Isaiah 54. I titled this message, Jehovah
the Merciful. Jehovah the Merciful. And there
is a lot said in this chapter, and you and I are benefactors
of it. He says in that last verse, verse
17, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. all the
servants of all ages, and their righteousness is of me." He says here in verse 1, he says,
seeing old barren. When you get time sometime, go
back to the first chapter of Samuel and read the story there
of Hannah. How she was in bitterness because
she was barren. Especially back in that day.
This was a just a terrible thing to be barren. And she was in
such bitterness. But when you have time, go back
and read that first two chapters. We don't have time to do that
tonight. But he says here, seeing old barren, thou that did not
bear break forth into singing and cry loud, thou that did not
prevail with child. For more are the children of
the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the
Lord. After chapter 53, which sets forth the sufferings and
death and success of God's servant, the church has much to sing about
throughout all ages. We truly have much to sing about. Sinners who have tasted the Lord
and found Him to be gracious, they have much to sing about.
Sing, O barren. You know, the church appeared
for a long time to be barren. Israel was the fewest of all
people on the earth, and even few of them really believed the
gospel. I find it amazing when I read
back in Exodus, when they came out of Egypt, only two of that
original group entered into the promised land. Isn't that amazing?
Seemed barren. And I tell you this, compared
to false religion, The church looks few, doesn't it? I was
watching a program the other night in a football stadium full.
I thought, I wish we could preach to a crowd like that. But compared
to false religion, the church looks few. And this can be applied
to us individually. I thought, this can be applied
to me. We were barren and unfruitful spiritually by nature. That's
the way we came into this world. We brought forth thorns and thistles.
I can look back over my life and I can say before the gospel
that I brought forth thorns and thistles. You can burn up. You
can just burn that up. As Paul said, it's done. That's
all it is. It's just done. But notice what
God says here. Look what happens when God's
involved in it. In verse two, enlarge the place of thy tent
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitation.
Spare not, lengthen thy cords. and strengthen thy stakes, by
faith," he's telling us, by faith, prepare for more children. It
may not look like it now. You know, when Israel was going,
when they went to captivity in Babylon, and then when they were
brought out of Babylon, there wasn't that many, there was only
a few thousand. You know, more came out of Egypt than came out
of Babylon? They look few. They look very few. But he says
here, prepare for more children. We are to expect many children. That's what he's saying. We just
expect many children. I know that many have the attitude
that there'll not be many saved. But that's not the attitude given
here. Really, that is not the attitude given here. And I wrote
this down in black letters, bold letters. We usually get what
we expect. We usually get of God what we
expect. Of all people on this earth, We ought to expect the
most. We ought to expect the most.
Such a husband as the Lord Jesus Christ can produce many children.
Such a husband can produce many children. And it says here, spare
not. Spare no expense in preaching
the gospel. I believe that's what it says.
Spare no expense in preaching the gospel. The church is not
made up of misers. The church is made up of sinners
saved by the grace of God. And he says, spare no expense.
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left,
and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited. Cities where the gospel was never
preached will have the gospel preached in them. They'll have
a people there that belong to God. We ought to expect God to
do just as he said he would. We should, shouldn't we? It says
in the scriptures, he has magnified his word above his name. We ought to expect him to do
just as he said he would do. The scripture says this, the
gates of hell shall not prevail against you. It will not keep
you out. Right in the midst of paganism,
this is the promise here, right in the midst of heathenism, God
is going to have a people. He said, I'm going to have a
people. Thy seed is going to inherit to Gentiles. I'm going
to have a people in every nation. God's going to have a people
there. Right in the midst of all of this, this Gentile world,
this heathenism, paganism, God's going to have a church there.
He's going to have a people there. Now, fear not. Fear not. For thou shalt not be ashamed,
neither be thou confounded. For thou shalt not be put to
shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt
not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. Fear not to stretch forth thy
tents, and spread forth thy curtains, because you are not going to
be embarrassed. You will not be embarrassed doing as God said
to do. Not at all. Obedience will never bring embarrassment. Obedience will never bring embarrassment. Fear not, he said, these things
will come to pass. You can take me at my word. These
things are going to come to pass. And the shame of thy youth, he
says, shall be forgotten. Isn't that good? I know I've done some things
in my youth that I'd like forgotten. I'd like forgotten. Well, here's
the good news of it. God has forgotten. He's put it
away, and it's forgotten. He said, The shame of thy youth,
it shall be forgotten. David said this, Remember not
the sins of my youth. That doesn't mean that I'm going
to completely forget everything that I've ever done. But here's
what I think he's saying. Don't let looking back hold you back. Don't let looking
back hold you back. Don't let looking back there
just give you a downcast spirit and attitude. The shame of thy
youth shall be forgotten. And here's a lesson. I thought,
here's a lesson for parents. When it's over, it's over. When
it's over, it's over. You don't have to bring it up
a month down the road and say, you remember when... Once it's dealt with, once it's
dealt with, just let it go. I'm glad God does not keep bringing
up my past. He said it'll be forgotten. And
here's the reason that you'll not be ashamed. Here's the reason. For thy maker is thine husband. Here's the reason that you can
let out the tent cords and strengthen them. Thy maker is thine husband. The Lord of hosts is his name,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole
earth, shall he be called." When I first read this, I thought
prearranged marriages may not be all that bad. I bet the failure
rate wouldn't be any worse. I bet it wouldn't. Our marriage
to Christ is a prearranged marriage. That is a prearranged marriage. It's not by chance. We are not
married to Christ by chance. That was prearranged before God
ever created the heavens and the earth, before everything
was created. And the One who created you for
His glory is your husband. The One who died to redeem you
from your sins, from the curse of the law, is your husband. The Father, I thought about this
today, The Father is creating His Son a perfect wife. He's creating Him a perfect wife
out of an imperfect people. And when this is all over with,
she is going to be without spot or wrinkle, and she's going to
possess the very nature of His Son. She's going to possess it. Heaven, I've heard this said,
and I've said this. Heaven will be populated with
a people just like Christ. And that means more than just
looking like Him. That's not saying we're all just going to
look like Him. We are going to be like Him in nature. That's
what He's doing right now. He's creating a people just like
His Son. Holy. Harmless. Pure. What is thy husband's name? What's her name? What's her husband's
name? Well, it says here, The Lord
of Hosts is His name. What a name. Our husband is the
Lord of armies. He's Lord of all men. Her husband
is Lord. He's not just Lord of a little
country and of a small group of people. Her husband is Lord
of all. He's Lord of men, He's Lord of
the angel world. He's Lord over Satan. He's Lord
over the animal kingdom. At one time, He used hornets
to run a country out, to run a nation out. He used hornets
to run them out. That's His army. He brought frogs and lice on
Egypt. Lord of hosts. Lord of hosts. That's His name. The Holy One of Israel. The God
of the whole earth shall he be called. Listen. He's called in
the Scriptures. In the Old Testament Scriptures
he's been called the God of Jacob. He's been called the God of Israel.
And now he's called the God of the whole earth. No more the
unknown God. Paul went to, was it Athens?
And they had an altar there. And they had an inscription written
on it that said, To the unknown God. Well, now he's got a name.
God of the whole earth. Here we are in Ashland, in America,
and we know who God is. There was a time that only that
little group of Israelites knew that. But now we know. God of
the whole earth. We do not have a weak husband.
He is the mighty God. God of the whole earth. Sovereign
of the universe. That's our husband. I tell you,
if Vicki has a husband, I'm lord over nothing. I can say that
I'm Lord over nothing, really. He's Lord over all, and that's
our husband. That's our Creator. He's the
one who made us, redeemed us, and He's our husband. And it
says in verse 6, For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken
and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused,
saith thy God. Nothing is more devastating than
to be forsaken by one, someone you love and thought loved you.
And that's the way, no doubt, Israel, when they went to Babylon,
that's probably the way they felt. No doubt that's probably
the way they felt. But also know this. This is the
condition we are in when the Lord finds us. Forsaken. Grieved in heart. Cast down. Like a woman forsaken by her
husband. But the Lord explains this in verse 7 and 8. He says,
For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will
I gather thee. For a small moment. You know,
a moment is small. But how small is a small moment?
I'm not playing words here. But He said, for a small moment. I thought when I read that, I
thought a moment is small. But how small is a small moment?
He said it's smaller than just a moment. It seems like a long
time. Sometimes when we go under the
cloud, we go under trials, God's face is hidden in His favor.
It seems like a long time. He says it's just a moment compared
to eternity. Compared to the eternity of all
things, it's just a moment. I mean a small moment. A small
moment. I've hid my face in favor from
Thee for just a small moment. That's all it was. It may seem
much longer, but it was only a small moment. We know this. We know that He never leaves
us nor forsakes us. But there are times of chastening
that removes His discernible favor and face. But it's just
a small moment. That's all it is. The forsaken
is for a small moment, but the mercies, the mercies here are
forever. That's forever. In a little wrath
I hid my face from thee for a moment. He keeps bringing that up, just
for a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. In a little wrath I hid my face.
To us, it doesn't seem like a little wrath. Well, my dad disciplined
me when I was a boy. He would never convince me that
was a little wrath. You could not convince me that
was just a little upset. But I'm sure it was. Now that
I'm older, now that I'm looking back, I'm sure it was just a
little bit, compared to what it could have been, compared
to what it could have been. And that's why he's saying here,
it was just a little wrath. It was just a little chastening.
Just a little chastening. In a little displeasure, I hid
my face for only a moment. But with everlasting kindness,
with everlasting kindness, will I have mercy on thee. In all
his dealings with us, there is no great wrath and there is no
penal judgment. It's just chastening. It's the
love of the Father chastening His child. That's all it is.
His displeasure is only for a little while, a little more. But His
kindness, He said His kindness is everlasting. There's no end
to it. There is no end to God's kindness
to His children. There's no end to it. Then God
gives us here His relationship to His church here in verse 9.
For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, my relationship
to my church, my dealing with my church, it is as the waters
of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee, that
is, destroy thee. I'll never do that. Noah, as
is written in the Scriptures, found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. And because of that, God saved
him in that ark. And God made a covenant with
Noah. He said, Noah, I will not destroy, I will not destroy the
world again by a deluge. I will not flood this world and
destroy the world again. I won't do it. And I'm going
to make a covenant with you. I will put a rainbow in the sky,
put a bow in the sky. And every time you see that,
that's my covenant with you. I've never failed when I see
a rainbow. I think of that Scripture. Every time I see one, I think
there's a covenant. God's remembering His covenant. The rain is going to stop. And
it does. And when that rain stops, we
saw one here a year or two ago over at Jason's. The most beautiful
rainbow I'd ever seen. And I couldn't help but think,
there's God remembering His covenant. God remembering His covenant.
He'll always remember to have mercy on us. because of this.
God made a covenant. He made a covenant with his Son
concerning us, and he will not, God will not be angry with us
forever, and he will not destroy us for Christ's sake. He'll always,
he said this, he's ever mindful of his covenant. God is ever
mindful of his covenant that he's made with us in his Son. And he says this in verse 10,
The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my
kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant
of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on
thee. Those things which seem most
solid, what seems more solid than a mountain? Those things
which seem most solid will be removed first. And I tell you
this, they will. One day every mountain and every
hill will be removed. That's going to happen. It will
happen. But my kindness, my kindness, no matter how dark it gets, no
matter how cloudy the day may get, my kindness shall not be
removed. I'll never remove my kindness
from you. And that is a promise. I wrote
this down just before coming over here. When we cannot see
his hand of mercy, we can read his word of promise. When you
cannot, in Providence, see the hand of God's mercy, you can
take his book, read his word of promise, and just rest on
that. Rely on that. And he said, and neither the
covenant of my peace will be removed. Why? Because God the
Father made that covenant with us in his Son. He made it with
his Son. He made it with us in Christ,
who is our Maker, our Husband, and our Redeemer. And notice
this. He says, Thus saith the Lord.
You know what he's saying? I give you my word on it. I give
you my word on this. My kindness will never depart
from you. O thou afflicted, he said, tossed
with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones
with fair collars, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. This
describes us in this world. Afflicted, tossed with tempest,
not comforted. He says here, behold, I lay thy
stones. Remember who's building the house.
Remember who the master builder is here? God is. And he says,
I lay thy stones with fair collars, beautiful collars. Here's what
he's doing. I read it to you in Ephesians.
I lay thy living stones. Living stones. And he said they're
fair collars. You know, only that which has
life in it has fair collars, doesn't it? has nothing but bleakness
and darkness and blackness. But I tell you this, where there's
life, there's fair colors, beautiful colors. And he's going to build
his church, and he's building his church with living stone,
Christ being the foundation and Christ being the chief cornerstone.
And I'll make thy windows, he says, of the gates. John Gill
said this, you know, the gates were A gate here was a stone
that was very clear and you could see through it. And he said this. He said, I'll give you pastors
that will feed you with clear knowledge and truth. Not confusion. I'll give you pastors. He says
this in the Scripture. I'll give you pastors that will
feed you with knowledge. And through knowledge you get understanding.
Isn't that not where we get understanding is through knowledge? God gives
us knowledge and understanding. I'll give you pastors that will
preach the gospel to you clearly, and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones." When he finishes this
building, when God Almighty finishes building his church, she's going
to be beautiful. I'm telling you, she's going
to be beautiful. Never a wife was so beautiful
as his church. As it says in Hebrews, whose
builder and maker is God. That's who's building this church.
God is. And all thy children, all thy
children, all those that are born of God, shall be taught
of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. God himself shall teach thy children. He's our teacher. He's our teacher. And what better teacher can one
have than God Almighty? And listen, thy children are
going to know their Father. Every one of thy children are
going to know their Father. There's a lot of children out
there that don't know who their Father is. That's sad. That's
sad. But it's so. But he says this
about Zion's children. They are going to know their
father. You're going to know me. And you're going to be taught
of me. God himself is going to teach
you. He's going to be your teacher. And the result of God teaching
you is this. Great shall be the peace of thy
children. That's the end result when God's the teacher. Great
shall be the peace of thy children. How so? Because her maker and
her husband is her peace with God. He is our peace. She is married to the Prince
of Peace. The church is married to the
Prince of Peace. And his home, his house, is a
peaceful one. I would hate to be brought up
in a home where there is fighting, The confusion. My home I was
brought up in was quiet. Our home has been quiet. And
I tell you this, his home is going to be quiet. It's going
to be peaceful. It's going to be peaceful. I'm
not saying that in this world we won't experience disturbances,
but when this is over, it's going to be peace. Peace. And in righteousness
shalt thou be established. Thou shalt be far from oppression,
with thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not
come near thee, in his righteousness shalt thou be established." We
are established in the righteousness of our husband. We stand accepted in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one day the earthly, with
all its tears and fears, are going to be gone. He said it
won't even come near him. But until then, until then. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me. I won't bring Babylon against
you and take you over again. Not by me. Whosoever shall gather
together against thee shall fall for thy sake, for thy good. The
church will always have her enemies in this world. She'll always
have them. But they shall not prevail against her. They'll
not take her captive again. And God, He says, I will not
be on their side. Our God will make them fall while
she stands. And listen to what he says in
verse 16. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals
in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work,
and I have created the waster to destroy him. Here's what he's
saying. I have created the man who makes
the weapons of war. I have created the one who's
the waster. I have created him. I control
him. I can destroy him. I can take
away his talents. So what do you have to be afraid
of? What do you have to be afraid of? I'm the one who created the
man who makes the weapons of war, the smith. I'm the one who
created the waster. I have total control over them. And I can destroy them as fast
as I created them. Don't you be afraid of it. Don't
you be afraid of it. Because he says in verse 17,
no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness
is of me, saith the Lord. The church cannot be destroyed. The members that make up the
body of the church, not one of them can be destroyed. And who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? He said, every
tongue that will rise against you, you'll silence. You'll put
it to silence. Satan and men have tried to destroy
God's people since the fall. But we're still here. It failed. It can't happen. Everlasting
peace and joy is the heritage of the Lord's servants. They
will come up short in that day, those who stand against his church.
For their righteousness, he says here, their righteousness is
of me. He produced it. He produced it by his obedience
and by his death. He established an everlasting
righteousness for his bride, his church, that cannot be destroyed,
not even by her. Their righteousness, he said,
is of me. It's of me. Thus saith the Lord. Again, again, we have his word
on it. He said, I give you my word on
this. And I tell you what, that's enough. That's enough. If we have his word on it, that's
enough.