Let us turn once again to God's
Word. In the portion of Scripture we
were reading, Isaiah chapter 65, and I want to direct you
this morning to words that we find here at verse 8, and the
first clause in verse 9. I'll read then Isaiah 65, verse
8, and then through to the beginning of verse 9. Thus saith the Lord,
As a new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy
it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servants'
sakes, that I may not destroy them all, and I will bring forth
a seed out of Jacob. Thus saith the Lord, as the new
wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not,
for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servants' sake, that
I may not destroy them all, and I will bring forth a seed out
of Jacob. And the theme that I want to
try to address is that of this blessed seed, the blessed seed. But first of all to say something
with regards to the context here, the portion that we read from
verse 15 there in chapter 63 right through into this 65th
chapter. Now earlier in this particular
chapter we see how self-righteousness is very much condemned We read of those who would say
at verse 5, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am
holier than thou. And the Lord said, These are
a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. There is a condemnation then
of any self-righteous spirit that Phariseeism that the Lord
Jesus Christ has to confront constantly throughout his earthly
ministry here on earth. Remember how in Luke 18 he tells
of those two men who go to the temple at the hour of prayer.
The one was a despised public and the other was a self-righteous
Pharisee and how that Pharisee prayed thus with himself I thank
thee that I am not as other men are, he says, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice every week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. How he boasts himself. He was
a pharisee. And that was, of course, once
upon a time the religion of the Apostle Paul when he was sore. He was a Pharisee, he was the
son of a Pharisee, touching the righteousness which is in the
law. He was a Pharisee. He thought himself to be a righteous
man. And we know from the ministry
and the preaching of the Lord Jesus that those who are saved,
their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees. The Lord says as much there in
the Sermon on the Mount Oh, we have no righteousnesses of our
own. That righteousness that exceeds,
of course, is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which is imputed
to those that believe. And there we see the Lord, in
his own ministry then, pronouncing the most dreadful woes upon Pharisees,
and read through such a chapter as Matthew 23. And here in the
opening part of this 63rd at this 65th chapter we see the
prophetess, the mouthpiece of God condemning pharisees he says
there at verse 2, this is the Lord speaking to the prophets
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people
which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts,
a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face
that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars
of brick, which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
mountains, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable
things is in their vessels. They have their own religion,
and of course it's not the true religion of God, it's that that
is an aping really of the nations round about them, their idolatrous
ways, and yet they think themselves to be so righteous. They say
to another, stand by thyself, come not near to me, I am holier
than thou. But the Lord God rejects all
that self-made religion, that man-made religion. that religion
that really is so exemplified in the wicked ways of the Pharisees. So there is a condemnation of
self-righteousness in the context, but also here we see in a sense
how the sovereign grace of God is so wonderfully exalted. As
I said, the portion that we read beginning there at verse 15 in
chapter 63 is really a prayer and it's a long prayer the prophet
prays he addresses God himself there in verse 15 of that chapter
look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness
and of thy glory and then at verse 1 in chapter 64 he asks
something more oh that they would just rend the heavens not simply
looking down from heaven now and beholding the awful condition
of the situation there amongst God's ancient people, the children
of Israel. But now at verse 1 in chapter
64, oh that they would just rend the heavens, that they would
just come down. He wants the Lord God to appear
in the midst of all those terrible things that are to be behold.
amongst God's ancient people. And so there's a prayer that
continues, as I said, right through to the end of that 64th chapter. Wilt thou refrain thyself of
these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and
afflict us very sore? And so the prayer ends. And here
is the remarkable thing that we see when we come to the beginning
of chapter 65. And it's an important principle
really that he said before us. What does God say? I am sought
of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. And the connection with what
has gone previously, does it not teach us that there is, we
never do think there's anything meritorious in our prayers. We're not to think that our prayers
earn anything from God. That's the truth that we see
so evidently here. We're not heard because of our
much speaking. That's the way the heathen approach
their imaginary prayers. They think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking. And some people think because
There's a multitude of people praying, therefore there's something
meritorious in that. It's good. It's good to have
a concert of prayer, we might say. But we don't look to anything
of ourselves. We don't look to our prayers.
What does God say later in this very chapter? Verse 64. He says, Before they call, I
will answer. and while they are yet speaking
I will hear it is God himself who is the
God of all grace that's the one that we have to look to and that's
the one that we have to call upon and surely that is one of
the marks of those who are the true people of God so whilst
on the one hand we see that self-righteous religion, that man-made religion
being condemned. On the other hand, we see the
wonders of the sovereign grace of God. Because what does he
go on to say here at the beginning of the chapter? I am sought of
them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. Oh, how gracious God is. Well,
I've been trying to say something with regards to the context here.
I want to come to the words that I've announced for the text.
Verse 8 and that opening part of verse 9, Thus saith the Lord,
as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy
it not, for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servants'
sakes, that I may not destroy them all, and I will bring forth
a seed out of Jacob, to speak then on this blessed seed. And we see it really, we see
it in God's purpose concerning Israel. What was God's purpose
concerning the children of Israel in the Old Testament? Well, it's
all connected with this blessed seed that is spoken of, destroy
it not. for a blessing is in it. There
are three things that I want to mention concerning Israel
in connection with this blessed seed. First of all, there's the
preservation of Israel, and then secondly there's the restoration
of Israel, and then finally to say something with regards to
the remnant that is in Israel. First of all, the preservation
of that people, the Lord's people, the Lord's covenant people, the
ones of whom He says, you only have I known of all the families
of the earth. What does God say? I will also
live in the midst of the afflicted and poor people. and they shall trust in the name
of the Lord." There was always there in the midst of Israel
that people, that poor people, that afflicted people. There
was always that remnant and we have it in the opening chapter
and there at verse 9 where the Prophet says, except the Lord
of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. We had been as
Sodom we would have been like unto Gomorrah. He speaks of the
remnant and he doesn't just speak of the remnant, he says it's
a small remnant but more than that he says it's a very small
remnant. And the key to the preservation
of Israel down through all the ages was because there was that
remnant. and that remnant that's associated
with the seed the blessed seed the seed of Abraham really the
true children of Abraham but more than that more than that
who is that one who is the seed of Abraham? Paul tells us down
in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16 to Abraham and his seed where
the promise is made, he saith not unto seeds as of many, but
as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ." Christ is in fact
the real seed of Abraham. Of course Christ is that one
who is first spoken of in Genesis chapter 3 where we have the account
of the historic fall of our first parents in the very chapter where
we read of the sin of Adam and Eve there we have the promise
given to Eve concerning her seed remember the language of Genesis
3.15 that seed of the woman would
bruise the serpent's head and so the The heel of the seed would also
be bruised, the sufferings of that one who is being promised
the seed of the woman, the very one who was first in the transgression.
And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, his human nature is
derived only from his mother. That's the wonder of it. He is
the seed of the woman, He is the seed of Abraham, and then
subsequently, of course, we see Him as that one who is the seed
of David. And so David of the tribe of
Judah, the children of Israel, the Jews,
must be preserved through the generations till that seed shall
come. Again, the language of Paul there
in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 19 He says, till the seed should
come to whom the promise was made. Well, the promise is made
to the Lord Jesus as that one who is the true seed of Abraham. And when we think of the history
of the children of Israel, we have it recorded, of course,
throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, how many times the
Jews were almost swallowed up by all those nations surrounding
them. how time and again they would follow the idolatrous ways
of those nations. And that's what they're doing
really at the beginning of this chapter when we read of the manner
of their worship. Sacrificing in gardens, burning
incense upon altars of brick, remaining amongst the grave,
lodging in the monuments, eating swine's flesh, They're following
the practices of all those various nations round about them. And
remember how Isaiah is prophesying about 100 years before they're
going to be punished by God and taken away from Jerusalem, and
the temple is going to be destroyed, and they're going to be left
in exile, in captivity there in Babylon for some 70 years.
And Isaiah repeatedly as God's mouthpiece is challenging their
idolatrous ways. We see it in such chapters as
chapter 40. They are reminded there of the
vanity of this idol worship, and yet they are bent on these
things. God challenges them. Verse 18
of that chapter to whom then will you liken God or what likeness
will you compare unto him? The workman mounteth a graven
image. The goldsmith spreadeth it over
with gold and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished
that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Have
you not known Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from
the beginning? Has he not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Oh,
this is the true God. To whom can you liken such a
God as that? But the prophet is repeatedly
doing this. We see it again in chapter 44
and there at verse 9 and the following verses and then yet
again in chapter 46 he speaks of the folly of idols and idol
worship. Again the question is put to
whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that
we may be like? They'll have his gold out of
the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith,
and he maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship.
They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in
his place, and he standeth. From his place shall he not remove.
Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save
him out of his trouble. Oh, remember this, and show yourselves
men. Bring it again to mind, all you
transgressors, says the Lord God. they're almost lost really
because they're forever looking at the nations round about them and yet in spite of all their
sin in spite of all their folly God will preserve them. Why? Why? Because of that precious seed.
That's a new wine. It's found in the cluster and
one says destroy it. Not! for a blessing is in it
so will I do for my servants sake that I may not destroy them
or God deals with them or God did deal with them of course
he sends them away into captivity into Babylon but even there he
preserves the nation And in due time, as God says in His words,
they will be brought again to Jerusalem. And we have the ministry
of Jeremiah in the actual days when they were in captivity,
and then we have the restoration, and we have the history of what
happens in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. They are restored to
the land. They're not destroyed. Oh, God
will judge them because of their sins, because of their folly,
but He will never preserve that remnant. Destroy it not, for
a blessing is in it. And what is that blessing? It
is the Blessed Seed, who was to come in the fullness of the
time, and will come as a light to lighten the Gentiles and the
glory of His people. Yeshua, as we read there in Luke,
2 and verse 32 when he comes in the fullness of the time God
sends forth his son made of a woman made under the law but how God
preserves Israel all the glory of Israel of course
ultimately comes in the days of King Solomon it has been said
that that is the zenith really of Israel's glory after the reign
of David who of course was a great warrior king and he extends the
bounds of Israel and then his son Solomon is the man who is
to build that temple of the Lord and there we see the glories
of Israel but how strange it is because though that is the
height of Israel's glory Subsequently, they seem to grow weaker and
weaker. There's the division of the kingdom, even in the days
of his son Rehoboam. The ten tribes rebelling and
choosing Jeroboam, son of Nebat, to be their king. And there's
just Judah and Benjamin in the south, still faithful to the
family of David. but they grow weaker and weaker. There are blessed times, there
are occasions of some revivings under godly kings. God still
preserves them, preserves them against all the assaults of their
enemies. When the Assyrians come in the days of that good king
Hezekiah, how Zanacharib is frustrated and eventually he himself dies
and Jerusalem is not taken. but in the appointed time God
does deal with them and then ultimately of course all the
splendor that was Israel's as the people of God in the Old
Testament dispensation all of that is lost ultimately in the
splendor of the rising of the Son of Righteousness with healings
in His wings or destroy it not, you see. A
blessing is in it. And this is a blessing, even
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there has to be
not only the preservation of Israel, in spite of all their
sin and all their idolatrous ways and all the hypocrisy really
of the nation, God deals with them, but then God does restore
them. As I said, here is the prophet,
he's ministering round about the year 700 before Christ and
it's a hundred years later, 605 really, that they go into exile. And we know from what we're told concerning
the call of this prophet that he is to minister the words ultimately
for those who are the true remnants. We see it in the language that
we have at the end of chapter 6 where we have the record of his
call when King Uzziah dies. What does What does the Prophet say? He
is the voice of the Lord. Whom shall I send? Who will go
for us? Then said I, here am I, send
me. And then his ministry, he said
go and tell these people. Hear ye indeed but understand
not, and see ye indeed but perceive not. Make the heart of these
people fat, make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand
with their heart and converts and be healed. So he's ministering
to a people who are in a state of continual rebellion. As we
see here at the beginning of chapter 65, they're provoking
God with their idolatrous religion and their worship of these false
gods. And then in verse 11 there the
prophet asks, Lord how long? And he answered, until the cities
be wasted. and without inhabitant, and the
houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate." That judgment that's going to
come under the Babylonians and the temple destroyed and the
Lord has to remove men far away and there be a great forsaking
in the midst of the land but yet in it shall be a tent and
it shall return and shall be eaten as a tale tree, and as
an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves,
so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof." There it
is again, you see. It's His seed. It's the promised seed. The seed
of Abraham. The seed of David. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so, we have this prophecy
of restoration, there's going to be a restoration here in verses
9 and 10 of the chapter I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob
and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains and mine elect
shall inherit it and my servants shall dwell there and Sharon
shall be a fold of flocks and the valley of Acre a place for
the herds to lie down in for my people that have sought me
there is promising of the restoration and they're going again to inhabit
the land that was promised to their fathers we read of Sharon
in the west and the valley of Acre in the east near to Jericho
and so the whole width of the land they're going to be restored
the breadth of the promise of God is here and it's interesting
that we have mention of not Jericho but the valley of Achor which
is in the east remember the language of Hosea
and Hosea of course contemporary with this prophet Isaiah they're
both ministering at much the same time And there in Hosea
2.15, the valley of Achor fought a door of hope. The valley of
Achor fought a door of hope. Achor was the place where Achan was stoned for taking the
accursed thing. We have the account there in
Joshua chapter 7. The golden wedge that he had
hidden. the accursed thing and the curse comes upon the people
of God because of the sin of that man and God is saying you see that there
is going to be hope for them even in the midst of all God's
judgments there will be restoration the very name Achor means trouble
the valley of Achor, the place of trouble, the door of hope. This is how God speaks to his
ancient people, to encourage them. That's something of the
historical context. What is God saying here? We have
to try to understand these words and we have to see them in a
certain historical setting to really appreciate what the promise
is saying. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
The Valley of Acor a place for herds to lie down in? Well they're
not only going to people the land they're going to have herds
and flocks. They're going to flourish all
over again. This land flowing with milk and honey there's hope. But of course when we're reading
these things we have to understand that they're not just to be seen
in their historical context. All these things are written
for our learning upon whom the ends of the world are caught.
Is there not gospel hope here? We know Israel in the Old Testament
is a typical people. And as we've already intimated,
always there is in the midst of that nation the true spiritual
Israel, a small remnant, a very small remnant. And ultimately, of course, when
we come to the New Testament, the wonder is this, that we see
that God is going to do something even greater. He's going to begin
now to call sinners from amongst the Gentile nations. That Gentile converts will become
His true spiritual people, the spiritual Israel of God. Isn't that what we have at the
beginning of the chapter, really? I am sought of them that ask
not for me, I am found of them that sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me,
unto a nation that was not called by my name. Again, the context
indicates that there's something more here than the restoration
of the Jews from Babylon. It has to do with those events
that are recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. It's God
calling sinners of the Gentiles. Now, the Jews, of course, they
reject His grace. Verse 2, I have spread out my
hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way
that was not good after their own thoughts. The Lord Jesus
comes to His own, His own receive Him not. Oh, but as many as received
Him, to them He gives the promise, salvation, power,
authority, to be called the sons of God. That's what the Lord
does. And we have the record, God has preserved these people
down through the generations till the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He comes to His own, they reject
Him. and we see it in the outworking
of the preaching of the gospel in the Acts of the Apostles read the accounts of the ministry
of Paul himself and much of Acts of course is taken up really
with his ministry his missionary journeys and so forth and now
for example in Acts chapter 18 we see him there following his
normal pattern He goes first to the synagogue. It's to the
Jew first, isn't it? Always. And then turning to the
Gentiles in Acts 16 and verse 6. He speaks of these Jews who were
posed and blasphemed. And he turns from them and says,
I will go on to the Gentiles. And of course he's called to
that work ultimately. He's called to be the apostle
to the Gentiles. And remember the end of Ephesians
2 and then in chapter 3 of Ephesians he goes into some detail concerning
that great mystery that is being revealed even in his own day.
There is to be the calling of sinners of the Gentiles. You
know, it's a truth that the words that we have at the beginning
of this chapter are in fact taken up by Paul when he writes to
the Romans at the end of Romans chapter 10 and think of those
three chapters Romans 9, 10 and 11 in which he deals with this
whole matter of the gospel going to the Gentiles
because Christ is rejected by Israel and yet as we read through
it does appear that there will yet be a calling of sinners of
the of the Jews again there will be some further restoration God
still has a purpose to fulfill but there at the end of chapter
10 verse 20 we are told Esaias simply the Greek form of the
name Isaiah. Isaiah is very bold and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people. Clearly The chapter that we're
in ultimately has its fulfillment in the Gospel. This blessed seed, the seed of
Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who is to be preached,
proclaimed even to sinners of the Gentiles. And Paul, that
one who is clearly the the apostle of the Gentiles not only in Ephesians
2 and 3 but there's that passage also in Colossians the end of chapter 1 Colossians
1.25 he says whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God
even the mystery which has been heard from ages and from generations
but is now made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make
known what is the richest of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." That's
the blessed seed. That's the blessed seed, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Oh, there is then here the preservation
of of Israel, the restoration of Israel, always God's purpose
centers in that wine he was spoken of as that blessed seed. As the
new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not,
for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servants'
sakes, that I may not destroy them all. and I will bring forth
a seed out of Jacob." God's determinate counsel then. His decree must
have its fulfillment. And so, to finish on this note
there, there is always that remnant. We've spoken of Israel, the preservation
of them in spite of all their sins, surrounded by all those
idolatrous peoples that they are wanting to be like and God
dealing with them and judging them but preserving them and
restoring them but to finish on that note of the remnant and
here in verse 8 it's not all the vine is it? Israel is spoken
of as a vine here in chapter 5 of Isaiah but here we have
the cluster as the new wine is found in the cluster What is this cluster? Well, we
have mention of the seed out of Jacob, and then at the end
of that verse we have the elect. I will bring forth a seed out
of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains, and
mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. and we referred just now to Isaiah
and his ministry, his call and what the message was and whom
he was to preach and what do we have there in verse 13 of
that 6th chapter it's a tenth, it's a tithe it's the holy seed it's almost that remnant you
see, Lord Pityachar vile and base, the poor dependents on
thy grace, whom men disturb as call by sinner and by saint. We stood for these two bad, for
those two good, condemned and shunned by all." In the language
of the Hymn 223. All the wonder of it, you see,
is that God will preserve His remnants.
It was there in the Old Testament always there for the sake of
the seed, and so it is in our day. And what a day is this! Then they have the type, we have
the anti-type. Then there was the shadow, we
have the substance. The body is of Christ, but still
God preserves His people, a remnant, according to the election of
grace, says Paul. going there in Romans 11 verse
5 a remnant according to the election of grace and he goes
on the elect hath obtained it and the rest were blinded he's
speaking of Israel there of course God's judgment was upon them
when they rejected that one who was the promised Messiah but
we know how God's true spiritual Israel is that little remnant. They
are not all Israel that are of Israel. He is not a Jew which
is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outwardly
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit
and not in the letter. Whose praise is not of men but
of God. Paul is so clear. We are the
circumcision he says. which worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."
Oh, is that true of us? Is that a description of what
our religion is? No confidence in the flesh, no
confidence in self, nothing of self. Nothing of that religion
of the Pharisee who would boast of all that he does. fasting
twice a week, giving tithes of all his possessions, looking
to his own prayers. It's interesting, isn't it, what
the Lord says concerning that Pharisee in the temple. He prayed
thus with himself. I know we can understand that
as being an inward prayer, not speaking words. We can pray silently
in that sense, but does it not also suggest that that man's
prayer went no further than himself? He prayed thus with Himself.
It did not enter the ears of the Lord God of Surveillance.
Oh, we're not trusting in our prayers but we're looking to
that God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. And our God has had a purpose.
He's had a purpose with Israel. And it all centers in Him who
is the Blessed Seed, even our Lord Jesus Christ. the seed of
the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. Oh, do we
know what it is to have that seed, even in our hearts, by
faith. Christ in you, says the Apostle,
the hope of glory. Thus saith the Lord, says the
new wine, is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not,
for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servants'
sake, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth
the seed out of Jacob. O the Lord then, bless to us
His Word. Amen.