It's good to be back in the chapel
and in the pulpit here at Salem. Just a handful of us gathered
tonight for the ministry and then for prayer. May the Lord
be pleased to grant His gracious presence with us. Now I want
us to look into that chapter that we've just read, Isaiah
59, and drawing your attention in particular to the verses 16
and 17. Isaiah 59 verses 16 and 17 And
he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor. Therefore his arm brought salvation
unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him. For he put
on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon
his head, and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and
was clad with zeal as a cloak. And what is declared in these
verses, plainly declared, is that salvation is only of God. Salvation is only of God. And as we look at these two verses
for a while, in particular, I want to concentrate on the 16th verse,
and to say something with regards to the sin that God evidently
sees, that sin that cannot be concealed from him and then secondly
the Savior and the salvation that the Lord God provides for
the sinners first of all then the sin that God sees and here
at the beginning of verse 16 we're told and he saw and he
saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. Now, we recognize the truth,
of course, that God is omniscient. In other words, God is all-knowing.
He sees all things because He is omnipresent. He is in all
places. And remember how those truths
are so evident in the 139th Psalm. In many ways that psalm is a
celebration of the omniscience and the omnipresence of God. He sees everything. But here
we see how personal the opening clause of the 16th verse is. It says he saw that there was
no man. Man is in the singular. We have to think of the individual.
We have to think of ourselves as individuals. Remember what
Hagar was brought to confess back in Genesis 16 and verse
13. She says, Thou God, see us murry. The Lord God does see. He sees
each of us. He sees all of us. And man looks
on the outward appearance, but the Lord is the one who looks
upon the heart. And how God often comes to us,
of course, by His Spirit and here in His words, the words
that we have there in Hebrews 4.12, the Word of God. And how primarily it's It's the
word incarnate that's being spoken of. in that fourth chapter of
Hebrews, but what is true of the word incarnate is also true
of the word that we find here in Holy Scripture. And we're
told how that word of God is quick and powerful and sharper
than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. How God then looks
on what is really in the very depths of our souls. And God
sees the wickedness of men and He sees the weakness of men. Man is now to be found in that
state of sin because of the fall of our first parents. The solemn
truth of man's total depravity. and his utter impotence. And
David stated here, in these opening words of this text, he saw that
there was no man. Man is not what he was. When God created man, we are
told in Genesis chapter 1, how he made him in his image, he
created him after his likeness, and he set him over all the works
of creation and there at the end of that opening chapter in
which we have the work that God accomplished in six days, on
the seventh day he finished all the work that he had made and
he looked upon creation and pronounced that it was very good. But alas, what is man now? Because man Subsequently, and
just within a few chapters really, Genesis chapter 3, we see man
falling from that condition. The image of God was despoiled. Instead of God's image, he now
bears the very image of Satan. It is a terrible statement that
we have here at the beginning of this verse, this 16th verse. He saw that there was no man.
It's as if man is not, because man is not what he was when God
created him. Remember what the preacher says,
Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright, but they
have sought out many inventions. And as I said, how quickly all
of this came to pass. We have that statement in Psalm
49 and verse 12, man being in honor abideth not. And I think it's in his human
nature in his fourfold state, that great Scottish divine Thomas
Boston expounds that verse and says that what the Hebrew is
literally saying is Adam being in honour lodged not one night. He says that he sins as soon
as he is put to the test. Though he was made in the image
of God, how quickly man And what we've read in this chapter, and
you may have observed as we were reading the opening part, these
first 15 verses speak to us about evil abounds on every hand. And as sin abounds, so also in
these opening 15 verses we're reminded of what the terrible
consequences of that sin is. There at the beginning, in the
second verse, your iniquities have separated between you and
your gods, and your sins have hid his face from you. Oh, sin
brings separation. Sin brings that awful condition
of alienation. And we see it, do we not, in
the account that we have there in Genesis chapter 3. As soon
as Adam and Eve sinned, when God comes into the garden, that
was God's wont, He would come, He would commune with the man
and the woman that He had made in His own image, but as soon
as they sinned, they feel separated, they seek to hide themselves
from God in the garden. But there's no hiding. And God,
of course, has found them out and then God thrust them forth
out of the garden at the end of that third chapter. Man is shut out of God's paradise. And the awful thing, of course,
is that when man is in that state of alienation, his sin causes
such a separation that it says here in verse 2 that God will
not hear him. Your sins have hid His face from
you that He will not hear. That is a fearful thing. And
see how the psalmist confesses exactly the same there in Psalm
66 at verse 18, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me. How often when we come to pray
sometimes we fear. that there is iniquity yet hidden
in our heart. We want God to cleanse us from
our secret sins. We want to have that assurance
that God will hear us and that sin be not a barrier to us and
our God as we come to seek His face in prayer. Oh, look at what
it goes on to say here at verse 3. Your hands are defiled with
blood and your fingers with iniquity your lips have spoken lies, your
tongue hath muttered perverseness, none calleth for justice, nor
any pleadeth for truth, they trust in vanity and speak lies,
they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity." The Catalogue
of Sins, and twice we have this statement, your lips have spoken
lies. And again in verse 4, they trust
in vanity and speak lies. All man speaks lies, how solemn,
how solemn that is. Again in the Psalms, Psalm 116,
the psalmist says all men are liars. Now what does that mean?
Well by nature man is so wedded to the covenant of works, He's so wedded to that idea of
his works as if he could earn some favor, some blessing from
God. He's constantly seeking to follow
that one who is the father of lies. Remember how the Lord speaks
of Satan there in John 8? He's a liar from the beginning
and the father of lies. And what do men do? They imagine
that they can help themselves. And what was the lie that Satan
said to Eve there in the garden? Ye shall be as gods. And men
think that they can, as gods, make themselves good and acceptable
to him who is the only living and true God. But that is folly,
that's a great lie. Or the psalmist says, Verily
every man at his best state is altogether vanitant. or the vanity
of men that they think that they can some way or other do something
that will commend them to the great God. What foolishness!
Later it says, remember here in chapter 64, we are all as
an unclean thing. All our righteousness is over
us filthy rags. We do all fade like a leaf and
our iniquities like the wind they carry us away. All man will speak lies here,
because he follows the devil and he thinks himself to be God
and he can do something for himself. But that is not the case. What
do we read later? Here in verse 9 in the chapter,
Therefore is judgment far from us. Neither doth justice overtake
us. We wait for light, but behold
obscurity for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope
for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no
eyes. We stumble at noon, there as in the night. We are in desolate
places as dead men. All is darkness. All is deadness. That's man's condition. This
is what the chapter clearly sets before us. And what we have there
in verses 9 and 10 really is part of that curse that God said
would come if there was disobedience. Remember back in Deuteronomy
28, that chapter speaks of the curses that will come where there
is disobedience. What does it say in verse 29? Thou shalt grope at noonday as
the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in
thy ways, and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore,
and no man shall save thee." Surely Isaiah is much aware of
those words of Moses as he declares the truth that we have here in
verse 10. We grope for the wall like the
blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday,
as in the night. We are in desolate places as
dead men. A wall, all is utter confusion. Isn't that what we have at verse
14? Judgment is turned away backward, justice down to the far off,
for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter, yea,
truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a pride. Oh, those who will depart from
evil, they are a pride to wicked men. And the Lord saw him, and
he displeased him that there was no judgment. Oh, God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the
thought of his heart was evil continually. And there's truths here that
are repeated in other parts of scripture. How these holy prophets
speak with one voice. They're all moved of course by
the same Holy Spirit of God. Here in verse 16, He saw that
there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.
Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness
it sustained him. And when we turn over just a
few chapters, chapter 63 and verse 5, And I looked, and there
was none to help. And I wondered, that there was
none to uphold. Therefore my known arm brought
salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me." It's the same
truth later as we have here in chapter 59. None to help, none to help. Man's utter weakness, man's complete
inability he is so impotent and again in the context in that
63rd chapter it clearly speaks of the Lord Jesus the one that
comes from Eden with dyed garments verse 3 I have trodden the winepress
alone and of the people there was none with me for I will tread
them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood
shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." All man is completely unable
to do anything for himself. None can help. Christ alone,
and Christ alone is the one who can save. And so, here in the
text, we're told how God wondered. He saw there was no man, and
wondered there was no intercessor. And the same word again in chapter
63 and verse 5, I wondered that there was none to uphold. Now, this is an interesting word,
it's such a strong word, and it's used in reference to God,
as God sees this awful sight, as he beholds what man is, that
creature that he had made in his own image. It's a strong
word. It has the idea of being appalled,
feeling desolate. The psalmist says in Psalm 143,
My heart within me is desolate. In a sense, that is true of what
God is saying here in the text. When he saw there was no man
and wondered that there was no intercessor. No intercessor. No one really
seeking God. Again, we think of the language
of Romans 3.11. There is none that seeketh after
God. And of course here in Romans
3 Paul is referring back to the Psalms, to Psalms 14 and 53. But it's quite a plain statement.
There is none that seeketh after God. We have to remember how
sin stops prayer. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ
himself has said men ought always to pray and not to faint. All the sin, Context here then
is one that really is distressing. God himself wonders at the condition
of man by nature. But turning in the second place,
having said so much earlier that he's altogether negative, turning
now to the positive and thinking of the Savior and the great salvation
that God provides. All the great wonder, you see,
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've looked at those
clauses at the beginning of verse 16. But then, in the middle of
the verse, we have a therefore. Therefore, therefore His arm
brought salvation unto Him. and his righteousness, it sustained
him. For he put on righteousness as
a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head, and
he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with
zeal as a cloak." This is the conclusion then. God is the one
who must come, and God is the one who must act. And we read
here of his arm, all we read of his arm and it suggests of course something
of his power when a man does a task and he has to exert some
strength we might say he has to put his arm into that action
and this is what God is saying with regards to himself at the
beginning remember we read of his hand behold the Lord's hand
is not shortened that he cannot save. Well, God is that one who
is almighty as he is omniscient and omnipresent, so he is also
omnipotent, all-powerful. And here we are reminded of the
deity of the Savior, because it is the Savior who is being
spoken of. He, who is the pronoun referring
to, he saw that there was no man,
and wondered there was no intercessor. Therefore, his arm brought salvation
unto him, and his righteousness, it sustained him. Well, it's
the one that we read of at the beginning of the chapter. The
Lord's hand, it says, is not shortened. that he cannot save. This one who is the Saviour is
that one who is the only living and true God. And remember what
we are told at the beginning of the book of Isaiah. If we
go back to chapter 7 we have that tremendous statement in
verse 14, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel. And when those words are Quoted
in Matthew chapter 1, it says what Immanuel means. They shall
call his name Immanuel, which means God is with us. Or this
one who comes, you see, as the Savior. The Savior that God himself
has provided is the person of his only begotten and his well-beloved
Son. Again, Back in chapter 14 verse
10, Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hands, and his
arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. Here in verse 20, it says the
Redeemer shall come to Zion. Who is this one then, the Redeemer?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's quite a statement
that we have in chapter 40 in verse 10 because it speaks of
the wholeness of the work of salvation. It is God himself
who appoints the way of salvation. It is God who has accomplished
that salvation. It is God who comes to apply
that salvation. In other words, it is a salvation
that involves all the persons in the Godhead. It is a Trinitarian
salvation. That that the Father has appointed,
because the Father from all eternity made choice of the people. He
elected the people to save from before the foundation of the
world. It's remarkable, isn't it, that the fall must occur. because there must be a great
work of salvation, and yet God is not the author of sin. These
are mysteries that we cannot really begin to fathom or to
unfold. But it was necessary that sin
should come into creation, that there might be that full revelation
of the character and the attributes of God, His grace and His mercy. which we see demonstrated in
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He accomplishes. For as the Father made choice
of the people from eternity, so in the fullness of the time
He sends His Son to accomplish the salvation of that people,
to pay the great price of their redemption. And then as the Son has accomplished
salvation, So it is the Holy Spirit who comes to make application. Oh, the Lord says it there in
John, doesn't He? It is expedient for you that
I go away, for if I go not away, the Spirit will not come. But
if I go, I will send Him unto you. And so the Lord sends Him
there on the day of Pentecost. And He is the One who applies
all the blessings of that salvation. And that's what we see there
in chapter 14, verse 10. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hands, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him. It is all the work
of God. And here in verse 16, what do
we read? His arm brought salvation unto
him. is arm, broad salvation. And again, going forward to that
63rd chapter in verse 5, therefore it says, mine own arm, broad
salvation unto me. And there, of course, there's
an emphasis. He doesn't say, therefore mine arm, but we have
that little word, own. Therefore mine own, mine own
arm, broad salvation unto man. Oh, it is very much the work
of God and of God alone. His right hand and His holy arm
hath gotten him the victory, says the psalmist. It's not by
might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. We have this figure developed,
of course, as he continues into the 17th verse. Therefore his arm brought salvation
unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him. For he put
on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon
his head. And he put on the garments of
vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. Oh, he had the zeal to accomplish
all the Father's goodwill and pleasure. And what was it? Why
he would accomplish a righteousness for his people. And he would
do all that was necessary to the salvation of his people.
He would bear that punishment that was there just deserved. And he would vanquish sin and
Satan and death. and the grey. Remember how we've
said recently as we've looked at verses in Revelation that
so much of what we have in the Old Testament is taken up in
the imagery that we find there in the book of Revelation and
so look at the language that we have in for example Revelation
19 and verse 11 John says, I saw heaven opened and behold a white
horse And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.
And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes
were as a flame of fire, on his head were many crowns, and he
had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called
the Word of God. Oh, this is the one, you see,
the Saviour that the Lord God has provided. He is mighty to
save, and He is able to save to the uttermost all those that
come to God by Him. What has man done? Well, in the
opening part of this chapter, we looked a little at those first
15 verses, we see the consequence of man's sin, and then here in
the text we see the great salvation. We think of the language that
we have in Isaiah 13, 9, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.
Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy hope. In me, says God, is thy salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ. He is
that one, and he's called the Captain of Salvation. He is the
Captain of Salvation. That's one of his names there
in Hebrews 2.10. He has many names. But that is
clearly a name that's applied to him, the Captain of Salvation. And what are his followers? They also are soldiers who are
called to fight the good fight of faith. and to lay hold on
eternal life. Or they are soldiers of Christ
and they therefore need an armor, and it must be a spiritual armor
that they're clothed with. Again, think of the language
that we have in Paul's epistles, right in there in 1 Thessalonians
5.8 he says, Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on
the breastplates of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope
of salvation." And of course, in Ephesians 6 at verse 13, following,
we have all the parts of that armor that the Lord God has provided
for His people, and it's a spiritual armor. All the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. but they're mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds, we're told. Not carnal weapons,
spiritual weapons. And what is our principal weapon?
It is prayer. It is prayer. After speaking
of the various parts of that spiritual armor there in in Ephesians
6 from verse 13 through to verse 17 then at verse 18 following
he speaks of the necessity of prayer the necessity of prayer
this is the principal weapon wrestling prayer can wonders
do bring relief in deepest straits prayer can force a passage through
iron bars and brazen gates, says Isaac Watt, and we'll sing those
words just now, or that that God has provided for us. No intercession. That's what
God wonders at. He saw that there was no man.
wonder there was no intercessor and there would be no intercessor
but for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and having accomplished
that work what has he done? he has risen from the dead, he
has ascended on high he has entered into heaven, entered into that
within the veil and he ever lives to make intercession for all
that come to God by Him. How we, as we pray, are made
to feel our need of Christ to be our intercessor. And how we
feel our need not only to have one to make intercession in heaven,
but we need to know Him who is the Spirit of Christ, even God,
the third person in the Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, to come and
to help us in all our infirmities and make intercession for us
with those groanings. that cannot be uttered. Or that
we might come then as those who feel our complete, our utter
dependence always upon the Lord God Himself. For we know that
salvation is of the Lord and we thank God for that. May the Lord help us and bless
to us these words in the text tonight. Amen. Well, before we pray, let us
sing our second praise to hymn 397, as I said, this lovely hymn
of Isaac Watts. The tune is Weber 519. In themselves,
as weak as worms, how can poor believers stand, when temptations,
foes and storms press them close on every hand? Weak indeed they
feel they are, But they know the throne of grace, and the
God who answers prayer helps them when they seek His face."
397.