Good Cheer for Many That Fear
(No. 2815)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY, 25, 1903.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING, EARLY IN
THE YEAR 1861.
"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not." Isaiah
35:4.
THIS is an exhortation which is addressed, not to one person, but to
several. In the third verse you can see that the message runs,
"Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees." What,
Lord? Is not one man sufficient for this task? Will not one of Your
servants, when he repeats Your precious promises, be able to drive away
the fears of Your people? Will not half a word be enough to put to rout
their foolish, groundless suspicions and suppositions? No, they have
need of many comforters. It is not enough, O Lord, that one should come
and speak in Your name? No, "for precept must be upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there
a little." We are a people of a stubborn will and of a wayward heart, O
God. Too often do we wander from Your ways! It is well, therefore, that
God has spoken thus, not simply to one of His servants, but to all
those who love His appearing and rejoice in the certainty of His
promises–"Say you, all of you"–for I may rightly supply the pronoun
here–"say you to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear
not."
Let me observe that in the original, the word for, "fearful," is,
"hasty." Now, a hasty man is never a wise man. And equally true is it
that a "fearful" man is never prudent. Fearful men are always
hasty–they jump at conclusions. They say, with Jacob, "All these
things are against me," because they cannot see to the end of the
Lord's dispensations. They forget that He is full of pity and full of
compassion. Circumstance or expediency is their guiding star. They seek
to follow the track of the meteors which fly here and there across the
midnight sky–they forget the pole-star of God's Truth and
faithfulness. They go to sea without chart or compass and they are
driven backwards and forwards by contrary winds! And even when there is
no wind, they know not how to steer their ship. As you know, even in
this world's affairs, a hasty man is constantly getting himself into
trouble. He speculates in certain stocks and shares because some con
man has told him that he can gain by doing so. And soon he hears quite
a different story, some great disaster is about to come–he hastily
believes the lie and is again deceived!
So is it with fearful souls–they are always doing this or that on the
hasty impulse of an ill-drawn conclusion. Thus they are constantly
misjudging their God, misusing His Word, misdirecting their own steps,
bringing a world of trouble upon themselves and dishonor upon the name
of their God! Fearful souls are hasty souls. They judge the Lord by
feeble sense, by the bitterness of the bud and not by the sweetness of
the flower. They judge by the clouds of the morning, forgetting that
the clouds may soon be scattered and that the sun may shine out
brightly again. To them, then, that are of a hasty heart–to those who
condemn themselves unjustly, who think that all things are against them
and so become exceedingly fearful, say, "Be strong, fear not."
I am going, first of all, to mention some of the spiritual fears which
have vexed the people of God at all times–fears from without which are
associated with a belief of the Truth of God. Secondly, I will mention
some fears from the feelings within. Then, thirdly, I shall try to
excite you to get beyond these fearful things and to come up to the
place of strength–the place of confidence and of full assurance.
I. First, then, I am to mention SOME OF THE GREAT TRUTHS CONCERNING
WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE OFTEN FEARFUL.
How many there are, babes in Grace, who are troubled about election.'
'Are we among the Lord's chosen ones?" is a question that they often
ask. They would be glad enough if an angel could fly down from Heaven
and make a solemn affirmation that he had read their names written in
the golden page of the Lamb's Book of Life, but, since they cannot have
this assurance, they question, and question, and question yet again!
"Suppose I have not been chosen unto eternal life? What if my name was
never engraved upon the hands or upon the heart of Christ? When the
muster-roll of the redeemed is read at the Last Great Day, if my name
should not be found on it, how can I bear that piercing thought? The
dread surmise fills me with dismay!"
Now, to you who are trusting in Jesus, yet who have fears about your
election, let me say, in God's name, "Be strong, fear not." That very
Doctrine of Election which now appears to you to be like a lion in your
way, shall prove, by-and-by, to be, indeed, a lion upon which you shall
ride in glorious triumph! It is no enemy. Come and look it in the face
and you shall find it to be your richest, dearest friend. If you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are as certainly elected as ever
Peter and Paul were! If, as an empty sinner, Christ is all your
fullness. If, as a naked soul, Christ's righteousness is your glorious
dress–then be you assured of this–you would never have had the stream
if you had not had an interest in the Fountain! You could never have
had the fruit if you had not had a part in the Root! Inasmuch as you
have the blessing of God's elect and the faith which is the common mark
of them all, do not any longer question your election, but be bold to
enter into this solemn mystery! Venture, now, to the heart of Christ.
Trace the streams of Divine Love up to the eternal Fountain from which
they spring, and say, with John Kent–
"A monument of Grace,
A sinner saved by blood–
The streams of love I trace
Up to the Fountain, God,
And in His sacred bosom see
Eternal thoughts of love to mef Again, there are many of God's people
who are disquieted concerning their redemption. They want to know
whether they were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. According
to some theories, nobody need ever be perplexed about this matter. The
Arminian says, "Christ died for allmen." Some go so far as to say, "He
died for all alike.''" According to them, He died as much for Judas as
He did for Peter, and as much for those who were damned in Hell before
He laid down His life as for those who were saved in Heaven before He
came into the world! Now, I do not hesitate to say that such a
redemption as that is a redemption that does not redeem! It is not
worth the expense of paper and ink to write about it. It is not
worthwhile to open one's mouth to speak of it. A redemption which pays
a price, but does not ensure that which is purchased. A redemption
which calls Christ a Substitute for the sinner, but yet which allows
the person for whom He was substituted to suffer is altogether unworthy
of our apprehensions of Almighty God! It offers no homage to His wisdom
and does despite to His covenant faithfulness. We could not and we
would not receive such a travesty of Divine Truth as that would be!
There is no ground for any comfort whatever in it.
We believe that by His atoning Sacrifice, Christ bought some good
things for all men and all good things for some men. And that when He
died, He had a definite purpose in dying and that His purpose will
certainly be effected. Those who are saved owe their security to what
His Redemption has accomplished and we fully believe that the
accomplishment will be just as great as was the intent and purpose.
Not, my Brothers and Sisters, that Christ's blood was less than
Infinite in its value–less than Infinite it could never be! The
question is not concerning the valueof it, but the purposeof it. If God
had willed it, there was enough efficacy in the blood of Christ to have
redeemed ten thousand worlds. We have, however, not to speak of the
efficacy that might have been in it, but of the efficacy that is in it
according to the good pleasure which God has purposed in Himself. This
doctrine of a special and particular intention in the Atonement of
Christ has often troubled Believers in Jesus. But it never ought to. Do
you believe in Him? Is He all your salvation and all your desire? Has
His precious blood been applied by the Spirit to your heart and
conscience? Has He purged you with hyssop? Then you are clean and that
hyssop cannot have been applied to you in a wrong way. Being pardoned,
you have the fruit of Redemption, so Redemption is certainly yours!
Jesus came into the world to redeem you unto Himself. You are His and
you have a clear and proper right to share in the efficacy of His blood
and the power of His Atonement. Therefore, I say unto you who, on this
account, are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not."
There are many, also, who are troubled about their effectual
calling.''Oh," says one, "if I had heard the Master say to me, as He
said to Zacchaeus, 'Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down, for today I
must abide at your house,' then I would know that I was called by Him.
Or if He had said to me, 'Mary,' and I had said, 'Rabboni,' I should
know that He had called me. But, oh, Sir, I have come to Christ, yet I
sometimes fear that He has never called me. He knows that He is my
All-in-All. Other refuge have I none, but I am half-afraid that I have
got into this refuge without any right–that I crept up to the foot of
the Cross without being called–and that I have taken to myself a
confidence which has no sure ground." O child of God, dismiss all those
fears! You could not have come to Christ unless He had first come to
you! If you have but come behind Him in the crowd and only touched the
hem of His garment, you are cured and you shall never again suffer from
that disease! That poor woman was not called by Christ's voice, yet I
will venture to say that there was a secret call, within her heart,
that moved her. Touch the hem of His garment! You may never know
exactly how you were first convinced of sin, nor how you were quickened
by the Holy Spirit–but if you have really come to Christ, that is
enough, for you would never have come to Him unless He had drawn you!
He has secretly put the bands of His love about your heart and you have
turned to Him as the needle turns to the magnet! The proof that you
have been called by Christ is that you have come to Him!
I have frequently noticed that those persons who think that they have
had some special and particular call, have been no better, in regard to
their evidences and, sometimes they have been much worse than those who
have come to Christ in the more ordinary way. I would not say this to
the disparagement of any man's conversion, for God works as He wills.
But I recollect, and my eyes are just now fixed upon the very place
where there once sat a man who presented a Bible to me, (I have it at
home now), in which are written these words, "'Zacchaeus, make haste,
and come down, for today I must abide at your house.' Dear Sir, When
you pronounced these words last Sabbath morning, I heard a call from
God to my soul and I am sure that I came down and that Christ did abide
at my house."
That man joined us in Church fellowship. I shall not mention his name,
but some of you may remember how sadly he dishonored the name of
Christ. He went out from us because he was not of us, for, if he had
been of us, doubtless he would have continued with us. It is very easy
for us to imagine that we have received some special call of this
sort–and then to build our confidence upon it–but if we have not
something better than this to rest upon, woe was the day to us! I would
far rather, my dear Friends, come to Christ and never know that I had
been called except from the fact that I had come, than have some vision
or audible words and yet, after all, cease to stand as a simple soul
covered with the righteousness of Christ! Well do I know that there is
a temptation to look back to the day and to the hour when we had some
special manifestation–rather than to look only to the Cross and to the
blood–and to calculate that we are converted because we felt this or
that extraordinary emotion, instead of still coming, as we always must
come, crying to our dear Lord and Savior–
"Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Your Cross I clingP'
Another fear, arising from the great and precious Doctrine of Final
Perseverance, has troubled many a true Believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How shall I hold on and persevere unto the end?" is a question
that often causes great anxiety even to a genuine child of God. The
best of things, when corrupted, become the most corrupt. The sweetest
of comforts, when not believed in, become the bitterest of discomforts.
I think that the Doctrine of the Final Perseverance of the saints is
one of those that are most plainly taught in the Scriptures. If I found
any difficulty, at any time, in defending against its assailants, the
Doctrine of Particular Redemption, I should certainly never find any
difficulty in defending the Doctrine of Final Perseverance! Those who
oppose it have an irresistible array of passages of Scripture to
contend with– they have, indeed, when they attack this Truth of
God–to leap into a lion's den! It is strange that so many of the
Lord's people should have been troubled concerning this precious
Doctrine which is so clearly revealed in the Word of God. "How shall I
endure unto the end? How shall I stand fast in the hour of trial? If my
temptations are multiplied, if my pains are increased, if my
bereavements should follow one upon another, if I should be called to a
position of great responsibility, or if I should be cast down into the
depths of adversity, how shall I endure it? How shall I be kept
steadfast, year after year, and be brought safely home at last? Amid so
many rocks and quicksands, storms and hurricanes, how shall my poor
water-logged vessel ever enter the port?"
O Believer, if you are really called by Grace, you shall certainly
persevere! He who set your feet a-running in His ways will never let
you stop till you have come to your journey's end! Christ's promise to
all His people is, "Because I live, you shall live also." Your
perseverance does not rest with you, otherwise you were indeed an
undone wretch! But it rests with your Lord and Savior–and He will
preserve you even unto the end! As your days, so shall your strength
be." With the temptation, He will make a way of escape that you shall
be able to bear it. So again I say to you who are troubled about your
ultimate salvation, "Be strong, fear not." He who has begun the good
work in you will carry it on and finish it in righteousness! He will
not leave you, for His promise to everyone who believes in Him is, I
will never leave you, nor forsake you."
II. I have thus dealt with some fears from without. Now I am going, for
a only few minutes, to speak upon SOME OF THE FEARS WHICH COME FROM
WITHIN.
Multitudes of Believers are of a fearful heart because they have not
the joys and comforts with which some Christians are favored. God has
some of His people who live very near to Himself and who, therefore,
partake of the richest things upon His banqueting table. These
privileged saints tell of their joys, but certain desponding Christians
who have backslidden from God and who, therefore, have not of late
tasted of these dainties, cry out, "We cannot be the Lord's people, for
we have no such joys as these." As well might the plant in the corner
say that it was not planted at all because it did not stand in the
front row of the bed! As well might some small tree in the forest say
that it did not live because it did not tower aloft, like some mighty
cedar of Lebanon! Because I am not the fairest rose, but only a humble
violet hidden among the green leaves, am I to conclude that I am not a
flower at all? Oh, no, no! We are not saved by our comforts! They are
given to us after we are saved, but we are saved without them. Many a
soul has gone to Hell singing, while others have gone to Heaven
sighing. It is not right that God's people should hang their harps upon
the willows, but far better is it for us to hang our harps upon the
willows than, like Haman, to be hanged upon the gallows that, in his
pride and malice, he had erected for his enemy, Mordecai! Because we
have not all the comforts which some Christians have, let us not be
fretful and repine–that is the way to prevent ourselves from ever
having them. I would say of the comforts of religion as Christ said of
the comforts of this world, "Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Seek
Christ first! Have simple faith in Him and then the ecstasies, the
raptures, the enjoyments, the uplifting which some of His people have,
shall be added unto you if the Lord sees that it is well for you to
have them! But if you seek those things first, you shall neither have
them nor any other sort of comfort whatever.
Full many there are, also, who are greatly cast down because of the
conflict within. As soon as there are wars and fights between the two
men–the old man and the new man–they at once conclude that it is all
over with them. Foolish conclusion, indeed, since, if there were no
wars it would be a proof that there was no life! If there were no
conflicts it would be an evidence that there was but one power
within–and that power the evil one! Draw not, from your internal
commotions, from the temptation which assails you and the force with
which it acts against your inward principles– draw not the inference
that, therefore, you are a castaway of God! This is rather a reason why
you should cry, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And,
by faith should shout, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Very many have come across my path, too, who are of a fearful heart
because they have such little faith and they fear that their little
faith will not be sufficient. Ah, Believer, your true riches do not
depend upon the amount of your spending money! The Lord sometimes keeps
His children rather short of pocket money, but, still, the whole of His
riches belongs to them all the while. The unsearchable riches of Christ
are the measure of our true wealth–not that portion which we can
manage to lay hold of by the hand of faith. If I have, in my hand, but
one farthing of faith's wealth, that is a proof that all the riches of
Christ belong to me. If I have but faith as a grain of mustard seed–so
small that it looks as though the first bird of the air that came my
way might carry it away, yet, inasmuch as there is life hidden within
that tiny mustard seed–a life which only needs the Grace of God to
expand and develop it–I am saved, though my faith is but small!
A few, too, I have known, who are troubled with doubts and fears
because they do not understand as much as they would like to. They
cannot read books of divinity, or, if they do read them, they get lost
amid the maze of difficult theological terms. They cannot reconcile
certain Truths of God, the one with the other. But this is no ground
for fear, for the Gospel is so simple that it is adapted even for those
who are all but idiots! I have read some extraordinary instances–
facts that no one can dispute–of persons scarcely a degree above sheer
idiocy who have, nevertheless, believed in Christ,
yes, and whose sayings have had about them certain flashes of a
superlative simplicity and supernatural wisdom–and whose words, when
they were sifted and carefully examined, were found to read rather like
the mind of the Spirit than like the utterances of a poor creature
whose mind was almost gone! Think not, dear Friend, that your ignorance
can push you out of the family of God! Little children cannot read
Greek and Latin, but they can say, Abba, Father," and that is all they
need to say. If you cannot read books of deep theological lore, yet, if
Jesus Christ is yours–if you are trusting in Him–even the imperfect
knowledge that you have of Him proves that you are His! And He will
never leave you, nor forsake you.
I have met with some, too, who were of a fearful heart, afraid that
they would be lost because they felt that they had, at some period of
their lives, neglected Christian duty. This is an old temptation that
Satan often casts in the way of godly people. You remember how John
Bunyan represents Apollyon as charging poor Christian with being
unfaithful– "You did faint at first setting out, when you were almost
choked in the Gulf of Despond. You did attempt wrong ways, to be rid of
your burden, whereas you should have stayed till your Prince had taken
it off! You did sinfully sleep and lose your choice thing; you were
also almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions. And when
you talk of your journey and of what you have heard and seen, you are
inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all that you say or do." Now, if any
of you should be troubled by similar accusations of the adversary,
recollect that since Christ did not love you for your good works, they
are not the cause of His beginning to love you–and so He does not love
you for your good works even now–and they are not the cause of His
continuing to love you! He loves you because He will love you. What He
approves in you now is that which He has, Himself, given to you! That
is always the same–it alwaysabides as it was. The life of God is
always within you. Jesus has not turned away His heart from you, nor
has the flame of His love decreased in the smallest degree. Therefore,
faint Heart, fear not, be strong."
III. I might go on to deal with other fears of God's people, but,
instead of doing so, I want TO EXCITE YOU TO GET BEYOND THESE FEARS. In
the words of my text, to exhort you to "fear not," but to "be strong."
Some few Sabbaths ago I told you that I had met with a Christian
Brother who had never had a doubt. Lately, in Glasgow, I met with
another. Mr. Alexander Macleod, the oldest Baptist minister, I believe,
in Scotland, told me that he was converted to God, upon the Calton
Hill, under Rowland Hill's ministry. He is now, I suppose, 82 or 83
years of age and is still a strong man. He has known the Lord for more
than 60 years and he says that not once in his life did he ever have a
doubt concerning his election, his calling, his interest in Christ, or
his final perseverance. He said that he once heard a Unitarian minister
preach against the Divinity of Christ and his mind was greatly
disturbed, but he never went the length of having any doubts either
about Christ, or about his own interest in Him. I knew the man to be
everywhere revered for his piety and for the holiness and consistency
of his life. I could not, therefore, doubt the truth of what he told
me. But I was surprised, not at him, but at myself, that I, who have
the same God as he has and perhaps have had more mercies than he has
received–that I, in the full vigor of early manhood should doubt,
while he, in his old age, should be able to truthfully declare that his
soul had never wavered in his simple confidence in Jesus. When I
expressed my surprise at him, he expressed a great deal more surprise
at me! He said that he came to Christ as a poor sinner and trusted Him
to be his All-in-All, and he did not mean to alter his belief until he
saw good reason for doing so. I hope that you and I, dear Friends, will
come to Jesus, yet again, as poor sinners and take Him to be our
All-in-All–and never change from that simple faith till we see good
reason for doing so–which, I take it, will never be so long as the
heart of Christ is full of affections, the arm of Jesus is unpalsied
through affliction, and the eyes of Christ are undimmed with age!
I am sure that Satan is very much gratified when he sees that any of us
are of a fearful heart. No doubt he chuckles over it and makes as much
as he can of his sorry triumph over poor weak mortals. Do not yield to
him, Beloved! Draw your swords and strike boldly at him! Believe that
you will overcome him, and you will do so. March forward and believe
that the land of promise is yours, for it isyours and you shall surely
go up and possess it! Is it necessary that the children of God should
be a doubting people? Is it necessary that they should be continually
cast down? By no means! For it is a great and grievous sin for us to
distrust our God. Let us trust in Him at all times and even say with
Job, Though He slays me, yet will I trust in Him."
The path of faith is the smoothest path, after all. The road of life
will always be rough, but he who walks by faith will find half its
roughness removed. The greater part of our sorrows come not from
Heaven, nor Hell, nor earth, but from ourselves. We are our own
plague-makers and our own tormentors! A man with strong faith is like
one who wears a
leather glove who can lay hold of thorns and thistles and not be hurt.
But the man with weak faith is like one not only with a naked hand, but
with the skin off it–everything he touches irritates the tender flesh
and even the small grains of dust may fret within the wound and breed
ulcers and foul sores. Be strong." God is with you, so how dare you be
dismayed because of your own weakness? "Fear not." The Lord is your
confidence–it is presumption for you to mistrust Him. "Be strong." The
might of God is engaged by promise and by oath to bring you safely
through. "Fear not." There is no cause for fear–the enemies whom you
have seen today, you shall see again no more forever. "Fear not." Fear
weakens you and moreover, it dishonors God and gives cause to the enemy
to blaspheme His holy name.
I do not know whether this is a portion of meat to any troubled heart
here present. Possibly it may be. If so, poor Soul, feed on it. You
have gone to a new situation, have you not, and there are some ungodly
young men who revile and ridicule you? Well, then, fear not, be
strong." Your business does not answer so well as it did and you hardly
know what will become of you. "Fear not, be strong." Commit your cause
unto the Lord, lay your case at His feet. Possibly you have sickness in
the house and you are half inclined to repine, and to think that there
is some anger mingled with the strokes of the rod. "Fear not, be
strong." Either the blow you dread will never be inflicted or it will
be a blessed blow! This is but a slight sorrow. Do you think me hard
and unfeeling in so describing it? But it may be that this sorrow will
be very slight compared with that from which you are spared–if this
blow did not fall, it might involve a ten times heavier one!
Perhaps you have been sorely tempted by Satan lately and he says that
he shall at last have you. Be strong, fear not." Strike him all the
harder for telling that lie! Strike at him with all your power, for, in
the might of God, you are far mightier than he is and you can prevail
over him! And you, young Man, have recently undertaken service for your
Savior, but you feel that you have not the strength needed for it and
you are inclined to give up. Fear not, be strong." He who calls you to
His service will support you in it! You and I have to stand like
Gideon's soldiers, with the lamp inside the pitcher–that pitcher needs
to be broken before the light of the lamp can be seen. The strength of
man is like that earthen pitcher and the light of God cannot shine
forth until that pitcher is dashed in pieces!
There is one person I must not forget, perhaps more. There are those
who know that they are drawing near unto the grave. The shadows
lengthen out and their life becomes like the spider's web and they are
afraid to die. They know the living Savior, but they fear the dying
hour. They think Death's stream is dark, cold and deep–how shall they
pass through it to reach the Celestial City? Fear not, be strong."
Death is the last enemy and he is to be destroyed. Remember that, and
be of good cheer! He shall not destroy you. Do not call him Death the
Destroyer, but Death the Destroyed! Be certain of victory in your last
moments! No, look forward, even now, with hopeful joyto that most
blessed of all moments when, laying your head upon the death pillow,
you shall find that Christ's bosom is where that pillow lies and you
shall breathe your life out there, finding no iron gates, no shadow of
dark wings, no horror of darkness, no dying strife–but bliss
beginning, bliss increasing, bliss overflowing and running on forever
and ever–bliss that shall be yours beyond the hazard of loss!
God grant unto each one of us that we may be strong, and fear not, for
Christ's sake Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH45'
While we are reading this chapter, and thinking of Cyrus, the Lord's
anointed deliverer for Israel, let us not forget the greater Deliverer
of whom the hymn writer sings–
"Thus says God of His Anointed, He shall let My people go! 'Tis the
work for Him appointed, 'Tis the work that He shall do. And My city
He shall found, and build it, too." Verse 1. Thus says the LORD to His
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations
before him; and I wiil loose the loins of kings, to open before him the
two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut It was
thought impossible for any foreign troops to enter Babylon, yet the
gates were found open and the army of Cyrus marched in and took
possession of the city!
2, 3. I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight I will
break in piece the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by
your name, am the God of Israel Whenever God calls a man to do any
work, however difficult and even impossible it may seem to be, he will
certainly accomplish it because he will have God with him. The Lord
will gird his loins and make him strong–and all the forces of
Providence shall work towards the accomplishment of the Divine end. Has
God given you any work to do? It may be a much easier task than that of
Cyrus, so, as the Lord enabled him to succeed in his great enterprise,
you may have confidence that His power is sufficient to give success to
you, also! It may seem to be presumption for you to undertake such a
work, yet, if you are called of God to do it, go on without a shadow of
doubt, for He will make the crooked places straight and break in pieces
the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. We must not
forget that whatever God did in relation to Cyrus was done with an eye
to the welfare of His own people.
4. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called
you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me.
And all the powers and princes that arise in this world, God can use
for the good of His Church! All the nations, kingdoms and powers there
are, are only like so much scaffolding for the building of God's own
house–and He makes use of them as He pleases, though, often, they know
not what He is doing with them!
5, 6. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God besides
Me: I girded you, though you have not known Me: that they may know from
the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides
Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. This was intended to correct
the mistake of Cyrus who probably was a fire-worshipper–a believer in
the two great forces of good and evil which were supposed to be equally
eternal and powerful–which the Persians regarded as the god of good
and the god of evil. So the Lord says–
7. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create
evil: I the LORD do all these things. There are not two distinct
principles that are omnipotent and, though God is not the Author of
moral evil, yet whatever there is of evil which causes us pain and loss
is under His control. There are not two gods, but only one living and
true God.
8-10. Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skiespour down
righteousness: let the earth open, andlet them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together, I the LORD have created it
Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with
the potsherds of the earth Shall the clay say to him that fashions it,
What are you making? Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
Woe unto him that says unto his father, What are you begetting? Or to
the woman, What have you brought forth? God, on the ground of His being
Creator, demands that He shall not be questioned by human wisdom, nor
dictated to by human pride. He is the one Supreme Sovereign and Lord of
All–and He may do absolutely as He pleases. It is a joy and delight to
us that He always wills to do what is just and right. Still, His Divine
prerogative must not be abridged in any way whatever. The potsherds
that he has made must never question the action of the great Potter who
has made them! Has He not power to mold and fashion the clay exactly as
He pleases?
11, 12. Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask
Me of things to come concerning My sons and concerning the work of My
hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host
have I commanded. When we think of this, we ought to worship God,
alone, and trust Him, alone, and pay all loyal homage to Him. What can
there be that is comparable to the Creator of all things? There is not
so much as a grain of dust, nor a single fly that is self-created, or
man-made–but everything has come from God and exists because He wills
it. Therefore, give to the Lord the Glory that is due unto His name and
rest in His power, and trust in His might.
13. Ihave raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his
ways: he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for
price nor reward, says the LORD of Hosts. And so Cyrus did. It was
through him that Jerusalem was rebuilt and the captive Israelites were
delivered!
14, 15. Thus says the LORD, The labor of Egypt, and merchants of
Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto you,
and they shall be yours: they shall come after you; in chains they
shall come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make
supplication unto you, saying, Surely God is in you, and there is none
else, there is
no other God. Verily You are a God that hides Yourself O God of Israel,
the Savior This is a most merciful arrangement, for, if God did not
hide Himself, none of us could exist! The full blaze of His Divine
Countenance would be our destruction. God said even to Moses, "You
cannot see My face: for there shall no man see Me and live." But it is
also partly in judgment that God sometimes hides even that measure of
His Presence which, at other times, He reveals in love. But even then,
though He is hidden, He is still there. As the blue sky is up yonder,
though it is long since you saw it, so is God always present even
though we cannot see Him. The mountains, when hidden in darkness, are
as real as they are in the light of day–and God is as truly near to
His people, to preserve and succor them when they do not see Him, as
when they do.
16-19. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they
shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel
shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: you shall not
be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus says the LORD
that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and made
it; He has established, it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to
be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken
in secret, in a darkplace of the earth: Isaidnot unto the seed of
Jacob, See you Me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare
things that are right. I t is a very consolatory thing for us to be
told not only what God has said, but also what He has notsaid. You can
be sure of this, that there is nothing in the secret book of God's
decrees, and nothing in the sealed book of prophecy which is contrary
to the gracious covenant promises which God has revealed to His people
in His Word. He does not say one thing and mean another. You may rest
assured that all the revelations that are yet to be given, if there are
to be any, (and there are some who are always talking about fresh light
breaking from the Word), will never contradict that which has been
revealed of old! God did not tell His ancient people anything which
contradicts what He has told us. The poorest and meanest of His people
who have been able to spell out, in the Word of God, their right and
title to the Divine inheritance, may rely upon it that if any wise man
comes to them with some wonderful discovery which contradicts the
Bible–he simply comes with a lie–for God has nowhere contradicted
what He has plainly revealed in the Scriptures!
20, 21. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are
escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of
their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell and
bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. What wooden
god has ever foretold the future? What idol of brass or stone had a
word to say about the coming of Cyrus? Not one.
21-25. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from
that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me;
a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Look unto Me, and be
you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in
righteousness, and shallnot return, That unto Me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shallswear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I
righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come, and all that
are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the
seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.