A text this morning is found
in Isaiah chapter 59 and the last two verses of that chapter
Isaiah 59 verses 20 and 21. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion
and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith
the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and
my word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of
thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth
of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for
ever. What we have in these verses
really is the promise of the Holy Spirit As the Father is
the one who sends the Son, and the Son clearly is being spoken
of in the 20th verse, the Redeemer shall come to Zion, who is the
Redeemer of God's elect, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is to come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression
in Jacob. Well, as the Father is the one
who sends the Son, In the fullness of the time, we're told, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. So, the Son is that One who gives
the Holy Spirit. And as we have it here in the
21st verse, the Lord God says, As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon thee, that
is upon the Redeemer, And my word which I have put in thy
mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth
of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, except the
Lord from henceforth and for ever. It is the Father's promise
to the Redeemer, to the Lord Jesus Christ, concerning that
ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Father sends the Son. and
the Son is the one of course who gives the Holy Ghost we read
those words in John 16 7 where Christ addresses his disciples
it is expedient for you he says that I go away for if I go not
away the Comforter will not come but if I depart I will send him
unto you isn't the Spirit the gift of Christ the preaching
of Peter, on the day of Pentecost, as he addresses those Jews and
proselytes, gathered there for that great feast, the Feast of
Weeks, the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit,
and he says, does Peter therefore, being by the right hand of God,
exalt it? He has shed forth this which
ye now see and hear. O it is Christ who has shed abroad
the Holy Spirit. And are we not reminded very
much here that the Holy Spirit is a new covenant gift. The beginning of the 21st verse,
this is my covenant with them, says the Lord, my spirit that
is upon they, and so forth. The new covenant gift is that
of the Holy Spirit. We are told, aren't we, in John
7, that the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not
yet glorified. There was to be a great coming
of the Spirit and that's what occurred, of course, on the day
of Pentecost. However, however, we're not to
think that there was nothing of the ministry, the presence
of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Of course, He is there
in God's works of creation, at the beginning. The work of creation
is the work of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, by the Word of the
Lord, were the heavens made, the host of them by the breath
or by the Spirit of His mouth. All the persons in the Godhead
are there in creation. And the Spirit is there throughout
the Old Testament in the lives of those who are the true spiritual
Israel of God. David cries in all the agonies
of his soul in his great penitential song how he had offended God. What dreadful sins that man was
guilty of. And he cries out, take not thy
Holy Spirit from The Holy Spirit is there as the
Lord Jesus Christ is there in the Old Testament. We've observed
that on past occasions, those theophanies, those appearances
of the angel of the Lord. It's anticipating the fullness
of the time when Christ would come in the flesh. Well, the
Spirit is also there in the Old Testament. What of the Psalms? Are the Psalms just beautiful
Hebrew poems? Or are they more than that? Surely
the great beauty of the Psalms is that there we see something
of the experiences of those who know the ministry of the Spirit
of God, the indwelling of the Spirit of God. All that they
record of the struggles, the exercises of their souls, isn't
that the evidence that the Spirit is indwelling them? And we're
told, aren't we, that these things are all written for our instruction,
that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might
have hope. What a blessed book is the book of Psalms. But if
there's nothing of the Holy Spirit there in the Old Testament, what
can they mean to the people of God in this day of grace, in
this gospel dispensation? Now, there is a difference, of
course. After Pentecost, we come into what might be termed the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit. But he is there in the Old Testament. But there is a difference. Remember
the words of the Apostle at the beginning of Hebrews 9, where
he's referring to the worship of the Old Testament church. And he says, The First Covenant
had a worldly sanctuary. The First Covenant, the Old Covenant
had a worldly sanctuary. There in Jerusalem, ultimately
of course, a temple was built. That's the sanctuary, that's
the place where they are to worship. And The form of that worship
under the old covenant was certainly very physical, sensual we might
say, it appealed to the senses. There were so many ceremonies,
so many rituals, there was that that was so magnificent to the
eye. the wonder of the worship, the
garments that were to be worn by the high priest and so forth. And all the instruments of music
that were so much part of that worship we see there at the end
of the book of Psalms. where there are those exhortations
to praise God in dance, in cymbals, high-sounding cymbals, organs,
and all this sort of thing. There's much that is splendid
but essential. It appeals to the senses. But we know that those who were
the true Israel of God, that remnant that was ever there in
the midst of ethnic Israel, their worship was more than just outward. It was spiritual in substance,
their worship. It has never been true that the
true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. And the difference when we come
to the New Testament is that that sensuality of the worship
is gone. Under the New Covenant the worship
is not only to be spiritual in its very substance, but it is
spiritual in its form. It is the simplicity that is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a very striking difference. But as we come to look at this
passage for a while this morning, here at the end of this 59th
chapter in Isaiah's prophecy, I want to say something in particular
with regards to the promise of the Holy Spirit. And dealing with that subject
matter under three headings. First of all, thinking of this
day of grace, this Gospel day, we consider the perpetuity of
the Spirit's ministry. The perpetuity of the ministry
of the Spirit. This Gospel day is so very much
the dispensation of the Holy Spirit what a blessed day it
is then that we're living in these last days after the first
coming of Him who is the Redeemer of sinners and has shed abroad
this great gift of the Holy Ghost and it's perpetually through
this day look at the language that we have here in verse 21
it says thy mouth and the mouth of thy seeds, and the mouth of
thy seeds, seeds." So it goes on from one generation to another
generation to another generation. It is that that is perpetual.
And when Peter is preaching there concerning the coming of the
Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.39, what does he say? The promise is unto you and to
your children And to them that are far off, through to the end
of time we live in this blessed day wherein we are to look for
the gracious works of the Spirit. The work of the Spirit. Look
at the language that we have then. the beginning of this 21st
verse. As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord, my Spirit that is upon thee. These are words, in the first
place, that are being spoken to the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is that One who is said to
have the Spirit, my Spirit that is upon thee. And of course,
his very name as the Christ indicates that he is the anointed one he
has the spirit of God and remember when he begins his public ministry
and we have the record there in Luke chapter 4 after his baptism
after his temptations in the wilderness He returns in all
the fullness of the Spirit and he goes into the synagogue in
Nazareth, as was his custom. He would worship God according
to the rites of the Old Testament. And he's there, it's the Sabbath
day, and he's given the book of the prophet Isaiah, this book
that we're considering this morning. And he turns to that section
in Isaiah 61. And then he turns and reads that
portion. Here in Luke 4 verse 17, there
was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias, the Greek
form of the Hebrew name Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. Because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him, And he
began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And all bear him witness and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Oh, that blessed unction of the
Spirit was upon him, and the words that he spoke flowed with
a gracious authority. here is that one then who is
the anointed and we have it of course at the baptizing of the
Lord Jesus he must fulfill all righteousness he goes to the
river Jordan and submits to John's baptism of repentance identifying
with those sinners who stand in need of a repentance he had
no sins to repent of but he would fulfill all righteousness And
he goes into the waters, baptized by John, coming up out of the
water. The heavens open and the Spirit
descends upon him in the form of a dove. And the Father utters
those words, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. All the persons of the Godhead
there at the baptizing of the Lord Jesus And now the Spirit
descends, He's anointed with the Spirit. There it is baptizing. He whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, we're told. God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him. Oh, what an outpouring of the
Spirit, what a blessed effusion came upon Him. There is that
One then who is being spoken of here. This is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord, my Spirit. that is upon thee." The same Spirit that was there
upon the Lord Jesus Christ is the same that is to come upon
all His people, on every believer. How we need that blessed ministry
of the Spirit, we can know nothing of God, nothing of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but by that ministry of the Holy Spirit. No man can
say that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Or we
might utter the word. But what is the word? If it is a sincere word, a true
word, it comes by that blessed ministry of the Holy Ghost. It's
an acknowledgement of Christ as the only Saviour, the only
name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. It is the Lord Jesus Christ then
who is pleased to grant this gift of the Holy Ghost to all
his people. I will pray the Father, he says.
I will pray the Father, he will give you another comforter that
he may abide with you forever. the ministry of the Spirit, how
we need it, day by day, moment by moment, the perpetuity of
that blessed gift of the Holy Ghost. Again, those words in
chapter 15 of John, when the comforter is come, and what will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father. He will testify of me. And again, it's all the persons.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I will send Him unto you, says
Christ, from the Father. And He shall testify of me. That's
the ministry of the Spirit. He comes as the Spirit of Christ.
Not to speak of Himself. but to speak of Christ. Now how
does he speak? Well, it's not just the work
of the Holy Spirit. It's the words. It's the words
of the Holy Spirit. And what are the words of the
Holy Spirit? Are they not the words of Holy Scripture? What is the promise here in the
text this morning? My Spirit that is upon thee and
my words. which I have put in thy mouth
shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed-seed, saith the Lord from henceforth
and for ever." There is a great promise that Christ gives to
his disciples in that portion that we were reading in John 14 Mark the words that we have here
in verse 26 Christ is addressing his disciples and he says the
Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in
my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to
your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you there is the promise
of the Spirit and how necessary is that promise with regards
to the Word of God, to the words of the New Testament Scriptures,
to all that we have here in the Fourfold Gospel. The Spirit will
bring to their remembrance all those things that ever the Lord
Jesus spoke unto them. That's His ministry. During the
course of His earthly ministry doesn't the Lord refer to the
Old Testament Scriptures? There in John 5.39, search the
Scriptures. At that time there was nothing
of the New Testament as we have it now. It's in the days when
the Lord Himself is here upon the earth and He says to the
Jews, search the Scriptures. In them you think that you have
eternal life, and these are they that testify of mine. And as
was true with regards to the Old Testament, so also even more
significantly when we come to the New Testament. All the New
Testament bears testimony to the Lord Jesus. The disciples
are enabled by the Blessed Spirit to remember all those words that
were spoken by the Lord It's the ministry
of the Spirit, you see, that is behind the Word of God, behind
the Scriptures of Truth. Peter reminds us, doesn't he,
concerning those prophets of old, how they spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God, he says. And that word that he uses,
that word, that verb, to move, that we have there in verse 21
of that first chapter of 2nd Peter. They were moved. It literally has that idea of
them being carried along, borne along by the Spirit of God. We've
said many times it's the same word that we have there at the
end of Acts when Paul is describing the shipwreck that he was involved
in as he was journeying from Jerusalem, having appealed to
the Caesar, journeying to Rome, and that great tempest, Heracliton. brews up, and they're in the
midst of a great storm, and the mariners cannot control the ship
at all, they just have to leave it to the elements. It's allowed
to drive, it's driven of the wind and of the seas, and the
word that is used there, to drive, it's that same word that Peter
uses with regards to the ministry of the Spirit. Those prophets,
they were driven along by the Spirit of God, they're not speaking
their own words. they are speaking the words of
God and that Spirit is ever the Spirit of Christ there in the
Old Testament but also in the New Testament and what does Peter
say in that same chapter? 2 Peter 1 he speaks of a more
sure word of prophecy a more sure word of prophecy all we
have in the New Testament that is the key to all the Old Testament
Scriptures And here is the promise you see. This is the blessed
ministry of the Spirit. He comes and He reveals Christ
and He reveals Christ here in the Word of God. The perpetuity then of His ministry. We have God's words. The complete
canon of Scripture. Nothing else to be added to it.
In these last days God has spoken by his son. He has spoken fully.
He has spoken finally. And you know, I don't have to
remind you that Muhammad is a false prophet. Islam is a false religion. But let us turn in the second
place. to the place where this ministry
of the Spirit is to be exercised. It says, "...the Redeemer shall
come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob." It's to these that the promise
is made. And notice two points concerning the place of the Spirit's
ministry. It is very much in the Church. The Redeemer shall come to Zion. What is Zion here? Zion is a
type of the Church. We have no doubt about that.
When we think in terms of the New Covenant and the place of
the New Covenant, it's the Church. in Hebrews 12 doesn't the Apostle
draw the contrast between the two covenants the one at Mount
Sinai and the other at Mount Zion what does he say there? verse 22 of Hebrews 12 Paul says
ye are come unto Mount Zion unto the city of the living God the
heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the Spirit of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New
Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
things than that of Abel. Zion is identified with the General
Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. And so, we see that the place
where the Spirit is pleased to come and do this great work,
this gracious work, it's in Zion, it's in the Church. And the Redeemer
is that one. who it says has come to or for
Zion he has come to Zion he has come for Zion he came for his church didn't
he when he came into this world he came to redeem the church
by the shedding of his precious blood even those that the Father
had given to him in the eternal covenants these are the ones
he came to pay the ransom price for and now he comes to them or how
he comes to them, he delights to come to them where two or
three he says I met together in my name, there am I in the
midst Oh, we gather in His name, Shiloh,
unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. What is our
coming together? What is our gathering? What is
our worship? Except the Lord Jesus is that
one that we're gathering to and that one that stands at the very
center of all the service of His house. God said He has set
His King upon His holy hill of Zion. He is King in the church. Oh, He's the King of saints and
He comes to rule and to reign in their hearts. He comes to
establish that blessed reign of grace in the very depths of
their souls. What does God say? We have another
promise here. Isn't Isaiah a remarkable book
really? It's full of gospel and some
have said it's really like an Old Testament Gospel, the equivalent
in many ways to the four Gospels in the New Testament. He speaks
so much of Christ, but he speaks of Christ in terms of promises.
And we have that great promise back in chapter 46 and verse
13, I will place salvation in Zion, says God. For Israel, my
glory, Oh, it's in the midst of Zion, in the midst of the
church. That is the true church. We're
not thinking of that apostate church, the church of Rome, the
great mystery of iniquity, the devil's masterpiece, some would
call it. We know what the mystery of godliness is. The mystery
of godliness is God manifest in the flesh. the Lord Jesus,
the Incarnation, Christ coming to be the Redeemer of Zion. But what is the mystery of iniquity?
The devil's masterpiece, that that apes the true Church of
Jesus Christ. The promise is, I will place
salvation in Zion. That is that Church where Christ
and Christ alone is glorified. There's not a great panoply of
saints and the worship of the Virgin Mary and all that goes
on in that apostate church that thinks itself to be the only
true church. Again, we go back to the beginning
of this book. What do we have there? right at the beginning chapter
2 and verse 3 many people shall go and say come ye and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God
of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk
in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem again it's another promise isn't
it concerning the New Covenant, concerning the Gospel day, the
mountain of the Lord, that Zion, the house of the Lord, that temple
which is a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the language,
yes, it's Old Testament language that's being employed here, but
it's speaking all together of the New Testament and the great
fulfillment of all that Christ as accomplished here upon the
earth and then the coming of the Spirit out of Zion going
forth the word of the Lord proceeding as it were from Jerusalem and we see it in the New Testament
all we see it in the New Testament how Christ has come and has accomplished
all that is spoken of in these great promises of the Old Testament Romans 11 and there in verse 26 and verse
27 so all Israel shall be saved it says so all Israel shall be
saved as it is written they shall come out of Zion the deliverer
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins." The reference
here clearly is to God's spiritual Israel. All Israel, they're not
all Israel that are of Israel, we know that. It's a spiritual
Israel that's being spoken of and it's a spiritual coming that
is being spoken of. when the Lord comes to deliver
His people. He has accompanied their deliverance,
but He comes to deliver them in their soul's experience, and
He comes to do that great work by and through the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. That's how Christ's objective
work, the great work of redemption, is made a reality. It's a subjective thing. It comes
into the soul. It's the work of the Spirit.
And that's the promise that we have there in those verses in
Romans 11. There's an allusion, really,
to the words of our text this morning. As it is written there,
"...shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with
them, whom I shall take away their sins." Oh, that's the promise. It's the work of the Spirit.
Where does the Spirit work? It works in the church. And who
are those who make up the church? Well, are we not told here in
verse 20? He comes unto Zion, it says,
and then, in what follows, we have the description, really,
of those who are Zion. Them that turn from transgression
in Jacob. It's repentant sinners that make
up the church. These are really parallel statements. And so we can define what the
church is. The church is Zion, and Zion is made
up of those who know repentance, that godly repentance, godly
sorrow. shall work repentance, it says,
to salvation, not to be repented of. The sorrow of the world worketh
death. Oh, what do we know, friends,
of a godly sorrowing over sins, grieving over sins, that compunction
of conscience, that feeling of our utter unworthiness before
God? Do we have that godly sorrow?
It eyes the very nature of sin that sorrow does. It sees what
sin is. It understands how displeasing
it is to God. Always a vice too pure to behold
iniquity. It cannot look upon sin. It's aware that godly sorrow
of the real worth of the soul. Oh, we have never dying souls. Are we aware of the worth of
our never-dying souls? Are we aware of the tremendous
weight of eternity appointed unto all men once to die then
the judgment? See, godly sorrow is conscious
of all of these things. And it goes towards that true
evangelical repentance. It's not the sorrow of the world.
It's not the sorrow of the world. Now, it's true that we cannot turn ourselves from sins. The promise you see is unto them
that turn from transgression in Jacob. How can we turn ourselves
from sins? We can't. The apostle knew it. The good
that I would I do not, the evil that I would not that I do. What
can we do? We're dead in sins. Though we're
dead in sins, we love sins. It's where we want to be. It's
what we want. No, it is the Redeemer. You must come, and the Redeemer,
by His Spirit, turns the sinner from iniquity. Again, the language there in
Romans 11, 26, They shall come out of Zion, the Deliverer, and
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." All the delivery you see, he
has accomplished the salvation, he will apply the salvation and
the application will be as effectual as the work that he accomplished
when he made the great sin atoning sacrifice here upon the earth. He shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob And as I said, there's an allusion here to the words
that we have in verse 20 of this 57th chapter. It is the great work and the
gracious work that the Lord Himself must accomplish. Him has God
exalted to be a Prince and a Savior to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of sin. all those saving graces that
we so stand in need of faith, repentance how can we obtain
these things? well it is Christ exalted who
gives repentance it's the same Christ that we have to look to
for saving faith looking on to Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith We don't have to keep pouring
on ourselves. What do we obtain when we pour
on ourselves? We only see that that seems to
utterly discredit us. Makes us feel more and more our
unworthiness. The more we look to self, the
more we feel our inability and our impotence. No, we have to
look at why. We have to look unto Jesus. We
have to look unto Him as that One who will grant saving faith
and true evangelical repentance. How does He do this? It is by
that blessed work of the Spirit, the place of His ministry. The
place of His ministry, as I said, it's in Zion, it's in the Church,
and that Church made up of those who are brought to these blessed
experiences of the grace of God. And finally this morning, With
regards to this ministry and the promise of the Spirit, I
want to mark the power, the power of His ministry. And we see it,
of course, there on the day of Pentecost. Oh, we see it, do
we not, in the effects of the preaching of Peter and the Apostles. When they heard These things, they were pricked
in their hearts and said, men and brethren, what shall we do
to be saved? Oh, when they heard this blessed
message, and what is the message? It's
the coming of the Spirit, but when we look at the sermon of
Peter there, and the Lord willing I want us to at least look a
little at that sermon this evening. It's the coming of the Spirit,
but most of the chapter is taken up with the preaching of Peter,
and we have the content of his sermon, and it's a sermon that's
full of Christ. That's the work of the Spirit,
isn't it? as the Lord Himself says in those passages that we
were reading earlier in the service. When the Spirit comes, He testifies
of Christ, He doesn't speak of Himself. He takes of the things
of Jesus. That's the amazing thing about
the work of the Spirit. He is God's. He's no less God
than the Father or the Son. He is co-equal and co-eternal
with the Father and the Son. He is God. And yet his ministry
is so self-effacing. He doesn't draw any attention
to himself. This is his work in the whole
economy of grace, in the outworking of the great covenant of redemption. He comes to reveal Christ. And so Peter preaches Christ. as He knows that blessed anointing
of the Spirit of God. And oh, they are pricked in their
hearts, or they are guilty. They were those who had killed
the Lord of Glory, they are Jews, they are Gentiles. Had they not
cried out, those people at the crucifixion, His blood be upon
us and upon our children. They are great sinners, they
are Jerusalem sinners. But there is the work of the
Spirit and it's a mighty and it's an effectual work, the Kingdom
of God, you see. That's what's coming there, the
Kingdom of God. And it's not in words, says Paul,
it's in power. And so it was throughout the
Acts of the Apostles when Paul writes to the Thessalonians and
reminds them our Gospel, he says, came not unto you in word only,
but in power, and in the Holy Ghost. and in much assurance. Now where the Spirit comes, He
applies the Law. He applies that Law of God and
brings with it that dreadful conviction of sin. Whatever things
the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God. That's the ministry of the Lord,
isn't it? To shut the mouth of the sinner. He's guilty. And
the Lord speaks of him. When he is calm, he will reprove.
The margin says he will convince. He will convince the world of
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they
believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. Oh, that's the blessed work of
the Spirit. However, we think sometimes of the language
of the hymn, and I think there's truth, great truth in what the
writer says there. Law and terrors do but harden
all the while they work alone, but a sense of blood-bored pardon
soon dissolves the heart of stone. He comes not only to convince
with the Lord, He comes as the Spirit of Christ. Or He comes
to reveal something of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the great
thing. He shall glorify me, He says
Christ. He shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. And when He does that, when He
shows us what the sufferings of Christ are and the cause of
those sufferings, who is the great sin-bearer, the greatness
of that love that he bears towards his people, he loves them to
the end, all the bitter sufferings of the cross. Oh, what a work
is that! And Christ then comes, you see,
by His Spirit in His words. When Paul writes to those Ephesians,
where Christ had never ministered, And He tells them, doesn't He?
You have not so learned Christ. If so, be ye have heard Him and
been taught by Him. As the truth is in Jesus. They
heard the voice of Jesus. That's the mark of His sheep.
They know His voice. They follow Him. He speaks to
them. Oh, and what a word it is. It's
the word of a king when Christ comes by His Spirit. Thy people
shall be willing is the promise. willing in the day of thy power
and isn't this the day of Christ's power and how necessary it is remember
those words at the beginning of the great 53rd chapter here
in Isaiah who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed all the reports concerning that suffering
servant of the Lord that mediator of the new covenant Who believes
the report? Well, the Lord must make bear
His arm, or none would ever believe it. It is the power of the Spirit,
the necessity then of that ministry of the Spirit. And here in this
text we have that great promise of the New Covenant. My covenants
with them, with Zion, saith the Lord, My Spirit that is upon
thee, My Word which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed, seed saith the Lord, from henceforth
and forever. What a blessed and a privileged
people we are that we should know anything of that gracious
ministry, those sovereign operations of the Spirit of God. Or do we
long for that, yearn for that? We might be those who know what
it is to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And that's what
we want every Lord's Day. But not just every Lord's Day,
we want it continually. And yet so often, I fear maybe we grieve the Spirit
of God, or God forbid. God forbid that we should be
guilty of such a sin as that, the sin against the Holy Ghost.
Might we know then that gracious ministry as He comes to reveal
to us the things concerning Christ and the salvation of His people.
May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word. Amen.