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Return in your Bibles this evening 
to Isaiah, chapter 54, Isaiah, chapter 54. Tonight, we're going 
to look at four promises made to the church, a fourfold encouragement 
for Zion, Isaiah 54, specifically verses 1 to 17, the entire chapter. It is a statement from the Lord 
God, most high to his people. concerning promises with reference 
to his blessing. Isaiah 54, I'll begin reading 
in verse 1. Sing, O barren, you who have 
not born. 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. 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. For you shall expand to the right 
and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and 
make the desolate cities inhabited. 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. 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. 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. For a mere moment I have 
forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. 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. 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. 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. Oh, you afflicted one, tossed 
with tempest and not comforted. Behold, I will lay your stones 
with colorful gems and lay your foundations with sapphires. I 
will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all 
your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught 
by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. 
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. Indeed, they shall surely assemble, 
but not because of me. Whoever assembles against you 
shall fall for your sake. 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. 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for the Word of God. Thank you for the prophets. Thank 
you for the law. Thank you for the writings and 
the New Testament scriptures. And I pray that you would guide 
us now, that you would encourage us as a local church with these 
promises set forth in the prophet. We ask, God, that you would give 
us just great joy as we consider what a blessing it is to belong 
to the church of the living God, to realize that our blessed Redeemer 
is building His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. How we praise You that He is 
calling men from tribes and tongues and peoples and nations, that 
He is assembling a great church militant, and one day it will 
be the church triumphant when we pass into the new Jerusalem. Our Father, we just pray now 
that You would give us all just a love for Christ first and foremost, 
and a love for His body, a love for the church. And we ask in 
the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Well, in the prophet Isaiah, 
there are four servant songs. I am sure that you have heard 
me say that before. Songs or passages that celebrate 
the coming servant of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ. as the New 
Testament makes clear. Those four servant songs are 
found in Isaiah 42, in Isaiah 49, Isaiah 50, and then the fourth 
is found in chapters 52 and 53. Perhaps the one we are most familiar 
with is that one recorded at the end 
of 52 all the way through chapter 53. We looked at that servant 
song several, or probably a couple of months ago, and we saw that 
it details or highlights the work of Jesus Christ specifically 
in his substitutionary death on behalf of sinners. His atonement, 
his burial, his resurrection, and his salvation for sinners. That's the background. Understanding 
the atoning work of the Lord Christ, Jehovah now makes promises 
based on that atoning work to the Church. The Church is a blessed 
beneficiary to the work of the Savior. John Calvin comments 
on the entirety of chapter 54. He says, after having spoken 
of the death of Christ, he passes on with good reason to the church, 
that we may feel more deeply in ourselves what is the efficacy 
of his death. The commentator E.J. Young said 
this, in chapter 53, the work of redemption is described as 
spiritual. In this present chapter, therefore, 
the prophet turns to the redeemed ones, to the Church, and speaks 
of its glorious exaltation. By coming to the church, Isaiah 
causes us to understand more deeply the value and efficacy 
of the servant's atoning work. The sufferings of the servant 
were for the church, his body, and not for himself. And then 
if you follow the flow of thought, it is based on the reality of 
the atoning work in chapter 53, and the promises made with reference 
to the church in chapter 54, that that blessed gospel promise 
comes in Isaiah 55. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come 
to the waters. There's a promise of increase 
made to the church, and based on that reality, and the fact 
that our Lord Jesus gave Himself For His church, we go out and 
we preach the gospel with the expectation that sinners will 
in fact be saved. So that's an overview of the 
entire section. We're going to look at, as I 
said, four promises with reference to the church of Jesus Christ. 
And the first is a promise of increase. A promise of increase. That means more people are going 
to be added to the church. And we see that in verses 1 to 
6. The first thing to notice is 
this call to rejoice in verse 1. He says, Sing, O barren, you 
who have not born. 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." We saw that in Galatians chapter 4. The Apostle 
Paul cites this passage to teach that there are more associated 
with New Covenant Christianity than there were with the bondwoman. 
And this calls for rejoicing. It calls for exaltation. It calls 
for singing and delight. Based on the reality of Isaiah 
53, we enter into chapter 54 with this rousing call to sing, 
to praise, to honor, to worship, and to glorify our God. We are 
to shout for joy. The specific audience addressed 
here is those who were desolate, and the children of the desolate 
are going to be more than the children of the married woman. 
Remember the historical context. God's people are going into captivity. But they're going to come out 
of captivity based on His promise and His covenant Word. And they're 
going to prosper. They will increase. They will 
multiply. Under Messiah, there will be 
more added to the Church of Jesus Christ. If anything, as we study 
Isaiah 54 and prophecies like that, it ought to stir us up 
for evangelism and for missions. We ought to see the glorious 
promises that God holds forth to His Church. And then he goes 
on to highlight specifically this increase. Notice verse 2. Enlarge the place of your tent. Let them stretch out the curtains 
of your dwellings. Do not spare. Lengthen your cords 
and strengthen your stakes. Make it big. Get it ready. When the gospel is preached, 
sinners will come to Zion. When the Holy Spirit comes, many 
will flock to Zion to be taught the law of the Lord. The language 
here is a population explosion. You have heard of this in places. 
It starts off small and then it gets big. Well, the church 
is like that. Didn't Jesus teach us that the 
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed? It starts off so small, 
it's almost imperceptible. But what happens over the years? 
Over the decades, over the centuries, that mustard seed grows to be 
a great big tree where the birds of the air find their nest in 
it. This is what the prophet Daniel speaks of. He sees this 
great image in his dream or in his vision. And this image is 
broken down by this small stone. This small stone begins to grow 
and gather, and it ultimately becomes a big mountain. There 
is a promise to the church of increase. We ought to be encouraged 
by that. It ought to strengthen us. Notice 
how he goes on to speak in verse 3. He says, You shall expand 
to the right and to the left. Your descendants will inherit 
the nations and make desolate cities inhabited. J. A. Alexander said the whole verse. is a beautiful description of 
the wonderful extension of the Church and her spiritual conquest 
of the nations. That's what's going on. Based 
on the reality of Christ's according death, based on the fact that 
He bore our curse at Calvary, the Church is not to be stagnant. 
The Church isn't supposed to just sit there. The Church is 
to take up the gospel invitation of Isaiah 55. and go and preach 
it, and call sinners to repentance and faith, because God has promised 
to add to His number. God has promised to add to the 
church of Jesus Christ. With this promise of increase 
comes this statement concerning God's abiding presence with His 
people. Notice in verses 4-6, He says, 
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. 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. For the Lord has called you like 
a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife 
when you were refused. So God promises there will be 
increase. God promises His abiding presence. When we get to the New Testament, 
we see those promises worked out. We see them brought to fruition. We see in the book of Ephesians, 
for instance, we see Jew and Gentile coming together as one 
new man in Christ Jesus. We see that we have access to 
the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. We get to the 
book of Revelation and what do we find there? We find Jesus 
in the midst of the lampstands, working out these promises, blessing 
His people, adding to their numbers. Again, not numbers for numbers 
sake. We have a great big church. No, 
the idea here is spiritual multiplication, conversion, people coming to 
know the Lord, people believing the Gospel, people being saved. We ought to expect great things 
from our God. based on the prophet Isaiah, 
based on what we read in Psalm 72. The scripture is clear. He 
will have dominion from sea to sea. The prophet Isaiah states 
elsewhere that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth 
as the waters cover the sea. I believe that as Christians 
we need to believe those things, even if experience may dictate 
otherwise, even if experience may cause us great discouragement 
at times. I mean, sometimes we see these 
big churches. They're not preaching the truth, 
but they're packed to overflowing. And then we see other churches 
that are seeking to be faithful to the Word of God, and there's 
hardly anybody there. We need to believe the promises 
of God, regardless of what our eyes see. We need to be like 
that godly man Abraham, who in Romans 4, Paul says, who, contrary 
to hope, in hope believed. It's one of the most powerful 
statements in all of Scripture. Who, contrary to hope. Everything 
in him argued, at least physically or carnally, that there's no 
way this promise can be worked out. I'm 100. My wife is 99. 
How in the world am I going to be the father of the nations? And yet the Apostle says, contrary 
to hope, in hope he believed the promises of God. Brethren, 
we need to believe these things, even if we don't physically observe 
them. That's what faith is all about. We walk by faith, not by sight. We walk according to the promised 
Word of God. No matter what it may appear 
to be on the outside, we need to be faithful and take up the 
Word of God and be encouraged by it. Notice the second promise. It's a promise of stability. 
A promise of stability. Verses 7 to 10. Beautiful here. He speaks of a momentary light 
affliction and an eternal weight of glory. Remember that in 2 
Corinthians 4.17, Paul says, Our light affliction, which is 
but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding weight 
of glory. And here in this promise concerning 
stability, the Lord God uses that same language here. Notice 
in verse 7, For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with 
great mercies I will gather you. They were judged. They were chastened. 
They had broken covenant. They would go into exile, but 
they would come out of exile. And as they came out of exile, 
the Redeemer would come. The Redeemer would inaugurate 
the new covenant. He would be the servant of the 
Lord that would conduct Himself in terms of Isaiah 53. He would 
accomplish all that the Father had given Him. And He would lead 
captivity captive. He would ascend on high. He would 
give gifts to men. And He would call great multitudes 
unto Himself. And the church would indeed increase. 
And He promises stability. For a mere moment I have forsaken 
you, but with great mercies I will gather you. He says, with a little 
wrath I hid my face from you for a moment. Notice, with everlasting 
kindness I will have mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. God did forsake the nation, according 
to Young, but not his church. He had not abandoned his purpose 
of bringing salvation to the earth. If you're familiar with 
the Psalter, you'll know that this sounds just like Psalm 30 
and verse 5. His anger is but for a moment. His favor is for life. Weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Again, 
this promise of stability ought to encourage us. The promise 
of stability teaches that local churches may come and go. There 
are those whom Jesus rips the lampstand away from them, but 
Christ's church will march on. There will always be a witness 
for Jesus in this world. Remember when Elijah was underneath 
that broom tree and he was feeling quite downcast? He was despairing 
quite a bit. What was God's encouragement 
to him? He says, I have 7,000 that have not bowed the knee 
to Baal. We need to be encouraged by that, 
brethren. We need to realize that though it may not appear 
to be this great time of promised blessing and revival and increase, 
we have stability. The Lord does not forsake. The 
Lord has promised to sustain His people. The Lord will indeed 
see us through. John Calvin said what the prophet 
says in this passage must therefore refer to our feelings and to 
outward appearance, because we seem to be rejected by God when 
we do not perceive His presence and protection. We need to be 
encouraged that though there are these seasons, though there 
are these trials, God says, with everlasting kindness, I will 
have mercy on you. Notice how he illustrates this 
stability that the church will enjoy. Verses 9 to 10. I think 
this is an important message because it's easy to complain 
about the church. I don't mean just this church. You ever hear 
people say, oh, the church is so messed up. Oh, the church. 
They've all but given up on it. In fact, one man has predicted 
the end of the world. May 21st, this year. His name's 
Harold Camping. He predicted the end of the world 
in 1994. He was wrong, as you obviously see. Well, somewhere 
about the 2000s, he said the church age is over. He told people 
to leave their churches. All churches are apostate. What 
was his encouragement? Probably to go home and sit down 
and listen to family radio. He happens to be the general 
manager of family radio. All the churches are bad. All 
of them are apostate. All of them have gone the way 
of all flesh. They're wicked get out from among 
her. Well, that's an extreme form. 
You run into people all the time and say, oh, the church is weak. 
The church doesn't do what she's supposed to do. You know what? 
In her weakness, in her not doing what she's supposed to do, nevertheless, 
Jesus is building her. The church is an imperfect organism 
because it's made up of imperfect people. The church as Christ's 
institution is worth fighting for, it's worth propagating, 
it's worth loving, it's worth delighting in. And I think that 
this passage, hopefully, will call our attention to how important 
the church really is. Notice the illustration of stability 
within the life of Christ's church. For this, verse 9, 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, just as 
he promised to never flood the earth again. There's not going 
to be an exile. You're not going into Babylon. 
You're not going to be chastened to that degree anymore. There 
is stability for you in your gospel preaching, in your invitation, 
in your calling men to believe on the servant of the Lord. It'll 
be like the days or like the promise that he made to Noah. 
Notice in verse 10, he says, For the mountains shall depart 
and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart 
from you. Isn't that a beautiful image? 
Hopefully it recalls Psalm 46, that blessed psalm of refuge. It talks about the physical calamities 
in the earth itself, but God, her God, will keep her. We need to be still and know 
that God is God. These are wonderful illustrations 
concerning the stability of Christ's church, the Noahic covenant, 
the physical calamity shall not stop God in His kindness toward 
her. And then notice thirdly in verse 
10, Nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord 
who has mercy on you. I believe that's a reference 
to the new covenant, the everlasting covenant, that covenant of God 
to bless and protect and keep His people. Notice in the invitation, 
in verse 3 of chapter 55, Incline your ear and come to me, here 
and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting 
covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given 
him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the 
people. God's covenantal dealings with 
His people is the ground of encouragement for our stability. Notice the 
third promise. It is a promise of blessing. 
A promise of blessing, verses 11 to 14, both outward and inward. Notice in verse 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. I will make your pinnacles of 
rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious 
stones." It's the language suggestive of. That's blessing. It doesn't 
mean all our buildings will be ornate. All our buildings will 
be bejeweled. All our buildings will be laden 
with gold and crystal and all those sorts of things. It's a 
metaphor. It's physical language to describe 
a spiritual blessing. The church will have an outward 
glory. The church will be decked by 
God with glory, with blessing, with beauty, with luster, with 
shine. You know, as we understand that 
passage, we as a church ought to seek by God's grace to pursue 
holiness so that we luster and shine appropriately. If God describes 
us this way, we ought to strive to live like this. We ought to 
strive by the grace of God, to shine or to show forth that glory, 
to show forth that blessedness that God has bestowed upon us. This is reminiscent of what we 
find in Revelation 21, when that new Jerusalem descends out of 
heaven. How does John see it? It's as 
if it's a bride adorned for her husband. God adorns us. God blesses. God takes care of 
us. Not only outwardly, but then 
he goes on to highlight the inward blessing that he gives his people. 
Notice in verses 13 and 14, they are all taught by God. Isn't 
that a beautiful statement there? All your children shall be taught 
by the Lord. You remember that passage? John 
6. The Lord Jesus cites this in 
John 6, 45. What's the promise of the new 
covenant in Jeremiah 31? They shall all what? Know Me, 
from the least of them to the greatest of them. And here the 
prophet says, in this promise of blessing, this promise of 
future glory, all your children shall be taught by the Lord, 
and great shall be the peace of your children. So we are taught 
by God and we have great peace. John Gill comments here, the 
inward peace of their minds, in and from Christ, arising from 
a view of their justification by His righteousness, from the 
sprinklings of His blood upon their consciences, and from the 
discoveries of His love to their souls." Isn't that a great way 
to describe that? The discoveries of His love to 
their souls. We need to make more discoveries 
of that love. Paul, when he prays for the Ephesians 
in Ephesians chapter 3, says, I want you to know, This is what 
I pray for you. I want you to know this. I want 
you to know the love of Christ. I want you to know the breadth, 
the height, the width, the depth. I want you to be a scholar in 
the school of Christ's love. Paul's prayer is not that you 
know how much you love Jesus. That wouldn't take a lot of effort. 
He says, what I want you to do is know how much Jesus loves 
you. That's where peace lies. That's 
where comfort is. That's where joy is in what Gil 
describes as the discoveries of His love to their souls. He 
goes on and says, Enjoy it in a way of believing and by means 
of the Word and ordinances. Also, peace among themselves. You see, when we're justified 
freely by His grace, we have peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and hopefully we have peace with one another. 
Hopefully we can get along with one another. You know, sometimes 
we have such debates within the life of the Church. Baptists 
versus Paedobaptists. Covenantal theologians versus 
Dispensational theologians. Premils versus Postmils. You know, just multiply the various 
doctrines, and we can get pretty fired up. This difference I've 
noticed, though. Christians can disagree with 
each other, but we don't bomb each other's houses. We don't 
confiscate each other's property. It's not like being in a Muslim 
land. You defy Islam, and what do they do? They put you in prison. 
What kind of a religion is that? It's force. It's totalitarianism. Yeah, you can live as a non-Christian 
in a Christian neighborhood. We're not going to destroy your 
house. But just for a moment, consider all the differences 
we have. We ought to conduct ourselves still peacefully. We 
ought to realize we're going to spend an eternity together. 
You may actually stand before the throne next to a dispensationalist. And you're not going to say, 
Lord, can I move? Somebody once asked George Whitefield, 
do you think you'll see John Wesley in heaven? You know, this 
person that asked Whitefield was a staunch Calvinist. George 
Whitefield, staunch Calvinist. John Wesley, a staunch anti-Calvinist. The questioner asked, do you 
think you'll see John Wesley in heaven? And George Whitefield's 
answer was no. So the guy said, oh, okay, yeah, 
okay, you're thinking along like me. He says, he'll be so close 
to the throne and so close to the light of the Lamb that I 
won't be able to see him. That's a spirit of peace. That's 
what we are to endeavor to keep, the unity of the spirit of peace. Brethren, we are going to dwell 
together forever. We need to get along. Now, having 
said that, we still contend earnestly for the faith. We still contend 
earnestly for baptism, or for covenant theology, or for whatever 
in terms of our confession of faith. But they have great peace. He says, also peace among themselves, 
harmony and concord, and no more strife, contentions and animosities. Likewise, outward peace from 
enemies, no more persecution or war. This word includes all 
kinds of prosperity, external and internal, temporal and spiritual. So they are taught by God. They 
have great peace. They are justified. by faith 
alone. Notice in verse 14, in righteousness 
you shall be established. Notice in verse 17, and their 
righteousness is from me, says the Lord. Prophet Jeremiah says 
that Jesus is the Lord, our righteousness. So the church is made up of those 
who, based on the work of Christ's atonement at the cross, have 
been justified freely by grace. Again, John Gill says, in the 
righteousness of Christ, from whence flows the peace before 
spoken of, and which is the stability of the church of Christ and the 
security of it and its members from condemnation. And then the 
final aspect of this inward blessing is we are protected. Notice in 
verse 14. You shall be far from oppression, 
for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come 
near you." What does that mean but that God defends His people? Jesus defends His people. The Westminster Shorter Catechism 
asks, how does Christ execute the office of a king? Christ 
executes the office of a king by subduing us to Himself. That's 
the great first major task that He does. He subdues us to Himself, 
by His Word, by His Spirit. Then it goes on to say, in ruling 
and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our 
enemies. It's a promise here, given by 
our God. And the fourth is a promise of 
security. It sort of flows into that. Notice 
in verses 15 to 17. Indeed, verse 15, they shall 
surely assemble, but not because of me. Whoever assembles against 
you shall fall for your sake. We know that this isn't a prophecy 
confined for heaven. Because in heaven, no one's going 
to assemble against the church. In heaven, the church is the 
church triumphant. On earth, the church is the church 
militant. It's here on earth that the church 
is assailed. God acknowledges the reality 
of that. God acknowledges what Jesus teaches 
in John 16. In this world you will have tribulation, 
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. The Lord 
God acknowledges what Paul says in Acts 14.22. Through many tribulations 
we must enter the kingdom of God. When he says, indeed they 
shall surely assemble, but not because of me, he doesn't mean 
that God isn't sovereign. It means that this is not a direct 
judgment or chastisement by the Lord, the way He employed Babylon, 
the way He employed Assyria. They will assemble, they will 
seek to assault. You're not going to just skip 
your way into heaven. The church is in fact the church 
militant. There are battles to fight. There 
are arguments to win. There is gospel to propagate. 
There is holiness to pursue. There are enemies to confront. 
There is a devil roaring about like a lion seeking whom he may 
devour. But notice the blessed promise 
of God. Whoever assembles against you 
shall fall for your sake. It is a promise of lasting security. As we saw this morning, as Herod 
is empowered or enabled or used by the devil to try and destroy 
the Lord Jesus Christ, God is behind the scenes. It's very 
interesting. We were discussing after the 
sermon this morning. I'm sure you'll probably hear 
this again as we move through Matthew chapter 2. Notice how 
God confronts this assault. Herod wants to destroy Jesus. 
What's God's Word? Joseph, take him to Egypt. Just 
get out of town for a while. He didn't say, go get as many 
guns as you can. Get a bandolera, you know, have 
guns blazing, Joseph, and launch an attack upon her. You just 
walk right up there and you destroy him. No, God's ways aren't like 
that. God often operates in the normal, 
in the ordinary, in the mundane. In fact, that beautiful scene 
in Matthew 2 just highlights the ordinariness of it. The whole image that has been 
fabricated of the shepherds and the animals and the wise men 
and all of the people with the halos around them, that's something 
romantic almost. It's almost a warm fuzzy that 
pleases us in some sort of a carnal way. It is so ordinary and so 
mundane what we find in Matthew 2. Again, the emphasis falls 
upon the extraordinary God working in these ordinary events. Same 
thing with the flight into Egypt. Go to Egypt. When Herod dies, 
come back. It's a great way to defend oneself, a great way to 
attack the devil. You know, God doesn't call us 
to charge hell with a squirt gun. It might just be, go hide 
for a little while. That's okay. Beautiful. It says, whoever assembles against 
you shall fall for your sake. Verse 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. No weapon formed against you 
shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment 
you shall condemn. It's a promise of security. They 
will try to destroy the Church. They will try to take you out. 
Remember Paul's statement in 2 Timothy. He's near the end 
of his life. He says, I am in chains, but the Word of God is 
not chained. You see, they thought taking 
Paul out would stop the spread of the Gospel. Absolutely the 
opposite. In Philippians, he says, the 
things that have happened to me have actually turned out for 
the progress of the gospel. They thought by putting Paul 
in prison, they would stop the spread of Christianity. He says, 
you know what? These things have turned out 
for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. Why? Because the formerly 
timid are now emboldened. They have seen, hey, yeah, Paul's 
suffering, we can too. He says the whole praetorian 
guard is hearing about Jesus. Why? because Paul opened his 
mouth and told them why he was in jail. So while they thought 
they were stopping the spread of the gospel by putting the 
apostle in prison, they're actually causing it or fanning the flames 
of it. It is the blood of the martyrs, 
which is the fertilizer for the seed of the church. Brethren, 
any time there has been attack and assault and a full-blown 
striving to destroy the church, what happens? Does the church 
go away? Think about the early Christians 
in the first century. Do you ever think they thought 
the Roman Empire would crumble? Think about it realistically. 
The Roman Empire was the most powerful, the most formidable, 
the most dominant of all world empires. And yet, when you get 
to the scriptures in the New Testament, what do they constantly 
say? The Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 
You might have been in the cell next to them and said, what are 
you talking about? You saying that this Roman Empire 
is an enemy that the Lord Jesus is going to drop his foot upon? 
Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 
They would have said, you're crazy. You are out of your mind. You Christians are wackier than 
we could have ever imagined. That was their battle cry. That's 
the most quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. It 
was what they never tired of declaring. They get to Thessalonica. What was the crime that they 
were guilty of? They preached another king, Jesus. They didn't bow down. They didn't 
succumb to the Lord and Savior, which was the Emperor. No, they 
preached Jesus as Lord and Savior. God has promised security. No 
weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which 
rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. Now notice 
this. This is beautiful. The grace 
of God secures this promise. Notice at the end of verse 17, 
this is the heritage of the servants plural, of the Lord. And their righteousness is from 
me, says the Lord. Four servant songs, right? The servant of the Lord goes 
and makes atonement according to Isaiah 53. By his wounds we 
are healed. Because the servant of the Lord 
took the crushing from the Lord, the servants of the Lord are 
richly blessed. We are given this heritage. We are given the promises of 
increase, of stability, of blessing, and security from enemies. Well, brethren, in closing, we 
need to have faith. I know just preaching through 
this, we're going, wait a minute here, come on. Joel Osteen is 
the most popular preacher in America. How does that square 
with Isaiah 54? We need faith. J. A. Alexander says the whole 
verse is a beautiful description of the wonderful extension of 
the Church and her spiritual conquest of the nations. That's 
what he commented on verse 3. C. H. Spurgeon said this, not 
necessarily in connection with Isaiah 54, but in connection 
with the prosperity of the kingdom of Jesus. He said it would be 
easy to show that at our present rate of progress, the kingdoms 
of this world could never become the kingdom of the Lord and of 
His Christ. Indeed, many in the church are 
giving up the idea of it, except on the occasion of the advent 
of Christ. That means his second coming, 
which, as it chimes in with our own idleness, is likely to be 
a popular doctrine. He said, I myself believe that 
King Jesus will reign and the idols be utterly abolished, but 
I expect the same power which turned the world upside down 
once will still continue to do it. The Holy Ghost would never 
suffer the imputation to rest upon his holy name that he is 
not able to convert the world. It takes faith. Isaiah 54 takes 
faith. You need faith to believe the 
gospel as it's depicted there in Isaiah 53. You need faith 
to respond to that imputation of Isaiah 55. As believers, as 
members of local churches, we need faith to believe that God, 
in fact, will increase the church. We need faith to believe that 
God, in fact, will stabilize her, will keep and preserve her. 
We need faith to believe that God will indeed bless, not with 
just the outer glory, but that inward glory, that righteousness, 
that peace, that joy, that protection. And we need faith to believe 
in that security, because we oftentimes see the threat as 
being overwhelming. But God overwhelms our threat. Secondly, we need to understand 
in this passage the kindness of God. He chastises, but he 
does not forsake his people. There are seasons. There is weeping 
for a night. There is great mercy in the morning. 
God deals with his people faithfully. He knows our frame, He encourages 
us, and He comes to our aid. He protects and defends us and 
promises to advance His cause in the earth. Can you think of 
anything better to be a part of than the church? I go through 
passages like these and I just get excited. It's good to get 
excited about the cross, about Jesus. Most assuredly, that should 
be our most exciting thing ever. The blessed privilege that we 
have of being part of Christ's body. being members of Jesus 
Christ's body. With all of our weakness, with 
all of our imperfection, you've often heard me refer to Dale 
Ralph Davis. He's an excellent writer and a preacher. Well, 
he was a pastor up until recently, and he pastored a church in Hattiesburg, 
Mississippi. And something caught my eye on 
their website, not just all the sermons that he's preached that 
I keep loaded up on my iPod, but he gives a brief introduction 
to the church. And he says something to the 
effect that we're not perfect here. If you're looking for a 
perfect church, please do not come here, because you will not 
find it. We hear that often. If you think 
you've found a perfect church, the moment you walk in, you've 
spoiled it, right? God's able to work through our 
imperfections. Jesus builds his church using 
unlikely people. Jesus builds his church using 
unlikely resources. I imagine you builders in the 
church here try to get the best, the best tools, the best nails. 
I don't know if there's a best nail. The best lumber. You try 
to get the best for your construction projects. What's Jesus do? He draws magi from the east to 
bow down and worship. He calls the apostle Paul, who 
was bent on destroying his church, and uses him as his chief messenger. He takes Peter, Peter who denied 
Him three times, and sends Him into the lion's den, preaching 
the Word of God. You see, God, the Lord Christ, 
takes imperfect people to do His tasks. We need to believe 
that. As well, we need to understand 
the place of Isaiah 55. based on the atonement, based 
on the peace and prosperity of Christ's church. We ought to 
be bold evangelists. We ought to be bold testifiers. 
We ought to be bold witnesses. And Isaiah 55 ought to find its 
way into our lives as we call sinners to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come 
to the waters. You who have no money, come buy 
and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without 
price. 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 let your soul delight 
itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to 
me, Jesus says, here and your soul shall live. Brethren, as 
the church, that is our chief, main emphasis is to proclaim 
this message. We can feed people. We can clothe 
people. We can help people. We're free 
to do that. But the time or the moment we 
reject or neglect the preaching of the word, we have ceased to 
be a church. That's what makes us different. 
It is the ministry of God's holy word. It is the ministry of the 
sacraments. It is those things that God has 
ordained for the good of the soul. That is the primary focus 
of the church, is to seek by God's grace to call sinners to 
be reconciled unto him. through Jesus Christ. Let us 
pray to God that we will never tire of witnessing and testifying 
for Christ. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for these promises in the prophet. Thank you so very much 
for the promise of increase and for the promise of stability 
and protection and security and blessing. God, all these things 
truly reflect a good and a merciful Father. And I pray that we as 
your people would be faithful, that we would be prayerful, that 
as the gospel is proclaimed, we would just pray that your 
spirit would attend it with power to the saving of sinners. We 
pray, Father, as well, that you would give us a mindset for evangelism, 
for missions, to be in prayer, to be faithful witnesses wherever 
we live or wherever we conduct ourselves. and to do this for 
your glory's sake. God, go with us now and watch 
over us and grant us peace in this coming week and help us 
not to forget these promises. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.