Series:
Isaiah
Title:
Promises to the Mother
Text:
Isaiah 49: 18-21
Date:
December 30, 2012
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Our
subject: Promises to the Mother.
In Isaiah 49 the church of God is described as a
mother. Christ is our Husband. The
church bears children by his Spirit and power.
Isaiah
49: 17: Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee
waste shall go forth of thee. 18: Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold:
all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the
LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and
bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 19
For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction,
shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that
swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20
The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other,
shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me
that I may dwell. 21 Then shalt thou say
in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and
am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift
up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they
shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon
their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be
thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down
to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and
thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for
me.
Some reject this truth that the church of God
is the mother of his children because the harlot church of Rome corrupts this
doctrine. But vain religion corrupts all true doctrine. The Jews who
rejected Christ for the law, as well as professing Christians today who
preach—the will of the flesh, the works of the flesh, the blood kinship of the
flesh, who preach the lie that Christ died for all and can’t save without your
will, who preach works rather than grace—is the harlot mother. She is married
to the flesh—in bondage with her children. She does not nourish her children with
the sincere milk of the word but with wine of fornications—with fables created
in the vain imaginations of men. She
corrupts all doctrine. But we do not turn from the truth of God simply because the
harlot corrupts true doctrine.
Proposition:
The church of the living God is his bride, the mother of his children and
Christ our Husband is birthing his children to newness of life through the
church. In our text, the Lord God makes seven
promises to his church in this figure of the church as a mother.
I.
THE CHURCH SHALL HAVE HER CHILDREN--v 17: Thy children shall make haste; thy
destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
Thy
Children
Thy children are those elected unto salvation by God
the Father and given to Christ in eternity. But the mother has seen many
destroyers. In the garden, the mother was wasted by the deceiving of the devil
and the sin of our father Adam. The Jewish church state was made waste by many
destroyers. In our day, the destroyers have become even more cunning in their
deception.
Today, the harlot is dressed
attractively—transformed into an angel of light. She preaches much truth but with slight of
hand she mixes law and grace. Our
Husband warned us, “false Christs and false prophets shall
rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. (Mark 13: 22) So beware my beloved!
The
Promise
Still, the promise of Christ our Husband is, “Thy
children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall
go forth of thee.” Christ came in the flesh for these children. He laid down his life for them. Christ was made a curse for them. He has redeemed each one from the curse of
the law. By his finished work, Christ
destroyed the destroyers. He destroyed
the power of the devil. From his throne
in glory our glorious Husband has power over every deceiver.
Therefore, Christ says to the mother—thy children
shall make haste. Our exalted Husband
shall draw his children making them make haste.
Each of his children shall be born-again of the Holy Spirit of God of
incorruptible Seed through the word of the gospel which we preach.
How this encourages my heart as we labor to preach
the gospel in the midst of this corrupt generation! How about you brethren?
1
Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
II.
THE CHILDREN SHALL COME FROM EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE--v. 18: Lift up thine eyes
round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to
thee.
Look
Around
At the time of this prophecy the church of God was
in Babylon. Like we today are surrounded by mystical Babylon. But Christ says,
“Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold.”
Look north, south, east and west. We see those we would never imagine
will ever have an interest in the gospel of Christ. He promises, “All these gather themselves
together, and come to thee.” It means
from every nation, tribe, tongue and people. He shall draw all his elect
together by his omnipotent hand and they shall come to his church.
Isaiah
43: 5: Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and
gather thee from the west; 6: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the
south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of
the earth; 7 Even every one that is
called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea,
I have made him.
Illustration: I sent an email Friday asking
your ancestry. I was curious how many nations we have represented here in this
congregation: Irish, English, Scottish, Indian, Italian, German, Swedish, French, Dutch, Danish, Slovakian, Czech, and Joe
Z. responded too, adding that he is now “Sourthern”—he is actually,
polish. So we see right here in this assembly that Christ our Husband is true to his
promise.
Revelation
5: 9: [Christ] wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by [his] blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Galatians
3: 27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29: And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
III.
THE CHILDREN SHALL BE AN ORNAMENT TO THE MOTHER--v18: As I live, saith the
LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and
bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
The
Oath
“As I live, saith the LORD”—is God’s promise, his
oath. Our
Lord knows we are encouraged by seeing him make good on his promise so from
time-to-time he adds a new born babe
to us.
John 1:13: Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 Peter 1: 23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for
ever…25…And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you… 2: 1:
Wherefore laying aside all malice,…2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk
of the word, that ye may grow thereby
Adorned by Children
These
newly born babes of God adorn the church like as a bride is adorned by her
dress and her ornaments.
Illustration:
Husbands, you saw your bride adorned on her wedding day. I thought mine would never top her beauty on
that day. But it was nothing in
comparison how she was adorned the day she held my newly born child in her
arms!
Whenever God births his child into this family or
brings one to unite with us, Christ adorns us by entrusting to us the care of
his eternally loved darling child! That is a privilege which adorns us, that is
a responsibility that adorns us. He says thou shalt “bind them on thee.”
Illustration: I continually tell my children what a beautiful mother
they have. One thing that adorns her is
the way she faithfully teaches and cares for my children.
It is the privilege and responsibility given to us
by Christ—you and I as chosen, redeemed, regenerated saints married to our
Husband—to bind his children to us: to provide, feed, and train them up in the
nuture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 4:11-16), with the sincere milk of the
word, teaching them to believe on Christ, to live for Christ, to worship and
serve Christ in promoting the gospel—both here and with missionaries in other
places. (Matt. 28:19-20). We are to
nurse them when they get sick, to lift them up when they fall, to bind them up when
they get hurt—just like a faithful mother does for her children.
We do so by heeding the gospel ourselves: by
prayer, by attending the hearing of the gospel, by reading his word, and by
example. And Christ receives all the
glory making you and I married only to him, making us faithful to him by his
grace, making us fruitful in bearing his children by his gospel and Spirit,
making us faithful in raising them up in the nurture and admonition with which
he cares for us.
Let
corporate religion have their cold, dead-letter, corporate religion, I will
take the warmth and love of the house and family of God over that garbage any
day of the week.
IV. THE INCREASE SHALL BE GREATER THAN THE
DECREASE--v20: The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the
other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give
place to me that I may dwell.
Decrease
There
shall be decrease. Some of God’s brethren are called to glory. We mourn this loss but we are happy they
get to be with Christ face-to-face.
At
times our brethren are removed by God’s hand to pastor a church elsewhere or be
a helpful member elsewhere. This too,
is great reason to rejoice. But we sometimes find it difficult. We pray for God
to send laborers to the harvest but when he sends them from us, we often act as
if what we meant was send them from some other place. But this is a decrease to rejoice in. If God
uses this earthen vessel to raise up one of his pastors, I hope I will rejoice
to have been given so rich a blessing and privilege. We will send them away with gifts and prayers
and great rejoicing.
But
there is also the decrease in those who slide back into the world. We pray God
will bring them back. He shall if they are his. But usually this decrease is the gospel exposing the heart of
the hypocrite. As long as the doctrine was dead letter, requiring no
commitment, they followed Christ. Yet,
when he said that except we eat his flesh and drink his blood we have no life
within—except Christ is our Life every day in every way, in true commitment to
him, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with
him.” The true children can never fall away.
We are kept by the power of God. “to whom shall we go, thou hast the
words of eternal life and we believe and art sure thou art the Christ the Son
of the living God.” But remember this decrease is gain to God’s children—thy destroyers shall go forth of thee. I would much rather see those leave that
would harm God’s sheep than see them stay. But it is no loss for Christ’s
bride, only gain.
Increase
Still, our Husband
promises the increase shall be greater than the decrease, “The children which
thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears,
The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.” God is able to do so in this assembly.
Illustration:
Todd’s Road Grace Church, Lexington—from 4 members to over 300.
The church at any given time has been a remnant
compared to the harlot Babylon—but in the church universal—over all time—Christ
has a multitude no man can number. The increase shall be greater than the
decrease!
V. THESE CHILDREN SHALL BE THE MIRACLE OF
GOD’S GRACE--v21: Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me
these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing
to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these,
where had they been?
God
often whittles us down to a small number before adding this increase. Why? One reason is that it makes the true God-sent preacher and the true children
look to Christ all the more and preach Christ all the more boldly. But also, it
forces us to acknowledge in thankful amazement that it is Christ our Head who
is adding to his church daily such as should be saved, not we ourselves. “Then shalt thou say
in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and
am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?” What a comfort and peace to know that all we
are to do is preach the gospel—Christ will do the adding!
VI.
CHRIST IS THE STANDARD SET UP BY WHICH HIS CHILDREN SHALL BE SAVED--v. 22: Thus
saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set
up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and
thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Christ
is the Hand and Banner
The power is of God’s own hand, not of us, “Behold,
I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles.”
The standard—the banner—the rallying sign—is Christ and him crucified—I
will set up my standard to the people.
God set up Christ in eternity when he chose his Son
to be our Redeemer; God set up Christ in the law and the prophets—the
scriptures; God set up Christ when he spoke from heaven as he walked this earth;
God set up Christ on the cross of Calvary; God set up Christ when he
resurrected him from the grave; God sets up Christ through the preaching of the
gospel; God sets up Christ in the hearts of his people in the new birth. It
pleased God that Christ have all preeminence. He does and shall! We must only
preach Christ!
Illustration: I
heard a preacher the other day explaining that this new generation must have
the gospel presented to them in a different manner from generations in the
past. His presentation was that he never
preached the gospel at all.
We must never become the harlot wife, turning to her
adulterous methods and message. Only
God’s grace can save sinners from the wine of her fornication. Get to Christ! Tell the truth and let the chips fall where
they may! It is
through the truth of man’s total, complete ruin and Christ’s total, complete
redemption of his people that God manifests his glory and his grace. Christ is the Hand and Standard of God whereby
these promises shall be fulfilled.
Our salvation is to the glory of God’s amazing
grace: from electing his children, to redeeming his children, to regenerating
his children, to teaching his children, to preserving his children, to
resurrecting his children, all is by the sovereign, free, distinguishing,
saving, unchangeable grace of God. He
that glories, let him glory in the Lord! Let us
be the faithful bride and mother of his children. By his grace and his power alone, we shall
be.
VII.
BY MAKING HIS CHURCH TRIUMPH IN THIS EARTH WE SHALL KNOW HE IS THE LORD —v. 23:
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers:
they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the
dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be
ashamed that wait for me.
A
Mother Provided For
The final fulfillment of this prophecy I am
sure will be glorious to see. But even right now, Christ is the King of
kings. He is using the kings and queens of
this world to provide for his bride and his children.
If we
have freedom from kings to worship, it is due to the King of kings providing
for his bride and her children. If land
prices plummet it is the Lord of lords providing for his bride and his children. If the economy flourishes it is the King of
kings providing for his bride and her children
The
KING of kings and LORD of lords is using the kings and queens of this earth to
nurse his children in this earth, to provide for us exactly what we need so the
mother of Christ’s children can keep his house as he does the work of calling
out his children.
What Shall We Do
With These Promises?
Having these promises, let us be eager to get the
gospel out far and wide in any format we can. Take a handful of those
print-outs in the back and a few of the CD’s. Put them on your desk at work or
in your car. It may be someone asks you
about them and there you have opportunity to invite them to come hear the
gospel or to give them something to listen to or read later. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold
not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or
that, or whether they both shall be alike good.”
Getting
the messages each week is a full time job for me. My mind has got to be set on that task or the
services will suffer. But God has put
each of you here in the body to be able to help with some aspect of the
work. So if you would like to help,
ask. There is always plenty of things
you can help with. We are looking into
some avenues of getting the gospel out via video. There are many aspects of that which we need
help with. We are looking at buying a
piece of property. There are aspects of
that we need help with. If you would like to help with posting articles on the
website—I can show you several things that I simply do not have time to do in
that regard.
Having
these promises of what our Lord will do is to make us eager to do what God has
made available for us to do. This is how
God makes us the mother—his bride—used of our Redeemer to bring forth his
children. And he gets all the glory both
now and forever.
He works these
things before our feeble, faltering, faithless eyes in such a way, “and
thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for
me.” One day, we shall know, even as we are
known!
Amen!