Isaiah 54:1-17 – Sovereign Grace
1 "Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman," says the LORD.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.
4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
5 For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
6 For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused," Says your God.
7 "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," Says the LORD, your Redeemer.
9 "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
11 "O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 "Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
17 NO weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.
When you go to a restaurant on the weekends and it's busy they start a waiting list. They start calling out names, they say "Dufrane, party of two. Dufrane, party of two." And if no one answers they'll say their name again. "Dufrane, party of two, Dufrane, party of two." But then if no one answers they'll just go right on to the next name. "Bush, party of three." Yeah, what happened to the Dufranes. No one cares. Who can eat at a time like this - people are missing. You are selfish....the Dufranes are in someone's trunk right now, with duct take over their mouths, and they're hungry. Bush, search party of three, you can eat when you find the Dufranes.
The reason for God’s people to sing and shout is given in verse 17: “‘No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.”
This verse tells us that not only wicked weapons, but also wicked people, will rise against us. You see, the devil’s business is to attempt to destroy us. But 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 assures us, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” And 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 tells us, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” But look at the last line: “Their end will be what their actions deserve.” They will be destroyed, not us.
Faith is not having all the answers it is dealing with an understanding of the character and personality of God.
In the book by his name Job sought answers to why he was going through incredible trials. But there were none given until it was over.
The book of Job was not written to explain why God’s people go through fiery trials. It was written to show that God, no matter the situation, will prove himself to be faithful
Steven Curtis Chapman addressed the issue in a song he wrote called "God is God":
And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don’t know
And the questions without answers
Come to paralyze the dancers
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust
God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God
We can never completely understand or grasp wisdom or master planning of God. . . but we can trust him, we can come to know him by "faith".
I notice in my text this morning—the saint's heritage.
I. First, the saint's heritage—"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord;" and then comes the saint's watchword—"Their righteousness is of me, says the Lord."
Now, do not suppose that this morning I shall either have time, or opportunity, or talents, or power, to enter into an investigation of all the saint's heritages,
• Especially when you remember that "all things are ours"—the gift of God, the purchase of the Savior's blood;
• So that time would fail us to talk of the possessions of the child of God.
• This world is his; earth is his lodge, and heaven his home.
• This life is his, with all its sorrows and its joys; death is his, with all its terrors and solemn realities;
• Eternity is his, with all its immortality and its grandeur.
• God is his, with all his attributes. The saint has a prospective right to every thing.
• God hath made him the heir of all things; for we are co-heirs with Christ, and joint-heirs with the Son of God.
• O, we have not time enough in the term of seventy years to read over once the fair inventory of the saint's possessions.
• If we could read it over once, there would be such a depth unfathomable, such a height immeasurable, such an intensity of value, such a depth of preciousness, that we should need to read it over an eternal number of times before we should ever be able to comprehend the love of God.
• So, then, you see I am not about to enter into the heritage of God's people at large; but I am going to speak of one peculiar item of that bright heritage as mentioned in my text; and that is PRESERVATION.
• "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise up against thee in judgment thou shall condemn."
• I shall speak of this as being the heritage, not only of the church at large, but the personal and particular possession of every true believer, and every elect child of God.
First, then, there is the promise that we shall have protection against the hand of men:
• "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." Satan has always used the hand of man against the church of Christ.
• The weapon of physical force has ever been brought to bear against the church of God.
• From the day when first Cain with his club struck his brother Abel and laid him low, down to the time Zacharias—from that time until now, the weapon has been constantly used against the church of God.
• There has never been a time when a weapon has not been forged against the church of Christ.
• Yea, even at the present moment, I see a fire blazing—fierce is the flame and high its pile of fuel. I see the armies ready against the Lord of hosts, ready to do battle against the servants of God. Terrorizing Muslims, Liberal God-haters, New-Age Christian Bashers, and others have risen up against the Lord and His people.
• Still here is the sweet comfort; they may forge the weapon; they may fashion the sword; they may shut the prison door; they may confine the prisoners, they may make their instruments of torture; but they can not prosper; for God hath said it: He "breaketh the bow; and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire." "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." He will not let it do so.
The matchless power of an omnipotent God cannot be penetrated by the weak weapons of created beings:
• Avalanche with a snow shovel
• Hurricane with an umbrella
• Earthquake with duct tape
• Forest fire with a water gun
• Bullet with a baby’s bib
• Heart failure with a band-aid
• Army tank with a tricycle
• Osama with spit-balls
• Terrorist with John Kerry
• George W Bush with Michael Moore lies
Let us just look back through history, and see how God has fulfilled this gracious promise to his church in past days.
• He has one it sometimes in this way. He has not allowed the sword so much as to touch his church.
• At other times he has suffered the sword to do its work; and yet out of evil he hath brought forth good.
• Sometimes no weapon that has been formed against the church has prospered, because God has not suffered it so much as to touch the church.
• Look at many cases of history.
o There is the overthrow of Pharaoh. Look yonder, there he is at the head of all the chivalry of Egypt pursuing the chosen race.
o The sea divides to give refuge to the Lord's elect.
o Lo, they tread the pebbly bottom of the sea of Edom, while the waters stand like walls of snow-white crystal on the right and on the left.
o But the irreverent Pharaoh, all un-awed by this mighty marvel, shouts, "On, on, soldiers! Do ye fear to tread where slaves are bold?"
o See, they boldly dash between the watery heights; chariot and horse are in the sea, madly pursuing Israel.
o O, Israel! Fear not the uplifted spear, dread not the rattling chariot; they are marching to their tombs, their weapons shall not prosper.
o Moses uplifts the rod of God, the parted floods embrace with eager joy, and grasp the helpless foe within their arms.
• Again, my brethren, behold another glorious proof of the promise.
o Haman had conceived a hatred to Mordecai, and for his sake the whole race of Jews must perish.
o How deep he lays his plots, how readily he obtains the consent of the king, how sure is he of revenge.
o Even now in imagination he sees Mordecai swinging on the lofty gallows, and all his kindred given to slaughter.
o Ah, enemy, delight in your imagination, for it shall be disappointed; rejoice in thy design, but it shall be utterly confounded.
o There is a God in the courts of heaven, and an Esther in the palace of Shushan.
o You, yourself shall be hanged on your own gallows, and the race of David shall revenge your plot.
o O, Israel, well may you rejoice at the feast of Purim, for the weapon of the mighty is broken.
• Nor here alone can we see the promise fulfilled; for time would fail me to tell of conquered Amalek and routed Midian.
• Scarce can we speak of Philistia and her giants given to the beasts of prey, or Edom slaughtered by the sword.
• Let the armies witness who fled at the rumbling of chariots, or that host who in one night became the inhabitants of the realms of death.
• Let the warriors who rest with their rusted swords beneath their earthy pillows rise from their long sleep and confess the futility of their efforts;
• Let monarchs now in the chains of hell bear witness to their own utter confusion when the Lord appeared in battle for His chosen.
• March on, terrorist; crush the helpless but know that the Lord is mightier than you.
But now another view of the subject presents itself. Sometimes God has suffered the enemy to exact upon us, and the sword has been used with terrible effect upon the saints.
• O, there have been dark and gloomy days for the chosen church of Christ! When persecution has cried, "Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war," blood has flowed like water over the land! our enemies have triumphed.
• The martyr was bound to the stake, or was crucified upon the tree; the pastor was cut off, and the flocks were scattered.
• Cruel torture—awful suffering was endured by the saints of God.
• The elect cried, and said, O Lord, how long?
• O God, there was an hour when thou wouldst not hear the cry of your elect!
• It seemed as if His ear was deaf; groans of the widow was unheeded; the cries of martyrs were unnoticed; and the enemy vexed your children.
• Persecution shook the land, and sent forth its burning lava of cruelty, devastating the fair fields of the church of God.
• But did the enemy prosper? Did he succeed? Did persecution destroy his church? Did the weapon formed against us prosper?
• No! Each time that the church had a wave pass over the church she rose out of it, and lifted her fair countenance, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners.
• The church was all the more glorious for it all.
• Every time her blood was shed each drop became a man, and each man thus converted stood prepared to pour out the vital current from his veins to defend the cause.
• Instead of the church being diminished and brought low, God did multiply her, and persecution worked for her good instead of causing her evil.
• The persecutor did not destroy the church. Nothing has helped God's church so much as persecution; it has increased, and been strengthened by it.
You will remember that this is not only the heritage of the church at large, but of every individual believer.
• O brother! O sister! there is a word for thee this morning. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper."
• The blow of a brutal husband shall not injure you; it may injure your body, but it can not injure your soul.
• "Fear not them that kill the body, and afterward have no more that they can do, but fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell."
• Why should you fear? God is on your side.
• Remember, Christ has said, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad when they say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Rejoice, and leap for joy, for great shall be your reward in heaven."
• Hold on, and you shall find that persecution shall work for your good.
• But mark thee, persecutor, if you are here this morning, there is a chain in hell of hot iron that shall be bound around your waist; there are whips of fire, and they shall scourge thy soul throughout eternity, because thou dare to put a stumbling-block in the way of God's children.
• Remember what Scripture says: "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the sea."
The second portion of the heritage is, "Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn."
• Here is a protection from the tongue of men. Satan leaves no stone unturned against the church of God.
• He uses not simply the hand, but, what is oftener a harder weapon, the tongue.
• We can bear a blow sometimes, but we cannot endure an insult.
• There is a great power in the tongue. We can rise from a blow which laid us low on the ground; but we can not so easily recover from slander; that lays the character low. "Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shall condemn."
There is one that has risen against me in judgment may times, and I dare say he has troubled many of the dear people of the Lord here—that is Satan – the accuser of the brethren.
• He is always rising in judgment against us.
• Whenever we get into a little trouble, he comes and says, "You are no saint." If we commit a sin—"You should not sin like that, if you had been a child of God; you have deceived yourself."
• How many times Satan has risen against me in judgment—so risen that I have been fool enough to heed what he said.
• I have told him sometimes, "You are a liar, and the father of lies;" but at other times I have believed his malicious accusation.
• O, it is no easy thing to stand against the insinuations of the evil one.
• You are not strangers to his devices.
• The hell-hounds of legal convictions howled upon you, and the drum of terrible doom thundered in your ears;
• Then up stood the devil himself and denied your union with Jesus, claiming you as his.
• Ah, how glorious the moment when our Advocate entered and declared your righteousness, and assured us that he had pleaded our cause in the court of King's Bench above.
• We felt that the tongue of Satan was condemned.
• Glorious Counselor, all praise to your holy name.
Yet there is a greater victory to come.
• At the day of judgment, the enemy of God and man shall be dragged from his cell, receive his sentence, and begin a hell more terrible than all he has endured before.
• O saint, do you know that you shall judge him?
• Know you not that you shall judge angels?
• You shall sit and pronounce the doom of the dragon.
• Rejoice, you shall tread upon the head of your enemy
• O, beloved, has the Holy Ghost given you an inwrought knowledge of the truth of this word of God?
• Have you experienced blessed deliverance from the right hand of the Most High?
• But some of us may now anticipate the hour when we shall obtain complete redemption with all the blood-bought family, and then, we shall with rapture review delivering grace in all its thousand instances!
• The heavens are opened; I see a host in white robes, with crowns upon their heads, and palm-branches in their hands.
• Who are they? These are they who have passed through much tribulation.
• We have whitened our robes in the blood of the Lamb; therefore we are without fault before the throne of God, and we serve him day and night in his temple.
• What do you sing? "No weapon that is formed against us hath prospered; every tongue that hath risen against us in judgment we have condemned." This is the heritage—"Our righteousness is of the Lord."
o "No weapon hath prospered, the foe is overcome
o No tongue hath succeeded, the wise ones are dumb
o The Lord is our glory, and each of the host
o Shall yet shout hosanna on Canaan's fair coast."
o Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, world without end.
• Finally, let us take comfort from the words of Romans 8:31-35:
o “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
• The answer is: Nothing—no person, no weapon, no situation, no devil, no demon. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
• So sing, O barren one! Burst into song! Shout for joy! God has done marvelous things for us. May we enjoy the salvation he has so freely given us, and may we see mighty conversions take place here and throughout the world in the days to come.
