Let's open our Bibles again to
Isaiah chapter 4. The passage Brother Dan just
read for us. The title of the message is Christ's
provision for his bride. Now Isaiah 4 verse 1, Isaiah
begins, And that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
We'll eat our own bread, wear our own apparel. Only let us
be called by thy name to take away our reproach. Isaiah foresaw
a time when women of marrying age would seriously outnumber
eligible bachelors. Wars were coming. Large numbers
of young men would be killed. Many times in a foreign occupation
that was getting ready to happen to Israel, that ruling king would
order every boy baby to be killed so they could not in the future
raise up an army against him. So there was a time coming when
women of marrying age would outnumber bachelors seven to one. Pickens
are going to be mighty slim. Single ladies think it's tough
now. Boy, in this day, I mean, pickens are going to be slim.
And women will be ready to marry anybody because the field is
so small. These women will be desperate
to be married because they considered it a judgment from God and a
reproach for a woman not to have children. And they're so desperate
to be married so that reproach of being childless could be removed
from them. So seven women will all say to one poor man, marry
us. Just marry us. We don't care.
You don't have to fulfill the law of a husband. You don't have
to do anything for us. You don't have to feed us. You
don't have to clothe us. You don't have to take care of
us. You don't have to show us much affection. Just give us
children. So our reproach can be taken
away. Now that's sad, isn't it? Isn't
that a sad state of affairs? That they are willing to marry
a man on any terms. Even if those terms are unreasonable,
even if he doesn't take care of her, he doesn't love her,
he doesn't care for her, they're willing to be married to him.
Now look back in Exodus chapter 21. In Exodus 21, God gives us
the law of marriage. He gives us the law, what the
law requires of a husband. In Exodus 21, beginning in verse
10. her food, her raiment, and her
duty of marriage, so he not diminish. And if he do not these three
unto her, then shall she go out free without money." Now, the
law of marriage requires a husband. Men, you're required to do this.
Provide her food and clothes and love and affection. That's
what you're required of. It's required of the law to give
that to your wife. Now, these women, in Isaiah,
what he's writing about here, they're so desperate. to get
married. They're willing to marry a man
who won't give them any of that. That's how desperate their situation
is. Now, let me say this to our girls.
All you girls listen to me for a minute. I got something that'll
be good advice for you in the future. Don't get married until
God sends you the right man. Now, you listen to me. Don't
get married until God sends you the right man. You just wait.
And it'd be awful good advice for you to start praying for
him now. I know you're young and it's a long way off. You
start praying that the Lord sends you a husband when it's time.
And you wait until the Lord sends you a man. A man who loves you. And who loves Christ. And he's
going to work to support you. Now you just wait on that. And
you young men, you're not exempt from this advice either. Listen
to me. Don't get married to that man. A man who loves Christ. You should love your wife, and
you're going to go work to support her, whatever it takes. Don't
get married until you're that man, and it'll go well for you. But now our text, this gives
us a sad picture, doesn't it? And this sad picture is the picture
of man falling in Adam. And because we're falling in
Adam, our maiden name is no good. The name of Adam carries shame
and reproach because of sin. And natural man knows there's
a reproach upon us, and we try to take that reproach of sin
away through the law. We try to take our shame away
with the law. Our situation is so desperate
because of this reproach of sin. We're willing to be married to
the law, even though the terms of that marriage are unreasonable.
The law says, I'll marry you. Here's the terms. I won't love
you. I won't provide for you. I won't
take care of you, but I will give you my name, and I'll let
you live here until you make one mistake. Then I'll put you
out. I'll let you live here. I'll
give you my name, but displease me one time, once, and I'll put
you to death. Don't have dinner on the table
on time, one time, and I'll put you to death. Isn't that what
the law says? Keep the law perfectly and you'll
live. You will. But sin one time and
you'll be put to eternal death. Now that's the terms. And man
is so desperate to remove the reproach of sin, he accepts those
terms and every time he's slain by the law. Because the law can't
be merciful. The law knows nothing of mercy.
The law cannot provide for you what you don't have. All the
law can do is say whether you're guilty or not guilty. The law
can't give you righteousness. It just can say whether you're
righteous or unrighteous. The law cannot remove our reproach. The law can never make the comers
there unto perfect. It can't remove our reproach.
All it can do is point out our reproach. The law can't give
you anything to eat. There's no spiritual bread to
be found for the natural man in the law because we can't earn
that bread. by the deeds of the law. The
law will only ever give us exactly what we've earned. Exactly. No
more, no less. So under the law, the natural
man, you and me, will starve to death because we can't earn
anything from the law. Anything but death. The law can't
clothe your nakedness. Adam fell, and Adam and Eve suddenly
realized they're naked. They were shamed. And we're shamed.
A man's been trying to cover up our sin and our shame ever
since. But the deeds of the law cannot
cover our sin. Can't cover our shame. All the
law can do is point out your nakedness. All the law can do
is point out your filthy rags that can't cover your shame.
Matter of fact, what the law does is point out your filthy
rags that make your sin and shame worse. And because of Adam's
fall, our maiden name, The name of our father, Adam, is such
a bad name. It carries such an awful reputation
that we'll do anything to get rid of it. We tell the law, I
don't care that the terms are so bad. Just give me your name
so I can get rid of my name. And we think about taking away
our sin and our shame. Just give me the name Christian
and then it'll all be all right. You know what that is? That's
a mixture of works and grace. That's exactly what it is. Lord,
just give me your name and I'll take it from there. Just give
me your name. You don't have to feed me. You
don't have to clothe me. Just give me your name. I'll take
it. I'll take care of the rest of it. I'll take it from there.
See, that's saying, well, Christ justifies me, but now I can sanctify
myself. I can keep my own self clean
and holy. Lord, just give me your name. I'll keep that name
good. I know I ruined my old name.
But now you give me a new name and I'll keep that name good
and clean and holy. It's a mixture of works and grace.
And that marriage to the law is a marriage that is doomed
to fail every time. It is doomed to failure. Now,
that's the situation Isaiah foresaw. Well, thank God, God is not going
to leave his people in that bad marriage. We do bear an awful
reproach, don't we? The reproach of sin and shame
that we carry is so great, and we can't remove it by ourselves.
We can't do anything about this sin debt. We can't do anything
about this reproach that we bear. We bear a name, an Adam's name,
that is a horrible reputation. The name of Adam is all sin,
and guilt, and death. And buddy pickings are slim.
But there's one hope. There's just one hope. There
is one husband who can take away our reproach and give us his
worthy name. And that husband is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what I want us to see tonight
is Christ is that perfect husband and see his provision for his
bride. Christ is going to give his bride exceeding abundantly,
more than we ask or think. He's not only going to provide
everything we need, He's not only going to provide everything
that the law of marriage requires. He is everything the law of marriage
requires. He's everything we need. He is. It's not just he's going to give
it to us. He is everything we need. Christ himself is everything
we need. Well, we need a new name, don't
we? We need a name that can take
away the reproach of the name we're born with. Well, Christ
gives us his name. Look at verse two. In that day,
shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious." Now
look over in Zechariah chapter 3, the second to last book in
the Old Testament. I want you to see, I want you
to take my word for it, I want you to see this in God's Word.
This branch that Isaiah is talking about is the promised Savior,
is Christ himself. In Zechariah 3 verse 8. Hear now, O Joshua, the high
priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they
are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch." Now look over in chapter 6 of Zechariah,
verse 12. 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus
speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is
the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place. And he shall
build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon
his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."
This branch who's coming, he's the king priest. He's going to
establish peace with the Father. Now, that's none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you look back in Isaiah
chapter 11, this branch The Savior is coming. He's called the Branch.
He's going to be a man. This is why His name is the Branch.
He's going to be a man. In Isaiah 11, verse 1, And there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. A branch is coming out of the
root of Jesse. He's going to be a man. God is
going to come and be a man. This Savior will be a man. So
he can be the representative of sinful men. The branch is
a man, so he can be the substitute for sinful men. And he's going
to be a man, so he can be our husband. We can't be married
to God, but we can be married to a man. Just like God can't
be our substitute, God can't be our representative, he must
be a man. God's going to become a man,
so he can be our husband and fulfill the law of a husband
for his bride. Now look at Jeremiah chapter
23. This is a very familiar passage of scripture, but do us good
to read it again. We need a new name. Christ is the branch, and
he became a man so he could become our husband and give his bride
a new name. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the day is come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper. and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judas shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Sidkenu."
What a name! What a name! The name above every
name, Jehovah Sidkenu. Now look in Jeremiah 33. What's
this got to do with his bride? Jeremiah 33, verse 15. In those days and at
that time will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto
David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell
safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called the Lord our righteousness Jehovah Sidkenu. Well, now, I thought that was
his name. The name wherewith he shall be called, it is. That's
his name. His precious, perfect name. And he's given his name, Jehovah
Sidkenu, to his bride. No longer do we bear the reproach
of Adam's name. We bear his precious name, Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. And I want to tell you something.
The bride of Christ is absolutely smitten with her husband. I mean, she just looks up at
him with those doe eyes. You've seen these newlyweds,
how they are. Oh my goodness sakes. Look at him. Isaiah says
he's beautiful. The fairest of 10,000. He's glorious. His glory outshines the sun. He's beautiful and glorious.
And the name of Christ makes his pride beautiful. Look at
Ezekiel 16. We need a new name. A name that's
going to take away our reproach. That's exactly what the name
of Christ does for his pride. Now Ezekiel 16, you know well
this story of this baby found polluted in its own blood. It
was a horrible birth. Parents were worth nothing. It
threw the baby out into the field to the loathing of its person.
Even its parents loathed this ugly baby. I want you to look
in verse 14. It's Ezekiel 16. Look what happened
to that baby when that baby became joined to Christ. And thy renown
went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. For it was perfect. Now how in the world was that
baby made perfect? How is this beauty perfect? Through
my comeliness. which I have put upon thee, saith
the Lord God." The new name of Christ not only gives us a name,
it's not just a legal name, it takes away our reproach and makes
His bride beautiful. As ugly as we were born in Adam,
that new name makes His bride perfect and beautiful. Well,
He gives His bride a new name. Well, we need food to eat, don't
we? Well, Christ is the food that we eat. Look back at verse
2 in our text. And that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful
and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent
and comely for them that are escaped of Israel." Now, Christ
is the bread of life. He's filling, He's satisfying,
He's life-giving. But here, Isaiah doesn't refer
to bread, does he? He refers to fruit. And I think
he does that for this reason, to show us the sweetness of Christ,
His person, is sweet to the taste. His grace is sweet. His mercy
is sweet. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good, David said. Come taste how sweet righteousness
is. This is his name wherewith he
shall be called and she shall be called. The Lord our righteousness. Come taste how sweet righteousness
is. We're sinners with all the sin
and shame that we bear. Come taste how sweet the forgiveness
of sin is. We're dead in sins. Come to Christ. Taste how sweet life is. Christ
is the branch that God caused to grow up. And He bears all
the fruit. But you know, His bride bears
fruit too. Because she's grafted into Him. We have union with
Christ, so we bear His fruit. It's never our fruit. It's always
His fruit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
goodness, meekness, temperance, faith. All these things are His
fruit. But we bear that fruit because
we have union with Christ. Now come taste how sweet that
fruit is. But I want you to notice something here at the end of
verse 2. This provision that Christ makes for His bride, it's
not for every woman. It's only for His bride. Now
I'm going to illustrate what that means with this illustration. I have fulfilled the law of the
husband for Janice. Best I could, I have fulfilled
that law for her. I love her. I cherish her. It is honestly a delight to work,
to give things to her that she needs and wants because I love
her. I have fulfilled that law. I love being with her, holding
her hand. We walk around downtown Russell and just, I mean, it's
just, I love her. Well, you all would think that
love is so cheapened if I tried to do that with every woman on
the block. If every woman I saw tried to do that same thing,
well, you all think that love is so cheapened. The best thing
that you think of me is my love's worthless. And all you ladies,
you think a whole lot worse than that. You think I'm some sort
of monster doing that, not confining my love to my bride. Christ loves
his bride. He loves those that the Father
gave to him. He loves her. And his provision
is for his bride, his elect, those that are escaped of Israel. He loves that remnant that he
chose and enabled to escape from the wrath to come. And this is
the bride that he gives all these provisions to. He gives us a
new name. He gives us food to eat. Third, we need clothes to
wear. The law of the husband requires
we be given raiment. But all we have is filthy rags.
Well, Christ is our robe of righteousness. Now get this out of your head.
This matter of righteousness is not a thing. Righteousness
is a person. This is His name, Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord our righteousness. Christ is our righteousness. Look at verse 3. And it shall
come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth
in Jerusalem shall be called holy. even everyone that's written
among the living in Jerusalem." Now, Christ is our holiness,
and Isaiah says they should be called holy. Well, they'll be
called holy by whom? By God. He's the only one that
counts. He's the judge. They should be called holy by
God. God's not going to call somebody holy if they're unholy. Isn't that right? God calls things
as they are. God's only going to call somebody
holy if they are holy. Well, the law can never make
the comers there into perfect. But Christ does. Look at Hebrews
chapter 10. Christ makes his bride holy so
that they are called. That's why they're called holy.
Hebrews 10 verse 1. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. That's why
I told you that marriage to the law is doomed to failure. It
can never make the comers thereunto perfect. But, look in verse 14
of Hebrews 10. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever Them that are sanctified. Those that he set apart. Those
that he chose and made his bride. He has perfected them forever
by one sacrifice. Now that's a successful marriage.
And it's a success because of the husband. Because Christ makes
his people holy. Christ imputed his righteousness
for their justification. And he made them perfect. And
he imparted his righteousness for their sanctification. That's
how a believer is truly holy. Righteousness imputed and righteousness
imparted. Christ has clothed us within
and without with his righteousness. Now, by nature, we bear the awful
reproach of sin. So how is that reproach going
to be taken away? How is Christ our husband going to take that
reproach away? Is he just going to cover it
up with his robe? So it's still there, but nobody can see it.
If nobody can see it, they'll call us holy. God sees everything. He's not going to cover that
sin up. He's going to take it away. If we're going to be called
holy, that sin must be taken away. Well, how's he going to
do that? By becoming our substitute and
bearing our reproach himself and putting that sacrifice away
or that sin away by the sacrifice of himself. Look at verse four
back in our text. Isaiah 4, when the Lord shall
have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall
purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the
spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. Christ our
husband has washed away our filth in his own blood. Now we'll never
understand sin and we'll never understand our condition because
of sin until we understand this. Sin is not something that we
did wrong. Sin is uncleanness. God says
it's filth. Well, thank God. Christ has removed
the filth of our sin with His blood. His blood cleanses us
from all sin. All the filth of sin. Now, Isaiah
says He'll purge the blood of Jerusalem. Now, what does that
mean? He's going to purge the blood. I thought He shed His
blood before. What does this mean, purging the blood of Jerusalem? Well, see if I can help you.
Our sin and our reproach is passed on to us. How? By the blood of
Adam. Through our human father. Through
that human bloodline of Adam. The sacrifice of Christ purges
original sin in Adam. Puts it away. Christ takes away
the reproach of our bloodline. by making his people born again.
And we receive a new bloodline in the new birth so that we're
holy and righteous and without guilt in that new bloodline,
the bloodline of our husband, Christ. You see, Christ removed
the reproach, the reproach of sin. He removed it at the cross. And he removed it in the hearts
of his people. He did both. He didn't just remove your sin
and reproach at the cross and leave you alone. He removed it
from your heart too. And that's how God can call us
holy. Because we're made holy in the
sacrifice of Christ. And because we're made holy in
the new birth. We've been given a new bloodline, a new nature,
a new husband, a new father. And our sin and reproach is gone. By Christ dying in our place. He married us. And our debt became
his. Legally, that debt became his.
He married himself to us. He joined himself to us. And
he took that debt and he paid it in full. But what a cost. What a cost
he agreed to pay. He has to love his people. Doesn't
he? If he's willing to pay that awful
cost, he must love his pride. Isaiah says the sin of God's
elect was purged by the spirit of judgment. At Calvary, the
father and the son were out playing games. They weren't making a
look-alike so we could kind of sort of see what sin requires. They weren't playing games. The
father entered into judgment with the son, the spirit of judgment,
and he The Father judged the Son in absolute justice. Christ, our substitute, our husband,
suffered for every sin that was laid on him under the hand of
God's strict judgment so that God's judgment was satisfied.
Then Isaiah says the sin of God's elect was purged by the spirit
of burning. The Lord Jesus Christ, our husband, burned in the fire. of God's holy wrath against sin
until the fire was put out because sin is gone. He put away our
sin and our reproach by dying in our place. Now someone might
ask, when my husband dies, won't I be still left a widow and still
left with no support? I mean, I don't have a name,
I don't have clothes to wear, I don't have food to eat. If my husband
dies, won't I still be left without support? Not if Christ is your husband,
you won't. He died and he rose again. He lives and because he
lives, we live. Look at the end of verse three
here. Even everyone that's written among the living in Jerusalem. We live because he lives. Now
again, this is what Christ does for his bride. This is not an
offer he's making to every woman out there to see how many people
might accept his proposal. This was done for his elect.
Their names are written. This was done for an exact people
whose names are written. Our husband just didn't go take
a random wife. He chose his wife, and before
she was born, her name was written down. Well, their names are written. Written by whom? Written by God. When were they written? Before
time began. Well, where were those names
written? Look over Revelation 21. Where were those names written?
They are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's why they're
living. Their names were written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Revelation 21, verse 27. and there shall no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life." Those names were written before time began, and everyone
in that book has eternal life because of the sacrifice of the
Lamb, the sacrifice of our husband. We have eternal life because
of who we're married to, because of our husband, and that life
can never be lost as long as he lives. Now we need a new name. Christ our husband gives his
bride his precious name. We need food to eat. Christ is
our food. He's the sweet tasting food that
gives life. We need clothes to wear. Christ
is our righteousness and our life. Isaiah in our text mentions
one more thing. We need a roof over our heads.
We need a dwelling place, don't we? Well, Christ is our dwelling
place. Look back in our text, verse
5. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount
Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and a smoke by day,
and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For upon all the
glory shall be a defense. And there shall be a tabernacle
for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of
refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. And our
husband provides a good house for his bride. This is the place
where Christ dwells with his bride. And here on earth, it
really doesn't matter what the structure looks like if Christ
would dwell with me there. Prisons would palaces prove if
Jesus would dwell with me there. Our Lord provides a good house
for his people. Isaiah talks about the cloud
by day and the fire by night. That refers to that cloudy pillar
that led Israel through the wilderness. That was a cloudy pillar by day
and a fiery pillar by night. That pillar led them through
the daytime. And that fiery pillar, it gave
them light and warmth by night. And that pillar was God's presence
in their midst. That's what the bride of Christ
has. We have his presence in our midst. We have his presence
with us. He leads us. He guides us. If you belong to Christ, you
don't take a step that He's not with you. He's given you a dwelling
place. And He gives us light in the
darkness and He gives us warmth in the cold. This world is a
dark, cold place, isn't it? Christ gives us light in the
darkness and warmth in the cold. And our husband provides a secure
house. Don't you like feeling safe in your own home? And that's
a blessing, isn't it? Christ gives us a place of safety
because He is our defense. And our husband gives us a comfortable
home. Our home is a place of comfort.
Christ is the shade from every fire. He's the shade from the
fiery heat of the law. He's the protection, the shade
from the fiery wrath of God against sin. He's the protection from
the fiery darts of Satan and he's the protection. He's the
comfort in the fiery trial which is to try us. Christ's bride
has a comfortable, safe dwelling place in Christ our husband.
What a husband. What a husband. And that marriage
is sure to be a successful marriage because of who the husband is.
because of who the husband is. That's his provision for his
bride. Let's bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how we thank
you for your mercy and your grace. In unspeakable love, you would
choose a sinful people such as we are to be the bride for your
dear son. And that your son would become
everything that we need. He took away our sin and our
reproach by dying in our place and gave us His precious name.
He is the food that we eat, the food of life. He is the clothes
that we wear. He is our righteousness and He
is our safe dwelling place. Nothing can hurt us. Nothing
can harm us because we're in Him. We'll never be found naked
because we're clothed in Him. We'll never starve because He
is our food. We'll never lose, we'll never
ruin that precious name because he is our righteousness. Father,
we're thankful. We don't know what else to say
but thank you. Praise your matchless and glorious
name. Father, we pray you bless your
word to the hearts of your people to bring glory to your name and
to comfort and edify and to call your bride to our great husband. Because in His precious name
we give thanks.