Peace As A River
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 7th January service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verses are:
Isa 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Isa 48:13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
Isa 48:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Isa 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Isa 48:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Peace As A River
Key themes in this chapter are sovereign grace for undeserving sinners and the blessings of divine peace and provision that flow to God’s people in Jesus Christ. The Lord addresses the nation of Israel calling them, ‘house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel’. These were men and women with a blessed pedigree, yet they were obstinate, rebellious and proud. God calls them treacherous sinners and ‘transgressors from the womb’.
Hypocrites in Zion
The nations of Israel and Judah were outwardly blessed by God with inheritances and promises granted to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet, despite enjoying these blessings, asserting a right to them; even adopting the language of Zion and claiming a place in the holy city, the heart of the people was not right with the Lord, nor their souls pure in His sight.
Blessings don’t soften hearts
The lesson here is that no amount of outward blessing will soften a sinner’s hard heart. The Children of Israel had every conceivable advantage given to them over many years but their rebellious nature remained unchanged. This is the depraved state of all fallen men and women. No matter how patiently and mercifully the Lord deals with mankind, short of sovereign, efficacious grace and a new creation, we remain unmoved and unaffected. There is no good thing in us to enable us to respond as we should.
Grace is for sinners
How do we measure the nature and extent of God’s grace? It is His goodness when our opposition is greatest. It is His patience and mercy notwithstanding our constant rebellion. It is unconditional love when our minds are enmity towards Him. Remember, grace is for sinners, not the righteous! The Lord Jesus died for us when we were still enemies. He suffered, ‘the just for the unjust to bring us to God’. It was while we were yet sinners Christ gave Himself for us and when we were without strength, Christ suffered and died for the ungodly.
For God’s own sake
The Lord has Isaiah tell the Jews that the coming deliverance by Cyrus from their Babylonian captivity is not anything they deserve, but for the sake of His own glory. He will not have His honour impugned by those who deny his love and mercy. He will quash any suggestion He has not the power to deliver His people, or that other gods are mightier than He. So, too, let us learn for our own comfort and re-assurance, we are eternally safe and secure in Christ for God’s own sake and the glory of Jesus’ name.
Christ the first and last
Isaiah began by pointing out the people’s sin but now the covenant promise of the Lord is again in view. Christ is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things. He has set apart a people for the glory of His own divine Name. In the Gospel these blessed and chosen people are powerfully summoned to assemble before their King. They readily comply. The same creative word of power as laid the foundation of the earth and upholds the expanse of the heavens is what calls them to Christ. For the love of the Son and the glory of His Name the Lord will redeem and deliver His people.
Our great Redeemer
The Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, is announced in v.17 as the Lord, the Redeemer. It is He, the holy One of Israel, who first justifies His chosen people with divine righteousness then teaches them spiritual wisdom and gives faith to trust Him in the Gospel. Christ promises to profit His ransomed people under the Gospel. He is Himself the Way of life who leads and guides the redeemed to walk in the way they should go.
Free in Christ
In type the Jews returned from the captivity of Babylon. Under the Gospel the redeemed of the Lord go forth from the bondage of sin and the captivity of Satan. The Jews lost sight of the peace God promised to their forebears but in Christ the redeemed find peace like a river; full-flowing, plenteous, continuous and refreshing, and righteousness as deep and wide as the sea.
A voice of singing
The song of the elect is the song of the redeemed. The Holy One has redeemed His people and led us forth from captivity in a gushing torrent of bountiful supply. Out of the Rock that is Christ flows cleansing blood, transforming grace, perfect righteousness, full and free salvation and every good and perfect gift. That is something worth singing about.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 758
“Chosen … in the furnace of affliction.” Isa. 48. 10
J. Kent 8.7.4.
1
Sons of God, in tribulation,
Let your eyes the Saviour view;
He’s the Rock of our salvation,
He was tried and tempted too;
All to succour
Every tempted, burdened son.
2
’Tis if need be, he reproves us,
Lest we settle on our lees;
Yet he in the furnace loves us;
’Tis expressed in words like these:
“I am with thee,
Israel, passing through the fire.”
3
To his church, his joy, and treasure,
Every trial works for good;
They are dealt in weight and measure,
Yet how little understood!
Not in anger,
But from his dear covenant love.
4
If today he deigns to bless us
With a sense of pardoned sin,
Perhaps tomorrow he’ll distress us,
Make us feel the plague within;
All to make us
Sick of self and fond of him.
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 778
“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” 1 Sam. 7. 12
J. Hart 104th
1
Though strait be the way, with dangers beset,
And we on the way are no farther yet,
Our good Guide and Saviour has helped us thus far;
And ’tis by his favour we are what we are.
2
[A favour so great we highly should prize;
Not murmur, nor fret, nor small things despise.
But what call we small things – sin’s whole cancelled sum?
’Tis greater than all things, except those to come.]
3
My brethren, reflect on what we have been,
How God had respect to us under sin;
When lower and lower we every day fell,
He stretched forth his power, and snatched us from hell.
4
Then let us rejoice, and cheerfully sing,
With heart and with voice, to Jesus our King,
Who thus far has brought us from evil to good;
The ransom that bought us, no less than his blood.
5
For blessings like these, so bounteously given,
For prospects of peace and foretastes of heaven,
’Tis grateful, ’tis pleasant, to sing, and adore;
Be thankful for present, and then ask for more.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of His people having shed His blood to bring us to God. He is also our Teacher and Leader, teaching us in the gospel and leading us as His little flock through the wilderness of the Life.
7 January 2024