A Very Small Remnant
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 8th January service and hymns are below.
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Our verses are:
Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isa 1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Isa 1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Isa 1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Isa 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
A Very Small Remnant
The prophecy, or more accurately, ‘the vision of Isaiah’ is foremost amongst the prophetical writings in the Old Testament scriptures. It is clearly and openly Christ-centred and is quoted frequently by the Lord and His apostles in the New Testament. We have seen in our recent series concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ how when first it was said, the seed of the women will bruise the serpent’s head, every succeeding revelation tended to unfold and confirm this leading truth of the Word of God.
Discovering Christ
The apostle Peter explains it this way, the Spirit of Christ was in the holy men of old, among whom was Isaiah, directing their minds into all truth; so the great intention of all the prophecies received and delivered was to illuminate and illustrate those two great themes of all revelation; ‘the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow’. Throughout the whole of scripture; this was the premise of prophecy. Every vision, dream and revelation delivered in a spirit of prophecy, directed the Lord’s elect to Jesus.
A legitimate approach
It is always our purpose to seek, and our longing to find, the Lord in these Old Testament passages. The Lord Himself ministered to the two on the road to Emmaus of these very things, ‘beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself’. It is our aim and privilege therefore to discover Christ in all the scriptures.
Introducing Isaiah
Beginning tomorrow we shall look at some chapters in Isaiah with the express purpose of discovering the Lord Jesus. Isaiah’s name means, ‘Salvation of the Lord’ which is a good place to begin. He served the people of Israel for over sixty tumultuous years during the reigns of a succession of kings, and wrote down his prophecy around 700 years before the coming of the Saviour. He had a wife and two sons whose names had symbolical significance.
Isaiah comes highly recommended
In reading for the service I noted the following two statements. One writer said, ‘Who can read the prophecy of Isaiah without the most profound admiration! It is not only unequalled in point of language, but it contains so much of Christ, that it looks more like an history than a prophecy. It is more like the writings of a person who was present at Pilate’s hall, and Herod’s judgment-seat, when describing the sufferings of Jesus, than of one who wrote those events, by the spirit of prediction, more than seven hundred years before the things there spoken of came to pass.’
Another wrote, ‘Of all Israel’s celebrated prophets, Isaiah is the king. The writings which bear his name are among the profoundest in all literature. One great theme, salvation by faith, stamps them all. Isaiah is the Paul of the Old Testament.’
Visions of Christ in Ch.1
In our service we shall pursue this purpose by thinking about what Isaiah chapter one teaches us concerning our sin and need of a Saviour. We shall note the Lord’s sovereign purpose in setting apart a chosen people and retaining for Himself ‘a very small remnant’ to whom He lovingly and graciously shows mercy by making them fit for His presence.
Finally, as the Lord allows, we shall think about the glorious transformation effected by the blood of Jesus crucified, the purging and cleansing of hearts and souls for purity, and the powerful conversion of our natures by the righteousness of God. We shall rejoice with the man who seven hundred years before Christ came could write, ‘Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness’ (1:27).
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 795
Election. 1 Thess. 5. 24; 2 Tim. 2. 19; 1 Pet. 1. 2
J. Hart 7.6.7.
1
Mighty enemies without,
Much mightier within,
Thoughts we cannot quell or rout,
Blasphemously obscene;
Coldness, unbelief, and pride,
Hell and all its murderous train,
Threaten death on every side,
And have their thousands slain.
2
Thus pursued, and thus distressed,
Ah! whither shall we fly?
To obtain the promised rest,
On what sure hand rely?
Shall the Christian trust his heart?
That, alas! of foes the worst,
Always takes the tempter’s part;
Nay, often tempts him first.
3
If today we be sincere,
And can both watch and pray,
Watchfulness, perhaps, and prayer,
Tomorrow may decay.
If we now believe aright,
Faithfulness is God’s alone,
We are feeble, fickle, light,
To changes ever prone.
4
But we build upon a base
That nothing can remove,
When we trust electing grace
And everlasting love.
Victory over all our foes
Christ has given with his blood,
Perseverance he bestows
On every child of God.
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 1038
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Ps. 126. 5
H. Fowler 8.7.4.
1
Sinners, in their deep affliction,
Sigh and groan beneath their load;
Long to read their own election,
And with pleasure say, “My God!”
Trembling, fearing,
Hoping still in Jesus’ blood.
2
Blessèd are the souls who tremble
At Jehovah’s searching word;
Contrite hearts cannot dissemble;
God has slain them with his sword;
Doubting, fearing,
Still their hope is in the Lord.
3
Mourning saint, whose heart is broken,
Love shall wipe thy weeping eye;
Ask thy Saviour for this token;
All thy needs he will supply;
Fear not, mourner;
Christ will make you reap in joy.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the subject of all the scripture and the message of redemption and salvation is clearly seen in Isaiah’s prophecy by those to whom the gospel is revealed. Isaiah tells us the Lord God has a remnant people chosen by grace whose sins shall be purely purged and who will be washed and made clean in the blood of Jesus Christ.
08 January 2023