Well, let us turn again to God's
Word and turn into the portion we read in the Old Testament,
Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 50. And I'll read
the last two verses of the chapter. Verses 10 and 11. It was among
you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant,
that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. Behold all ye that
kindle a fire, accomplish yourselves about with sparks, walk in the
light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow. Isaiah 50 verses 10 and 11 probably
aware I'm sure some of you that this is a portion of scripture
upon which there are the writings of two men and quite remarkable
in the content of what they've written I think of the great
Puritan divine Thomas Goodwin who preached on these verses
and subsequently that ministry was recorded and is to be found
even now in the volume of his works and uh... the sermon it
seems to have been a series of sermons he entitled the child
of heaven walking in darkness the child of hell walking in
light and then also some uh... 200 years after Goodwin's ministry,
there's a famous sermon by J.C. Philpott on the same portion.
I suppose it's one of the most well-known of all Mr. Philpott's
sermons. And that bears the title, The
Air of Heaven Walking in Darkness, The Air of Hell Walking in Light. I would commend those various
writings to you, I acknowledge that Thomas Goodwin isn't easy
to read, but well worth the effort. But the sermon of Mr. Philpott
I believe it's still in print and of course it's much shorter
than what we find in the writings of the Puritan. But remarkable
things are brought out by those men with regards to the content
of the verses that I've just read this morning. But what I'd
like to try to do this morning is to simply address what's said
here in the 10th verse, Isaiah 51 10, where we read of the godly
man walking in darkness. And that's the theme that I want
to take up. Who is among you? that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness and hath no light. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God." The godly man walking in darkness. And to observe at least four
things from what we see in the verse, First of all, to say something
with regards to the fear of this man. see who is being addressed
in the opening clause of the verse, who is among you that
feareth the Lord, all the importance of that fear of the Lord. Of course we sang about it in
our opening praise, the hymn 254, and the wise man has much
to say with regard to that fear of the Lord there in the book
of Proverbs. We're told in chapter 1 that
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Again in chapter
9, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the
knowledge of the holy is understanding, says Solomon. How important it
is then that we are those who are favoured to know what it
is to have that true fear of God, some understanding of who
God is, the greatness of God, the holiness of God, the justice
of God. all that is revealed to us in
Holy Scripture with regards to the great attributes of Him who
is the creator and sustainer of all things and that one to
whom we must all ultimately give our account to be in the fear
of the Lord. But what is this fear of the
Lord? Well, two things, first a negative and then a positive. We're not here thinking of what
we might term natural fear or torment. There is a fear that
hath torment. Doesn't the Apostle John speak
of that himself in 1st John chapter 4 at verse 18? There is no fear in love, he
says, For perfect love casteth out fear, for fear hath torment. Oh, there's a tormenting fear.
It's something of what the fallen angels, the demons, know. They
fear God. And James reminds us of that. in the sense he is rebuking those
who would say they have some knowledge of the Lord. But what
does he say? They'll believe us that there
is one God. They'll do us well. The devils,
he says, also believe and tremble. The devils tremble. We see it,
don't we, when the Lord Jesus Christ commences his own ministry
in the opening chapter of Mark's Gospel. there in the synagogue
in Capernaum as he cast a demon out of a man. Now the demons
cry out, let us alone. What have we to do with thee
thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know thee thou art the Holy
One of God. There's a great deal of that
demonic activity with the coming of Christ, with the incarnation,
God manifest in the flesh, how the devil is so active. The demons
are trembling at the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
there is a fear. There is a fear that only brings
torment, makes a person to be terrified. We have the record
of Paul preaching before Felix. And as Paul preaches and reasons
of righteousness and temperance and judgment, why King Felix
is brought to tremble. He knows something of fear. Saul,
King Saul in the Old Testament, how he was afraid at the sight
of Samuel. He'd gone to the witch of Endor.
Do you see some sort of apparition, just what it was? We don't really
know. I doubt it was really Samuel. The witch would not be able to
trouble the Lord's prophet who had entered into his rest. But
whatever it was that Saul witnessed, it made him afraid. He trembled. We have the words of Bildad in
the book of Job. Terror shall make Him afraid
on every hand, says Bildad, concerning those who are wicked and evil
men. They will tremble before the
Lord, they'll be made afraid. There is a fear then, it's a
natural fear. There's a fear that we read of
here in the book of the prophets, back in chapter 29, he speaks
of a fear that is only taught of men. there at verse 13 in that chapter
for as much as these people draw near me with their mouth and
with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart
far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of
men a natural fear something that is taught by men a tormenting
fear well that's not the fear of the man that we're reading
of here in our text this morning. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord and that obeyeth the voice of his servant? Well, let us come to the positive.
What is this fear? Well, this is spiritual fear,
filial fear. You see, there's a connection
between the first two clauses that we have here in the verse. This fear is not taught of men,
but it is something that is taught by the servant of the Lord. These fearers, you see, they
are obeying the voice of the Lord's servants. Who is the Lord's servant? Well,
again Isaiah tells us, doesn't he? Back in the 42nd chapter. As the mouthpiece of God, He
says, Behold My servant, whom I uphold, Mine elect, in whom
My soul delighteth. I have put My Spirit upon you. Oh, that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the Lord's servant. He is, of course, Himself the
Eternal Son of God. But in the Great Covenant of
Redemption, He agrees to become the Lord's servant and he comes into this world
to accomplish all the work that the Father had committed to him
in that covenant. He comes not to do his own will
but the will of him who has sent him. He is very much the Lord's
servant and as the Lord's servant He is that one who teaches the
fear of the Lord. Again, here in chapter 53, that
remarkable chapter, we read of this servant in verse 11, "...by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." Oh, there
is a knowledge, you see, that the righteous servant of the
Lord teaches. He is the one who teaches the
true fear of the Lord. He is that one who comes to put
fear in the hearts of all those whom the Father has given to
Him in that eternal covenant. See how the prophet Jeremiah
speaks of the covenant there in chapter 32 Jeremiah 32 and
verse 4 I will make an everlasting covenant
with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good
but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart
from me or this is that fear that is being spoken of here
in our text this morning that spiritual fear that comes from Him who is spoken
of as the Lord's Servant, who is among you, that feareth the
Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His Servant. Now, we might
ask, well, where is it that the voice of the Lord's Servant is
heard? How can we hear His voice? Well,
it is here, isn't it? Is it not? It's in the Word of
God. It's in the scriptures of truth
that we hear his voice. Is he not that one who is the
word of God incarnate? That one that is spoken of by
John in the opening chapter of his gospel. In the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld
His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of
grace and truth. Oh, He is that Word of God and He is that One who is everywhere
on the page of Holy Scripture. He says to the Jews, so it's
the Scriptures in them you think that you have life and these
are they that testify of me it's here in the word of God and is
he not that word that he's spoken of in Hebrews chapter 4 that
word of God that is quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and the discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. All that, that word
that is so piercing, so penetrating, that word that brings conviction. Now, as we've said many a time,
there in Hebrews 4.12 we were to recognize the references to
the Word of God in Holy Scripture. But it's more than that, because
the context, and we were reminded yesterday of the importance of
seeing the words of Scripture in their right context, not just
taking a word, a verse out of the Bible and not recognizing
that it is set in a certain place. and we're wise if we take account
of the context from whence it comes. Well there, in Hebrews
4, see how the apostle continues in the following verse, verse
13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight,
he says. He speaks of the Word that is
quick, powerful, sharp, like a two-edged sword, and then he
goes on to say, neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his. It's a masculine pronoun. The word that he is speaking
of in the previous verse then is a person. It is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. And we remember the Scriptures
and the Lord bear one tremendous name. The written and incarnate
words in all things are the same. And how, when God comes to us
by His Spirit in His Word, how He works that conviction in the
soul, the fear of the Lord, who is among you, that feareth the
Lord and obeyeth the voice of His servant. Who are we? Those who have heard that voice. How the Lord comes, He comes
of course as the Good Shepherd, ultimate. And He says, My sheep
hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. But as the
Shepherd, He doesn't only have the staff, He has the rod also. And sometimes he will deal with
his people in the way of the rod, in the way of chastenings
and correctings. Here then we see the characters
that are being addressed. They are those who have this
fear of the Lord. They know the voice of the Lord's
servant, the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what are we
told concerning their circumstances here, their situation? Where
are they? Well, they're in a place of felt
darkness. They walk in darkness and they
have no light. Now at times that is the experience
of the godly. That is the experience of the
people of God sometimes, walking in darkness and having no light. Remember the great promise that
the Lord God gave after He had destroyed that antediluvian world
by the floods, that ancient world that after the fall of Adam and
Eve had become such a scene of wickedness. that it repented
the Lord that he had made man upon the face of the earth and
he visits terrible judgments upon his creatures and preserves
just Noah and his sons and their wives. And what does God do after the
flood? He gives promise that he will not judge the world by
a universal flood again, while the earth remaineth. Seed time
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall
not cease." Oh, there will be seasons, and we recognize that. We begin to move out of the season
of winter into the season of spring, and we anticipate the
different seasons. The wisdom of God in creation,
But are there not also seasons in the souls of the people of
God? I referred at the outset just
now to that sermon of J.C. Philpott on these two verses
at the end of this 50th chapter. The air of heaven walking in
darkness, the air of hell walking in light. Well, he has another
famous sermon. I think they're the two probably
best known of all his sermons. that one entitled Winter of Full
Harvest in which he speaks of the seasons of the soul there
are seasons in the souls of God's people just as there are seasons
in nature and at times God's people then
will find themselves in a season where they're walking in darkness
and they have no light In a sense, we might say when the Lord God
first begins to deal with us, when any awakening first comes
into our souls, God's light shines. God's light shines in the heart. And what is felt? Well, the first
thing we're brought to feel is our innate darkness. What we
are, having the understanding darkened. alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is in us because of the
blindness of our hearts when that conviction comes into the
soul. It's God who makes us feel the
darkness of our sins. The psalmist says they'll make
us darkness and it is night wherein all the beasts of the forest
do creep forth." And how we feel it then when God works out that
conviction and there's a realization of what we are and where we are,
and the ignorance that we're in and the darkness, and the
sins that seem to creep forth out of their lurking places.
We were blissfully unaware of so much of these things previously. God deals with his people, and
he deals with them in that way of conviction, he brings them
into dark places. Doesn't Jeremiah speak of it?
He speaks of it in the book of Lamentations. He hath led me
and brought me into darkness, he says, and not into light. It's there at the beginning of
the believer's experience when he first sees what he is and
feels what he is, and that's to confess his darkness, his
ignorance, and he knows not what to do or which way to turn. But
here we read of a man that walketh in darkness, who is among you
that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that
walketh in darkness and doth no light. There's a sense in
which it's ongoing, it's something that is prolonged. It's that light that's come to
shine in a dark place. And subsequently, in the experience
of the people of God, might they not be brought into those circumstances
again? It's no easy path to heaven. It's a narrow way. It's a restricted
way in many respects. it's a difficult, it's a trying
path that they're walking and sometimes it seems as if darkness
has come over the soul the Bible seems to be a sealed book they
read it but they have no light upon it they can't understand
it they can find little comfort in the word of God this is the
path that they're in Prayer has become a burden to them. They
find it hard to pray. They're full of doubts, they're
full of fears. Or they're groping their way
along as it were. Look at the language that we
find later here in the 59th chapter and there at verse 10. We grope for the wall like the
blind. and we grow up as if we had no
eyes, we stumble at noonday as in the night, we are in desolate
places as dead men. Why are verses like that, and
portions of scripture like that, to be found here in God's Word? Isn't this a spiritual book?
Isn't it describing something of the experiences of the people
of God? It's not just history that we're
reading, it's more than that, it's a living book. And it's the Lord God, as it
were, addressing the needs of His people in the various circumstances
that He's pleased to bring them into. Here is a man who has no
light. He's walking in darkness. Now
it's interesting, the word that we have here, literally, no light,
means shining, no shining, no brightness. No brightness. It's been said that here we have
light to see the evil of sin, but not the brightness to enjoy
the pardon of sins. Enough light to see what we are
and where we are as sinners, but not that bright shining,
that blessed in shining of the gospel into our hearts. Again, it's that time, you see,
that season when God, as it were, has hidden Himself. And again,
back in the 45th chapter, in verse 15, the Prophet says, Verily,
thou art a God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel. Or the God of
Israel, hiding Himself. And the Prophet there has put
that, Verily, before the statements. Here is a truth to be underlined,
a truth to be well marked. The God of Israel does sometimes
hide himself. And so God's people are unable
to see what they desire to see. The signs of God's goodness and
God's mercy and God's grace, this is the character that's
being described in the text. Again, we see it in the language
that we find in the 74th Psalm. And there at verse 9, the cry
is, we see not our signs. All we want to see are signs
of God's favour, God's blessing, and we can't see them, we can't
discern them. We seem to be again shrouded
in darkness. How can we find comfort? in such
situations as that. Well, there is comfort, isn't
there? There is comfort in the doctrine
of the sovereignty of God. Have you ever thought about that? How comforting is that truth
that God is sovereign and divine sovereignty is an absolute sovereignty. Again in that 74th Psalm, what
does God say? He says at verse 16, the psalm
he says, acknowledging the truth of God, the day is thine, the
night also is thine, thou hast prepared the lights and the sun. It's the same psalm of course
in which God's child is saying, we see not our signs, we can't
discern any sign of the grace of God, any mark of the grace
of God, we're in the dark, But here is the comfort, you see,
that who is the one who brings on the night, who is the creator
of the darkness? Why, it's the Lord God. It's
the Lord God who is sovereign. And this God-fearing man, this
man who obeys the voice of the Lord's servant, why, he's walking
in such awful darkness. But the comfort of God's sovereignty,
and we have it here, in the 45th chapter and there at verse 7,
God says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. You see, there's nothing that
comes into our lives, nothing that comes upon us that's not
under the sovereign hand of God. God is not the author of sin.
God is not the author of our doubts and our fears. I'm not
saying that for a moment. But none of these things ever
take God by surprise. He is that One who is over all
things, and even over this foul darkness of this God-fearing
character. Oh, He is the God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. He does it in creation. He simply
utters the word, that divine fear, let there be light. And
there was light. And he is able to shine even
into the souls of his people again and again. God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, Paul says, has shined in our
hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face,
that is, in the person, as the margin says. in the face, in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or were it to be those
then who would heed that voice of the Lord's servant no matter
what. And what do we see here? In the
third place we see something of this man's faith. He has the
fear of the Lord, he feels the darkness that he's now in, but
he has faith. and we see it in what follows
lets him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God
in spite of all that he feels that seems to be so much against
him this is the exhortation that's
given this is the word of command that comes to him let him trust let him stay upon
his God. Isn't it here that the man is
learning what real faith is? Isn't he discovering something
more and more of the nature of saving faith? The principle,
active and young, that lives under pressure and load, that
makes out of weakness more strong and lifts us all upward to God. For that faith that is True faith,
saving, justifying faith is the faith that is sorely tried. Where
there is faith there is a trial of faith, we know that. But it
lives. It lives under all these pressures,
all these tremendous loads that are brought to bear upon it. It's saving faith. And there's
a contrast. There's a contrast of course
in these verses. a difference between the person
that we see in the 10th verse and that one that is there in
the 11th verse. Verse 11 says, Behold all ye
that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks,
walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have
kindled. Here is one, you see, who can
make his own light, He is one who imagines he can create his
own faith, he can give himself faith. No place here you see for duty
faith. Or this character, he might do
all that he can. What does he have at the hand
of God? Ye shall lie down in sorrow.
How we have to learn that we cannot give ourselves faith. How the Lord God deals with us.
in ways sometimes that seem so extreme as Moses says in Psalm
90, they turn us man to destruction. God brings a man to the complete
and utter end of himself. He learns the solemn doctrine
of total depravity. He's dead in trespasses and sins. He's in darkness. He cannot give
himself light, cannot give himself life, cannot create his own faith. Now turn us, man, to destruction
and say us to return, you children of men. Oh, the Lord simply says
the word. He causes the light to shine
in all that darkness. Here is the man, you see, what
is he to do is simply to rest in his God, to trust in his God,
to stay upon his God. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God. All that name, the name of the
Lord. Now it's the Covenant God that
he's being spoken of, isn't it? Twice we have it here in the
text. Who is among you that feareth the Lord? And then at the end,
let him trust in the name of the Lord. Twice we have the word
in capitals, Allahu Adi. And all that that indicates,
it's the covenant name. It's that name that's derived
from what God says of himself, I am that I am. Oh, he is the
faithful God of the covenant, I am the Lord. I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob. are not consumed. His people
are not consumed. And they are to rest in their
God. They are to trust, they are to
stay. Commit thy way unto the Lord, says the Psalmist. And
there in that Psalm, Psalm 37 and verse 5, you might observe
that the word commit literally means to roll. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Roll thy way upon the Lord. O
lean hard upon the Lord, rely upon Him, rest in Him. Look to
Him as your stay, your support, your strength. The God of the
covenant. What does the Lord Jesus say?
I am the light of the world. He that trusteth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. and there
of course we have one of those great I am statements that are
scattered throughout the gospel according to Saint John time
and again the Lord says I am and amongst those I am statements
I am the light of the world or we're to follow him we're
to look to him he only can give us light we're not to think that
we can do anything of ourself He will, time and time and time
and time again, bring us to that, the end of self. We might see
that all our salvation is only in Him. Here then we see the
character that's being spoken to. It's that one who has that
true fear of the Lord in his heart. Not a fear that brings
torment, but feel your fear. that fear that he has learned
because he's attended to the voice of the Lord's servant and
yet this man he finds himself in a dark place and he's walking
in it he's groping for the wall he's trying to feel his way along
but it is the encouragement is to trust in the Lord it's the
way of faith, it's the way of faith it's to roll his soul upon the
Lord as he's brought to the utter end of himself and then finally
this morning again observing the contrast between these two
verses I want to just remark on the fewness of the godly the
fewness of the godly or the doctrine of the remnant. Look at the language. Who is among you? That fear of
the Lord is the question that is put at the beginning of verse
10. It seems that these characters
are few and they are far between. On the other hand, we read of
all. Behold all the earth The multitudes,
the kindle of fire, encompass themselves about with sparks
of their own making. There's few of the one, there's
many of the other. And we're reminded, aren't we,
by the Lord Jesus, straight is the gate, narrow is the way that
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. the Lord's remnant is a very
small remnant and we certainly are reminded of that in the ministry
of the Prophet Isaiah is very much ministering to a very small
remnant and we see it in the opening chapter except the Lord and left unto
us, he says, a very small remnant. We should have been like unto
Sodom, we should have been as Gomorrah. A very small remnant,
not just a remnant, not just a small remnant, but he speaks
of a very small remnant. And then when he comes to his
call, He's told, isn't he, there in chapter 6, that in the exile, in the Babylonian
captivity, it's only going to be a remnant preserved. In it shall be a tenth, and it
shall return. A tenth, a tithe. It's a minority
really. this is the people of God, they
are few, they are far between those who are the true fearers
of God he says to another prophet I will leave in the midst an
afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the name
of the Lord all these are the characters then that we have
set before us in our text this morning this child of God who
alas many times have to walk in darkness and yet the Lord
is mindful of this man all the Lord knows him, the Lord has
made every provision for him for this man the Lord has laid
help upon one that is mighty that one who is able to say to
the uttermost all that come to God by him the Lord Jesus Christ
so suited to such characters as these because he came to seek
and to save them that were lost the whole have no need of the
physician but they that are sick all these poor sin sick souls
in find comfort here in what the prophet says as the mouthpiece
of God who is among you that feeleth the Lord that obeyeth
the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath
no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stand upon
his God. Oh, the Lord then bless his truth
to us. Amen.