Thy Dead Men Shall Live
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 6th August service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verses are:
Isa 26:1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Isa 26:2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isa 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Isa 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Thy Dead Men Shall Live
Isaiah repeatedly returns to the prospect of the coming day of the Lord, a day that will reveal God’s glory and vindicate the patience and perseverance of the Lord’s people. The day in view is the gospel day, an extended age beginning with the first coming of the Lord Jesus and culminating in the return of Christ in power to judge the world and bring His church into heavenly joy and peace. Isaiah foresaw this day and wrote of it to encourage and comfort the remnant of every age amid the challenges they face.
Gospel expansion
The opening verses of this chapter speak of the Lord gathering His church by the gospel and bringing His people into Zion, the city of God. ‘Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.’ What makes us righteous is the righteousness of Christ. The truth which is kept is the faith of Christ. The strength of the city is the salvation that comes from the Lord. It is not our own strength and ability but the goodness of God which defends, protects and secures the poor and needy. Believers are weak and feeble folk who find refuge within Zion’s walls.
Comfort in trouble
Isaiah encourages the Lord’s elect always to trust in Jehovah who is the rock of ages and our unique source of everlasting strength. Every difficult experience encountered in the lives of the remnant people; be it war, exile and slavery of past times or more subtle troubles that we face today, finds relief and comfort in the everlasting strength of our unchangeable Saviour. Not all the Lord’s people live to see their enemies fall and their temporal difficulties removed but those who trust in the Lord always find peace and are never disappointed.
Distinguishing grace
Let us remember, there is not a providence in the experience of men and women in this world that does not directly affect the Lord’s elect in common with unbelievers. Believers are not immune from disease nor preserved from hardship nor saved from sorrow. We bleed and decay in common with all flesh and we mourn for the loss of things loved. God’s remnant people suffered in the days of Isaiah and have done so ever since. Yet, even in the depths of despair a portion of grace and love is divinely ministered to the elect which distinguishes the believer from the unbeliever. When trouble draws near the Lord draws nearer.
Preaching the cross
Nevertheless, we have these promises. All God’s enemies and ours will be ashamed and all worldly glory will be trodden down. Here, Isaiah reveals a pattern often employed by the Lord. To rebuke the pride of man the kingdoms of the earth fall under the feet of the weak and despised, ‘even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy’. This, again, is a picture of gospel success, Paul says, ‘the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God’ for ‘it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe’. This is God’s great salvation.
Raised together in Christ
We do not seek the formation of a fleeting earthly kingdom but we look in faith for an eternal heavenly kingdom. The kingdom of Christ was conceived in God’s eternal purpose and committed to Christ by covenant promise. The Father gave His Son a people and made them His inheritance, saying, ‘Thy dead men shall live’. When redemption was complete and the Saviour’s success confirmed by His resurrection, all for whom He died were raised together with Him and their eternal life assured.
‘Come my people’
This is the message of the gospel. The preaching of the cross brings Christ’s people to conversion, reveals God’s elect and secures our souls against our foes. When the trials of life befall us, when the enemies of Christ assail us, the Lord declares, ‘Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast’. This is your comfort and mine when we are tried and tempted. Christ invites us to shelter our souls under gospel promises. Our chambers are God’s grace, love, mercy, peace and Christ’s presence with us. In such chambers the Lord’s people find security and rest when the storms of life break around us.
A message that endures
Isaiah had a word from the Lord for all God’s people in every age. Some, such as in Isaiah’s own day, looked forward in faith to the coming of Christ and the victories He would win. Today, we look back on Christ’s success and the wider opening of Zion’s gates to the Gentiles. We have witnessed the gains of the apostolic ministry through preaching Christ crucified. By grace the in-gathering of Christ’s redeemed church continues and soon all will be revealed in glory when the Saviour comes again.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 372
Zion. Ps. 87. 3; Isa. 26. 1; 33. 20, 21
J. Newton 8.7.
1
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He whose word can not be broken,
Formed thee for his own abode;
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
2
See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which, like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
3
Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear,
For a glory and a covering,
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner,
Light by night and shade by day,
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which he gives them when they pray.
4
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God
’Tis his love his people raises
Over self to reign as kings;
And as priests, his solemn praises
Each for a thank-offering brings.
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 193
“I am the resurrection, and the life.” John 11. 25
J. Newton C.M.
1
“I am,” says Christ, “your glorious Head,”
(May we attention give,)
“The Resurrection of the dead,
The life of all that live.
2
“By faith in me the soul receives
New life, though dead before;
And he that in my name believes,
Shall live to die no more.
3
“The sinner sleeping in his grave
Shall at my voice awake,
And when I once begin to save,
My work I’ll ne’er forsake.”
4
Fulfil thy promise, gracious Lord,
On us assembled here;
Put forth thy Spirit with the word,
And cause the dead to hear.
5
Preserve the power of faith alive
In those who love thy name;
For sin and Satan daily strive
To quench the sacred flame.
6
Thy power and mercy first prevailed
From death to set us free;
And often since our life had failed,
Had it not been in thee.
7
To thee we look, to thee we bow,
To thee for help we call;
Our Life and Resurrection thou,
Our Hope, our Joy, our All.
Isaiah looked forward with eager hope to the gospel day in which we live. He was blessed to see the day of the Lord and the success of the Saviour as He opened wide the gates of the church and brought many ‘sons unto glory’. Isaiah saw the blessings of imputed righteousness, peace with God, enlargement of the church, regeneration and full gospel blessing. What comforted Isaiah are the privileges we enjoy.
6 August 2023