Well, let us turn now to God's
word and directing you to words that we find in that chapter
that we read in the prophecy of Isaiah. I want to turn to
Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 20. Isaiah 26, 20. Turning then to these words of
the prophet Isaiah 26 and verse 20. Come, my people, enter thou
into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself,
as it were, for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed. Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as
it were, for a little moment until the indignation be over
passed. Considering then the chambers
of safety that I've spoken of in this verse, we're aware, of course, very
much aware of the situation, the circumstances that surround
us, not only in our own nation, but it seems over the face of
the whole earth, in the middle of this pandemic, But it's not
the first time, of course, in the history of the world that
we've had to endure such things. Strangely, after all the dreadful
events of the Great War, the First World War, 1914-18, the
very following year, 1919, there was an epidemic they called the
Spanish Flu and more. lives were taken in that flu
epidemic than were lost in the Great War, we're told. We can
go back further still. In the 1830s, there was a cholera
pandemic. And what tumultuous days were
those? It was in June 1832, we're told,
that the Great Reform Act finally received its royal assent. And
that act was born out of much political agitation. There had
been rioting in some of the industrial towns. Previous to that, of course,
we'd had the rotten boroughs and the pocket boroughs. There
was no proper political representation in those centers of industry
that had arisen up. towns like Birmingham, Manchester
and so forth. There had been a great deal of
rioting, but eventually the Reform Bill became an Act of Parliament. And then immediately after that,
there was the great outbreak of cholera, an epidemic that
came in to the ports in the northeast of England and soon spread over
all of the And I was interested in one of the letters of James
Bourne, who was living at that time. He makes this remark, while
this nation is filled with tumult and confusion of all sorts, I
am preserved in Christ Jesus under the most heavenly calm. And I was thinking there's a
sense in which there's nothing new under the sun. We've had political turmoil in
our own country. We can think of events up to
the general election at the end of last year, all that was going
on under Brexit, all the political shenanigans and machinations
in Parliament, and all the confusion that was in the nation, and the
bitterness. And no sooner is that matter
settled, then we have this coronavirus. I thought maybe we need to learn
from those words that I just read from that letter of war.
While the nation is filled with tumult and confusion of every
sort, are we not those who are being preserved in our Lord Jesus
Christ? How we need to look heavenward. And here in this chapter, what
do we read in the opening verse? In that day, shall be sung, be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong citadel. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. And what we have here,
of course, is really a great song of deliverance, a song of
thanksgiving to God because he had delivered the people or would
deliver the people, it's a prophetic word, The events that are being
spoken of would not occur until some 100 years after the prophet
had spoken the words that are contained in this chapter. And
what the reference is here is to the ultimate fall of Babylon. That was the judgment that God
was going to bring upon Judah because of their sins. It would
come in the appointed time, they would be taken away, into exile,
they would languish some 70 years in Babylon, but then God, in
his gracious purpose, would grant deliverance. Babylon would fall.
And that's what's being spoken of here in the chapter, verse
six. He bringeth down them that dwell
on high, the lofty city, Babylon. He layeth it low, he layeth it
low even to the ground. He bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. How the prophet is speaking of
these things. We go back to the beginning of
chapter 25. O Lord, Thou art my God, I will
exalt Thee. I will praise Thy name, for Thou
hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness
and truth. For Thou hast made of us city
and heap, of a defence city and ruin. a palace of strangers to
be no city. It shall never be built. Therefore
shall the strong people glorify thee. The city of the terrible
nations shall fear thee." And these things, as I say, they've
not yet occurred. It's prophecy. They were going
to happen in the future, but they are so sure and certain
of taking place that they're being spoken of in the prophecy
as if they had already occurred. how God's Word must be fulfilled,
and it was fulfilled. And it was fulfilled in the days
of another prophet. It was in the days of Jeremiah. And what do we read there in
Jeremiah 25? Verse 12, it shall come to pass,
when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of
Babylon and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity,
and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land
all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is
written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the
nations." God does fulfill his word. That's our comfort. But
before And during the destruction of Babylon, how those Jews had
to endure great troubles. But there is ever for God's people
that place of safety. And that's what's being spoken
of in the words that I've announced as our text. The words that we
find here at the end of this chapter. God says to his people,
come. Come my people. Enter thou into
thy chambers. and shut thy doors aboundly.
Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation
be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out
of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover
her slain." How remarkable are the words of God. And I remember,
some while ago, reading a sermon on this particular passage that
we have at the end of the chapter. It was a sermon by J. H. Godston, who at the time was
the editor of the Gospel Standard. It was the beginning of the Second
World War, early months of 1940, when he preached on this passage
of scripture. and how apt it was then at the
beginning of the war. We've just been remembering,
of course, the E-Day and the blessed conclusion of that awful
war and that victory that God was pleased to grant to us as
a nation and as a people. But I want us to look at these
words for a little while this evening. And we observe here
how it speaks not of a chamber, but it speaks of chambers. It
speaks of chambers. There is that provision that
God has made for his people. And he has made that provision
in Zion, which is really the Old Testament name for the church,
that city which has foundations, is building and making is God. Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers and shut thy doors abandoned. Hide thyself, as it
were, for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed. Now I'm sure that there are many
chambers that God has provided for his people that place of
safety, that he's found in his purpose of grace. But I want
tonight to mention three in particular. First of all, to say something
with regards to God's purpose, and that purpose in the eternal
covenant. We've said much about it over
recent weeks. Then secondly, I want us to consider
that place of safety that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the forgiveness of all our sins by his great sin-atoning
sacrifice. And then thirdly, the place of
safety that is found in prayer where we can come and commune
with the Lord our God and pour out our souls in his presence. Considering then these three
things, first of all, God's purpose, and God's purpose in terms of
covenant. We're all familiar, I'm sure,
with that lovely verse in Proverbs 1810, the name of the Lord is
a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. All the name of the Lord. When
we have mention of that name, God's name, of course, is that
revelation that he has given of himself. He declares himself
in the name. And what is the name that is
spoken of there by the wise man in that verse? It is the name
of the Lord. It is the name of Jehovah. It
is the name of the great I am that I am. It is a covenant name, and it is a blessed place of
safety. None other name on the heaven
given amongst men whereby we must be saved. The righteous
run us into it. Who are the righteous? Well,
they're those who recognize that they have no righteousness of
their own. They're those who are trusting only in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is himself the Lord, our righteousness,
to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the Lord, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, says the Apostle
Paul. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous runneth into it, and he's safe. And it was not only true in the
experience of the apostle, but it was also the blessed truth
in the experience of King David. We considered it recently in
those words that we have in 2 Samuel 23, although my house be not
so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant
ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and
all my desire, though we make it not to grow, the everlasting
covenant, the sure mercies of David." Oh, it's the experiencing
of these godly men that we have here in Holy Scripture, these
men and these women of faith. But it's all the people of God.
What does God say here in the text? Come, my people. It's not just a David, it's not
just David. All of these were remarkable
men of faith, but it's all those who are the Lord's people. And who are the Lord's people?
Well, they're those that he has set his sovereign love upon. The foundation of God standeth
sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
his, and now he addresses them. He calls them his own. They are
my people. They're those who were chosen
in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world.
Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, and be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of
many brethren. For whom he did predestinate, them he also called,
and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified,
them he also glorified. And see how the And the psalmist
himself makes mention of these people in Psalm 31. And there at verse 19, O how
great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that
fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee,
before the sons of men. Thou shalt hide them, in the
secret of thy presence from the pride of man, thou shalt keep
them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. It's the
very same people that are being spoken of here in the psalm as
we find in our texts. But we have something of a description
of their character here. He is the mark of those who are
the Lord's people, my people. It's what God has laid up, it
says, for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them
that trust hinder thee before the sons of men. And it's those
particular marks of the people of God that I just want to say
something about for a while. These marks of God's people,
the mark of godly fear and the mark of trust or of faith. All
we're told, are we not, again in the Psalms, the secret of
the Lord is with them that fear him. He will show them his covenant. And there we have those remarkable
parallelisms that are such a peculiarity of the Hebrew poetry too. Statements
really asserting the same truth. The secret of the Lord is equivalent
to the covenant. The secret of the Lord Who is
it with them that fear Him? He shows them. These God-fearers
are shown the covenant. Oh, they have an interest, you
see. They have an interest in that great eternal covenant of
the grace of God, these God-fearers. They know these things. The fear
of the Lord, it's the beginning of knowledge. To know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. This fear
of the Lord, It's the beginning of wisdom. All these fearers
are made wise. And it's not the wisdom of this
world. All the world, through wisdom,
knew not God. All we please is God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. He makes the wisdom
of the world foolishness. These are those, these God-fearers,
who are made wise. to salvation, they're taught
of God. And every man that hath heard
and learned of the Father cometh unto me, says the Lord Jesus
Christ. For that we might know this fear
of the Lord. And what does it mean? Well,
again, the wise man tells us, Proverbs 3, 7, fear the Lord
and depart from evil. Or where there is that fear of
the Lord, there is a real and a genuine repentance, a turning
from sin. And doesn't the current situation
that we're in with this awful pandemic, does it not have a
voice to us? Does it not call us to a real
repentance, a departure from evil, a turning away from sin? These fears, the spirit of faith,
the confidence that strong, an unctuous light to all that's
right, a bar to all that's wrong, says Joseph Hart in the hymn. Or that we might have that mark
then of those who are the people of God. How the Lord addresses
his people. It's a particular person then
that is being addressed here in the text. Come my people,
says God. In the fear of the Lord, he is
strong, confident, is another word that we find there in Proverbs.
Proverbs 14, 20. In the fear of the Lord, his
strong confidence or trust. And this is that other mark,
is it not, of those who are the Lord's people. They're men and
women who have that fearful fear in their hearts, but they're
also men and women of faith. And we have, of course, in Hebrews
11, that tremendous catalog. of the faithful, or a good many
of the faithful. Time will not allow the apostle
to speak of all of them, as he says at the end of that chapter.
But we read of faith. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. He that cometh to him must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all that diligently seek him. All the importance of faith,
whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And we see there, at the
beginning, with the sin of Adam and Eve, that it was unbelief
that lay at the very root of the fall of our first parents. Instead of believing God's truth,
there was the embracing of the devil's lie. Unbelief. The sin which does so easily
be sentenced. But what is faith? Well, we see
something of faith, real faith, saving faith, in the language
that is employed in the text. How do these people come? Look
at the words of the text. Come, my people. Enter thou into
thy chambers and shut thy doors about them. Hide thyself, as
it were, for a little moment until the indignation, the overpass. They are to come. They are to
enter. They are to shut the doors. They
are to hide themselves. But this is all faith. This is
what faith is. It's not a transitory, a passing
thing. This is the constant life of
those who are the people of God. They're forever coming, entering
in, shutting themselves in, hiding themselves. For the Lord Jesus
says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And he that
cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out. What is this coming?
This coming is faith. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, he that believeth on me shall never thirst, says the
Lord Jesus. Why? Coming is equivalent to
faith. But what a coming this is. There's
no transitory thing. There's a coming, there's the
entering in, Or there's the shutting of the doors. These are those
in who are kept. We have those words earlier in
the chapter, verse three, they will keep you. In perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. It struck me last Thursday
when we had our prayer meeting And David, David actually referred
to the words that we have here in verse 3. How we're kept in
perfect peace. How is that? When our minds are
stayed upon the Lord. Or maybe at times our minds are
full of confusion. We scarce know what to make of
the situation and the circumstances that surround us. What are we
to do? Oh, that we might have grace
to have our minds stayed upon the Lord our God. that we might
come to him and desire one thing of him, that we might have the
mind of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might know how to conduct
ourselves. It is that faith in that we stand
in need of that real faith, that trusting in the Lord. And it only comes from the Lord.
Look at what we are told here, later in the chapter of verse
12, Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us,
for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us. It is the Lord
God Himself who must work that faith in us. It's what Paul speaks
to the Colossians of, Colossians 2.12, it's that faith of the
operation of God. Or when the Lord begins to deal
with us and He makes us feel our need of that true faith,
that faith that we cannot produce of ourselves. He has to come
and shut us into all that we are and make us feel what we
are. The impotence of our sinnership, our utter inability with those
who by nature are dead in trespasses and in sins. The language of
verse 13, O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion
over us, but by thee only will we make mention of thine own.
All those lords that have had dominion over us, those sins,
those lusts, all that wantonness, that wickedness, all that crime,
all that independence of spirit, all these have had dominion over
us. How can we come? It's only by the Lord himself. By the owner will we make mention
of thy name. The Lord has to come and open
our mouths that we might plead with him, that we might bear
the marks of those who are truly is people, those who have an
interest in that great eternal covenant of grace. Here's one
of the chambers here. All we need to come into the
chamber of the gracious purposes of God, to know that we have
an interest in the eternal covenant. But then the second chamber here,
We are to be those who know what it is to shelter under the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not that the only place
of pardon and of peace with God. It was the only place of safety,
of course, to the children of Israel when they were delivered
out of the bondage of Egypt. Remember what happened on that
great night of the Passover, and it's a wonderful time. All
what we have there, back in Exodus chapter 12, and all that they
were to do as the destroying angel came throughout Egypt in
that last of the ten plagues. Let's just turn to Exodus chapter
12. What do we read there? Verse
21. Moses called for all the elders
of Israel. and said unto them, draw out,
take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover,
and ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood
that is in the basin, and strike the lintel in the two sideposts
with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall
go out of the door of his house until the morning, for the Lord
will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when ye see that
the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts the Lord
will pass over the door. You will not suffer the destroyer
to come in unto your houses to smite you. Or they were to shelter,
they were to remain there in their houses as the angel, the
destroying angel came through. Back in verse five, verse 13,
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
ye are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the
land of Egypt. Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee, hide thyself, as
it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed."
And as I said, it's all typical. It's a remarkable type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What does Paul say, 1 Corinthians
5, 7, even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Here is the place of safety,
then we are to shelter under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now the Old Testament is
full of these remarkable times. We see it again, of course, in
Rahab the harlot, if we turn to the book of Joshua. And there in the second chapter
of Joshua, remember what the harlot was to do in order that
she might be kept safe and secure. When Jericho fell to the children
of Israel, the spies tell her what she's to do. Verse 18, Joshua,
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line
of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down
by, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy
brethren and all thy father's household home unto them, and
it shall burn, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of
thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head,
and we will be guiltless. And whosoever shall be with thee
in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be
upon him. The only place of safety was
in that house with a scarlet thread, and that scarlet thread
again representative of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come,
my people, enter thou into thy chambers. Shut thy doors about.
Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation
be over past. Oh, there is safety there under
the blood of Christ. It's there that we find the forgiveness
of sins. He is that one who has stood
in the sinner's place and borne in his own person all the wrath
of God. He is the propitiation for our
sins, says John. Here in Islam, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son. to be the propitiation
for our sins. This is another place of great
safety then. It's in the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, his obedience unto death, even the death of the
cross. But isn't Christ prophesied here
as that one who is a hiding place? Just a few chapters further on,
Chapter 32 and verse 2. A man shall be as a hiding place
from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water
in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Who is this man, this hiding
place? It's the man, Christ Jesus. And of course we know that in
the covenant his people are are eternally united to him, they're
safe in him. That's the purpose of God that
we spoke of. Previously, in chapter eight
of this book, the prophet speaks of his children as part of his
message. Behold, I am the children which
God hath given to. And the many names that he gives
to his children, part of that message. But remember how in
Hebrews two, Those words of Isaiah 8 are taken up in reference to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold I, and the children which
God hath given to me, they are chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. There is that eternal union.
Christ came for them, He lived for them, He died for them, He
rose again for them. And we have it here in verse
19. thy dead men shall live. Together with my
dead body shall they arise. For in all that Christ did, living,
dying, rising again, there was that eternal union in the covenant. All that he did was for his people.
But how necessary it is that that eternal Union becomes experimental
union. And we have to come to that blessed
experience of the grace of God, to come to that faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, where those who were saved were reconciled
by his death and saved by his life. That life, that's his resurrection
life. All thy dead men shall live,
together with my dead body shall they arise, he says, because
I live. ye shall live also. And that's how faith comes to
us. It's that faith of the operation
of God. It's that that he's spoken of
in Ephesians chapter 2, the exceeding greatness of his power to us
who do believe according to the working of his mighty power which
he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. How
we feel to need that power. power of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ, an interest in that work that Christ has
accomplished for his people. Oh God grant that we might know
then what it is by faith to enter into that blessed place of safety,
that chamber of the sheltering of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As I said at the outset, There
are many chambers. The word is clearly here in the
plural, not the singular. It doesn't say, enter them into
thy chamber. Enter them into thy chambers,
the chambers of God's purpose and covenant. The chamber of
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally,
to say something tonight with regards to the chamber of the
believer's prayers. Or God says, come my people,
enter thou into thy chambers. Our chambers. And it reminds
us, does it not, of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've
been looking on Thursday evenings at that patterned prayer, as
we have it in the Sermon on the Mount, there in Matthew chapter
six, verse nine following, but remember the Remember the context,
what it is that the Lord says previously. Verse 5. When thou prayest, thou shalt
not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that
they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Come, my people,
enter thou into thy chambers. God has ordained these chambers,
these blessed chambers of prayer. It's God's own appointment, is
it not? Men ought always to pray, says
the Lord Jesus, and not to faint. Oh, we're so prone to faint.
and so slow to pray, at least that's my experience. How hard
sometimes it is to heed that word of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the place of private prayer. And now, certainly we see that
Job was very conscious of it. He wasn't the easy thing. But
as he said there, Job 23,3, all that I knew where I might find,
that I might come even to his seat, I would order my cause
before him and fill my mouth with arguments. How we need that
gracious ministry, that help of the Spirit, and he is given
to help our infirmities. We know not what to pray for
as we ought. The Spirit itself helpeth our infirmities and makes
intercession for us with those groanings. that cannot be uttered,
or that we might know something of that blessed place of prayer. And God gives us every encouragement
to pray. He never says to the seed of
Jacob, seek ye my face in vain. He hears our poor prayers. He's able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think. For there is nothing that is
impossible with this God. and all that we might therefore
be those who would come into this blessed chamber of prayer,
that we would enter into all of these chambers. How do we
enter into any of them? It is only by prayer, by calling
upon Him, by seeking Him. And so I go back to the words
of Scripture that we first read tonight, those opening words
in Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, and in Him will I trust. Lord, the Lord grant us that
faith of the psalmist and obedience enter the word of the text. Come,
my people, Enter thou into thy chambers, shut thy doors about,
hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation
be overpassed. Amen.