MEASURE UPON MEASURE – SORROW – THE RESTORATION OF GOD - Part 8
In the last message we continued these consequences of sin resulting from Adam’s fall in Eden. Firstly we did guilt and shame, then separation, then the curse, and now we continue sorrow. Sin caused so much destruction but we also look at how the Lord Jesus dealt with these issues and then His wonderful restoration. In Part 8 we look at what the Lord restored to sorrow.
As in every other consequence of sin, He appropriated it to Himself, but in this one, the Word is most direct about it in Isaiah’s marvellous prophetic revelation. Having borne all this for us, He was stricken by God because of it. A sorrowful road was the Saviour’s Road, but we were bound helpless in Satan’s prison at the end of it, and He fought the enemy along every centimetre of that road right to the end, and there He claimed us victoriously as His treasured prize. Praise Him! There was none other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.
What a beautiful picture. He released us from the chains of sin in Satan’s stronghold and carried us to heavenly realms with the doors wide open!
An application could be made from Lamentations 1:12 to the Lord, although that is not the immediate interpretation of that passage. Jeremiah is lamenting the downfall and destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity of the nation. This verse is the judged nation’s lament, and that is the immediate and correct interpretation, but I want to draw an application from it. In fact it is probably Jeremiah’s own person lament at the misery and sorrow and destruction. In one way he carried that sorrow for the nation, now devastated and scattered.
{{Lamentations 1:12 “Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain (SORROW in the AV) like my pain (sorrow) which was severely dealt out to me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of His fierce anger.”}} There was, and never will there be, any pain and sorrow to compare with His. It was dealt out to Him at Calvary as previous consequences also explored, and was inflicted because of our sin. That day was the outpouring of God’s fierce anger against sin, and was meted out to Jesus Christ. What a wonderful Saviour to me! How well Philip Bliss has captured many of the features we have considered in his magnificent hymn.
Man of Sorrows! what a name,
For the Son of God who came.
Ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
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Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood.
Sealed my pardon with His blood:
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
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Guilty, vile and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! Can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
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Lifted up was He to die.
It is finished was His cry.
Now in heaven exulted high.
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
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THE RESTORATION OF GOD – FROM SORROW TO JOY
It is time to delve into what the Saviour has restored and what it means to us. Recently I counted it a privilege to view a video of a sincere, relatively young man dying of cancer who had then only a short time to live. There was no sorrow in his testimony, no regrets, no questionings. Unmistakably there was nothing but a joyful expectation of meeting the Lord. Overcoming joy, and peace, was his theme. The grace of God was being ministered to him in superabundant measure. That was an uplifting testimony.
We know just by reading of testimonies of Christians facing death as in martyrdom all through the ages, that there is no sorrow in death as it is for some who are unsaved. Rather there is the joyous expectation of being absent from the body and being present with the Lord. These are heart-rending because of the cruelty and satanic hate against the goodness of God in His children. One of the deepest witnesses of all time was a French slave girl called Blandina. She was tortured for days before finally being killed. Her testimony from those Roman times sparkles with the glory of heaven fringed by pathos and sadness for her. I would urge you to do a search on it and read it because it is inspirational in our lives, especially as persecution increases. If fact I think I have that somewhere on SermonCentral. It took a bit to find it but here it is - https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/whom-will-you-meet-in-heaven-ron-ferguson-sermon-on-heaven-269349
What could possibly so sweetly immerse a life, and be the dominant controlling factor of it? As intimated, it is JOY, a gift that is not of ourselves or from ourselves. It is imparted through the marvellous gift of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Christ has taken our sorrows and transformed them into joy. He has removed the sorrowing forebodings of the unconverted soul, and in place of it, has restored a joyful relationship and the joyful expectation about which we spoke.
Do you remember how sorrowful and frightened the disciples were on the betrayal night when their Lord had been so abruptly snatched from them? They all forsook Him and fled and none of them ever expected to see Him again because Jesus was roughly taken and they were powerless to do anything. Their whole three and a half years of fellowship and ministry with the Lord came tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty lying at the bottom of the wall. The disciples spent those few days after departing the Garden of Gethsemane in unbelief, but the Lord appeared to them and it is recorded that the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. “Glad” is from the AV and this is how the NASB has it – {{John 20:20 “When He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples THEREFORE REJOICED WHEN THEY SAW THE LORD.”}}
The Lord caused the disciples to rejoice, but one, Judas, caused the enemies of Jesus, the religious hierarchy, to rejoice/be glad – {{Mark 14:11 “AND THEY WERE GLAD when they heard this and promised to give him money, and he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.”}} The world’s gladness is in fact ultimate sadness as Judas soon found out; as did the religious structure of Israel in AD 70.
What had made the difference to the despondent disciples after those few days? It was the knowledge of, and the presence of the resurrected Lord. The basis for all the restoration work of the Lord is the resurrection, for the resurrection sealed the cross work. Sorrow that Sunday evening had been turned into their joy. How thrilling that was for them. This had all been explained to the disciples prior to the cross, but they were thick of understanding. Here is what the Lord had said to them earlier: {{John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; YOU WILL BE SORROWFUL, BUT YOUR SORROW WILL BE TURNED TO JOY. Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore YOU TOO NOW HAVE SORROW; but I will see you again, AND YOUR HEART WILL REJOICE, AND NO ONE TAKES YOUR JOY AWAY FROM YOU.”}}
An encouraging statement is, “...your sorrow will be turned into joy.” That statement has application all through the Christian life - firstly at conversion; then in the disappointments and failures of life; and lastly at our departure from this earth. It is also interesting that verse 21 makes reference to the sorrow of childbirth which is a consequence of sin we considered in Genesis. Our Lord has removed every consequence of sin from us, sorrow being only one of them.
Before we further progress it might be cautionary to say it is not being propounded that there is no sorrow for the Christian. There is sorrow as a study into Paul’s missionary life will show (2 Corinthians 6:10 “as sorrowful yet always rejoicing...”) but there is also overriding joy. Christ has removed the greatest of all sorrows - that of a Christless death, and He gives us help in our sorrow-strewn walk.
In this section of the restoration, the small passage I would like to focus on is from {{1 Peter 1:8-9. “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, YOU GREATLY REJOICE WITH JOY INEXPRESSIBLE AND FULL OF GLORY, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”}}
These Christians to whom Peter wrote were on the receiving end of suffering, yet in spite of that, their faith was underpinned by an inexpressible joy, bathed in the glory of God. It was a wonderful imparting of the Lord’s resurrected ministry to them, but it is likewise ours in the same measure. What could be more blessed and satisfying than to know the joy of the Lord in our vessel, as we ride the storms of life in this ever-increasing turbulent sea! Can we know joy without first having known sorrow? The greater our sorrow, I feel the greater the joy which is ministered to us. That is what I gain from accounts of some of the great suffering some Christians are called on to go through.
Joy was experienced in the Old Testament by the children of God. It is not distinctly a New Testament experience. In a supreme way Peter’s verses rise above the usual knowledge of that joy for the saints of the Christian era. Jesus, in John 15:11 mentions, “...that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” It is His joy that is distinctive, and with it, the fullness of that joy is the difference from all that had preceded it. In a particular way, I think we have to go to suffering Christians in Africa, the Middle East, and China and India, just to name 4 places, to really understand true joy.
In Him we rejoice. There are a very large number of biblical passages containing words as, “joy”, “rejoice”, “gladness”, etc. and they could form a study in their own right, but there are three things I want to mention before ending this section.
(a). Firstly, earlier in this present consequence we looked at Israel’s sorrow. Through the redemptive work of Christ, He will restore great joy to them, the redeemed of Israel. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah deal most with this subject of future blessings for the nation. Isaiah 35:10 is specifically for the future redeemed people of Israel. It is a beautiful verse. {{“And the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come with JOYFUL SHOUTING to Zion, with EVERLASTING JOY upon their heads. They will FIND GLADNESS AND JOY, and SORROW and sighing will flee away.”}} The Lord has been very gracious to His chosen nation according to the flesh. That verse comes into operation after the Second Coming when the ransomed Jews are returning to Zion where the Lord is, having suffered in the Tribulation.
Those words from Isaiah 35:10 from the AV have been popularised in a song some decades ago, but the churches singing them have no idea what is the true application of those words.
(b). Secondly we must be aware of the special ministry of Jesus our Great High Priest regarding our infirmities. As the Man of Sorrows, He knew all the sorrows that are common to the heart of man and He was associated with all our griefs. Now He is able to minister to our sorrows to impart His joy. That is a present, ongoing ministry. I shall quote the two Hebrews passages without further comment but note their preciousness as they elaborate on the service for us our High Priest provides, also applied to sorrow. {{Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”}}
{{Hebrews 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in all that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.}}
Days of darkness still come o’er me,
Sorrow’s paths I often tread,
But the Saviour still is with me;
By His hand I’m safely led.
(c). Lastly, what transported joy we will have when we have been removed from this sinful scene with its sorrowful episodes, and out of the presence of sin forever! We will be with our Lord, and in a way unknown to us in any full measure now, we will share in His joy. That will be the fullness of inexpressible joy, and overflowing with glory. But between that rapturous event and our sin, intervened the Man of Sorrows who identified with us, took our sins and sorrows, and repaid them with His restored joy. Hallelujah! What a Saviour! Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
I will sing of my Redeemer
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered
From the curse to set me free.
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Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me;
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt and made me free.
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I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.
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I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin and death and hell.
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I will sing of my Redeemer
And His heavenly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.
