We turn again to the prophecies of Isaiah. This morning, we are very definitely moving on to the other side of the cross, on from Isaiah 53.
As we pointed out last night, Isaiah 53 sets the way open and clear to God by the cross. Then there is a new day, a new prospect, breaking forth after all that tragedy.
When we come into Isaiah 54, we have what we may call a sample chapter of resurrection. Very much as we have indicated in the remaining chapters of these prophecies, it shows what the new day is and what the Lord would have it to be. This very next chapter is a very good example of that new day of resurrection.
There are eight features, or characteristics, of this new day in this very chapter. Eight, as you know, is the number of resurrection. You can just pass your eye down through the chapter and take account of these things.
The first feature, in Isaiah 54:1, is the movement from barrenness to fruitfulness.
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear;
break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:
for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
The second feature, in Isaiah 54:2-3, is the movement from weakness to enlargement.
Enlarge the place of thy tent,
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations;
spare not: lengthen thy cords,
and strengthen thy stakes.
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left;
and thy seed shall possess the nations,
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
How true that is of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Number three, in Isaiah 54:4-6, is the movement from shame to honour.
Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame:
for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth,
and the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt remember no more.
So it is from shame to honour.
In Isaiah 54:6-7, there is the movement from forsakenness to fellowship.
For the Lord hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee;
but with great mercies will I gather thee.
From forsakenness to fellowship; and then from wrath to mercy:
In overflowing wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment;
but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
See, you look back to the cross, and all those things were true. Now it is resurrection, and they have passed. It is a mighty and wonderful change.
Next, in Isaiah 54:11-12, there is the movement from affliction and desolation to comfort and glory.
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors,
and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies,
and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy border of precious stones.
From affliction and desolation to comfort and glory.
Then, in Isaiah 54:14-16, there is the movement from oppression to security.
In righteousness shalt thou be established:
thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me:
whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals,
and bringeth forth a weapon for his work;
and I have created the waster to destroy.
That leads to the last feature, in Isaiah 54:17: from reproach to vindication.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness which is of Me, saith the Lord.
Surely this is a wonderful sample of resurrection life, power, and glory.
As in other connections, so in this, we carry the whole thing over from Old Testament history into the New Testament, and into this very dispensation in which we live—the day of resurrection.
How true all this was, and is, of the Lord Jesus in the first place. There was the negative side: all those things that we have mentioned—the stripping, barrenness, and desolation of the cross; the straitness of which He spoke: “How am I straitened until it be accomplished!”
There was shame and reproach; forsakenness, even of His very Father, God; the wrath of God resting upon Him. He was afflicted—afflicted, oppressed, and oppressed. All those things were true in Isaiah 53.
Now the whole scene is changed. And how very true the change is for the Lord Jesus in resurrection.
Fruitfulness has taken the place of barrenness. Yes, the corn of wheat, falling into the ground and dying, has indeed brought forth much fruit. We are only a very, very small representation of that today, here—fruit out of many nations, but representing so many more.
It is a great joy to us, is it not, today to know—and to know personally in so many cases—the fruitfulness of His sufferings in the seeing of His seed. Out of barrenness into fruitfulness; out of the straitness against which He groaned, through the great enlargement that has come to Him. What enlargement!
Out of shame into honour: multitudes and multitudes ever since, and today all over the world, are heaping honour upon Him. And so we go on. How true all this is of the Lord Jesus Himself in resurrection.
But you can see also how true this became of that little band of disciples. You could say that, in a certain sense, at the time of the cross these negative and dark things were true of them.
Yes, everything was gone. The trees were stripped bare. It was barrenness, and in their hearts they were saying, “Why has it all fallen? Why did we give up everything? We have lost everything. All gone.”
See the change on the day of Pentecost and from then onward: from barrenness to fruitfulness. Again, you go through all this list of characteristics.
From straitness—a little band, a handful of men, confined to a few miles in Jerusalem and Judaea and Palestine, a little country—but their son, Saint Paul, went into all the earth and to the ends of the earth. What enlargement! The lengthening of cords and the strengthening of stakes in resurrection.
From their aloneness—the terrible, terrible loneliness that came over them when He, as they thought, was dead—there sprang up and was established a marvellous fellowship in relationship with a growing and ever-growing company of fellow believers.
Yes, it was true for the disciples. All these things came about: this wonderful changeover in their experience.
But does it stop there? Does it stop there? No.
The same thing that we find in the New Testament became true of every new believer, and on and on to now. These are the true characteristics of the believer’s life, if the believer’s life is a true believer’s life.
Are you living on the other side of the cross, or are you living in the day of His death, just living with Christ’s death? That is not true Christian living. But if we are living as true believers on the ground of His resurrection, all these things are true.
They are true. It is a very, very real thing for us here this morning to be able to say, without any hesitation, without our tongue in our cheek, as we say, “These things are true.”
He has changed our barrenness to fruitfulness. He has changed our life from straitness to enlargement. Oh, what enlargement! Yes, He indeed has given us a large place, a very large place.
He has changed our lot from shame to honour, from forsakenness and aloneness to fellowship, and so on. This is the heritage of every true believer.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus—this wonderful note—is struck and sounds forth: a new life, a new hope, a new assurance.
Well, so it is in the New Testament. You see the apex of resurrection.
Just note, sometime you can, the marvellous effect that His appearing, or appearances, had upon the people concerned. As far as we can see, there were about ten appearances of the Lord after His resurrection. Five of them took place on Sunday, between sunrise and perhaps a little after sunset. The other five were scattered over a period in different places.
But it is most interesting, most impressive, and most instructive to notice the change that took place between the time before He appeared and the time when He disappeared. A tremendous change came over the people concerned, and over everything.
Run through those ten appearances. The first, undoubtedly, was to Mary Magdalene, who came early to the tomb with spices to anoint His body. You remember the story. We cannot this morning describe every occasion.
But what a poor, sad, desolate, barren sort of person she was that morning. What a plaintive note there is. She beholds Him without recognizing Him and calls Him the gardener:
Sir, if thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.
Jesus only spoke her name: “Mary.” Her whole situation was transformed, translated. She hurried from the tomb, hurried away to tell His disciples.
It would seem that there were other women nearby, and as she and they were going to tell the disciples, Jesus met them on the way. Another transforming scene and experience.
Then we are told that He appeared unto Simon. It does not want very much imagination to see what kind of Simon he was when Jesus appeared to him.
Well, he was not a very happy sort of man. No, if there was a man who felt that he was bereft—bereft of everything, stripped, stopped, and in utter despair, aloneness, forsaken—it must have been Simon Peter.
Jesus appeared to him, gave him a private appearance, a private interview. Yes, and it changed the whole situation, did it not? It changed and transformed the whole outlook for Simon.
And then, to two disciples on the way to Emmaus. What miserable men they were. What sad men they were. What desolate men they were, as they walked and were sad.
It was the longest three miles that ever two men had walked. But then Jesus appeared. Their eyes were opened; they saw Him; He went.
It was the shortest three miles that ever men had run. I do not know whether they did the three miles in a minute, but I am quite sure they were not conscious of those three miles. Distance and time lost all their meaning. They simply hurried back to tell the eleven.
Oh, the whole scene was changed. They came in, and before they could say anything about what had happened to them, they were met with this from those in Jerusalem:
The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
What a changed scene into which they came in Jerusalem.
And then to the apostles themselves and some others. Well, shall I go through every instance, till above five hundred brethren in Galilee? His appearance—that is, His coming in resurrection—everywhere, on every occasion, brought about a mighty change in the whole situation.
Yes, Isaiah 54 had a very real fulfilment in their case. It is resurrection; it is resurrection.
What we really are concerned with here, dear friends, is that this should become something for us.
We might again say, “Yes, long ago and far away.” But no. No. The big question which arises with us is this: Have we any ground for believing that this can be our right-up-to-date experience?
I want to say that the New Testament presents us with very solid ground for that. There is very much in the New Testament, after the Lord has gone to glory, in the experience of men and women, that has this effect.
Again, I should have to start to take you through the New Testament. I am going to take you through the Book of Acts and look at that Ethiopian: on his way home, disappointed and desolate, sorrowful and perplexed.
Yes, we may say that through His servant Philip, and through the word of Isaiah 53 in the mouth of Philip, the risen Lord met that man. The whole thing was changed. The last we hear of him is that he went on his way rejoicing.
It was a transfigured life, a transfigured situation, because he had come into touch with the risen Lord. And so again, you could go on. You see, every one of these wants a series of meetings, does it not? The marvellous transformations by a touch of the risen Lord after He has gone to glory.
The change that took place when the Spirit of the Lord touched people, came into their lives, came into their lips—they met sometimes in much perplexity, oppression, suffering, and affliction with the wrath of rulers vainly; and they went away changed people, full of joy, full of hope.
Well, has the dispensation ended with the Book of Acts? The Book of Acts has never had a conclusion. It has broken off. The Holy Spirit never intended Luke to write the end of that story, because it had to go on and on and on to the end of the dispensation.
What was true then is to be true in our experience now. Yes, there is plenty of evidence and ground for this.
But then you say, “On what ground can this experience be mine? How can this be true of me? If the Scripture really gives that which justifies an expectation that it should be true in our case, if we really have got it in the Word that it ought to be like that in our case, then the question arises: How can it be? How can it be?”
Is that your question? Well, I want to say, as quickly as I can and as concisely as possible, how it can be—how we really can know this.
First of all, we must—most positively—take our stand on that ground which God has provided for us through the cross of the Lord Jesus.
That is, we must take all the values of Isaiah 53 as provided for us, and take our stand upon that ground.
I mean, dear friends, this: Isaiah 53 tells us that all that has been done for us.
He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.
He bare the sin of many.
Our whole state and condition under condemnation and judgment was put on Him by God Himself. He made His soul an offering for sin. It is the divine side.
If you and I still linger on that ground of question or doubt as to whether the Lord Jesus has done that for our sins—past, present, and future—for us, men and women; if we linger on the ground of question about that death, there is no hope of this transforming experience of resurrection.
If you are still nursing condemnation, still opening your heart or your mind to accusation, you are, in effect, denying the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. And God cannot show you His arm.
“To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Never to any man or woman who brings a question upon the work of the Lord Jesus in His cross. Never.
Oh, no. You have got to get out of that ground—right out of that ground in every way.
And if you are so fond of doubting and questioning, and if you will so tenaciously hold on to condemnation, cannot you swing right over the other way and put all that capacity for doubting and unbelieving round the other way?
Say about your condemnation, “I do not believe it. Isaiah 53 says that He took all that for me. I definitely do not believe it. I will not believe it. The cross of the Lord Jesus forbids me to believe that there is condemnation.”
Yes, put your strong, mighty capacity for unbelief round the other way. Let it be converted.
And now put it over against all this work of the accusing spirit, the accusing conscience, the accusing heart. Leave the whole thing in reverse.
Mark you, you will never, you will never know this mighty, many-sided transformation and transfiguration of life until you positively take your stand on the values which have been secured for you in Isaiah 53.
You will have to gain the very simplicity of a beginner: sit down with that chapter and, as has been so often said, put your name in it.
He was wounded for me.
He was bruised for my iniquities.
The chastisement of my peace was upon Him.
With His stripes I am healed.
You never get into resurrection glory until you really do stand firmly on that ground. You see, we are on the ground of death. We must repudiate our own ground.
Yes, sir, I know it well, and thousands more. There is One that died in my place. Faith, faith, must credit God and Christ with the full meaning of the cross.
Then, in the next place, we must take a positive attitude at all times to the power of His resurrection.
It must be this attitude and this position of faith in God that raises the dead. We must really reckon upon that extra and that other which is represented by the power of His resurrection.
It is all true that we are this and that is that, and things are as they are. It is all true. We are not putting on blinkers and trying to make believe that we are not as bad as we are, or that things are not as bad as they are. They are just as bad as they can be, inside and out.
But there is something more than that. There is an extra, and there is another, and that is the power of His resurrection. We must really take a positive attitude at all times—at all times—toward the power of His resurrection.
And then we must, while of course avoiding breaking the laws of God—I have to put that in because I have been doing it myself lately—we must, while avoiding breaking the laws of God, definitely draw upon His risen life.
You wonder what I mean by that little parenthesis. Well, if you go on for something like eleven weeks, three, four, or five meetings a day, without one day’s rest, you are breaking the law of God, and God cannot protect you. That is exactly what happened.
Oh, how long it takes us to learn these lessons. It takes us a long lifetime to learn. We get drawn by need and appeal and so on. I think the Lord is very sympathetic, but nevertheless He does not set aside His laws. But that, by the way. Nevertheless, learn the lesson.
So I have to say that, while avoiding breaking divine laws—the laws of our bodies, and so on—we must deliberately, at all times, draw upon His resurrection life.
You can never speak of the laws of nature without meaning God, please. The laws of nature are of God, and God is the Lord of nature. That is not pantheism that I am preaching, but you see what I mean. The law of nature brings you right into touch with God.
So, while not violating God in His laws in the body and so on, we must deliberately, at all times, draw upon His resurrection life. We must do it. We must do it.
We must keep a tight hold, so to speak, on the risen life of the Lord and draw upon it. Make a very practical thing of it.
When I was a little fellow, I remember to this day something that my mother said to me. She was telling me, describing the death of my grandfather, an old man of eighty-four.
She was sitting by his bed as he was slowly, slowly passing away. He was a very strong man physically. She told me, “He had hold of my hand in a tremendous grip. I was praying for him, but he was gradually sinking away.”
“I do not know what the science of this is, or whether there is any truth in it at all, but,” she said, “I felt that he was drawing the very life out of me. I felt my vitality being sapped. He was pulling something out of me to hold on to life.”
“And at last I could stand it no longer. I just had to wrench my hand out of his. And when I did so, he went.”
Well, I do not know what that means at all, or whether that really is true. But to me it is an illustration. We have literally got to draw vitality out of our Lord.
It is an attitude, a grip of faith, that we must lay hold on life. As Paul said to Timothy, “Lay hold on the life eternal.” It must be something that we do.
Yes, we, I fear, dear friends, are far too indefinite in this matter of our relationship to our risen Lord—too indefinite.
We believe in the resurrection. We believe in resurrection life. We believe that it is for us. But we are not definite enough about it.
Now begin by saying, “Do I need resurrection life? Do I? Am I in need of the power of His resurrection?” Of course, if you have no sense of need, then you will not be definite about it.
But if you have, in any way, really felt your need of the power of His resurrection—that the arm of the Lord should be revealed in that way to you—do you sense your need?
Secondly, is there Scripture? Is there Scripture? Is there that in the Word of God which justifies me in believing that that life is for me?
Then the third thing will be: let me get to the Word and find out what the Word says about this. Let me gather up, search out, all that the Word of God says about this matter of resurrection life for me.
It is an exercise, not just some random text. But what does the Word of God really say about this? Get a strong foundation of Scripture under your feet.
But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you,
He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead
shall give life also to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
That is in the Bible.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
That is Scripture. Now get to it. Gather it all up, all that you can find, and then take it to the Lord.
Say, “Lord, Your Word clearly says—here it is.” You can quote Scripture to the Lord, if you like. It is a very healthy thing to quote the Word to Him, to remind Him of His Word.
Say, “Now, Lord, You have said, You have said, that the power of the resurrection is to be now known in Your people, in believers. You have said it. Here is Your Word about it.”
Present it to Him, all that you can find. Be very definite on this matter. Bring it to the Lord.
We are far too indefinite. We might see marvellous things, wonderful things, have a far greater testimony of resurrection life, if only we would be more definite about this matter.
That is the way of it. It is not going to be casual. It is not just going to happen. Any dilly-dallying about this thing will not find us coming into the good of it.
But here we must be positive. We must be definite. We must make this a very real matter, because it is not just personal for our own good. The whole testimony of our risen Lord is bound up with this.
Now, this applies in many ways, of course. It applies to ourselves individually, spiritually. Let us get hold of the Word for ourselves spiritually, as to life, as to resurrection for our spiritual life.
Many of you, no doubt, are in real spiritual need of life—a new accession of life spiritually.
It may be physically, and it can be physically. Blessed be God that we can take life for our body. We may know the resurrection life of God carrying us on through impossible physical situations, making a marvellous testimony. Yes, physically.
It may be in relation to our ministry. We may need a new accession of life in our ministry, the bearing of His arm through our ministry.
Well, the same principle, you see. For after all, all ministry has to be fulfilled in the power of His resurrection, or it is not true spiritual ministry. There is no other.
It may apply to the company of the Lord’s people of which we are a part, or in which perhaps we have some responsibility, and we are very burdened. The great need is, “Oh, that the arm of the Lord should be revealed! Oh, that the power of resurrection should be manifested!”
Things are going down—down to death, weakness, and dishonour, and so on. This is not glorifying to God. What are you going to do about that? Well, the same exercise.
This resurrection of the Lord Jesus is for every aspect of the life of the believer and the church. But it does not just happen.
I say again, we have got to take a very definite and positive attitude toward this matter. If we will, if we do, some of us do know, through a long history, that this really does work. It really does work.
Our sustenance, enablement, supply, carrying on, and raising up again and again result from a definite faith laying hold on the fact that Christ is risen for us.
He died for us. He is risen for us. He died in our place. He lives in our stead. He is the living Lord—everything.