Well, let us turn to the chapter
we were reading here in Isaiah chapter 54. I'll read again those
last three verses in the chapter from verse 15. Isaiah 54 and
reading from verse 15, behold, They shall surely gather together,
but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created
the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth
forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster
to destroy. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. It is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. And I want us really to look
at that final verse in the chapter, the 17th verse, and to say something really with
regards to the Lord God who is the sovereign protector of his
people. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. In this chapter we have at least
four great gospel truths set before us. Of course the previous
chapter Chapter 53 is one that is clearly a prophecy of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord's Servant, as the Lord's Righteous
Servant, as we are told there in verse 11 of that chapter,
but also from the content we see Him as that One who is the
Lord's Suffering Servant. And surely the Gospel is rooted
in so much of what we have recorded here in Isaiah chapter 53. But we also have gospel here
in the following chapter. As I say, there are four great
gospel truths. We are reminded, aren't we, of
the promise of God in the gospel, the language that we have in
In verse 5, thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is
his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of
the whole earth, shall he be caught. There we read of the
Redeemer, who is also the husband, and reminds us of the go-ale. that's spoken of in the prophecy
of or rather book of Job remember the language that we have there
in Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth
and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth that Redeemer
is the one who is also the kinsman the kinsman Redeemer and that
truth is brought out in a wonderful manner of course in the book
of Ruth where we read of Boaz who was that one there of Cain
who would redeem the inheritance of Marlon there was Ruth and
she was the wife, the widow of Marlon but there was an inheritance
And it was Boaz who would redeem that inheritance by taking Ruth
to him to wife. The whole office of the Goel,
the kinsman redeemer. And we see it here in what is
declared in this fifth verse concerning God. Thy maker is
thine husband, the God of the whole earth, and thy redeemer. And then again, At the end of
verse 8 we read of him as that one who is the Lord, thy Redeemer. Or the promise of God concerning
that one then who would come to redeem his people and bear
that relationship to his people, taking the sinner to himself,
marrying himself as it were, to his bride which is the church. But then also here We see something
of the call of God in the Gospel. Verse 6, The Lord hath called
thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife
of youth when thou wast refused, saith thy God. And then again at the end of
verse 7, With great mercies will I gather He is the God of the
whole earth and He is going to call sinners of the Gentiles
even to Himself. Isn't that the promise that we
find in the opening verses of the chapter? These words, as
it were, being addressed to sinners of the Gentiles. Verse 3 says,
Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities
to be inhabited. that have exhorted them to sing
and to rejoice at the spreading forth of the Gospel, the Word
of God that is to go to the ends of the earth. God will indeed
call sinners of the Gentiles to himself. All that the Father
giveth me, Christ said, shall come to me. And he that cometh
to me I shall in no wise cast out. Why unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. We have great mercies. Will I
gather thee? We have the call of the gospel. And then thirdly, we see how
God here promised to be the one who will teach his people. The
words of verse 13 all thy children shall be taught
of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children."
The very verse that is taken up in John chapter 6 and verse
45, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. What is the scripture
that's being referred to there in that sixth chapter of John
is it not these words that we find in this very chapter those
opening words of verse 13 all thy children shall be taught
of God it is the great promise we know of the of the new covenant
the language again that we find in prophecy in the 31st chapter
of Jeremiah in verse 31 following, Behold, the day has come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will
be their God. and they shall be my people,
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all
know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith
the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more. Oh, God himself is the
one, then, who in that covenant will teach his people, and teach
them inwardly, in their hearts writing his law there, in the
very depths of their beings. God is the teacher of his people.
The gospel promise concerning the kinsman redeemer, God's call,
God's teaching. And then as we come to the verses
that I read at the close of the chapter, we see how God is the
one who preserves his people, he keeps them, and he protects
them. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created
the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth
forth an instrument for his work. And I have created the waster
to destroy. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord. And so, to consider this theme
of the sovereign protector, I want us to think of God's decree and
God's desire as we see it in this short portion at the end
of the chapter. God's decree and God's desire. Looking at the context then,
at verse 15, it says, Behold, they shall surely gather together,
but not by me. What does that expression, those
three words mean, not by me? It's speaking of God's enemies,
who will gather together against his people and seek to destroy
them. But God says not by me. Now we
know that God is sovereign. God is sovereign in all things
and there is nothing that falls outside of his decree. Nothing can take place outside
of the will, the sovereign will of God. He says back in previous
chapters, chapter 45 and verse 7, I form the light and create
darkness, I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all these
things. Amos said, shall there be evil
in the city, evil in the sense of calamitous events, and the
Lord hath not done it. And then, of course, as God would
expose the folly of the idolaters in Israel, remember the language
that we find previously here in chapter 46, and there at verse 9, Remember the
former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else.
I am God. and there is none like me declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times of things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure what then can we understand by
those words not by me as if things are happening and it's nothing
to do with God well I want us to come to that word presently,
but at the moment, simply to observe the fact that surely
here in this book we see that God's decree is absolute, not
only with regards to the children of Israel, but also with regards
to all the nations round about them, even when those nations
set themselves against His covenant people and seek to destroy them. What are we told here at verse
15? Behold, they shall surely gather together
but not by me whosoever shall gather together against thee
shall fall for thy sake and there in the opening words
we have those two words behold and surely behold in other words we're to
consider the matter, we're to look into the matter, we're to
fix our eyes upon what God is doing and this is something that
is sure, there's a certainty there's something definite about
this they shall surely gather together and gather together
against thee says the Lord God and we know that it was so time
and again There were those mighty nations that would rise up at
different periods in history and it's all part and parcel
of ancient history. We read of some of the great
kingdoms of the earth, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes, the
Persians, and these things are spoken of. in this book and in
other books of the Prophet. If we turn back here, for example,
to chapter 10, and there we read of the Assyrians. In chapter 10, and there at verse
5, and the following verses, O Assyrian, the rod of my anger,
And the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send
him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my
wrath I will give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take
the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Albeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but
it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations, not a
few. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? We see something of the great
pride, the arrogance of the Assyrians, certainly under Sennacherib. And of course, we have the history
in the Book of Kings, the Books of Kings, concerning the destruction
of the northern kingdom of Israel, and it took place Under Sennacherib,
it was the Assyrians who came and scattered those ten tribes
over the whole face of the earth, and they came even against the
kingdom of Judah in the south when Hezekiah was their king,
that gracious man, that godly man, Hezekiah. And he prays against
the Assyrians. And we have something of the
record here in Isaiah's book. He speaks also of the days of
King Hezekiah. and how those proud Assyrians
were not successful when they laid siege to Jerusalem in chapter
37. Verse 33, Therefore thus saith the Lord
concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city,
nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields,
nor cast a bank against it, By the way that he came, by the
same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith
the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it for mine own
sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the Lord
went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and
four score and five thousand. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib
king of Assyria departed and went and returned to and dwelt
at Nineveh and there we're told how his own sons killed him,
murdered him when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his
idol god. All the Assyrians you see, they
might gather together but they're not going to prosper. against
this little kingdom of Judah and here is the prophet ministering
God's words to his ancient people. But then also we do read of the
Babylonians coming and we can turn to the language that's spoken
there in the book of another prophet The words of Jeremiah
who was living in the very days when the Babylonians came and
they did lay siege and Jerusalem did fall and the people were
taken away into exile. And their very king Nebuchadnezzar
is spoken of. in Jeremiah 25.9, Behold, I will
send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord,
and Nebuchadrezza, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will
bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof,
and against all these nations round about, and will utterly
destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing,
and perpetual desolations. these heathen emperors are under
the hand of God and they are doing the will of God even as
he visits judgments upon his ancient people and then of course
also we have mentioned of Cyrus and his name his name over 150
years before ever he was born spoken of here in the book of
the prophet Isaiah in the opening verses there in chapter 45. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him
the two-leaf gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go
before thee, and make the crooked places straight. I will break
in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of
iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and the
hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I,
the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob, my servant's sake,
and Israel, mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name.
I have so named thee, though thou hast not known me." And
though the Lord speaks of him previously, at the end of chapter
44, Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure
even saying to Jerusalem thou shalt be built and to the temple
thy foundation shall be laid it was Cyrus who passed a decree
that the children of Israel were to return out of captivity and
it all came to pass as we know in the days of Ezra the scribe Oh God is that one you see whose
sovereignty is absolute His purpose stretches not only to the nation
of Israel, His peculiar people, His covenant people, but He is
sovereign over all the nations of the earth. And He makes use
of them when He will judge His people. Verse 16, Behold, I have
created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that
bringeth forth an instrument for His work. and I have created
the waster to destroy the blacksmith, the man who would be manufacturing
the weapons of warfare. And the waster, the warrior,
who will come to destroy, God makes the weapon, and God uses
the weapon, and He is sovereign. Again, the language of the Psalm
is said in Psalm 17, The Psalmist speaks of the wicked, which is
thy sword, and men which are thy hand, O Lord, men of the
world, which have their portion in this life. Oh, the wise man
tells us the Lord hath made all things for himself, even the
wicked for the day of evil. God's absolute sovereignty then. is plainly set before us in the
language that we have here at the end of this 54th chapter. Now that's something of the historical
setting of the word, but of course we're interested in the spiritual
application. All these things are written
for our learning, that we through patience or Endurance and comfort
of the scriptures might have hope. And are we not reminded
then that there is comfort when we recognize the divine sovereignty. That God is sovereign over all
things, all events. And God is sovereign even in
those times of trouble and difficulty. that are so often the lot of
God's people in this life. Again, reminding you of these
two words that we have at the beginning of the verse, this
is a word of exhortation. Behold, they shall surely gather
together. Or consider this, and consider
the certainty of these things, You see another spiritual application,
you think of the language that we find time and again in the
New Testament. Now the apostle writing there
or speaking there in Acts 14 says we must, we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And the word that is spoken there
of course is but an echo of the words of the Lord Jesus himself
at the end of John 16. In the world ye shall have tribulation. We must through much tribulation
enter. In the world ye shall have. There's
no avoiding these things. But of course when the Lord speaks
that word He goes on also to give a gracious promise. Be of
good cheer, he says, I have overcome the world. All the enemies of the people
of God are vanquished, defeated. Christ himself has finished the
transgression, made an end of sin and made reconciliation for
iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness. Christ has done
all these things. Or death. Where is thy sting? Or grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And yet, in His inscrutable wisdom,
the Lord God sees that the way of trial and trouble is so necessary. Now for a season, Peter says,
if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations.
Oh, there's a needs be. There's a needs be. That's a
wonderful passage there in the opening chapter of 1 Peter. In the world there is trouble
for the people of God, but it's only now and for a season, just
now. particular point in time, now,
and then for a season, a short while, a little period of time,
and only as the Lord sees it's necessary. And so Peter can go
on to say, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial that trieth you as though some strange thing happened unto
you. No, the believer is to rejoice
because he's a partaker of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But let us turn secondly to God's
design. I said God's decree and God's
decree is absolute. But as we think of God's design,
to try to understand the significance of that other word that we have,
or those three words that we find, not by me. What does it mean? Well, God's
design in his decree is not the destruction of his people. That is never God's design to
destroy his people. In the calling of the prophets
Back in chapter 6, God assures him that he himself will preserve
the true spiritual Israel, the remnant. The Lord hath removed men far
off, we're told there in chapter 6. There's a great forsaking
in the lands. Nevertheless, Nevertheless, a tenth is going
to be saved, a tithe. It's surely to be understood
in terms of that blessed remnant, the Holy Seeds, which is the
substance thereof, it says. And again, at the end of the
book, really, in chapter 65 and verse 8, it says, destroy it
not, for a blessing is in it. so will I do for my servants'
sakes, that I may not destroy them all." All the remnant must
be preserved because of the Blessed Seed and of course ultimately
the Blessed Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come
of the tribe of Judah who would come in the line of David and
so it would come to pass in the fullness of the time And so always
God is mindful of his people. He will preserve the testimony. Evil might seem for a moment
to prevail, but the gates of hell shall not prevail against
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it say at the
end of this 15th verse? "...whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake." And again, there at verse
17, "...no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou
shalt condemn." Oh, he says it so much, doesn't
he? Time and again. He promises all the time. The
end of verse 14, Thou shalt be far from oppression,
for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not
come near thee. Now the Lord does promise him
that he will preserve his people and he says it through Jeremiah
when being taken away into exile and they're going to languish
there in captivity for some 70 years the language of Jeremiah
29 11 for I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith
the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you unexpected
end or better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof the
Lord will preserve his people And of course we have those great
words really in chapter 43, the language that we find at the
beginning of that chapter. But neither saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. when they walketh through the
fire they shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon them." Oh, the Lord is that One who is with His people. He is that
God who is not just a help, not just a present help, but a very
present help. A very present help. in all their
times of trouble. As for you, ye thought evil against
me. But God meant it unto goods,
to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. For all things then work together
for good to them that know God, to them who are the called, according
to his purpose. No weapon that is formed against
him shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against him in judgment, thou shalt condemn the Lord preserves
his people, preserves his testimony and of course we have that great
8th chapter of Romans I just referred to words in that chapter
but I'll close by just reminding you of the concluding verses
in that great 8th chapter Verse 35, following, Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." He
is that one then who is to his people a gracious God and a sovereign
protector. May the Lord help us to believe
His word and to rest in that word. We're going to sing before
we pray that lovely hymn of Top Ladies, 346, the tune Auburn
734, the sovereign protector I have, unseen yet forever at
hand, unchangeably faithful to save,
almighty to rule and command. He smiles, and my comforts abound. His grace as a Jew shall descend,
and walls of salvation surround the souls he delights to defend. Our comfort in God's sovereign
decree and God's gracious design. Let us sing the Hymn 346, June
734.