THE NEW NAMH
Isaiah 62:2; Isaiah 62:12. Thou shalt be called by a new name. And they shall call them, &c.
According to the Hebrew idiom, the name which expresses the nature and character of a person is used as equivalent to that nature and character. The promises of these verses involve accordingly, far more than appears upon the surface.
I. The new name abolishes the old, In the prophetical writings Israel’s sins are very plainly described and very faithfully upbraided. The favoured people are called rebels and traitors, idolaters and spiritual adulterers. Upon their repentance, the old reproach is wiped away, and the old appellations are discarded. This is how Divine mercy treats all true penitents and believers. Former sins are forgotten, former rebukes are reversed, former sentences of condemnation are cancelled.
II. The new name expresses a new character. The Christian dispensation provides, by peculiar agencies and spiritual powers, for the renewal of the nature and the life of men (2 Corinthians 5:17). In accordance with the fact is the expression of the fact; in accordance with the new nature, the new birth, the new life, is the new name. They who were unholy become the holy people, because, from being the bondsmen of sin, they have become the redeemed of the Lord.
III. The new name is significant of a new state of favour and acceptance. Especially those upon whom the great change has passed are “the Lord’s,”—His possession and property, His beloved and honoured, for whom no privileges are too great and no dignities too eminent. The new name is His name who confers it, and who delights to deem and to call His beloved ones His own.”—The Homiletical Library, vol. ii. p. 153.
THE CITY OF GOD
(Anniversary Sermon.)
Isaiah 62:12. Thou shalt be called, A city not forsaken.
Travellers in the East have described the present desolate and deserted condition of what were once great and populous cities. But there is a city which has not been thus forsaken, which has survived the ravages of time, the City of God, the Church of Christ. He reads these Chapter s in a most imperfect light who sees nothing more in them than allusions to the earthly Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews. Several appellations are given to the Church. The last of these designations, “A city not forsaken,” is fitted to suggest some suitable reflections on the present interesting occasion, when as a congregation we celebrate God’s loving-kindness exhibited in our past history. We are fulfilling the prediction of the text when we make it the burden of our song that God has not forsaken His Church, that in our ancestral Zion, as in other portions of the Church, the light of life has not been quenched but still burns brightly.
I. God’s presence in the Church. This should absorb every other consideration. We may reflect on the earnestness and fidelity of the watchmen who have successively occupied the walls of Zion; we may think of the generations departed who profited by their ministrations, but the thought of the Divine presence should above everything else fill us with gratitude (Psalms 87:5-6). What is meant by the presence of Christ in the Church?
1. It is a real presence.
2. This presence is constant, uninterrupted.
3. This presence is perpetual. He is ever with His people in all the plenitude of His power, in all the freshness of His grace (Psalms 48:14). Often indeed it has seemed as if the Saviour’s presence had been withdrawn from the Church (Isaiah 49:14; Isaiah 54:6-7; Isaiah 62:4; see pp. 342–345, 552).
II. The constitution of the Church. Jerusalem was a glorious city, the pride of every pious Jew, the yearly resort of the tribes. It was the centre of the nation’s religious life, the rallying-point of their religious affections. Such the Church of Christ ought to be to us. It is a society of men and women regulated by the laws of Jesus Christ, and it goes in Scripture under the figure of a city, because God is its Architect and Ruler. “The one Lawgiver in the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ, and its one statute-book is the Bible.” It exists for the mutual benefit of its members and the defence and propagation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). The Church, then, is a witness for Christ, wherein He displays the wonders of His redeeming grace. How distinguished the honour! how lofty the privileges! how great the obligations of those who are citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem!
III. There are special occasions when this designation of the Church may be appropriately considered, such as the beginning of a new pastorate, the revival of spiritual life, the removal of hindrances to Christian activity and the origination of some fresh enterprise. These call for thankful acknowledgment as evidences that the Church is not forsaken. And when a congregation takes the retrospect of its past history it may well cherish the same gratitude, and the reflection that it owes all to God will lead to humility and hopefulness. It is not our own effort, however strenuous, nor our own liberality, however large, that has made the Church what she is, but the presence of her King and Head.—William Guthrie, M.A.
THE SEEKING LOVE OF GOD
Isaiah 62:12. Thou shalt be called, Sought out.
Without violence we may use these words of every member of the Church of God. All His children may take for their name and distinction the words “Sought out.”
I. THE NATURAL CONDITION IMPLIED IN THIS TITLE.
1. The Church of God was originally lost.
2. So lost that we did not seek the Lord.
3. Nor should we have ever willed to return to Him.
4. We did not desire Him to seek us.
5. Our being sought out, considering our condition, was one of the greatest wonders ever known or heard of.
II. SURPASSING GRACE REVEALED. That they were sought out at all.
2. The persons sought out.
3. That we were sought OUT. The word “out” conveys a mass of meaning. We were mingled with the mire, &c.
4. That we were sought out Divinely—by God Himself.
5. Effectually.
III. THE DISTINGUISHING TITLE JUSTIFIED. How were we sought out?
1. In the eternal purpose and work of Christ.
2. By gracious words of mercy.
3. By afflictions.
4. By mysterious visitations.
5. By the Holy Spirit.
IV. THE SPECIAL DUTY INCUMBENT UPON THOSE WHO WEAR THIS TITLE. Seeking others out. The preaching of the Gospel is not the only means. Let us hunt for souls by—
1. Visitation. Take the Gospel to the people.
2. Your prayers.—C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Nos. 525, 526.