THE CAPTIVE SEEKING DELIVERANCE
Isaiah 51:14-15. The captive exile hasteneth, &c. [1581]
[1581] Before developing either of the outlines here reproduced, attention should be given to Delitzsch’s translation of these verses.
I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE WRETCHED CONDITION OF THE SINNER—AN EXILE.
1. His captivity.
(1.) Judicial;
(2.) practical;
(3.) circumstantial.
2. His impending destruction.
II. THE EAGER DESIRE OF THE EXILE FOR DELIVERANCE.
(1.) He uses every probable means for it.
(2.) There appears to him a good prospect of deliverance.
III. THE PROVISION MADE FOR THE CAPTIVE EXILE.
(1.) The Gospel is a revelation of mercy.
(2.) A dispensation of power.
(3.) The effectual means of a sinner’s deliverance from sin.—T. Lessey.
The captive. I. His condition—captive—in the pit. II. His fears—destitution—destruction. III. His encouragement—deliverance is at hand. IV. His assurance—the Word—the power of God.—J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury, Isaiah, p. 70.
COMMISSIONED, ENDOWED, AND PRESERVED
(Wicklyffe Quincentenary.) [1584]
[1584] We find a signal verification of this promise in the career of John Wicklyffe, the quincentenary of whose death affords a fitting occasion for reverting to the times in which he lived, and the task he was selected to perform. He was employed in a work which may fitly be described as “planting the heavens.” The imagery is drawn from fixing the stakes of a tent, and we may well say that the Reformation supplied a new spiritual canopy to the world. Men’s outlook into the invisible became clearer; the heavens brightened overhead, as the clouds of ignorance, spiritual tyranny, and human mediation were dispersed, and the Sun of righteousness poured His unobstructed rays upon the earth. No less appropriately may we speak of the Reformation as “laying the foundations of the earth.” The Romish system had no firm basis; men were building on loose material, and the rubbish had to be swept away before a secure foundation could be obtained. The truth of the Gospel was overlaid with fictions and corruptions, till the Reformers dug through it to the solid rock. Wicklyffe was among the first to set to work with the pickaxe and spade. Again, of this Reformer we may say that “God put His words into his mouth.” This was the source and secret of his power. At Oxford he read and studied the Latin Bible, and, in later life, made the first complete translation of it into English. Very remarkable, too, is the way in which God preserved him through persecution and sickness till his work was completed. He was suffered to live to the end of his days, and after his death his spirit lived in his writings. He gave the Scriptures to the people in their mother tongue, and no earthly power could recall that precious gift.
Let us not forget that this promise belongs to all who love and serve the Lord. We have all a mission somewhere in helping forward the new creation. God hath put His words in your mouth—words of truth and power, of life and love. He has covered you in the shadow of His hand. You are secure in the discharge of your commission. What a wondrous purpose you are chosen to subserve! Who shall frustrate God’s work? Shall we not gladly yield ourselves as instruments in making this earth once more a paradise of beauty and holiness?—William Guthrie, M.A.
Isaiah 51:16. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee, &c.
Great words these, to be spoken by God to men! We need have no hesitation in appropriating for ourselves the comfort and encouragement they convey, for, though addressed to Israel and referring to the work to be accomplished by their Messiah, we have each a Divine mission to fulfil as servants and followers of Christ, and ours are the promises by which He was sustained.
God here declares what is His great design—“to plant,” &c. The language is clearly figurative, and denotes the new creation. At Isaiah 51:13 reference is made to the first creation, and this is used in the text as an image of the second—spiritual creation. There are many points of similarity between the two. Both alike are works of Divine power, wrought by the word of God’s mouth (Genesis 1:3; James 1:18). In both there is the operation of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; John 3:5). In the new creation the peace, holiness, and love, which were lost by the Fall, are restored, and the object of all God’s dealings with our sinful race through long centuries is to create them anew, and restore them to His favour and image. Like the first creation, the new is a gradual process, advancing from age to age.
1. In this work God employs His servants. When it is said “that I may plant,” &c., it is obvious that it is through Israel the work is to be done (1 Corinthians 3:9). What an honour that He should call us to His service, and use us as instruments in realising. His great designs. Here is a thought to make us brave and diligent. Let us make our work God’s and God’s work ours, devoting our energies to the furtherance of His kingdom. Every other aim that engages our time and talents is trifling compared with this. If a man feels that his uppermost wish is to promote the Redeemer’s reign, he is ennobled, sanctifying all his endeavours by throwing into them a lofty purpose, and making all his activities converge upon the advancement of the truth. No man will ever do anything great and enduring who does not thus ally himself with God. Let a man say,—“This work, at which I am toiling, is not after all my work but God’s,” and in that lies the secret of strenuous labour and patience amid discouragement. Oh the honour, the dignity, the peace of being consciously a worker together with God! That is to dwell in a region high above the fretting cares and sordid aims of the ordinary world. While others are wailing their hopeless dirges, you are singing your hymns of faith and hope.
2. For this work God arms His servants. “I have put My words in thy mouth.” This is the weapon which we are to wield (1 Thessalonians 2:13). He is fully furnished into whose mouth God puts His word, who wields the sword of the Spirit. How feeble is man’s word, the word of even the mightiest of men. It falls as powerless as King Canute’s order to the flowing tide, bidding it retire from his royal feet as he sat upon the shore. But behind God’s word there is the omnipotence of Him whose word it is. Let us have faith in God’s words, in their power to subdue human hearts. It is because we often utter them as if they were our own words that they are robbed of their power. It is because we listen to them as man’s words that we despise them. This is all we need for the spiritual conquest of the world—to have God’s words put in our mouth. With this weapon wisely used we shall overcome the giants of ignorance, Superstition, and unbelief. The men of Reformation times were courageous, because they had a firm faith in God’s word, and what the Church needs to-day is a revival of that unquestioning faith in God’s message as a power to plant the spiritual heavens and lay anew the foundations of the earth, to carry peace to the troubled and comfort to the disconsolate, to disarm hostility, break down prejudices and bear down opposition, and guide the seeking soul to the Cross.
3. For this work and in it God preserves His servants. “I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand.” He who undertakes God’s work may expect to encounter opposition from the world, which is opposed to God’s loving purpose. Israel had a Divine mission to fulfil, and the nation is represented in Isaiah 51:12-13 as cowering before their oppressors. But what encouragement God gives them: “I, even I, am He that comforteth you,” &c. God overrules the doings and designs of evil men for the overwhelming of their own cause. With His protection there is no occasion for fear. Our mistake is that we “forget the Lord our Maker,” while we are surrounded by oppressors; like Peter sinking in fear, while he looks at the tossing waves and withdraws his eye from his Master’s form. Could we keep our eye steadily fixed on Him, no oppressor should alarm us. With Him as our Comforter, who shall be our tormentor? Moses was reluctant to undertake the task with which God charged him at the bush. But his excuses are overruled. “Certainly I will be with thee.” In carrying out his commission his life was frequently in danger, but “God covered him in the shadow of His hand” (Hebrews 11:27). “Man is immortal till his work is done.” Paul, too, was “in deaths oft,” but what says God to him in his extremity? (Acts 18:9-10). So, too, with Martin Luther. What a marvellous history of preservation! But for the wars in which Charles V. was engaged the Reformer would have been crushed, and the Reformation, for a time at least, frustrated. Believer, you have a gracious and omnipotent Preserver. In contending for the truth, in encountering shame and reproach, in meeting hindrances in the way of your God-given task, remember that the shadow of God’s own hand is over you, and you shall not quail before your adversaries.—William Guthrie, M.A.