the Lord is risen upon us. And you see, as that glory shines
upon us, that will be the wonderful reflection of that light. Christ in you. the hope of glory. Nothing less than this will do
for the Church of God. Nothing less than this will bring
honour and glory to God. How often perhaps people fail
to realise the great truth that our lives on this earth are not
to just wander through with just some vague ideas of religion,
and just purporting to have some concern about our spiritual state. Our great concern should be that
our lives show forth the glory of God. That's why Almighty God
has called his people out of this state of darkness into the
glorious light of the gospel to show forth his praise. and surely he is worthy. And
the Church of God, the true Church of God, love to talk about the
Savior. They love to hear his name. The words of the hymn are very
true. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear. I remember many years ago, many
years ago now, I was traveling on a train from one place to
another. And what there was, I passed
a notice, a big placard, and it spoke of Jesus. And I thought,
how wonderful. And how that name did me good. I rejoiced in it. It was food
to my soul. So tonight, can you and I say,
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. How sweet
it sounds in my ear. We have the wonderful evidence
that the Lord has implanted his grace, his favour within our
soul. And therefore we have received
that great wonderful favour of salvation through the grace of
God. You and I can never produce the
work of grace ourselves. It is always the sovereign prerogative
of Almighty God. And it is that way, so that he
receives the honour and the glory. Oh, do ponder and think of these
things. You see, our lives on this earth,
we're very short. Has it been our true concern,
therefore, to honor and glorify our God? You see, in the book
of Psalms, there are many, again, great and glorious truths which
direct us to this wonderful theme and it's a theme you know that
we should always be concerned about in the 67th psalm it's
a short psalm it's a very short psalm but um it tells us this
in verse five let the people praise thee oh god let all the people praise thee
don't say well give a few some exceptions no no no Let all the
people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her
increase, and God, even our God, shall bless us. God shall bless
us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. In the beginning
of this short psalm, one to seven verses, it starts in this way. God be merciful unto us and bless
us and cause his face to shine upon us. see like well is that
our prayer is that your prayer is it my prayer yes it wasn't
just god be merciful it is a prayer we need just god be merciful
but he goes on and bless us and cause his face to shine upon
us that thy way may be known upon earth by saving health among
all nations let the people praise thee oh god Let the people praise
thee. Oh, let the nations be glad and
sing for joy. For thou shalt judge the people
righteously and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. We come down
again to this fifth verse, which I already read. Let the people
praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee. Well, the wilderness, remember,
and the solitary place, Perhaps we may find ourselves, feel ourselves
to be in the wilderness, feel ourselves to be solitary, by
ourselves, traveling through the wilderness. But you know,
if we're the children of God, we're not by ourselves. We may
think we are, but God's watching over us. And we know that to
be true because the Word of God tells us, He led them forth by
the right way that they might go. to a city of habitation. God graciously and gloriously
leads his people. It should be a wonderful encouragement
to us, a wonderful blessing to know that the goodness in God
is toward us. As we journey on through this
wilderness, in this desert place, how we need to have the blessing
of God upon us from time to time and have rest and prayer that
God will bring us, perhaps out of a time of lethargy, perhaps
out of a time of lukewarmness, to walk before him in the light
of the gospel. Again turning to the further
psalm, Psalm 96, this is what the psalmist says and in verse
11. Let the heavens rejoice, and
let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar, and the fullness
thereof. Let the field be joyful, and
all that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the
wood rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth. Well, it will
be a tragic day, won't it, if we pass out of time without a
true desire to praise God and without having done so. You see, there's no praise to
God in the grave, no praise at all. My friends, perhaps The
years are passing by. Perhaps we're very near to the
day of our death. God knows. But have we something
to praise God for? If we haven't, may we earnestly
seek that we may have something to praise God for and that something
will be the evidence of the life of God in our soul, the evidence
that the great and glorious Saviour has wonderfully condescended
to come into this sinful world to save my soul. Religion comes down to that very
personal condition. Yes, to know that my soul is
saved, that I am in the arms of Jesus. I'm not lost, but I've
been saved by his grace. All my friends, may it be our
concern to praise him for his goodness and not to cease praying
to him for revelation. We are amongst his children.
The Word of God tells us, I preached on it recently, the time is short. It is short. Our life is short. So bless God, if in the shortness
of our life, the gracious God has condescended to come to bless
our souls with a great and glorious and wonderful gift of eternal
life. Lord Jesus spoke about the vine,
probably familiar to you, in John 15. He spoke about the need
to be found as part of that vine, to be found grafted in, so that
we are partakers of the goodness and sap of the Saviour. And we
read in the sixth verse of that 15th chapter, if a man abide
not in me, Let that sink down into our hearts. He is cast forth
as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned of no value. It's really like the fig tree
without any fruit, just leaves, just an empty profession, no
fruit. word of God tells us it is by
our fruit we shall be known and that fruit is in the knowledge
of Christ which is far more valuable than gold and the wonderful knowledge
of Christ within will make us glad and we shall rejoice and
there will be that blossoming then as the rose, the evidence
of this wonderful life. And you know, a rose has a sweet
smell, doesn't it? Generally speaking. So it is
with the true church of God, the grace of God, it gives forth
a sweet smell. Oh, that smell sets forth the
glory of Christ. And so tonight, may our desire
be, our concern be, and that we may be found amongst those
who possess this great and blessed gift of Almighty God. Again,
just very briefly, the 13th chapter of this same prophecy, Isaiah. We read another solemn word from
Isaiah. Remember, Isaiah lived in solemn
days, and he was faithful in proclaiming the great truths
of the gospel. And my friends, we live in solemn
days. It is the blessed responsibility of
preachers to preach the whole counsel of God. And so in Isaiah
13 and verse 9 we read, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel
both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and
he shall destroy the sinners thereof. out of it. No escape
for those who are out of Christ. It's a very solemn truth, isn't
it? It's very glorious, encouraging words in Isaiah, but also very
solemn words in Isaiah. My friends, may you and I therefore
be amongst those who possess the great and glorious life of
God in our souls, we recognise we are undone sinners and we
flee for refuge to the cross of Christ and we look to the
Saviour and we see in his sin atoning death in the efficacy
of his shed blood all that we need and to have the application
of it given by the Holy Ghost into our very souls will then
bring us into that wonderful place of rejoicing and blossoming
as the rose. Well, my friends, tonight I hope
we can go on our way rejoicing, but if we can't, then may we
seek earnestly the face of our God, that he will remember us
with that favour He bears unto his people and visit our souls
with thy salvation. Remember the blessed words of
that dying thief on the cross next to the Saviour. Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. The Lord is in his kingdom
now. But nonetheless, may our prayer
be to him. Lord, remember me. May it come from our very heart. may be very concerned
to receive a gracious and blessed and glorious answer. The wilderness
and a solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. Amen.