Isaiah

[0:00] Trusting the Lord might help us, let us turn to the 26th chapter in the prophecy of Isaiah, and verse 20, verse 20 in the 26th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah.

[0:18] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Come, hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed.

[0:38] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee.

[0:48] Come, hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. These words are said before us, surely, the tender love of God unto his people.

[1:13] The concern, the care, the compassion that he feels for them.

[1:34] I feel that there's something especially sweet in that word, my. Come, my people.

[1:48] It sets a relationship between the Lord and those that he addresses, mine.

[1:59] I've often found, over many years, a particular comfort in those words that are used more than once in the Song of Solomon.

[2:21] My beloved is mine. My beloved is mine. And I am his. And here we have the Lord's expression of his love and of their belonging.

[2:46] You know, it's a wonderful thing if the Lord is pleased to come and confirm your belonging to him. Thou art mine. And I believe a living soul wants to hear it and to know it and to feel it.

[3:04] The woman in the Song of Solomon said, Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou causest thy flock to rest at noon.

[3:19] For why should I be as one that turneth aside with the flocks of thy companions? The flocks of his companions are not what she wants.

[3:32] It's him and his flock. And if you and I are of the Lord's people, we shall want the Lord and the Lord's people.

[3:46] There will be our comfort. There will be our every satisfaction. There we shall feed. There we shall be satisfied.

[3:59] And the Lord says, Come. We know that the Lord can only say, Come unto a sinner.

[4:22] When all that is needful in the covenant of grace has been perfected and fulfilled in respect of them.

[4:38] Because, by the law, because of sin, holiness and righteousness must say unto the sinner, Draw not nigh unto me.

[5:00] And how great a thing it is that instead of the Lord saying, Draw not nigh unto me, he says, Come.

[5:16] And he does not bid them come in unrighteousness or unrighteously. That he bids them come is not because they are able or have been able to put aside the flaming sword of justice.

[5:43] But because that flaming sword of justice is quenched in Jesus' precious blood. And there's no other ground on which the Lord says, Come.

[5:56] My people. I want to try and look just for a moment at the Lord's people as they are revealed in the word of God.

[6:15] In the book of Exodus we read concerning the Lord's people that they are different and separate from the world.

[6:37] I will put a division between my people and thy people.

[6:49] Now if there is a division put between, they are separate and they are separated. And the Lord says again in the book of Exodus, I will make a difference between my people and thy people.

[7:11] So not only are they separated, but they are distinguished.

[7:26] When the Lord came to Abraham, he came with a determination to bless him.

[7:39] It was not because of what Abraham was. It was not because of his wealth.

[7:51] It was not because of his standing or his relationship amongst men. The Lord took him from out of the midst of his family and his people.

[8:07] Determined to bless him. Made him a gracious promise. Made a covenant with him. And promised him seed, an heir by Sarah, his wife.

[8:25] And though you know that Abraham had a son by Hagar, the blessing of the Lord was not upon that family in respect of the covenant that he entered into with Abraham.

[8:45] And then, for it was by the child of promise that the blessing should flow. So we see a people who are separate and separated.

[9:03] Who are distinguished from the other people of the world. They are children of promise.

[9:16] And the Lord shows himself through the years to be a covenant keeping God.

[9:29] For when he came to Moses, he said, I am the God of my father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[9:42] You see, if he had come and forgotten the covenant, there would have been no remembering of it in his words to Moses. But that was how he came in remembrance of his covenant.

[9:56] Remembering his covenant people. And therefore, this people are a people ever under the eye and the love and the care of the Lord.

[10:16] And they were a people that were in bondage. Oppressed, grieved, bowed down. Bowed down so much that they cried unto the Lord in their distress.

[10:30] And the Lord heard their cry. And he redeemed them from the hand of Pharaoh, from their enemies and from their oppression.

[10:44] But we do well to remember this. He did not redeem them because of their cry. But because of the covenant that he had made with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

[11:01] They are his peculiar people. Now when the Lord says, come my people.

[11:13] Consider the relationship between the Lord and his people was at his instigation. I am the Lord your God.

[11:27] He made the relationship. And if we consider these precious words in respect to a spiritual Israel.

[11:42] The Lord's dealings in the covenant of grace. Consider them. He says, come my people.

[11:55] Enter thou into thy chambers. And shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment.

[12:08] Until the indignation be overposed. Now, the Lord's people, spiritual Israel, are in a sad and a solemn state because of sin.

[12:28] Israel. We realize the comparison between Israel of old and spiritual Israel.

[12:43] Israel of old was under the hand of one who caused them to labour incessantly.

[12:56] Enslaved them. Caused them suffering, grief, sorrow.

[13:08] Know the Lord's people. Know somewhat of that oppression. But you know, there were many years when Israel were under the taskmasters that they cried at all.

[13:34] It wasn't until the burden was increased so much that they could not bear it that they began to cry unto the Lord.

[13:47] And isn't it so with you and me? Sin and Satan have ruled us.

[13:58] In this 26th chapter we have to say, Lord, it is so. In the 13th verse, O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us.

[14:14] In this 26th chapter we have been told, we have served them willingly. We have served them without a sense of burden.

[14:26] Without a sense of oppression. We have served them with us to make us please the Lord so to cause us to feel the burden.

[14:45] And you know, if we have been many years oppressed and under the burden of a heavy taskmaster, we have served them with us to be the Lord.

[14:57] And we have been grieved by it. There must have been a fundamental change and an alteration to make us to cry out under the oppression of that which we now feel.

[15:15] God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts.

[15:28] You know, the Lord's people must be those in whom and to whom this light is come.

[15:43] I want to refer your attention to a word in the prophecy of Hosea.

[15:55] And I trust that you'll find that by the Holy Spirit it's a word that searches but doesn't offend.

[16:14] A heart softened by the Lord.

[16:27] A heart in whom that light shines can only say in respect of God's word however searching, the truth, Lord.

[16:40] And I believe we have in this chapter, a very short one in Hosea, a description of the Lord's people.

[16:58] Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress.

[17:13] According to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and for an half homer of barley.

[17:32] And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man.

[17:48] So will I also be for thee. Now Christ is set forth there.

[17:59] And his procuring for his people all the blessings and the benefits that the Father determined before the world was.

[18:18] You know the Lord did not come unsent. The Father sent him. And what did he say?

[18:29] And what was he to accomplish? Go yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress.

[18:41] Oh dear friend, that does describe us in a spiritual sense, every one of us. Consider, in the covenant of grace, the Lord loved his people.

[18:59] He set his love upon them. And he gave them unto Christ. The bride, unto the bridegloom.

[19:12] He gave them unto him. He gave them unto him. He gave them unto him. He gave them unto him. They were betrothed unto him in eternity. And in Adam, by sin, they played the harlot. They left their first love. They forsook him and were estranged from him because of sin.

[19:34] And if you and I know anything of what we have said, respecting, being in bondage unfeelingly and unknowingly, perhaps for many, many years, when the Lord causes us to feel the burden and the oppression of God, we have been in the world. And when they left their first love, they left their first love. They forsook him and were estranged from him because of sin.

[19:47] And if you and I know anything of what we have said, respecting, being in bondage unfeelingly and unknowingly, perhaps for many, many years, when the Lord causes us to feel the burden and the oppression of it, in respect of this description of ourselves, we shall have to say, truth, Lord.

[20:09] It is the truth. That's me. That's me. Many, many years ago, those words were applied unto my soul with such comfort.

[20:28] I will hedge up thy ways. Oh, what a mercy that the Lord hedges up our ways.

[20:42] She shall not find her own path. You see, we should still go on in that path. We should still play the harlot. We should ever be estranged except he hedged us up.

[21:03] And the Lord says, come, my people. God commendeth his love unto us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

[21:25] This is what he says, isn't it? By those very actions. By the sending of his Son. Go, yet, love a woman.

[21:37] Beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress. And what does Christ say in respect of the Father's word and in respect of his people, his beloved.

[21:55] So I bought her to me. Oh, you know, there's more than eternity can reveal in those words.

[22:16] The wonders of redeeming love and redeeming blood. I bought her to me.

[22:29] When we go back to the words of the text, hide thyself in thy chambers and shut thy door about thee.

[22:46] Think of the Israelites of old. At God's commandment.

[22:58] By his ordaining. He had determined to redeem them out of the hand of Pharaoh.

[23:09] And he bid each family to take a lamb and to kill it. And to take the blood and put it upon the lintels and upon the doorposts.

[23:21] And then they were to go into their chambers. And they were to shut their doors. They were to hide, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed.

[23:35] And we see Israel. The lamb taken and killed. The blood put upon the door.

[23:46] The lamb roasted with fire. And the Lord was most specific in his commandment respecting all these things. It was not to be sodden with water.

[24:00] It was to be roasted with fire. The setting forth the wrath of God upon his only begotten Son.

[24:16] And you know that roasting of lamb by fire makes such a sweet savour upon the lamb that isn't there when it's sodden with water and boil.

[24:32] There is a peculiar sweetness unto the sinner in that Christ should lay down his life for them.

[24:47] It's that which nothing else can convey unto them.

[24:59] The sense of his redeeming love warms and moves and abides within them.

[25:11] And the Lord, you think of Israel, they couldn't see the blood on the outside. And I'm sure they feared and trembled for the angel of death was outside.

[25:26] But the Lord thought of them. But the Lord thought of them. Of their need. Of the fears that rise up in their heart.

[25:38] And he gave them something. And he gave them something. So that while they were hidden in the chambers that he by his love and wisdom had commanded them to enter in.

[25:54] While they were shut in. While they were shut in. While they were shut in. By the precious blood. For the angel of death could not pass the blood.

[26:05] And though they couldn't see it. The Lord had provided them with a token. And an evidence within themselves.

[26:16] That that which God had commanded had been done. For they were to eat the lamb. All of it.

[26:28] And the savour and the satisfaction of that which they had partaken of. Abided with them through the darkness.

[26:41] Through the danger. Till the indignation was overpassed. And isn't it so with the Lord's people.

[26:53] Spiritually speaking. The hymn writer says show me a token Lord for good. Some token of thy special love.

[27:08] A confirming that I am born from above. Something within that comforts me in the darkness. That alleviates my fears.

[27:22] That enfolds me in thy love. The apostle Paul certainly.

[27:33] Had this token. Because he was able to say. I am persuaded. Oh dear friend.

[27:45] Are you and I persuaded? By the Lord. Not in the head. Not in the head. But by those tokens and evidences that the Lord has given unto our soul.

[27:59] That nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Like alrightlife thou be square power here. Or 걸 by the Lord's people in theanse.

[28:14] довalôn. Peter or by the Ark. And nuestras people in the Sh ..." характер the Zug timestば. people. They are fearful people and yet they are possessors of such great blessings, such tokens and evidences of that inheritance that the Lord has purposed for, he says, I bought her to me. But the Lord doesn't leave us there because if we were those that were bought, we should be under a duty as a servant and a purchase to attend unto the Master's will.

[29:17] And the covenant of grace is not a covenant exclusively devoted to servitude, rather the contrary. Because they were betrothed unto him in eternity past and he comes to recover them. But he does not recover them unrighteously. Again in the prophecy of Hosea the Lord says, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercy. Now that the Lord betrothes his people unto himself in righteousness, that verse in the 26th of Isaiah, where we read, other Lords have had dominion over us. We were their slave, sin slave, Satan's slave. And that he might betroth us in righteousness unto himself, it is necessary that he buy us, redeem us, purchase us unto himself, ere he can say, thou art mine. Because we have sold ourselves for naught and he has undertaken to redeem us without money and without price. And therefore, that betrothing is a betrothing is a betrothing in righteousness. And therefore he bought her unto himself. But his possession is not a possession only by purchase. For he said unto her, thou shalt not abide for me for many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man. So will I also be for thee.

[31:52] For he see the conquest of his grace and of his love unto her. He says, I will betroth thee in judgment, in loving kindness and in mercy. You know, when the Lord came to redeem his people, he didn't come ignorantly.

[32:21] He didn't come rashly, hastily, carelessly. When he came, he came in full knowledge of the cost. That he must, needs, go down into hell to deliver his loved one.

[32:45] He said, I will betrothed thee in the world. To bring her out from under the power of the enemy. It was with mature knowledge and in the deepest love. Because when he came unto the garden, he cried out, being in an agony.

[33:09] He said, my soul is troubled. And shall I say unto the Father, Father, save me from this hour. For this cause, all the judgment, the knowledge, the understanding, the appreciation, the love of Christ, unto his redeemed. For this cause came I unto this hour. To seek you out. To hide you. To cover you. To shut the door about you. To save you from the indignation that must come.

[34:01] And thereby he discloses his loving kindness and his mercy. And thereby he discloses his loving kindness and his mercy.

[34:12] You know, there's such wondrous depths of love and grace in these thoughts. Come, my people. Enter into thy chambers.

[34:30] Shut thy chambers. Shut thy doors about thee. Now the Lord speaks those words in such terms as to convey unto us that these chambers, which are ours, he has prepared for us and only for us.

[34:50] They are thine to enter into. And they are ours because of the covenant of grace. In Psalm 28, I believe it is, we read there concerning these chambers, the Lord uses a different word.

[35:19] In Psalm 28, I believe it is, we read there concerning these chambers, the Lord uses a different word in that psalm, but it means exactly the same, a covering. For he speaks of psalm, but it means exactly the same, a covering. For he speaks of pavilions in that psalm.

[35:32] For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.

[35:47] He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

[36:09] For in the secret of the Lord. You know, Jesus is the pavilion, the tabernacle. The tabernacle of old was a setting forth of Christ in all his glories. Set upon the earth.

[36:28] And what was the foundation of the tabernacle of old? The silver. The ransom price, the redemption price of Israel. That shekel, that half shekel of silver that was taken from all.

[36:48] That constituted the feet upon which the tabernacle stood up upon the earth. And dear friend, if you think about all the glories that pertain unto God and the Lord's people and all the blessings that they enjoy.

[37:08] They stand upon that one foundation. The redemption price that Christ has paid for his people.

[37:20] Now he says, I bought her to me. He purchased her with his blood. He conquered her with his love and with his grace.

[37:35] And it is upon that ground that he says, come, my people.

[37:48] If we are brought into the understanding of a little of these things, I believe we must know that love in return.

[38:05] For we love him because he first loved us. And when he makes it known, by the conquest of his grace, there is a love going out after him.

[38:16] Oh, we may at times feel like the woman in the song of Solomon who says, I am black.

[38:28] But he says, rise up, my Lord. Those sins, those iniquities, those transgressions are no impediment for I've taken them away.

[38:47] I've removed them. My blood has put them away forever. You know, that's one of the sweetest words to a soul that is concerned and grieved because of sin.

[39:04] That by his precious blood, all sin is put away forever. If there were a possibility of one being left or one being brought against us subsequently, we should never have any peace.

[39:22] We should never know what it was to have that quiet confidence and trust. We should never fear. We should never fear. But by his precious blood, all sin is put away forever.

[39:44] And he comes and he applies this precious truth and speaks his love, declares it unto the soul.

[39:56] He applies up my love and he proves his love by the redeeming blood that he shed for the sin.

[40:10] So that there is a time, and I believe it is a precious time, when the Lord's people are brought to say, not only that he shed his blood, but he shall say, for me.

[40:30] Then we know what it is when he says, come, my people. And I believe that there are times subsequently when we look back and we have to say, where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord?

[40:57] Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word? We want the savour of that.

[41:08] But you know we do well to remember this too. That when the Israelites were shut in their chambers, they couldn't see the blood.

[41:19] They had the tokens and evidences within them. And the Lord commanded them to be ready with their shoes on their feet, their staff in their hand, girded.

[41:34] And what about you and me? Is this how we are even now? Consider, the blood is shed.

[41:51] We cannot see it with our natural eye. But we have the token and the evidence within us. And the Lord has said, be ready.

[42:07] Gird up your loins. Put on your shoes. And wait. For the time is nigh at hand.

[42:22] And how will it be with you and me? Shall we be there, prepared, meet and ready?

[42:41] Well, you know that Israel went forth. And they went forth, not to immediate ease and comfort, but to hardship and difficulty and trial.

[42:56] But the Lord went with them. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night.

[43:07] All the forty years they were in the wilderness until they came to Jordan. Dear friend, if you believe and trust the precious blood.

[43:20] Have the tokens within you. Then the Lord has bid you. Prepare for the journey.

[43:31] The journey of faith. The journey of trial. And when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.

[43:43] And through the floods they shall not overflow thee. The flame shall not kindle upon thee. Oh dear friend, are we ready?

[43:54] Ready to go out after him? For the Lord looks upon his people and he says, I remember thee in the day of thine espousal, when thou wentest after me in a wilderness land that was not sown.

[44:14] This is our calling. This is our calling. This is our vocation. This is what the Lord bids us unto. Are we ready to go as a separate, a distinguished people?

[44:35] Yes, despised, hated, opposed by all on every hand, yet willing.

[44:47] For he says, they shall be willing. For he says, they shall be willing in the day of my power. And dear friend, if we go out, though it be into a wilderness unsown, consider that we are in those chambers of his love.

[45:09] And he has shut the door about us so that none shall do us harm.

[45:24] For not one of them is lost. They all shall come safe home at last. And what is it that we shall rejoice in?

[45:37] As the Lord brings us there. And see his lovely face. My beloved is mine. And I am his.

[45:48] This is what we shall know and learn and feel. Perhaps in different degrees at different times. But the sweetness of it will be there.

[46:01] From time to time as we journey. My beloved is mine. And I am his. May the Lord have his blessing.