Response to the Suffering Servant – Pt. 4

once again to Isaiah chapter
55 Isaiah chapter 55 where we have been for several
weeks and essentially what we are doing is reviewing God in his suggested or prescribed response
to the suffering servant that he introduces in Isaiah 53. We’ve reviewed a few of these
verses. We’re very familiar with Isaiah
53 and it’s entirely appropriate that we consider Isaiah 53 frequently
at the Lord’s table. This is a passage with direct
reference to the suffering that our Savior endured on the cross. For our purposes this morning,
I just want to remind you of just a few of those. We have
read verses 3 and 4 and verses 5 and 6. I would just call attention
if you’re not reading along with me, just in your mind as you
listen. Verse seven says he was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth like a
lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent
before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth
by oppression and judgment. He was taken away as and as for
his generation who considered that He was cut off out of the
land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke
was due. Jesus Christ suffered and paid
your penalty on the cross and my penalty. No wonder then God
himself calls for a response. He dictates the response that
he expects to the suffering servant. We have spent many weeks considering. We looked at, in Isaiah 54, the
response to the suffering servant was joy and redemption. That’s essentially the first
thing that God says is there should be rejoicing. The second
consideration later on in that chapter, in verses 7 through
the end of the chapter, the response to the suffering servant provides
assurance, a sure confidence in what God has provided in that
suffering servant. In God’s plan of redemption,
God provides confidence. Last Lord’s Day, we began to
consider Isaiah 55. And in this particular response,
or this element of the response, the response to the suffering
servant petitions, it asks for, it pleads for faith in the Messiah. I mean, what better way, what
better response could there be but for God to call people to
faith? if you would, and just by way
of review, but also to get a running start at verses 8 and following,
pick up with me, if you would, in verse 1. Ho, everyone who
thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come,
buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk. without
money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen
carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself
in abundance. Incline your ear and come to
me. Listen that you may live and
I will make an everlasting covenant with you. according to the faithful
mercy shown to David. Behold, I have made him a witness
to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold,
you will call a nation you do not know, a nation which knows
you not will run to you because of the Lord your God, even the
Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.” Seek the Lord
while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return to the Lord,
and he will have compassion. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven and do not return there without watering
the earth and making it bare and sprout and furnishing seed
to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be which
goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty
without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the
matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy
and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will
break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees
of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush,
the cypress will come up. Instead of the nettle, the myrtle
will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord for an
everlasting sign which will not be cut off. Last week we began
to consider this invitation to draw near to God, and we saw,
we looked, just as we just read, at those four distinct echoes. There are four calls to salvation. Echoes, if you will. First of
all was that suggestion of commerce, to come and buy without money. It’s free. It’s all free for
the taking. Salvation is indeed free. Then
he uses this suggestion, this illustration of nourishment. of how great a tendency we have
in the world to go and eat junk food, spiritually speaking. He
says, come and eat what’s good. Come and taste what truly is
saving. Then the revelation of promise,
which we spent no little time on. Incline your ear, come to
me, listen that you may live. This fits in with all of the
prophecies of the Old Testament regarding David’s throne. and the Messiah who would sit
on it. Then finally, the introduction, the first thought of the suggestion
of repentance. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call upon him while he’s near. Let the wicked forsake
his way. He calls us not only to faith,
but he calls us to repentance, to forsake our former ways. But there’s a second entire portion
of this chapter. The first portion lays out, as
I said, these four distinct echoes of this call to salvation. The
second is really an explanation. From verses eight through 13,
it is all one big, long-running explanation. What I would call
four glorious aspects of God’s plan of redemption. For our purposes,
go back to verse seven. just for a moment, because here
we see the first of these four aspects introduced. God is offering
us a complete forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ, His suffering
servant. And we see first and foremost
that God’s forgiveness is unbounded. God’s forgiveness is unbounded.
Look at verse 7, let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous
man his thoughts, let him return to the Lord and he will have
compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. There is where the explanation
begins. Why place our faith in Christ? Why respond to these repeated
invitations? Why repent of our sin? Because
when we do, if we do, God will forgive. This process, whether
by the overtly wicked man that he points out or the man who
is unrighteous in his thoughts, the whole process as we saw is
called repentance. It’s a turning. It’s a turning
from sin to God. And what is the return for repentance?
It’s that which God has been referencing throughout this entire
section. And I just want you to glance
down at the greater portion of this chapter. Look at verse 1.
It’s the remedy that God provides for the spiritual thirst alluded
to in verse 1. That’s what we get when we repent
It is the good bread which only God can provide, as he refers
in verse 2. It is the life, the spiritual
life that he promises in verse 3. It is the covenant mercy,
a pact that God has enacted that he describes in verses 3 through
5. And it’s made abundantly clear
here in verse 7. It is God’s compassion. It is
God’s pardon. In a word, it is forgiveness.
God knew, God knew how nervous people would be at the very consideration
of drawing near to a holy God. One Puritan described it this
way, when they came to themselves and so serious a sense of their
sins and of the just and holy nature and law of God, It would
be an overwhelming burden to their awakened consciences and
make them very prone to conclude that God either would not or
would not pardon such horrid delinquencies and therefore would
drive them from God. rather than drawing them to God.
God knows this. God knows our hearts and we’re
about to see why we have such a tendency to think this way. God knows that we’re disinclined
to repent because we seriously doubt that God would forgive
us. But for any who will forsake
their sins and come to Him in faith, God will not just forgive,
but note what it says, He will abundantly pardon. This is the
ultimate reward of our response. We are made right with God. We come to Jesus Christ, the
suffering servant, in faith, and we are forgiven in full,
abundantly. We stand before a holy God now
justified. We have a right to be in His
presence because of Jesus Christ. But God needed to communicate
this. Not only this invitation to faith, this fourfold invitation
repeated over and over again, come to me. But these lead to the sure promise
of forgiveness that God Himself holy in His very nature, having
already dealt with the penalty of sin, will show us the most
practical mercy. Again, God’s kind of mercy isn’t
just pity. It isn’t just that God feels
sorry for us, but that mercy that issues forth in forgiveness,
real forgiveness. And the forgiveness will be,
as he says here, magnified, multiplied, more than adequate, abundant.
Our sins will be covered. Luke records an episode in his
gospel. where Jesus is speaking and he
lays out this story. A money lender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the
other 50. When they were unable to repay,
he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him
more? Simon answered and said, I suppose
the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, you have
judged correctly. Turning toward the woman, he
said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet,
but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with
her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she,
since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with
oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason
I say to you, her sins which are many have been forgiven,
for she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little.”
God forgives abundantly. And it shows forth in our response
to Him, our worship. The point of this entire story
is simple. Our gratitude is or should be
in keeping with the level of forgiveness that we have received.
The more that we have been forgiven, the greater our worship, which
means that God our Father often has to deal with not only great
sinners, but very great sinners. And He does so even as in that
passage with great eagerness and magnanimity. He abundantly
pardons. The greater our sin, whether
it’s great in its severity or great in its longevity, great
in its duration, God’s forgiveness is greater. And the most amazing
thing is that even when we come to God in repentance for our
past sin and we come in faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, God
knows at that moment that while we express our desire to be free
from our sin and to pursue righteousness, He knows at that moment that
we are not done sinning and that Christ’s blood is applied forward
to these sins as well. He forgives abundantly. Of all
the truths in Scripture, perhaps this is one of the greatest.
that God’s mercy, infinitely practical, it is not just compassion,
but pardon, forgiveness. He wipes it clean completely,
and he does so in abundance. God could never be accused of
stinginess in the matter of forgiveness. Just as God is the perfect example
of any of His attributes, wisdom, sovereignty, goodness, holiness,
so also is He in the exercise of His mercy. He is more merciful
than any. As one pastor put it, God is
ever like Himself. Behold Him in creation. In these
myriads of mighty worlds He has hung above us in the heavens.
How like the greatness of one is that fullness of immensity.
Behold Him in the gifts which He blesses us in our earth. What a lavish hand He scatters
beauties and glories. And hereto, just as in creation,
as the God of pardon again God is like himself. He pardons like
himself with divine generosity. You see, when God forgives even
our grossest sins, even our most long running sin patterns, he
does not establish some kind of an account whereby we begin
to reconcile our debt with him. That debt is paid. and it’s paid
in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not forgive us with
a dubious smirk expecting us full well to return to our sin. God does not forgive us reluctantly
or partially or doubtfully or skeptically or grudgingly. God
forgives abundantly. And God showed us mercy get this
because it pleases him to do so. It makes God happy to be
magnanimous in his forgiveness. One great pastor so excellently
said it, God’s mercy is as much higher than our thoughts of it.
We can’t even fathom how great God’s mercy is except that we
know the depth just of our own sin. His mercy transcends all our
conceptions of it. It is so large and rich and free
that we can hardly even bring ourselves to believe in it. He
is at least as pleased to forgive our sins as we are to have them
forgiven. Did you get that? It makes God
happy. This is what God does. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians,
the book of Ephesians, to chapter one. I don’t have a lot of time
today, and I’m not gonna take a lot of time here in the book
of Ephesians, but I want you to see, I want you to basically
just understand this point that he’s making, that this is part
of God’s pleasure to forgive, and to forgive abundantly. For our purposes this morning,
let’s start in verse five. In love, he predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. Why? Or you might even ask, how? According
to the kind intention of his will. It made him happy. It pleased
God. to the praise of the glory of
His grace which He freely bestowed on us and the beloved. In Him
we have redemption. He buys us back for God. We have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches
of His grace which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight,
He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His
kind intention. The whole process of redemption,
the whole plan of redemption was ordained out of God’s goodness. It made God happy, pleased to
do so. Back, if you would, to the prophet
Isaiah to chapter 55. Chapter 55. One of the great privileges I
have, as I’ve told you before, is that I have the privilege
to read centuries, thousands of years, literally, of thoughts
and commentary on various passages. This one is rich. First of all,
here’s one comment, just on this idea that God showed mercy because
it pleased him to do so. God’s mercy is so large and rich
and free that we can hardly bring ourselves to believe it. He is
at least as pleased to forgive our sins as we are to have them
forgiven. But the second point is the one
that I want to zero in on. We see God’s attributes in his
plan of redemption. Here’s his comment. He shows His desire for our salvation
and His readiness to accept us in doing what none could have
imagined possible, in sending His Son to take our nature upon
Him and to become man for our sakes. Here is the pledge of
His faithfulness. Here is the assurance which none
can doubt. that He loves the souls of men
with the love with which He loves His only begotten Son. When we will not come to Him,
He comes to us. When we refuse to seek Him, He
comes Himself to seek and save us. He does not send. He does not call merely. He comes down from heaven and
lays aside His glory and speaks to us face to face with the words
of men. with the fellow feeling of man,
with the affections of love and tender earnestness of man, He
who made the light and rules beyond the stars, comes and calls
us, speaks to us with the simple plainness with which a father
speaks to his little children or a child appeals to a grown
man. God in His wonderful plan of
redemption reveals Himself. And that mercy, thirdly, is so
far beyond our own understanding. God is far more forgiving, as
we’re going to see in a moment, because we’re so steeped in our
own view of justice. He says this. This is another
pastor who said, the justice which only half knows the magnitude
of the fence is often merciless. Do you get what he says? You
take your most righteous earthly human judge. He doesn’t even
know half of the crime. But even in his justice, because
he is in the role of judge, he is often less than merciless. He doesn’t even know the depth
of the crime. The justice which sees it in all heinousness is
ready to pardon, even where all hope of clemency from mortal
weak and erring as himself is gone. To him who knows no sin,
who is absolutely inaccessible to temptation, the forlorn, the
guilty soul appeals. What he says is, here’s God,
who not only knows the crime, He knows the thought pattern
that went into the crime, He knows the whole life history
of the man. And even still, God is eager,
ready, and willing to forgive. No wonder in Exodus, when God introduced
Himself to Moses, He introduced Himself as the Lord the Lord
God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in
loving kindness, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives
iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means
leave the guilty unpunished. This is our God. This is the
God of forgiveness. This is God’s appeal to come
and to receive this kind of forgiveness because God’s forgiveness is
absolutely unbounded. It knows no bounds. Point two. We are considering
God’s offer of complete forgiveness. We have been bidden to draw near
to God for an offer of complete forgiveness, and we’re looking
at these four glorious aspects of this great plan of redemption. Not only is God’s forgiveness
unbounded, but God’s counsel is divine. There’s no other way
to say it. God’s thoughts are his own, and
they are so far beyond measure beyond ours. Look at verse eight.
Why will He abundantly pardon? He gives us the reason, the explanation
in verse 8. For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are My ways your ways, declares the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher
than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Now on the face of it, this verse
means at least this. that God’s thoughts, His ways,
His methods, His counsels, His plans are nothing like our own. They’re exceedingly and transcendently
high. Not only can we not calculate
them, we cannot fully comprehend them, nor can we access them
beyond what He purposes to reveal to us. It’s the same thought
as Romans 11. Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
His judgments and unfathomable His ways. For who has known the
mind of the Lord or who became His counselor? Who has first
given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.
Amen. The thought is at least that. Sinners, obviously, part of the
call to repentance, are urged to seek God’s new way. Because God’s plans are holy,
theirs are unholy, and He calls them to a new and different way.
Given the context, and that the context is Isaiah 53, and the
context is one of God appealing for a right and proper response
to the suffering servant, given the context, there’s a more direct
explanation of these words. The bottom line is that God does
not forgive like we mere men forgive. My ways are not your
ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.
His thoughts are higher, His ways are different, at the outset
this morning. We noted at the introduction
that God seems to go out of His way, doesn’t He, to assure those
who might repent, who might come to faith, that it is not without
purpose. It isn’t for naught. It isn’t
like apologizing to a mere man, a friend or a foe, who may or
may not forgive, who will likely, just like you, carry a grudge. When we come to God in forgiveness,
it’s not like apologizing to a mere man and God wants us to
know that. One commentator said it so excellently
when he said, he characterized it and he said, if any man provoke
or injure you, check me on this. If any man provoke or injure
you, especially if you do it greatly or frequently or maliciously,
you are very slow and backward to forgive him. And if you do
or seem to forgive and promise to forget and pass it by, yet
you retain a secret grudge in your hearts, and upon the least
occasion and slight offense, you forget your promise, and
you are soon weary with forgiving and prone to revenge, but it
is not so with God. Slow to anger, ready to forgive. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. He
doesn’t forgive like we forgive. We tend to place people on probation,
don’t we? You’re gonna need time to prove
yourself. You need time to earn back trust,
right? Haven’t we thought that or said
it or heard it? You see, this is where God says
that He is completely in a different place than the forgiveness that
men offer. His manner of forgiveness is
completely different. God is eager to be reconciled
to fallen man. If someone abuses us or slights
us, we take offense. And when it happens repeatedly,
habitually, then we really begin to draw the line. And if we will
even receive someone who has committed a repeat offense against
us, we certainly aren’t eager to extend any kind of grace to
them. And though sometimes we call
our efforts forgiveness, it’s not restoration as God would
have it, and therefore it’s nothing like God’s version. God wants
us to know this is completely different. This is precisely
the nature of the lesson that is presented in Matthew 18, isn’t
it? Turn, if you would, to Matthew 18, a very brief glimpse. You know the situation, and I’m
just going to set the context. The disciples had come to Christ,
and they’re talking to Him, asking Him all kinds of questions. During the course of Jesus’ lesson,
Peter asks a question that prompts a very lengthy response. Jump
all the way down to verse 15. If your brother sins, go and
show him his fault in private. If he listens to you, you have
won your brother. Now what we have done with this, we adopt
our church discipline policies based on these verses. You go
to a brother alone, you appeal to him. If he repents, great,
if not, Well, the issue becomes, you know, during the whole course
of this discourse, Peter wants to clarify, what about the repeat
offender? Well, certainly we would know
that God has dealt with a repeat offender many, many, many times,
hasn’t he? In you and I. Look at verse 21. Peter said, Lord, how often shall
my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven
times. Jesus said, I do not say to you up to seven times, but
up to 70 times seven. In other words, infinitely. And
if your brother keeps coming back to you and keeps repenting,
keeps asking you for pardon, keep giving it. Because that’s
how God forgives. Then he tells that story of what
I’ve referred to before as the million dollar sin. the sin where
the slave goes in and pleads his case before a rich king who
forgives him the equivalent of a $10 million debt. And what
does he do? He goes out and begins to choke
his fellow slave for the equivalent of a 16 penny debt. We need to
forgive like God forgives. That’s the whole point of Matthew
18. God is a God of forgiveness. Back, if you would, to Isaiah
55. I told you it would be short. God is a God of forgiveness. As the apostles first began to
preach the gospel, let it be known to you, Acts 13.38, brethren,
that through Him, through Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins
is proclaimed to you. Essentially, that is the very
short version of Isaiah 53 to 55, isn’t it? Through Him, through the suffering
servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sin is proclaimed
to you. Ephesians 1.7, Paul’s version,
in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. Colossians
1, He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us
into the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption. the forgiveness of sin. God is
a God of forgiveness. It’s all designed, let’s acknowledge
that we too should be magnanimous in our forgiveness. As the passage
goes on in Ephesians to say, be kind to one another, tender
hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven
you. We need to be just as magnanimous
in our forgiveness of our brothers as God has been of us. We’re different, aren’t we? God
wants us to know He’s different. Matthew Henry said this, men’s
sentiments concerning sin and Christ and holiness, concerning
this world and the other are vastly different from God’s.
but in nothing more in the matter of reconciliation. God meets
returning sinners with pardoning mercy. He forgives freely, and
as He gives, it is without upbraiding. We forgive and cannot forget,
but when God forgives, He remembers it no more. That is an old word,
that word upbraiding. You know what I guess the best
way for me to describe it? It’s that wagging of the finger
long after he says he’s forgiven. You remember what you did? He
keeps bringing it up. Not God. Not God. He’s different than us. He pardons
us freely, willingly, without any reserve. Heavens, in verse 9 he says,
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. God’s
thoughts are heavenly, they’re different. God’s forgiveness
is not only unbounded, God’s counsel is absolutely divine. It’s God’s way. But there’s a
third point. In our consideration of this
complete forgiveness, And we look at the four glorious aspects
of God’s great plan of redemption. Not only is God’s forgiveness
unbounded and His counsel divine, God’s purposes prevail. You know what this says, in short,
in our modern vernacular? God wins. Look at verses 10 and 11. For
as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return
there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout
and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will
my word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return
to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding
in the matter for which I said it. Here, God begins to declare
that his sovereign purposes do not fail. What God intends, what
God decrees, succeeds. It comes to fruition. It’s successful. The first image that he uses
to describe is this image of the rain and the snow, the water
cycle, if you will. And we should note first that
it falls, doesn’t it? It is part of God’s good gift
to the world. To the just and the unjust, he
waters the earth. Paul, preaching to the heathen
in Acts 14, said, in the generations gone by, he permitted all the
nations to go their own ways, yet he did not leave himself
without a witness. What was the witness? In that
he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons of youth.
Just sit up and take notice. You would know that God was giving
you that good gift of moisture. Psalm 65. You visit the earth
and cause it to overflow. You greatly enrich it. The stream
of God is full of water. You prepare their grain for thus
you prepare the earth. You water its furrows abundantly.
You settle its ridges. You soften it with showers. You
bless its growth. when God here speaking in Isaiah
says that as the rain and the snow come down, He doesn’t stand
and take credit or glory for that there, but it is clearly
due to God’s sovereign providence. Not only do we know here that
the rain falls, but we know that God is the one who makes it fall. We know its function. that it’s
given to satisfy or to feed the earth. And God does this for
the whole world. Just as Jesus says in Matthew,
not only for the just, but for the unjust. This is God’s ordained
water cycle. It’s the mechanism that essentially
feeds the entire world. The water comes down, the ground
becomes saturated, The plants are made to sprout. They feast
themselves on the moisture and the nutrients in the soil. They
take it up in their God-designed root systems. The plants are
harvested, their roots, their leaves, their fruit, their seeds,
and these all serve as food for the whole living world. It’s
an incredible process. And God says here, that in the
very same way as the water cycle functions, so does God’s process
in the revelation of His Word. I mean, look at the passage.
Precisely in the same manner as the rains do come, sent by
God and water the earth and make the plants to grow, just as surely
does God’s Word come. God’s Word, and in this context
of Isaiah 53 to 55, it’s the Gospel. It’s the revelation of
the suffering servant. It’s none other than the gospel,
the good news of Jesus Christ. Just as the water falls according
to God’s sovereign provision and directive, so does His gospel. It brings God’s free gift of
salvation wherever it falls. It’s a refreshing rain whenever
it comes. It’s water to a parched land.
The gentle showers of God’s plan of salvation showers down, saturates
the land, soaks the seeds of the gospel because it is a gift
of God. It’s perfect. It’s perfectly
suited for God’s purposes. Just as in the parable of the
soil. Remember the parable of the soil? The seed is perfect.
Nothing wrong with the seed. When there’s failure in that
story, and there is failure, it’s not because of the quality
of the seed. And here, it’s not because of lack of water. Nothing lacking in the water.
It’s pure, it’s effectual, it’s fitted by God to accomplish its
purpose. To one man it comes and it is
welcomed as a cool drink of water, spiritually speaking. For a man
who is ready to expire from thirst, it comes in a way unique to its
property. It softens the hard-hearted sinner. It begins already to soothe his
deepest needs. The poor sinner had no idea how
close he was to everlasting death, and just as quickly he finds
himself revived by this cool water of the gospel. God is indeed
welling up a fountain already within him. But sadly, here too, with the
same good and God-given water, same water, The water of the
gospel is a man whose heart is hardened like parched soil. Hardened
by sin, hardened in his conscience, and the word of the gospel to
him has a completely different purpose. The word comes and instead
of soaking gently into the soil, soon begins to pool and then
flow and quickly becomes an unchecked torrent, washing away any seeds
and instead of bringing life brings destruction. Either way,
bringing life or destroying the water of the gospel comes and
when it comes it most certainly will accomplish the purpose for
which God has given it. As Paul put it, the gospel is
either an aroma of life to life or death to death. In the words
of the saints of a bygone day, if God’s word does not quicken,
it must deaden. It will either bring life and
salvation, cooling drink, or it will be a torrent of destruction. God’s forgiveness is unbounded. God’s counsel is divine. And God’s purposes prevail. But
fourthly, God’s blessings abound. Look at verses 12 and 13. For you will go out with joy
and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will
break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees
of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush,
the cypress will come up. Instead of the nettle, the myrtle
will come up. And it will be a memorial to the Lord for an
everlasting sign which will not be cut off.” These beautiful
lines that close these great chapters, the response to the
suffering servant, can only refer to, given the context, the blessings
of salvation, joy and peace. The repentant ones, the ones
who have responded favorably to the suffering servant, have
been liberated from certain bondage, the bondage of sin. They have
been freed from the gloom and despair of their sinful condition.
Spiritual darkness, as one called it. The pit of nature’s misery
and distress. Now they have joy. Joy unspeakable. And they have peace. And not
just any peace, but peace with God. A holy God with whom they
were formerly engaged. in this battle to death, enmity. Whereas they were haters of God,
combatants, now they are comfortably at peace with Him. And they gladly follow Him. And
look at it, they are led forth, they are led along by this gentle,
loving shepherd. They have no need to fear any
longer. shepherd is leading them and
though everything is new and unfamiliar regardless of how
dark the valley the sheep hear his voice and they follow that’s
the image in front of us as James tells us every good
thing and every perfect gift is from above coming down from
the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting
shadow but it’s also just like Peter that His divine power has granted
to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. We lack nothing
from God. The rejoicing continues in verse
12. The mountains and the hills will
break forth into shouts of joy before you. The image now is
one of almost a triumphal entry for a sinner. A sinner forgiven
and graced by God with salvation. It’s a triumphal entry for him,
except that in this case, it’s all nature rejoicing. What an
incredible image. All nature rejoicing over the
recovered sinners. They’ve come to comfort by the
Savior. And Jesus Christ has received
them in all of heaven, like Luke 15 says. rejoices. And then look at verse 13. Instead
of the thornbush, the cypress, instead of the nettle, the myrtle.
These thornbushes, there were much difference of opinion of
what these could be. Some suggested they were the
church’s enemies or perhaps a generation of thorns as if we’re not. I take this to mean that this
is the great change of sinners hearts. Every one of us is a sinner. Every one of us is in need of
God’s saving grace. And the image that he puts here
before us is one of dramatic, profound change. It’s an image
of the converts themselves. Not thorn bushes and nettles
any longer, but cypress and myrtle. Let me tell you about these.
Cedars, one of the most beautiful and important trees in all the
land. And the myrtle, against their
dark green foliage are these flowers, bright white flowers. One described the aroma as being
more exquisite than that of the rose. What an image. that God puts before us of transformed
people from weeds to exquisite trees. Why? Remember I told you that
this whole thing is an explanation. Why would God do all, why would
God send his suffering servant? Why would God call us to himself
in faith? Why would God call us to repentance? Why would God forgive us? Look
at the end of verse 13, it will be a memorial to the Lord. An
everlasting sign which will not be cut off. The Lord himself,
remember he is the speaker in Isaiah 54 and 55, the Lord himself
concludes this incredible section of scripture by declaring that
all of this, the response to the suffering Savior will serve
as a memorial, a sign, a monument, if you will, to God himself.
In other words, God will be glorified in this overwhelming response
to the Messiah, His Son. God’s people, believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ, are a perpetual testimony to the faithfulness
of God Himself. His mercy, His grace, His great
plan of redemption, the salvation of sinners by His Son. Because
of this sign, others will be drawn to Him. But in all of it,
God will be worshiped. And this people, these sinners
who are now saved, are now absolutely secure. They will not be cut
off. The great company of believers shall be delivered. As one Puritan
said, although amidst these tempests the church be tossed and agitated
in various ways, yet because the Lord wishes that the remembrance
of his name be everlasting. He will guard and defend her.
She will not be cut off, though the gates of hell prevail. God’s forgiveness is unbounded. God’s counsel is divine. God’s
purposes prevail and God’s blessings abound. You humble yourselves
before him. Our merciful King, we humble ourselves in your glorious
presence as we prepare for the Lord’s table. Lord, we thank
you. We thank you for opening our
eyes to these previously unknown and obscure chapters, we discovered
them to be the very call to response for chapters that we’ve read
for years. We know of the suffering servant. We know of Isaiah 53 and his
detail of Christ’s sufferings on our behalf. But Lord, we were
unfamiliar with this called response. Father, we thank you that even
though we may have been unfamiliar with this chapter, we know the
work. We’re familiar with the response that you have drawn
us to faith and to repentance. We now stand before you absolutely
secure in Christ. Lord, we rejoice in all that
these chapters have communicated to us. But Lord, we know, we know because
of the nature of mankind that it’s entirely possible that people
would be in your presence for years and not make a personal
commitment to Christ and faith. Lord, we pray that for every
soul in this room who does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, that they would be reluctant
in their spirit to leave without making things right even this
day. Lord, we know, all of us know
that we are sinners and none deserve this. That’s the abundance of your
grace and mercy that we all have already experienced. Be gracious,
Father, to those who have not tasted of it. Move upon them
even now, drawing them to Christ. It’s in Jesus’ name that we plead.
Amen.