Isaiah 54 must be linked with
Isaiah 53, of which we've been in for several weeks. We just
finished up the 53rd chapter, the prophet Isaiah, and we noted
the sufferings and death of Christ for his chosen people, the church. Now in this 54th chapter, we
see various promises given to the church as they flow through
the work of Christ for us. So again, in Isaiah 53, we saw
Christ's redemptive work. And then 54, that redemption
bearing out by the service of his church. Isaiah 53, We saw
grace given in the form of a sacrifice. God's Son, His only begotten
Son. And now Isaiah 54, we have grace
seen in the church. Isaiah 53, a people reconciled
to God by blood. Isaiah 54, a people serving and
worshiping God because of that blood sacrifice. Now, Let me
read the first verse of Isaiah 54, and we know that this chapter
is speaking about the church, specifically the Gentile church,
because we don't have to guess, Paul tells this in Galatians
4. Let me read Isaiah 54, and the first verse, and then we
will turn over and see what Paul says as he quotes this verse
in Galatians chapter 4 in the context by which he mentions
it. saying, O barren, thou that didst
not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst
not prevail with child, for more are the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Now turn
with me to Galatians chapter 4 And Paul is talking about the
Jews and the Gentiles. He's going back and forth speaking
about the Jews and the Gentiles. And he's speaking to the Galatian
church, and he says, verse 21, Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bond made the other by a free woman
but he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh for
he but he of the free woman was by promise now look at this verse
going forward here which things are an allegory for these are
the two covenants the one from Mount Sinai, which genereth to
bondage, which is Agar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage
with their children, the Jews. But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
verse 27, and this is where Paul quotes the fifty-fourth of Isaiah
in the first verse, for it is written, Rejoice thou barren
that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that travailest
not, for the desolate, that is, the Gentiles, who had not the
gospel, who had not the oracles of God, the outspeakings of God,
but through the preaching of the gospel by the apostles. This
gospel has gone forth into the whole Gentile community of which
you and I are. We're not Jews by birth. We are
Gentiles. We're Gentiles, specifically
speaking. But God, through the quickening
spirit and understanding the truth, has circumcised our hearts
and we are Jews inwardly. But we're Gentiles. This is a
Gentile church. He says, for the desolate, that's
you and I, hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. So he's talking about the New
Testament church. He's talking about the church
of God's elect, the Gentile church, specifically in the Galatians. to go back to Isaiah 54 and this
is what he says with single barren thou that didst not bear break
forth into singing and cry aloud thou that didst not prevail with
child for more are the children of the desolate than the children
of the married wife saith the Lord so we have this lovely lovely
promises that are guaranteed to us the church Guaranteed to
us by Christ work for us. We're gonna look at it. We're
gonna look at this chapter Excuse me in an overview today, and
we'll probably go back and look at some specific verses But we're
gonna look at this whole chapter as an overview five basic promises
that are given to the church, so we'll take this as this Sovereign
Grace Church in Jackson, Missouri. The application obviously does
apply historically to the Jews. The prophecy obviously applies
to the Gentiles, the Gentile Church, the New Testament Church,
but all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable
for a pure doctrine for us here this morning. So I want to look
at this as it applies to us here. First promise, found in verses
one through five, though the church seem little in number,
great things shall be seen in her. And again, apply it right
here to us this morning. Though this place, this church,
this gathering of people here seem little in number, great
things are promised to be done in her. This could not come. As I was looking this over, reading
different men, and as I always do is I read the passages over
several times, over and over, mull it in my mind, and very
rarely then will I just get right on it, just try to start outlining,
and I just like to look at it, digest it, mull it over, meditate
on it. Then I might or I might not look
and see what other men say about this, but I would always come
back and start going through it verse by verse and try to
get to figure some outline. But I thought to myself, this
could not have come at a better time because I can't think of
what Bruce, the words he used. He and I were talking the other
day, just kind of going through a time of transition. I can't
remember if that's the word you used, but we've got, you know, some
different things are going on. And that's a good thing. We have
promises here dealing with the church. The first promise, verses
1-5, though the church seem little in number, great things shall
be seen in her. He just said, more are the children
of the desolate than the children of the married, saith the Lord.
Verse 2, in large the place of thy tent. Let them
stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not, lengthen
thy cords, and straighten thy stakes. For thou shalt break
forth on the right hand, and on the left. Thy seed shall inherit
the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 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. Thou shalt not remember the reproach
of thy widowhood any more. For 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 now? There's just there's a whole
lot more one problems, but we're gonna look at this and I said
an overview He says whatever happens Even though we're called
desolate, sing, O barren, that's you and I, thou that didst not
bear, break forth in the singing, cry aloud, thou that didst not
prevail with child, for more are the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife. Enlarge the place of thy
tent." Whatever happens to Sovereign Grace Church in Jackson, we are
to sing. Sing and cry aloud. In the first
verse, sing and break forth in the singing, cry aloud, what
he's saying is that is specifically live our lives knowing that God
is in control and in charge of all things and that these events
and things which happen to us are for our greater good. Whatever happens, whatever takes
place, he says Fear not, verse 4, for thou shalt not be ashamed. You know, we don't have to sit
there and qualify the things that we're doing or the things
that we're saying or the message that we preach. We just stand
and proclaim the gospel, believe the gospel and live of the gospel. He says, enlarge the place of
thy tent, let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations.
Spare not. Don't let miserly reason dictate
growth. Rather, faith will trust Christ
to enlarge our tent. He says, enlarge the place of
thy tent. Stretch forth the curtains. Spare not. Lengthen thy cords.
Strengthen thy stakes. Whatever the Lord is about to
do here, if He is, when He does it, as He does it, spare not. Spare not. Linda and I have been
talking about this for a time. I've talked to several other
pastors about some different things. And we were talking about
areas of concern. And I made the question, I asked
the question, when did, and I'm not saying anybody here, but
Christianity as a whole, so-called, when did people Come up, where did they come
up with the assumption that believing Christ's gospel costs nothing? Oh, we can go to our we can go
to our coffee shops. And do what we want to do and
listen to some preacher on television, on tape, whatever it might be,
and be relaxed and not identify with the church. or not support
the church, or not pray with the church. When did it come
to, I guess, contemporary worship? You know, these people call these
things contemporary worship, where you can do what you want
to do, be who you are. Really, you know, just don't
worry about anything. Just kind of let God live and
let live type thing. Believing the gospel, the gospel. Trusting Christ, it costs. It costs our Redeemer his life. He gave his life for his people.
And it's not that we think it's, you know, we're going to go to
heaven on a flower. Is that song to him says a flowery bed of
ease? No, he says, spare not, spare not. For thou shalt break
forth on the right hand, and on the left thy seed shall inherit
the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Though
the church seem little in number, great things shall be seen in
her." We don't know what the Lord is going to have in store
for us here. But if we're miserly and we don't
trust in Him and we let reason dictate, my call to you and I
is may we ready ourselves to the task and fret not. and whatever
it takes. We would do whatever it takes
to keep our job, to maintain our homes, to maintain our children,
our family, would we do less for one another and for the gospel
and for this place? Matter of fact, there's a charge
in the Old Testament That said that one of the prophets rebuking
the children of Israel, he said, you'll do this, this and this
with your own. And then the house of God is
just falling around, falling down right around you. And I'm not talking about necessarily
physical things, but Bruce has mentioned time and time again,
John has mentioned, and I've heard it in your prayers. So
thankful that the Lord has raised up a place, a people, a pastor,
Without you, there's no need for me. Without the sheep, there's
no need for another shepherd. So thankful that the Lord has
had a place in the midst of this area. And though the numbers
seem small and the trials seem great, he promises here that
there are going to be more of the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife. Oh, we got things going
on. We got this too. We got five
services, says one pastor. Another place says, oh, we're
growing. We can't contain these million dollar buildings. But
is the gospel being proclaimed there? God's not interested in
that stuff. But may we ready ourselves. Who
shall I send? And we say, Lord, send me. Send
me in large place like him. Spare not lengthen the cords,
strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on
the right hand, the left, and then I know we struggle. I know
we get concerned about things, but he promises fear not for
you'll not be shamed. You will be confounded. You won't
be put to shame. You'll forget the shame of your
youth of our sin. of what we were like. I think
one of the key verses or the key sections in this first point
is found in verse 5. Look at verse 5. For thy maker,
he is our husband, redeemer, Lord, holy one, and God over
all. For thy maker is thine husband. the most perfect and proper husband,
so called. Completely going to take care
of his spouse, completely going to do what he needs to do to
secure, safety, all things necessary as the provider. But there's
more. The Lord of hosts is his name.
Thy Redeemer who bought us. We're bought with a price. He
sacrificed himself unto death, nailed on the cross, did no evil,
did no wrong. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down
his life, took it again, rose from the grave. So we would raise
with him and be with him, our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. There's only one God, only one
Holy One. And that is He with whom we have
to do. The God of the whole earth, in case people miss it, the God
of the whole earth, shall He be called. Yeah? Though desolate, though
seemingly little in number, He's promised great things, He's seen
in her. We don't know what He has in
store for His people. The second promise is found in
verses 6-10. Though for a season our Lord
may seem to be afar from us, He will never leave us alone. Verses 6-10. For the Lord hath
called thee as a woman forsaken. Breathe in spirit. life of youth,
when thou wast refused, saith the Lord, for a small moment
have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on these sayeth the Lord thy Redeemer for this is as the
waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters
of Noah shall no more go over the earth so have I sworn that
I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. And verse 10,
for 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. There are times, there are times,
seasons as he's called here, it seems as though he's far from
us, but he promises He'll never leave us alone. He's there. He
calls. And therefore, if he calls us, he will not forsake us, though
he found us ruined in our sin and greed by our own foolishness.
He treats us like his children that needs chastening, yet not
every we're not ever eternally harmed. And then he gives us
his glorious promise. Noah's promise that he promised
Noah that he would never destroy the world again by flood. And
that promise was seen in the rainbow. Noah's promise is our promise. And when God teaches you his
gospel grace, every time you see a rainbow, you just I just
smile. I just start laughing. You know,
I don't think about all these other things associated with
it, but I know that that promise is my promise because I can't
be destroyed and you can't be destroyed because covenant agreement
between the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. Can't be done. Not talking about whether He
destroys the world with flood, though He promised He would do
that. The greater covenant, the greater promise of redemptive
glory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We, the soul that
sinneth, that needs to die. You and I, who are so foolish
and so sinful and so vile in so many ways, yet when He calls
us, He will not forsake us. And His covenant promise, just
like He promised Noah, Our promise is that he will be merciful to
us, and not forsake us, and not destroy us. Third promise found in verses
11 and 12. Though the church is tried and tossed about, we
will be comforted and helped by Jehovah. Verse 11 and 12.
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Behold, I will lay thy stones
with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. I
will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones. He uses words like afflicted,
not comforted, and tossed. And this is the lot of God's
people while in this world. This world knew not our Savior,
and it will not be friends with us. That's one of the costs of
the gospel. I'm not saying you be mean to
people or et cetera, et cetera. But I'm saying when you stand
for the gospel, you tell them that salvation is entirely of
the Lord. They don't like it. Yes, I like
how he says it's worded. He says, I will lay thy stones.
Thy stones are the rough places, hard places. things that agitate yet he's
going to take our stones the rough places and he's going to
cover them and replace them with sapphires and he says pleasant
stones I will lay thy stones with fair colors lay thy foundations
with sapphires so though the church is tossed and tried and
tempted yet he promises to comfort and he's done so among us we've
been comforted much by his gospel and by one another. The fourth
promise we see in verses 13 and 14. We see the promise of the
church's true character in times of distress. In times of distress
there's at least three things that distinguishes the child
of grace. There's three things that distinguish
the church. Verses 13 and 14. All thy children
shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace
of thy children, In righteousness shalt thou be established, thou
shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear, and
from terror, for it shall not come nearly. There's three things,
at least three things that separate the sheep. Knowledge, peace,
and righteousness. Knowledge. Knowledge of Him. Knowledge of ourselves. His grace
and His gospel. The knowledge of the Holy, the
knowledge of Him is the beginning of life. And when times of distress
come, and difficulty, whether you're going to make it tomorrow,
I'm going to make it tomorrow, or we will all make it tomorrow,
when we're not sure what's happening, we have this Holy Spirit knowledge
that he's on the throne. He hasn't given us what we really
deserve. Everything we need is in him. Which therefore gives
us the second thing, peace. Peace. Children shall be taught
of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children. Peace
of heart peace of mind and peace of soul because Christ, says
Paul, is our peace. He is our peace. And lastly,
righteousness. That is, knowing in Christ we
are okay. This righteousness is outside
of us. This righteousness is outside of this. Why do I know
this? Well, I will skip real quick. Look at verse 17, the
last part of verse 17. Their righteousness is of me.
You know that your righteousness and my righteousness, the book
says it has filthy rags. We're going to get to that when
we go a little bit further in Isaiah in the 60s, in the 60s, chapter
60, 64. Our righteousness, the best that
we can do is filthy rags. But what separates the sheep,
the church, the true church in times of distress is the knowledge,
peace and righteousness, his righteousness. We didn't earn
it. We didn't work for it. We have
it in him. Believe in him. We have it in
him. And lastly, the last promise that we see here is nothing will
ever defeat Christ or his church. And everything shall fulfill
his purpose of grace. 1617 behold I have created the Smith
that blows the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an Instrument
for his work, and I have created the waster to destroy No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper Every tongue that shall
rise up arise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn This
is the heritage of the servants of the Lord his church and their
righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Nothing will ever
defeat Christ or His Church. Everything is on schedule, everything
is on time. If you and I are in Him, everything
is fulfilling His purpose, because He creates the Smith He creates
the waster, he creates the smith that works with his instruments.
It's all of God. And incidentally, no weapon that's
formed against us shall prosper because nothing formed against
him can prosper. So may we never forget that our
righteousness is of him. Our personal righteousness serves
filthy rags, but our imputed and imparted righteousness is
as God himself, and God will accept it, and as God is satisfied,
he will accept and receive a righteousness which he gives. May you and I,
this church, this group, this band of brothers and sisters
in Christ, may we lay hold of these wonderful promises that
have been set forth. Tried, troubled, tossed about,
afflicted? Yes. Discouraged? Oftentimes. But may we remember
that we are the same. We are the same, knowing that
he cares for us. He will never leave us. He will
never forsake us. Because he cares too much for
his church. John, would you close this, please? you.