Isaiah 54:1-16

Try and suck all the sweetness that you can out of this chapter while we read it. The personal application of a promise to the heart by the Holy Spirit is that which is wanted. The honey in Jonathan's wood never enlightened his eyes until he dipped the point of his rod into it and tasted it. Try and do the same. This chapter is the wood wherein every bough doth drip with virgin honey. Sip: taste be satisfied.

Isaiah 54:1. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shall 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.

Yet, they are called upon to praise God before the mercy comes. «Sing, O Barren,» whilst yet barren. Sing, O desolate one, while yet desolate; and thou who art narrowed and confined for space, thank God that he is about to enlarge thee, and begin already to stretch thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. We ought to act upon faith, and sing upon faith. The songs which are made at the sight of mercy are very sweet, but the songs that are sung before the mercy comes are those which are most acceptable to God. We may say of the sonnets of faith, «Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.»

Isaiah 54:4. 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.

The dark past, the dreary past, shall be so obliterated with abounding mercy that they shall forget it. Thy memory of it shall not be painful. It shall only be as a foil behind the bright diamond of mighty mercy, if thou dost remember it at all.

Isaiah 54:5. For thy maker is thine husband;

Bound to thee by the dearest, closest, and most enduring ties.

Isaiah 54:5. The LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall be called. «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. For a small moment»

Not «a moment,» but «for a small moment.»

Isaiah 54:7. Have I forsaken thee: but with great mercies 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 thee; saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

This belongs to the whole Church of God. I know we might refer it all to the Church in general, but I invite you tonight to remember that what belongs to the Church as a body belongs to every member of that mystical body. Therefore, feast here. Be not afraid. Take these words as spoken to you even to you by God the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 54:9. For this 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. 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.

What more can he say than to you he hath said? What surer pledges can he give? Oh! rest, rest, rest, sweetly rest, on this sure word of covenant love. Then let the mountains move. He told you they would. Then let the hills of your comfort sink. He told you they would. But even then, when earth itself doth reel, and the very pillars of the universe are snapped, he standeth still the same. «I have sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.»

Isaiah 54:11. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Built with jewels.

Isaiah 54:12. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

They must be rare sights if the windows are so rare. If the windows be of agate, what are the sights that are seen through them? And if the very gates and doors are carbuncles what must there be in the house of love within? If the very borders and the outside fringes of the royal domains of heaven be of precious stones, what must it be to be there? Remember that the best thing in this world is trodden under feet in the world to come; for we are told that the streets are paved with gold. Men hunt after it here, and tread on it there, for they have nothing better there than this world can possibly afford them.

Isaiah 54:13. And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;

It must be a greater privilege, than windows of agates and gates of carbuncle, to see our children to see all the children of God taught by his own Spirit.

Isaiah 54:13. And great shall be the peace of thy children.

That is the most precious pearl of all, with its soft radiance, precious to the soul.

Isaiah 54:14. 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 near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me:

Enemies will come, but God will not be with them.

Isaiah 54:15. Whosoever, shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,

For he cannot blow any more than God lets him. He is God's creature. The maker of the weapons of war is still in the hands of God.

Isaiah 54:16. And that bringeth forth an instrument for his work: and I have created the waster to destroy.

When he does his worst, he is only doing what I meant he should do. The divine decree of God still, with its mighty circle, doth encompass the worst deed of man, and overrules it all for the good of his Church.