Isaiah chapter 62, reading from
verse one. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be
called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more
be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate. but thou shalt be called Hepzibah,
and thy land Beulah, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and
thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee, and as the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have
set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never
hold their peace day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish, until
he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord hath sworn
by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I
will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies, and
the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for the which
thou hast laboured. But they that have gathered it
shall eat it, and praise the Lord, and they that have brought
it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. Go
through, go through the gates. Prepare ye the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up
a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world. Say ye to the daughter of Zion,
Behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. and they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and thou shalt be called
sought out, a city not forsaken. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Now I think that by this time
we all know that Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet directing
Israel in the way of the Lord and foretelling the future of
what would occur for the land of Israel and the nation of the
Jews. But let us be clear, Isaiah was
also a gospel preacher. He was also declaring the way
of salvation and life to these folks of his age and the following
generations. In prophesying, concerning what
God would do for his people, he preached Christ. He was telling
them about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his coming. In warning his age, in warning
the wicked of judgment to come, he preached the Lord Jesus Christ. in comforting the Lord's remnant
in their dark hours and in their times of disappointment and hopelessness. When they felt desolate, when
they felt forsaken, he preached Jesus Christ. He preached Jesus
Christ crucified. And in this chapter, Isaiah tells
us why he did so. And this is part of the end,
the objective of our study today. We are going to see what Isaiah
is saying about his own role as a preacher of the gospel.
And here, in this chapter, we have yet another example of the
Gospel in Isaiah, as the prophet declares the word of the Lord
and exercises himself in its ministry. Now we're going to
work through a number of the verses in this chapter, but really
I'm probably concentrating in the last couple of verses of
the chapter, although we'll be bouncing back and forward between
other passages, because really I think they build up to these
last couple of verses. The last two verses also provide
the structure for what I want this message to say. When the
Lord Jesus gave his disciples the commission to go into all
the world and preach the gospel, that was not the first time that
this concept had been shared with the Lord's people. The Lord
told his disciples, go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel. And that breadth, that broad responsibility, that great
commission wasn't hidden from Isaiah. He understood it. Look
at verse 11, for example. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world Say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold
thy salvation cometh, behold his reward is with him, and his
work before him. Isaiah was telling us the role
of a preacher there. And we're going back because
we're going to talk about the watchman on the walls of Zion. But this
is the message which Isaiah is speaking of here. and indeed
we'll see that it's speaking of him in the opening verses
too, where he says, for Zion's sake will I not hold my peace. Here is the watchman, here is
the preacher, here is the one who carries the message of the
Lord to the ends of the earth, declaring the burden that rests
upon him. The Lord hath proclaimed that
unto the end of the earth, to the end of the world, say ye
to the daughter of Zion, that is, say ye to the elect of God,
say ye to the people of God, behold thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. And the word behold there is
used three different times in this verse alone. The purpose
being to raise attention to what is said, to point out that something
wonderful is before us, and to express the certainty of what
is being declared. To raise attention, to point
out something wonderful, and to give us a sense of its certainty. It's as if I were saying to you,
hey, You need to see this, it's amazing and it's true. Because that's what the word
behold means. Hey, you need to see this, it's
amazing and it's true. It doesn't just mean look, it's
much stronger than that. It demands special attention
and with good reason. So that if the Lord says behold
three times in one verse, it's a good idea to pause and look
and listen and think about what the Lord is saying. The Lord
is telling us that he will have his gospel preached to the ends
of the earth and until the end of time. That is what this verse
is saying. The Lord is telling us that the
gospel will be preached to the ends of the earth, to the ends
of time, and Isaiah knew it. So that when the Lord Jesus Christ
tells his disciples, go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel, Isaiah had a grasp of that very thing in this verse
and he tells his generation and he tells the people so many years
before the coming of the Messiah how these things are going to
fall out. It is the message of the gospel that is to be proclaimed
by prophet and preacher and pastor alike. Your salvation is coming. His reward is with Him and His
work is before Him. These are the three elements
of the message that is to be taken to the Lord's people, taken
to the remnant people. Christ is our salvation. Your
salvation is coming. Christ is our salvation. And
He is coming. He came once and He died once. when he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. He comes in saving grace each
time one of his elect is converted and gathered into the church.
The Lord comes to that individual and establishes and begins a
personal, intimate relationship with that person in the new birth. and he is coming again, he is
coming again soon to bring his little flock, those that he has
gathered into the fold, home to glory. He's coming to bring
his bride to the marriage feast of the Lamb. So when it says
that your salvation is coming, this is a picture of the work
of Christ amongst us, past, present, and future. We're also told that
the preachers will preach that his reward is with him. That
is the people that he has redeemed because the people that the Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed are his reward. He shall see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. This was the people that were
committed to the Lord in the everlasting covenant and the
people for whom he gave his life. This people, the elect of God
are his reward and his reward is with him. So that when the
Lord Jesus Christ comes we see his reward in him, the people
he redeemed, never to be separated, never to be lost, never to be
given up or excluded from his presence, always laying upon
his heart, always with him. And the other thing that the
preachers of the gospel will say, the other things that the
prophets of God said, that his work is before him. That is the
successful work of redemption by which he achieved and accomplished
every demand placed upon him in the covenant of grace. So
that here in these final two verses of Isaiah 62 is the gospel
in Isaiah. Christ's redemptive work is successfully
accomplished, and all that remains is the gathering up of his prize,
the church, and its safe passage to heaven. And that's what we
see here in verse 12. And they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and thou shalt be called
sought out a city not forsaken. And I'm going to take four headings
from this little verse here right at the end and show you how Isaiah
preached the gospel of free and sovereign grace and how he understood
the accomplished work of Christ even just from what he says in
these verses. So let us begin by thinking about
this little phrase, and they shall call them. Who is the they
in that phrase, they shall call them? Well, I take it to be the
preachers or the watchmen that are spoken of throughout this
chapter. We see the watchman's burden
spoken of in the opening verses, 1 and 2, and also again in verses
6 and 7, and here again in verses 11 and 12. It's the watchman
of whom Isaiah numbers himself as one, and of whom the Lord
tells the city of Zion, the church of Jesus Christ, that he will
place them upon the walls. The watchman never hold their
peace. The watchman proclaimed the message
to the end of the world. So Isaiah says of himself in
the opening verse, for Zion's sake, who's Zion? Zion's the
church. For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace. For Zion's
sake I can't be quiet. for Zion's sake I've got to preach. Paul said, woe is me if I preach
not the gospel and he's merely echoing and re-echoing the words
of every sent preacher of God, every prophet, every pastor,
every watchman upon the wall has got this burden upon their
heart. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth. Christ's preachers, God's prophets,
the watchmen on the walls of Zion, cannot rest, cannot be
silent until the church of Jesus Christ has been called and every
last one of the elect, every last one of God's sheep, his
little flock has been gathered in. And this is what Isaiah is
saying here. Never hold your peace. Proclaim
that message to the end of the world. And this is the church's
preachers. The Lord says in verse 6, In
good times or in bad. The Lord will preserve a witness
to himself and the gospel will continue to be preached. We sometimes
worry about that, mention that later maybe, but let's not get
worried about the gospel. The gospel will be preached in
its purity and in its glory right until the end of time. right
until the last one of the Lord's people have been gathered in.
Isaiah knew it and we know it today. Christ's preachers never
stop preaching, nor shall they until the Lord returns. From
the time of the apostles, the Lord has supplied a succession
of preachers, each declaring to their generation the truths
of God's distinguishing love, mercy and grace. And that's the
gospel of Christ's victory and Christ's rule. The Lord himself
attested to this. He said in Matthew chapter 24
and verse 14, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall
the end come. So the Lord himself knew that
this gospel would go to the ends of the earth and it would be
preached to all nations until the end of time. Now let us just notice in this
context, because I'm not moving on yet, I'm still thinking about
the watchmen, let me just notice, let us just notice in this context
that the gospel that these watchmen are called to preach is a declaration
of truth. It's a declaration of truth.
It's a declaration of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done and
accomplished. It isn't an offer. It isn't a
proposition. Far less is it a negotiation
about what we are going to give up and what we are going to do
for God and what God will do for us. It is a declaration of
what God has purposed and what Christ has accomplished. And
the simple question is, do you believe it or not? When the statement
is made, when the gospel is preached, when the declaration goes out,
when the truth is lifted up, when Christ is lifted up, do
you believe it or not? When you hear that gospel, do
you believe it or not? If you believe it, It is because
you have been chosen to believe. If you believe it, then you are
a beneficiary of grace. You've been born again. You don't
get born again by believing it. You believe it because you've
been born again, because it is a sovereign work of God the Holy
Spirit who blows where he listeth. You can hear the sound of it,
you don't know whether it's come from, where it's going, but it
is a work of grace in the soul of a sinner to bring to life
the new creation by which faith is implanted and belief flows. It's not a matter of man's will.
John the Apostle says we are born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That's how we're born again.
And furthermore, the gospel is not for unbelievers as many appear
to think. The gospel is the whole counsel
of God. It feeds, it heals, it refreshes,
it encourages, it comforts, it convicts, it educates, it gladdens
the Lord's people. Whether we are new converts or
whether we are aged disciples, the potency of the Gospel is
in the fact that it feeds the souls of those who have been
quickened and born again. I grant it's a double-edged sword.
I grant that it will be used to condemn men and women who
did not believe it in a day to come, but its power, its potency,
its value is to those who are quickened and enabled to believe
it. It is profitable for doctrine. says Paul to Timothy, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man
of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. That's what the Scriptures provide. That's what the whole counsel
of God gives us. That's what the gospel of Jesus
Christ provides. The Gospel tells us about election
and predestination and God's eternal decrees. It tells us
about God's character in his three persons. It speaks to us
about his covenant will. It tells about the fall of man
and about sin and about God's plan of redemption. It speaks
of the union of Christ with his people, his purpose in this world
and in the world to come. It is the whole council of God.
And as watchmen on the walls of Zion and in the streets of
Jerusalem, as watchmen whose vigilance protected and sustained
the city, God's preachers are watchmen for the souls of the
elect and they are the constant providers of the spiritual nourishment
through preaching. that enables us to grow in grace
and a knowledge of the truth. And thus we learn that gospel
preachers are set in place by Christ to watch over his church
and to preach justification and sanctification and election. These men, these watchmen, It
is they who are the they of this opening section, this opening
of the 12th verse. They shall call them the holy
people. Who shall call them the holy
people? The watchmen. The watchmen that have been put
in place by the Lord Jesus Christ in order to declare these truths. What shall they call this people
to whom they minister? What shall they call this people
to whom they speak? They shall call them the holy
people. The holy people. The holy people
are all who have been chosen to salvation out of the fallen
mass of humanity. The holy people are all who have
been set apart in Christ in the covenant of grace and to whom
the Lord has imputed righteousness, justifying them and reconciling
them to himself by the work of Jesus Christ. Now, right back
at the very beginning in verse two, we're told there, the Gentiles
shall see thy righteousness, that is the Gentiles shall see
the righteousness of the holy people, and all kings thy glory,
all nations shall have the holy people amongst them, and thou
shalt be called by a new name, ah, which the mouth of the Lord
shall name. Now maybe, because it's possible
that there's a variety of callings here, there's a variety of names,
but maybe the holy people is the new name that's spoken of
in verse 2. Certainly it's a new experience
for sinners to be made holy and to be called holy by the
Lord. We are made holy in the new man
in the new creation and we are called such because it's what
we are when the Lord sees them, sees his people sanctified and
set apart in Christ. The gospel is good news because
it tells of a completed work. If God leaves us anything to
do for our own salvation, there's nothing good about that. Free
will preaching is bad news. Works righteousness preaching
is bad news. It is only good news if your
preacher, if your watchman can tell you about sovereign grace
and God's purpose to make his people a holy people. Here's
another name that these watchmen on the walls of Zion call the
people of God. They call them the redeemed of
the Lord. So verse 12 again, and they shall
call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. They call
them the redeemed of the Lord because they know that that is
how God makes his people holy. They preach redemption by the
blood of Jesus Christ. They call God's people the holy
people because they have been redeemed of the Lord. Now let us be clear, let us be
clear on this issue. The ground of our acceptance
with God is nothing to do with our works and everything to do
with Christ's blood. And once again, if a preacher
tells you about building up your own sanctification, if a preacher
tells you about living a holy life, living a godly life, they're
neither watchmen for your souls nor preachers sent by God. We preach Christ crucified. And we do not and we will not
preach that man by his own good works can increase his holiness
or improve his sanctification. It cannot happen. All our righteousness,
all our holiness flows from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his work upon the cross. Preachers sent from God preach
the truth because they know that that is what the souls of God's
elect need. We preach atonement by the blood
of a crucified Christ. Isaiah knew that the Messiah
would bear the grief and carry the sorrow of those he came to
redeem. He knew that the Messiah would
be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
He knew that the chastisement of our peace would be upon him
and that by his stripes, or with his stripes, we are healed. He knew it. And like Paul, he
preached it, and so do all the watchmen upon the walls of Zion. The Lord's delight is with his
people, whom he has redeemed, cleansed, and fitted with a perfect
righteousness. We are his Hepzibah. We are Christ's Hepzibah. Now Hepzibah, that's the name
that we're given here in verse four, Hepzibah was Hezekiah's
wife. But Isaiah uses her name as a
title for the church and as a new name for Christ's bride, in whom
he delights, because that's what the name means. The church is
Hepzibah because Christ delights in us. He is willing, Christ is willing.
to be joined in eternal union with his Hephzibah in whom he
delights and with whom it is his will to be married. What
an amazing, what an amazing list of names and titles. These are
for the people of God. How wonderful this gospel is
that attributes all glory to Christ for the great salvation
that he has accomplished. What a thought that God delights
in me and calls me his Hepzibah. Hepzibah's an old name. But if
you are seeking a new name, well Hepzibah is a good one to have. And here's another thing that
these watchmen upon the walls of Zion and preachers of the
gospel know. They know that Zion shall be
called sought out, once again. the redeemed of the Lord, the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and thou shalt be called
sought out. sought out, that is a name of
the Lord's people, thou shalt be called sought out. God the
Father elects, God the Son redeems, God the Holy Spirit calls and
seeks out the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord and to the
ends of the earth he calls them out and brings them in. Isaiah
tells us of this work. He's speaking when he is telling
us in verse 10 about go through, go through the gates. This is
what the watchman says. This is what the watchman cries.
Go through, go through the gates. It's a call to enter into the
city of God. a call to enter into the Church
and Kingdom of Christ by conversion. This is the means by which God
the Holy Spirit takes the message of the Gospel declared by the
Watchman and applies it effectually to the lives, to the souls of
men and women whom he is pleased to regenerate, whom he is pleased
to quicken, whom he is pleased to give the new birth to. To enter into the city of God,
the church and kingdom of Christ by conversion. Prepare ye the
way of the people. again is to preach the whole
counsel of God so that faith can be exercised and truth received. Cast up, cast up the highway
is opening the gospel to new hearers and carrying the gospel
to the ends of the earth just like a road man would build a
new highway or a new motorway to reach one end of the country
to the other. When the apostles went out into
all the world, when Paul undertook his missionary journeys, they
were casting up highways, just like Isaiah said. Casting up
highways for the gathering in of the church. They were literally
trailblazing. opening routes by which inroads
would be made into the kingdom of darkness, into the domains
of the heathen nations, and the way of life would become accessible,
and the whole world would hear the gospel preached. Gather out
the stones, the preachers are told. That is, remove the obstacles
of error, remove the false teaching, remove the heresy from the city
of God. And we discover from the apostles'
writings in the New Testament that errors very quickly crept
into the churches. Errors of freewillism, errors
of self-righteousness by the works of the law. These things
quickly caught hold and the apostles had to contend with them. That
was the apostles gathering out the stones. And this remains
true for watchmen and preachers today. They must be ready and
able to gather out stones and sieve the dross from the truth
so that the Lord's church might benefit and prosper and grow
in grace. they are to lift up a standard
for the people. This is lifting up the Lord Jesus
Christ who being evidently set forth will draw all men to Him
according to the effectual call of grace. Christ said in John
chapter 12, verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me. Christ was lifted up on the cross
and he must be elevated, lifted up in our preaching. Because
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be
saved. And finally, again, verse 12. The watchmen, the preachers of
the gospel, they will call them the holy people, they will call
them the redeemed of the Lord, they will call them sought out,
and they will call them a city not forsaken. Look at all the
doctrines of grace right here in this verse. A city not forsaken. The Lord's people shall persevere
to the end. Despite the troubles and trials
and disappointments they encounter in this world and in themselves, they will persevere. God does
not elect. Christ does not redeem. The Holy
Spirit does not seek out and save a people only for them to
be ultimately lost. It is not possible. And I say
it with reverence, but I say it just the same. Christ would
not be worthy of his people's trust if after saving us, he
was unable to keep us. We trust him because we can't
trust ourselves. and we shall not be forsaken,
we shall not be abandoned, and we shall not be left behind when
the Lord comes to make up his jewels. Hepzibah is loved, Hepzibah
is redeemed, Hepzibah is safe and secure. and Isaiah knew all
this. God's watchmen on the walls of
Zion know all this and Christ's preachers know it. And, says
Isaiah, they will preach it until the end time. Yes, we do become
anxious and it would be wrong if I did not admit this personally,
and I'm sure you share this anxiety. We sometimes fear for the gospel,
that it will be choked out by all the nonsense and foolishness
that preys itself as Christianity today. Well, I speak to myself,
that won't happen. God will not leave himself without
a witness. And in the mould of Isaiah, the
witness that God raises up will say, for Zion's sake will I not
hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.