THE SPIRIT PROMISED TO THE SEED OF JACOB
Isaiah 44:1-5. Yet now hear, O Jacob my Servant, &c.
The three Divine Persons in the Godhead are represented in Scripture as concurring in the salvation of fallen man. Our text is one of those interesting passages in which the Holy Spirit is promised in the Old Testament.
I. THE PEOPLE TO WHOM THE PROMISE IS MADE. The “seed” or “offspring” of Jacob, i.e., those who resemble Jacob in his state and character, in his spirit and conduct.
1. Jacob is here represented as the creature of God. “Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb.” The same is true of all His spiritual children (Ephesians 2:10).
2. God had chosen Jacob. Twice declared in our text. True also of His spiritual children (1 Peter 2:9).
3. In the text twice called the servant of God. His children are also in the same capacity (Acts 27:23; Romans 12:1).
3. Jacob is also called Israel. We know on what occasion that name was first given him (Genesis 32:28). It is the memorial of his triumph in prayer; and the promise in our text is made to those who, like Jacob, wrestle with God in prayer for spiritual blessings,
5. Jacob is here called Jesurun, i.e., “the upright one.” Those who are interested in this promise are such as are upright before God. Imperfection may cleave to them; overpowered by temptation, they may fall into sin; yet they are sincere (H. E. I. 1022).
II. THE PROMISE MADE IN THE TEXT (Isaiah 44:3). What is here promised is the Holy Spirit of God, the Sanctifier and Comforter of the Church. A blessing in which all other blessings may be said to be included. With it, and it alone, there come to the soul spiritual life, pardon, purity, peace, and meetness for heaven. Here promised under the emblem of water.
Water is a blessing—
1. Universally necessary. Without it, both man and beast must speedily perish.
2. Universally diffused. In some countries, indeed, it is more abundant than in others; but there is no habitable region on the face of the earth where it is entirely wanting. Nor is the Holy Spirit confined to a few favoured ones (Acts 2:17). This promise is being fulfilled.
3. Abundant. Note the promise of the text: “pour floods.” He will communicate His Spirit copiously to earnest suppliants.
4. Cheap. Generally cheap, as the light of the sun, or as the air we breathe. What can be cheaper than the grace of the Spirit? Too precious to be sold (Job 28:14). It is the free gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (John 4:10).
III. THE EFFECTS ATTENDING THE FULFILMENT OF THIS PROMISE (Isaiah 44:4-5). When the earth has been long without rain, the whole face of nature assumes a mournful and sterile appearance. Let rain be given, and fertility and beauty are seen on every side. Without the Holy Spirit, there is barrenness in the Church. When the Spirit is poured out upon the Church, what are the results?
1. Its converts become exceedingly numerous. “They shall spring up as among the grass”—numerous as the blades of grass. Preliminary fulfilments of the promise (Acts 2:41; Acts 4:34; Acts 5:14). In every age since that time, the number of converts has multiplied in proportion to the outpouring of the Spirit.
2. Its converts become distinguished for the rapidity and luxuriance of their spiritual growth. “They spring up as willows by the water-courses” (cf. Hosea 14:5-7). The young convert, watered by the dews of the Spirit, makes rapid progress in spiritual knowledge and in grace. He rivals the lily in grace, the olive-tree in beauty, the cedar in stateliness, and the vine in fruitfulness. He ripens as quickly as the full-grown ear of corn; and, like the vine of Lebanon, diffuses around him the most delightful fragrance.
3. They are animated by the purest spirit of self-dedication to the Lord, and of cordial attachment to His people (Isaiah 44:5). That is, they shall dedicate themselves to the Lord as His faithful servants and sincere worshippers; and separating themselves from the ungodly and profane, shall solemnly and publicly join themselves to His Church. That this is the duty of those who have been converted and benefited by the Spirit, may be safely inferred from the practice of the Church in every age (Acts 2:44; Acts 2:46). Can we do better than follow the example set us by the primitive Church? Is it not at once our duty and the most likely way to promote the edification and salvation of our souls? Are we not more likely to go to heaven in company with those who travel thither, than by keeping aloof from them? (H. E. I. 3903–3911.)
CONCLUSION.—
1. What resemblance do we bear to the character of the people to whom the promise is made? Is the workmanship of God seen in us? Does the sanctity of our lives prove that we are His elect people? Are we men of fervent and persevering prayer? Are we sincere and upright before God?
2. Has the promise of the text been fulfilled to our souls? We so absolutely need the grace of the Spirit that we must perish, if we have it not. There is no good reason why we should be without it; like water, it is everywhere placed within our reach, and may be obtained in the greatest abundance by only asking for it. How inexcusable, then, must we be, if we still remain without it!
3. Some of us profess to have received the Spirit! What are the effects which He has produced on our spirit and conduct? (H. E. I. 2897, 2898, 1430–1437).
4. Have you truly dedicated yourself to God? and have you joined His people?—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 469–479.
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS INFLUENCE ON MAN
(For Whit-Sunday.)
Isaiah 44:3-4. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, &c.
When God designed the recovery of ruined man, He purposed to accomplish the gracious and glorious work by two great means: by giving the Son to take upon Him our nature, to obey and suffer for us therein; and by sending the Holy Spirit, to render all that Christ has done and suffered for us applicable and effectual to the salvation of our souls.
In this Scripture an abundant effusion of the Spirit is promised to the Church, under the emblem of water: “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.” Being made truly sensible of spiritual need, and earnestly desirous of something better than creature satisfaction, this declaration promises a supply of spiritual blessings for the refreshment of the soul. Is that soul barren as the dry ground where there is no water? There is an enlargement of the promise—floods of grace are spoken of: “and floods upon the dry ground.” Then there is an explanation, in the plainest language: “I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessings upon thine offspring.”
This promise was strikingly fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. It is doubtless to have a more complete fulfilment in that happy and glorious state which yet awaits the Church, when the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea. But it has also a most important reference to those operations which are carried on by the Holy Spirit in our own souls, and upon which our salvation depends (John 3:3). Let us, then, reverently study what has been revealed to us in the Word of God concerning the being and operations of the Holy Spirit.
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. The Spirit, of whom this and other Scriptures speak to us, is Divine.
(1) This, and more, is involved in our Lord’s command, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
(2) The same distinguishing names and titles are given continually in the Word of God to the Holy Ghost, as belong to no other than Almighty God. “THE LORD” (2 Corinthians 3:1. Cf. Isaiah 6:9 with Acts 28:25). “GOD” (Acts 5:3). “JEHOVAH” (Cf. Isaiah 63:14 with Deuteronomy 32:12 and Numbers 14:11).
2. The Holy Spirit is not an attribute or operation of God the Father; His distinct personality is clearly manifest from several scriptures.
(1.) From distinct and visible appearances. At the baptism of our Lord. In Matthew 3:16, we read of a distinct manifestation of three Sacred Persons, at one time and place: The voice of the Father was heard, “This is my beloved Son;” the Lord Jesus came up out of the Jordan; and the Holy Spirit in a bodily shape descended from heaven, and lighted upon Him. On the day of Pentecost. He visibly descended on the apostles, in the likeness of fire.
(2.) To “the Spirit” divine and personal attributes are assigned. He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14). Omnipresent (Psalms 139:7). Omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10).
(3.) He acts in a personal manner, as one who has a distinct and personal will (John 14:7-8; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
(4.) He has personal appellations (Isaiah 11:2; John 14:16; John 14:26). He is called “a Comforter,” which is the name of a person, and of one vested with an office; “another Comforter,” to distinguish Him from God the Son, who is a Comforter and indisputably a Person.
(5.) The immediate care and government of the Christian Church has been committed peculiarly to the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is His especial work, spiritual life His especial gift; by Him the work of sanctification is carried on; all Christian holiness, and the exercise of every grace, proceed from Him (John 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 13:14, &c.) He also qualifies and appoints persons to minister in the Church of Christ, and claims their services (Acts 13:2; Acts 20:28).
These testimonies place it beyond doubt that the Holy Spirit is a divine, distinct, and self-existent person, infinite in all His attributes; that He is also, with the Father and the Son, One, God over all, blessed for evermore (H. E. I. 2867).
II. HIS OPERATIONS IN THE HUMAN SOUL.
He is the great Teacher, the Spirit of Illumination, the promised Guide, who alone can lead us into a saving knowledge of the truth. We all continue in a state of spiritual darkness and death until by His mighty power we are born again. It is only through His agency that the corruptions of the human heart can be subdued and mortified, and a holy conformity to the will of God either acquired or sustained. He is the great and only true Comforter, from whom alone any solid consolations come. His work in the soul is just as necessary for its salvation as was the work that was finished on the Cross; and no man, however wise or learned he may be, knows really one tittle more of spiritual things than he is experimentally taught them by the Holy Ghost. His blessed influences, which are so absolutely necessary to us, should be earnestly sought (H. E. I. 2871–2891; P. D. 1815–1821).—John Johnstone, M.A.: The Way of Life, pp. 172–196.
The suitableness of this passage to the important subject of the day, when we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, is obvious. Let us consider—
I. THE PROMISE. “I will pour,” &c. This, then, is a promise of the Spirit, which is here compared, as in other scriptures, to water, on account partly of its purifying, and partly of its comforting properties. For as water cleanses the body and quenches thirst, so the Spirit purifies the soul and satisfies spiritual desires.
But who are they upon whom the Spirit is poured?
1. Upon the people of God, compared to the earth in the drought of summer, parched and thirsting for rain; upon those who are sensible of their spiritual barrenness, and are not looking for the supply of their wants to their own imaginary merits or strength, but are trusting in the mercy of God through Christ. Upon these the Lord will shed the Holy Ghost abundantly.
2. Upon the children of believers.
II. ITS EFFECTS. “And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.” The image here employed implies two things—an increase of the Church, and a growth of individual piety. As plants and herbs spring up of themselves and spread in a grassy and well-watered spot, so did the Christian religion at first rapidly extend itself, through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Thousands were converted by a single sermon, and churches were planted over the whole of the then known world. As the willow situate by the river’s side shoots up quickly, so he upon whom the Lord pours His Spirit plentifully thrives and flourishes in the divine life. His faith becomes steadfast, his love pure and fervent, his humility profound, his knowledge and wisdom extensive and deep, his zeal ardent and constant, lowly and meek, his deadness to the world thorough, and his devotedness to God unreserved.
If the gift of the Spirit be so important, how earnestly should we pray for it! Prayer is the appointed means of obtaining every blessing, whether temporal or spiritual, which God has to bestow. It is the particular duty annexed to the promise of the Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27; Ezekiel 36:37). Neglect it not! Pray first of all for your own dry and barren souls, that they may be visited with an abundant outpouring of the Spirit, and thereby be softened, refreshed, and fertilised. Pray next for your children, and pray in faith, expecting, on the ground of the new covenant and of the Divine promises, that your prayers will be heard and answered; your children are included in the promise as well as yourselves. Make a constant practice of praying “for the good estate of the Catholic Church, that it may be so guided and governed by God’s good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in the unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.”—James Gibson, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 87–99.
Three things demand our attention—
I. THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCE.
This is seen in the condition of the persons to whom this promise is addressed. Graphic and affecting terms are used to describe the state of the Church when the grace of the Spirit is withdrawn or withheld. It is a state—
1. Of destitution. The face of nature is entirely dependent on the dews and rains of heaven for its picturesque and fruitful appearance. In their absence the earth pines and languishes. Think of the condition and appearance of Israel, when for more than three years rain was withheld from it. As dependent is the heart of man upon God; where His gracious influence is not exerted, there is no true peace or joy.
2. Of sterility. This is denoted by the phrase “dry ground.” Dry ground is barren. Equally barren is the human heart in the absence of divine influence; it brings forth nothing valuable.
3. This destitution and barrenness extends even to the rising generation. Grace is not hereditary. The children of the most devout are individually dependent on God for all excellence. Unless that dependence is exercised, all the excellences resulting from their religious education will dwindle away and ultimately die. The necessity of divine influence clings to us all.
II. THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE INFLUENCE.
This is represented in the metaphor by which it is described, “I will pour water,” &c. The opposite metaphor, fire, is also used to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. The propriety and beauty of the metaphor employed here will appear if we consider—
1. The peculiar proprieties of the promised blessing. Remember
(1.) its cleansing influence.
(2.) Its softening power.
(3.) Its fertilising tendency.
(4.) Its satisfying quality. Nothing else so effectually quenches thirst.
2. The manner of its bestowment.
(1.) It falls from heaven.
(2.) It is imparted freely.
(3.) It is poured forth copiously. “Floods upon the dry ground.”
III. THE EFFECTS OF DIVINE INFLUENCE.
When it is exerted, the results are seen—
1. In numerous conversions to God (Isaiah 44:4). As grass springs up in the water-courses, and willows grow in the moistened earth, so where the Spirit is poured forth numbers of converts arise to call the Redeemer blessed.
2. In consecration to the service of Christ (Isaiah 44:5).
(1.) It is individual and personal.
(2.) It is marked by holy decision openly avowed.
(3.) It is influential in its example. “One shall say … and another!”
CONCLUSION.—
1. This promise should teach us to cultivate dependence on the Holy Spirit.
2. Let us derive encouragement to seek an enlarged effusion of the Divine influence for ourselves and for others.
3. The promise and the pictures of the text appeal to you young folk. They show you what you are without the Holy Spirit; what you may become under His gracious influence; and they stimulate you to that personal dedication to God on which your present and eternal well-being depends.—George Smith, D.D.
Who are they that shall participate in these rich blessings? The region surveyed by the promise is one of destitution. It is a “dry ground.” Months since a drop of rain fell. It is parched. Nothing grows. The land is thirsty. The land and people represent God’s Church. It was a separated people (Isaiah 44:2). Jacob and Israel, names of the chosen people. Jesurun, “my righteous” or “beloved one.” So that the promise of the text relates to the Church.
1. IN ITSELF. This is the primary idea. The Church is depressed. Here is a promise of revival and refreshing. This is God’s usual course. He reanimates the spiritual life within the Church before He extends it beyond. The world’s conversion is through the Church. But if, like salt that has lost its savour, it has become incapable of its proper influence, how shall its capacity be regained? Only by a new outpouring of the Spirit from on high. God brought back His people; then the heathen knew that He was the Lord. At the Day of Pentecost the Spirit was first given to the disciples, then to the multitude. “Beginning at Jerusalem.”
2. IN ITS CHILDREN. The special promise of the text is that the children shall be brought under the saving influence. “I will pour my Spirit on thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” (Acts 2:39). There is a special propriety and beauty in the arrangement that the Christian parent should be the means of training his children for the Church. If the children of Christians are not Christians, it is usually because the parents have failed in some respect to be to their children what they should have been. We ought to be able to look around on the families of Christians and anticipate their union in the fellowship of the Church as a matter of course.
Thus there is in this promise the idea of the Gospel’s perpetuation in the world. It shall not expire with the existing generation. If not a single convert were added from the regions beyond, it will continue to live in the children of God’s people. So that, though the grass withers and the flower fades; though the man dies and is forgotten, the Word of the Lord, which by the Gospel is preached unto you, endureth for ever. Is not the greater proportion of conversions usually among the young? Is not this a fulfilment of the promise? Let Christian parents and Christian ministers be specially interested in the young (H. E. I. 781–788, 795, 803–806).
Nor does it terminate there. It spreads outwards. Unlike Gideon’s fleece, which was saturated while the surrounding ground remained dry, the dew which falls upon the Church reaches the region outside (Ezekiel 34:26). Large numbers attend our Christian sanctuaries who do not identify themselves with the Church. They hear the Gospel; are interested in its success; but they have not its blessing. The waters of salvation are flowing around them; but their souls remain parched. For them every Christian should pray. They will suffer me to say a word to them. You are like a drowning man who clings to the side of the boat, but refuses to enter it. This is not God’s fault. It is your own. How long shall it continue?
We want more prayer for the Holy Spirit; a more real belief in His work.—J. Rawlinson.
REVIVAL: A HOMILY FOR SPRING
Isaiah 44:3-4. For I will pour water, &c.
Foremost among the judgments which followed Israel’s idolatries was the visitation of drought. We enjoy copious supplies of fertilising rain. Yet, even in our own land, a sensible reduction of the rain-fall in spring is followed by empty shocks in August. But in the sunny climes of Syria, if the half-yearly gift of rain failed, the effect was disastrous in the extreme.
If drought is so injurious in the fields of nature, is it not equally injurious in the Church? In our text there is,
I. A STATE OF BARRENNESS DESCRIBED. The ground is said to be “dry,” in a parched and impenetrable condition. Deadly to vegetable growth. With such homely imagery the prophet leads our thoughts from the outer world to the inner. Is it my soul that is here described? Whatever be the reason, God shall be held clear of blame; and, like the first sign of approaching spring, comes His gracious promise, “I will pour,” &c.
II. A SENSE OF NEED EXPRESSED. The insensibility is gone. The rigid hardness of winter is at an end. Who is there among us whose spirit thirsts not? (Matthew 5:6.)
III. A GENEROUS GIFT PROVIDED. A promise from God is as good as its performance.
1. The source of the supply. The great folly to which all men are prone is to seek the supply of their wants elsewhere than in God. Yet God has wisely ordained that nowhere out of Himself shall man’s highest good be found.
2. The suitableness of the means. Showers for a thirsty soul—mercy’s gifts to satisfy the wants of dependent man. Showers of spiritual influence to refresh our drooping piety. Not half so skilfully do the several parts of a key fit into the wards of a complicated lock as the gifts of Christ fit the needs of a human soul.
3. The copiousness of the gift. If showers will not suffice, there shall be “floods.”
4. The range of the promise. It shall not terminate with ourselves; it shall extend to our children—ay, to our children’s children. Consolation for parents. The spirit of piety is as contagious as the spirit of profanity. If our Christian faith and love be vigorous, our ambition for our children will be, not riches, &c., but salvation.
IV. ABUNDANT FERTILITY FORESEEN. There shall be a revival of life in the Church, as in the parched fields after a copious shower, as in nature at the advent of spring. What a delightful change!
1. Multiplicity of conversions is here predicted. Appearances may be unfavourable; unbelief may ridicule the hope; but the word has gone forth, and cannot fail.
2. Rapidity of growth shall be another feature of this era. Now, for the most part, growth is slow; good fruit is scanty. We scarce can tell whether we gain or lose. But when the heavenly rain shall descend, the young life will break through every bond, will send out new shoots, and make every branch fruitful.
3. Constancy of verdure will be enjoyed. They shall be “as willows by the water-courses.”—D. Davies, M.A.: Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv. p. 407.
These words describe a time of refreshing.
I. Who is the Author of a work of grace? God.
1. He begins a work of anxiety in dead souls (Zechariah 12; John 16; Ezekiel 37)
2. He carries on the work, leading awakened persons to Christ (Joel 2:28; Joel 2:32).
3. He enlarges His people. Learn
(1.) To look beyond ministers for a work of grace;
(2.) Good hope of revival in our day;
(3.) That we should pray for it.
II. God begins with thirsty souls.
1. Awakened persons.
2. Thirsty believers. Signs:
(1.) Much thirst after the word.
(2.) Much prayer.
(3.) Desire to grow in grace.
III. God pours floods on the dry ground. Represents those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Marks:
(1.) They do not pray.
(2.) They do not wish a work of grace in their souls.
(3.) Those who do not attend to the preached word.
Learn, Christians, to pray for floods of blessing.
IV. Effects.
1. Saved souls will be like grass.
2. Believers shall grow like willows.
3. Self-dedication.—R. M. M‘Cheyne: Sermons, pp. 66–72.
THE CHURCH AND THE CHILDREN
(For the third Sunday in October, the day for “universal prayer and effort on behalf of Sunday-schools and young people.”)
Isaiah 44:3-5. For I will pour water, &c.
The third Sunday in October is, in many places, an anniversary associated with blessed recollections. If the mighty hosts of godly parents and Sunday-school workers agree to ask for the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will be made manifest that we are among the heirs of Pentecost; in our dwellings, &c., we shall be richly blessed, and multitudes of the young will be added to the Church, according to these glorious declarations. Let there be no misgiving; these “exceeding great and precious promises” are “unto us and our children.”
I. GOD’S PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHURCH.
1. The nature of the promised blessing. Consists in the influences of the Holy Spirit which are frequently represented in the Scriptures, and especially by Isaiah, under the figure of water, either as “streams,” “rivers,” or “floods.” Here the terms “water” and “Spirit” are used interchangeably (cf. John 7:38-39). Analogy between water in the natural world, and the Spirit’s influences in the moral world. Whatever good there is in the Holy Spirit’s agency, this promise includes them all, for when God gives His Spirit, He gives all other blessings (Luke 5:23 with Matthew 7:5).
2. Abundant. The terms employed indicate communications commensurate with the existing need, however great. Like torrents of rain poured on the thirsty earth. The fulness of the Spirit’s influences shall be communicated to us if we seek in the way of obedient prayer and faith. Not a solitary promise—one of a group (Ezekiel 34:26; Joel 2:28; Hosea 14:5; Malachi 3:10, &c.) Had their first grand and signal fulfilment upon the day of Pentecost—the beginning of the fulfilment of these promises. Acts 2:39 proves the universality of the promise. It is yours now. What abundant communications of divine influence we should expect!
3. Needed. God’s ancient people were in a sadly backsliding state. They needed the bestowment of divine influence. So do we.
(1.) The low and languid piety of the Church.
(2.) The comparatively small success of the various agencies for the conversion of sinners. Our agencies will not be spiritually useful upon anything like a large scale, until they are charged with spiritual force.
4. Must be sought. The promise is made to the “thirsty.” God gives what He promises only in answer to prayer. His promise cannot fail.
5. The results will be most glorious. Individuals. Church. World.
II. GOD’S PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH. Has made the hearts of multitudes of pious parents and teachers thrill with delight. Accords with many others.
1. Our children need the Holy Spirit. No natural goodness can supersede the work of the Spirit. Religion not hereditary.
2. God promises to give the Spirit as abundantly to them as to us. Same terms used in each case. Having received the Spirit, they are to grow in grace most vigorously (Isaiah 44:4). The manifestation of this in public (Isaiah 44:5).
3. Must be sought. As in the former case, so in this. The universal Church is seeking this blessing to-day upon Sunday-schools and young people. Grand and inspiring fact! The salvation of our children is placed before us as the crowning glory of the Church when she is in the full tide of her prosperity. Let parents and teachers, &c., expect the fulfilment of the promise to-day.
CONCLUSION.—A word to unconverted parents. You are glad to see your children pious, though you are neglecting salvation yourselves. One of the strongest reasons why you should seek it. How sacred and solemn is the parental relationship.—A. Tucker.
I. That God will pour His blessing on the children of His people. A promise which in all ages, when parents are faithful, is abundantly fulfilled.
II. That one of the richest blessings which can be imparted to a people is, that God’s Spirit should descend on their children.
III. That the Spirit of God alone is the source of true happiness and prosperity to our children. All else—property, learning, accomplishments, beauty, vigour—will be vain. It is by His blessing only—by the influences of piety—that they will spring forth, &c.
IV. Parents should pray earnestly for a revival of religion. No better description can be given of it than we have here. Who would not pray for such a work of grace? What family, what congregation, what people can be happy without it?—A. Barnes.