Okay, this evening then Isaiah,
Isaiah 54, as I said earlier, I'm taking the title for the
message from verse five. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is married to him. Isaiah 54 verse five, for thy
maker, notice that capital M, he's the maker, that is, he's
the creator of all things, isn't he? The Creator of all things,
for thy maker is thy husband. For He chose us in that eternal
covenant of grace. He chose us, we didn't choose
Him. He chose us to be His bride. For the Lord of hosts, He's Lord
of heaven and earth, is His name. He's the Lord of His people,
and He's our Redeemer. He's our Deliverer. He delivered
us. With His precious blood, thy
Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Boy, there's a good description
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of
Israel. The Lord God of Israel, the God,
He's the God of the whole earth. He's the Redeemer of His people,
but He's the God of the whole earth. He's every man's Lord.
Every knee's gonna bow and every tongue's gonna confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. Married to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's true of every believer.
We're married to Him. He'll never divorce us. He'll
never leave us. He'll never forsake us. His love
and kindness toward us shall be forever and ever and ever. We're going to study in Revelation,
when we get over to chapter 19, it talks about one of those blessed
things that's given in the Revelation. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. But in Revelation 19 verse 9,
blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the
Lamb. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his bride, we're called the bride, the Lamb, the wife.
Christ married his church in the eternal covenant of grace
and he died, he came in time and died. with our sin upon Him
to justify us by His blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. He's called us out of darkness
and His marvelous light. He made us new creatures in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, He's our creator. He's
our maker. I am what I am by the grace of
God. We are clothed in His righteousness
alone. It mentions that In verse 17
and verse 14, look at verse 14, Isaiah 54, 14, in righteousness
thou shalt be established, or established in His righteousness. His faithfulness. And then verse
17, the last part, this is the heritage of the servants of the
Lord, and their righteousness is of me. Aren't you glad it's
that way? Aren't you glad that we're no
longer going about to establish a righteousness of our own? You
remember from our study in Isaiah 64, where he said all of our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. I don't want to trust anything
I've done for salvation. I want to be found in Christ,
my righteousness. Being his bride, talking about
the church, and made one with him, we shall never be separated
from him. It's an eternal union. So it's
Christ and his church. Believers are eternally, happily
married to our head, the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot separate
the body from the head. What's true of the head, holy,
harmless, undefiled, is true of the body. Remember what we
read over here? Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. That he shall present to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blame, without blemish. What a blessing to be
married to the Lord Jesus Christ, to call Him my husband. He's
my Lord. He's my husband. In Isaiah 53,
we see the priestly redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquity. It
pleased the Lord to bruise Him, to put away our sin. In Isaiah
54, we see the fruit of His redeeming work, the Lord shall and it shall
prosper in his hand. I love that word prosper, verse
17. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And then Isaiah 53 10, the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. And he uses that word
again, look at Isaiah 55 11, prosper. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereunto I send it." Everything the Lord does, it prospers because
salvation is of the Lord. So when Isaiah 54, we see the
fruit of his redeeming work that shall prosper in his hand. The death and sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ is our salvation. It's our life. Remember he said
in Revelation 1.18, I am he that liveth and was dead. Behold,
I'm alive forevermore. And then it says in John 14.19,
because I live, you shall live also. In him we live and move
and have our being. Without Christ crucified, we
would have no salvation, would we? That's why Paul said I'm
determined. nothing or anything among you
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Without Christ crucified we would
have no forgiveness of sin. Without Christ crucified we would
have no righteousness. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. We would be forever cast out
of the presence of the Lord except the Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin for us, a substitute. We need a substitute, don't we?
Who satisfied God, and that's what we have in the Redeemer.
He's a substitute for us, represents us as our great high priest,
who satisfied God's law and justice for us. Now, let's take a look
at Isaiah 54 for just a few minutes and glean a few thoughts out
of these first 10 verses. Sing, O barren, Thou that did
not bear, we bear no fruit in ourselves. By nature, we are
barren without God, without hope, and without Christ. But now,
he says, you break forth into singing. Sing unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sin. Cry aloud that thou did not prevail
with child, barren, frail. sinful, guilty, for more are
the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the Lord." Now this is the way of grace. Now we're
instructed, the Church of Christ is compared to a barren, childless
woman, but now we are instructed to sing about the glories of
being blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't turn, let me just
read this to you, remember from our study in the Revelation.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
to open the seals thereof, for Thou was slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people,
and nation, and made us under our God, kings, and priests.
Now sing, oh heavens, sing over. Thou art worthy to take the book.
That's what he's saying there. Sing, O barren. Now we're blessed in Christ.
We have something to sing about. The visible church of the Lord
had a very small beginning in the days of his fleshly ministry. He just had 12 apostles. And when the Lord gathered his
church together before his ascension to glory, There were just 120
believers there in the book of Acts. And then when Peter preached
the gospel to those people on the day of Pentecost, the Lord
added 3,000 souls. And then again on another occasion,
when Peter and John preached the gospel, the Lord added 5,000
more souls. So just in a little short time,
8,000, the church there in Jerusalem, But again, we read in the Revelation
that there is a people 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of
thousands. That's a lot, isn't it? Redeemed by the blood of Christ.
In John 12, our Lord said, the hour has come that the Son of
Man should be glorified, talking about His sacrificial death.
And then He uses this homely illustration about a corn of
wheat. He said, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it will abide alone. But if it die, if you plant that
seed and put it in the ground, when it's blessed of God, it
brings forth much fruit. And that's exactly what happened
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He brings forth much
fruit. Since his resurrection is glorious
and Thronement, great multitudes of sinners have been called,
begotten of God by the incorruptible seed, the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever of his own will, beget he us with
the word of truth. Therefore, we do break forth
into singing. We do rejoice that the Lord Jesus
Christ has redeemed us from all our sins and saved us by his
marvelous grace. We do rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say, oh we have so much reason to rejoice in him,
don't we? We are the true Israel which
worship God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. We do rejoice, we do sing,
we do cry aloud. Break forth in the singing. The desolate now has been made
to multiply by his grace. Look at verse two. Enlarge the
place of thy tent. There's so many people gonna
be brought in that we have to have a bigger tent. Let them
stretch forth the curtains of thy habitation. Spare not, lengthen
the cords, strengthen the stakes. There'll be a multitude. The
Lord is a host of a multitude of sinners. Build a bigger tent,
a bigger house, a bigger building. The Lord is telling us and prophesying
about the fruit of His redeeming work. All for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died, He's going to cross their path and call them out
of darkness into His marvelous light. How many people has He
called out of darkness? I'll tell you, a lot of people.
A lot of people. The Lord said, I will build my
church in the gates of hell, shall not prevail against us.
The Lord tells us to go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. The Lord has a people everywhere
in this world, of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue, under
heaven, and they will hear the gospel, his elect will, and he
will call them out. And they will be his people.
They will own him and confess that he is our Lord. He is our
husband. He is our head. Look at verse
3. For thou shalt break forth on
the right hand and on the left. And thy seed shall inherit the
Gentiles. The seed of God's elect. And
make the desolate cities to be inhabited. This was certainly
true in the early establishment of the church. When God, through
persecution, took that Jewish church and scattered them throughout
the Gentile world into Galatia, into Corinth, into Rome, and
many other pagan cities, the gospel was sent of God and blessed
of God. We studied in the Revelation
about those seven churches in Asia Minor, Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, all pagan Gentile cities. And the Lord sent a gospel preacher
there. And the Lord called out a multitude
of sinners. He's still doing the same thing
today. God has not changed. He's the same today, yesterday,
and forever. He's still this day sending out
gospel preachers to preach the gospel, and the Lord is still
blessing His people in different cities. Ashland, Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky. Pikeville,
Kentucky. Kingsport, Tennessee. Danville,
Kentucky. Dangas, West Virginia. The Lord
is still calling out His people in various pagan cities to make
them His eternal inheritance. They shall inherit all spiritual
blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 4. Fear not. Fear
not. Did you ever have thoughts that
the Lord's purpose will be defeated? We should never have any diminishing
thoughts about the Lord's eternal purpose which He purposed in
Christ Jesus. It shall be done. Fear not, for
thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, confounded
or ashamed. For thou shalt not be put to
shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, thy foolishness,
and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood." All our former
sins, God said, they're all put away. We have no reason to fear.
We have no reason to be ashamed. He's not ashamed to call us brethren. As Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and the
salvation. He says, fear not. Now turn with
me to a few places here. Remember how many times we've
read that statement in the book of Isaiah. Turn back to Isaiah
41, verse 10. Fear not. Fear not, I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will give thee aid, we sing
that song. Isaiah 41, 10, I must confess
this is one of my favorite verses. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Isaiah 41, look at verse 14.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel. I will help thee,
saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Fear
not, fear not. Look at Isaiah 43 verse one. Isaiah 43 verse one. But now,
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not, fear not, for I have redeemed thee,
I have called thee by thy name, you're mine. Do not fear. Trust the Lord. We have no need
to be ashamed. We have no need to be confounded.
He has laid in Zion for foundation a tri-stone, a precious cornerstone,
and we shall never be forced out, never be confounded, never
be ashamed. No need to be mindful of our
past sinful religious pride and idolatry, our barrenness and
our unfruitfulness. The Lord Jesus Christ has put
away all our sin. He says, I remember their sin
no more. We often remember them, don't
we? We often remember our failings, our sinfulness. But aren't you
glad that the Lord doesn't remember our sin? They're separated from
us as far as the east is from the west. Now look at verse 5. Isaiah 54 verse 5. And here's
the reason for all these blessings. For thy maker is thy husband.
Oh, we have a good husband. We have a good husband. Our God
shall supply all our need according to His riches and glory through
Christ Jesus. He is called Jehovah Driver.
The Lord will provide. Thy maker is thy husband. But
if I'm married to Him, if I'm one with Him and united to Him,
I have no need to fear. The Lord will provide for us.
The Lord will take care of us. Who is He? He's the Lord of hosts.
He's the Lord of His people. He's our Redeemer. He's the Redeemer
who is the Holy One of Israel. He is a successful Redeemer who's
redeemed us with His own precious blood. He's a God of the whole
earth. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's a God of the whole earth. There is no place on the top
side of God's earth where He doesn't reign in absolute sovereignty. Nothing takes place without the
sovereign will of God being absolutely done. I mean nothing. Nothing takes place without the
sovereign will of God being accomplished. He is the Lord our maker. I often
think of this Psalm 100 verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He
is God, it is He that made us, not we ourselves. We're no self,
we often hear successful people say about, well, I'm a self-made
man. No, you're not, you're a fool. You're fooled what you are. Everything
I know, everything I have, everything I am, everything I'm blessed
to do is by His sovereign grace. His sovereign grace. Knowing
that the Lord, He is God, He had made us, not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. We're the sheep. He's the shepherd,
the good shepherd. We are the sheep of his hand. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. The Lord of glory is our husband.
We're one with him. No closer relationship among
men than a husband and a wife. Remember we read these two shall
be one flesh. Christ and His church are one. What's true of Him is true of
them. What's true of the head is true
of the body. We're one with Him. Remember
our Lord said in John 17 in His prayer, I in them and thou in
me, that we may be made perfect in one. That's so good, isn't
it? That's such a blessing to think
about that. The Lord of hosts is His name. He is Lord of a
special purchased people. He bought us with His own blood.
God bought the church with His own blood. He not only chose
us in eternity, but in time He died in our room, in our stead,
to put away our sin. And then He called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. We are His purchased people.
And then I love this statement here. He's your Redeemer. He's our Deliverer. He's our
Savior who saves us from our sin and He's our Redeemer that
delivers us. He delivered us out of the kingdom
of darkness and put us into the kingdom of God's dear Son, translated. He's our Redeemer. You remember
the story in the book of Ruth about Boaz, the kinsman Redeemer? There were several qualifications
according to the law of God for someone to be a near kin redeemer,
a kinsman redeemer. He had to be related to that
person. He had to be willing to redeem. He had to have the right to redeem,
the power to redeem, and the ability to redeem. All of that
is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is near kin to us. The word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. He has the right to redeem,
because he showed this by his sovereign grace. He has the power
to redeem. He has the ability to redeem,
and he has the will. He has the will to redeem, doesn't
he? He's the God of the whole earth.
He's the God of the whole earth, the sovereign ruler and king
of all things. He is God, our Savior. In Psalm 47, in Psalm 47, let's
turn there and read that. Psalm 47, He's called the King
of all the earth. Psalm 47. I think I'm right. Psalm 47. Psalm 47, verse 7. Psalm 47, verse 7. Well, let's
read verse 6 as well. Well, verse 5, let's start there.
God has gone up with a shout to the Lord with the sound of
a trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises
unto our King. Sing praises for God is the King
of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
God's reign is over the heathen. God sitteth upon the throne of
His holiness. The princes of the people are
gathered together, even the people of God, the God of Abraham, for
the shields of the earth belong to the Lord. He is greatly exalted. God is the King of all the earth.
Fear not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. What a husband we have. He sought
us when we were unlovely. He called us to Himself when
we were ungodly. When we were yet without strength
and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. He commended His
love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, He died for
us. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He redeemed us by His precious blood, in whom we have
redemption, from our sin, the forgiveness of our sin, through
His precious blood. He quickened us together with
Him. You have to be quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sin. Now, don't you want to be
married to Him forever? And this marriage is eternal.
It's an eternal marriage. The God of the whole earth. That's
what he is called. What a husband and head and Lord,
Redeemer and Savior we have. Luke 6, for the Lord hath called
thee as a woman forsaken. Forsaken and grieved and refused. That's our description. And yet
the Lord called us. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace. The Lord called us. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of His power. We were forsaken. We were grieved. We were refused
the law of God that was against us, contrary to us, that condemned
us. And yet the Lord called us out
of darkness in His marvelous light. Look at verse 7. For a small moment I have forsaken
thee, but with great mercies I'll gather thee. God gathers
us with His great mercy. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee, for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will
I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. He's the Redeemer. who actually
and really has obtained for us eternal redemption with His own
blood. Sometimes it seems and sometimes
it appears that the Lord has forsaken us and hid His face
from us, but it's never truly the case, not fully and not finally. It's only for a small moment.
It's only a little wrath that the Lord would chase in us because
He loves us. that He might gather us to Himself
with great mercies. You see that in verse 7? Great mercies. The Lord delights
to show mercy to His people. And then He says, with everlasting
kindness, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us. It is the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, I've given this to you many times, but it
bears repeating. The Lord must strip us before
He clothes us. The Lord must break us and wound
us before He heals us. The Lord must empty us before
He fills us with His grace. The Lord must convict us of our
sin before He converts us and makes us new creatures in Christ.
The Lord must teach us. what we are by nature, and then
makes us trophies of His love and trophies of His grace. A
little verse 9, for as the waters of Noah, he talks about covenant
mercies now, these everlasting kindness and these great mercies.
For as the waters of Noah, for this is as the waters of Noah
unto me, for as the waters, for as I have sworn by the waters
of Noah, that the waters of Noah shall
no more go over the earth, that is, that deluge, that great flood
in Noah's day. So have I sworn that I would
not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee, or 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,
save the Lord, to have mercy upon thee. This salvation we
enjoy in Christ is like unto the typical salvation in Noah's
day, of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment. In
Noah's day, we see the ark of God that was prepared by God,
by His instruction, by His will, and by His purpose. We see God
putting Noah and his family inside the ark before it ever started
raining. And then the flood came, and
the ship floated, and those inside that ark were safe and secure. Noah, his wife, and those six
others, his sons and their wives. And then it says, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. For this is as the waters of
Noah unto me, or 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. Noah was saved from the
wrath of the flood waters by being in the ark." And again,
this is a picture of the church being saved from the wrath of
God. being inside that ark. Christ is that ark. Remember,
he delivered us from the wrath to come. He has not appointed
us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And God, we know, made a covenant
with Noah and put a rainbow in the sky and told him that he
would not destroy the earth again by floodwaters. Our merciful
Lord has made an everlasting covenant of grace with His church,
and there is, therefore, in the Lord Jesus Christ, no condemnation
to those who are in Him. In closing, look at verse 10. For the mountains, they shall
depart, and the hills, these hills in East Kentucky, the hills
will be removed, the mountains of the mighty rocky mountains
of the west or wherever the mountains may be. The mountains and the
hills, they're going to be removed. God's going to destroy this earth
as we know it. We know this earth is reserved
under everlasting destruction, not by floodwaters, but by fire. I know all these environmental
people are so concerned about global warming, climate change,
but they have no concern about the fiery judgment of God. The
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also, and the work
therein shall be burned up. But the mountains and the hills,
oh, they're going to be removed. There's going to be a great dissolution,
a great dissolving of things, and He's going to make a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But we're
given assurance of these two promises found in verse 10. My kindness will never be removed. God's mercy is an everlasting
mercy. You see that? But my kindness
shall not depart from thee. is His love toward His people.
He loved us with an everlasting love. Nothing can separate us
from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither
shall the covenant of my peace be removed. Oh, the hills and
the mountains, they're going to be gone. But His everlasting
mercy shall not depart, and His covenant of my peace." Now how
do we have peace with God? We only have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace for us with His
own blood. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord. that have mercy on thee. He's had mercy on us. You know
the word covenant is used in scripture over 250 times. God is a covenant God. God of
peace that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ
through the blood of everlasting covenant through the blood of everlasting
covenant the God of peace that brought again from the dead Hebrews
13, 20. I'm going to read it to you.
Our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. You see, remember we read how
many times in Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ is a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Before Adam sinned, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood. Before he fell, Adam fell, Christ
stood as a surety of that everlasting covenant of grace. Through the
blood of the everlasting covenant, and it shall make you perfect
in every good work to do His will, working in you that which
is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory forever and ever. He gets all the glory, doesn't
He? All the glory for the salvation of his covenant people, the God
of peace. God had made with me an everlasting
covenant, as David said on his deathbed, order and all things,
and is sure this is all my hope and this is all my salvation. Oh, what a husband we have.