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A Postmillenial Primer (Survey of Isaiah #20) (Troy)

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THE TEXT

Isaiah 11 KJV

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

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The Return of the Remnant (Survey of Isaiah #19) (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

Isaiah 10:20-34

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

26 And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

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Instruments in Yahweh’s Hands (Survey of Isaiah #18) (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

Isaiah 10:1–19 KJV

1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

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Come Unto Me

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INTRODUCTION

A perennial problem that comes upon the people of God is that they choose to die in the desert rather than come to the source of Living Water. Israel refused to enter into the land flowing with milk and honey. So that generation spent their lives wandering east of the Jordan until their corpses filled the wilderness. Isaiah 55 is designed that we might not go the way of that old generation. It is designed that we would come to the Lord and live. 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Isaiah 55:1-13

The thirsty are summoned to come to the waters. They do not need money. But they do need to have an appetite. They must also buy and eat. But marvelously, they must make this transaction without spending (v. 1). There is no good explanation for doing the opposite, which is spending all of your money in an attempt to eat the wind. The wine and milk the Lord supplies is far better for the belly, good and fat. But the only way to be satisfied with the good is to come to the Lord diligently (v. 2). This coming to the Lord means actually hearing Him, and His message to you is a covenant word secured by the Son of David, the master and commander who has been given as a sure bond to God’s people (v. 3-4). 

God will glorify His people such that nations start running their way (v. 5). And running is wise because there is a time limit on when men can seek the Lord (v. 6). In order to buy the Lord’s milk and wine, man must give up on his own foolish thoughts. The Lord’s thoughts are not only different than ours. They are higher than them as the heavens are the earth (v. 7-9). We could never climb up to hear God’s thoughts in the heavens. But He has sent them down like snow and rain. And like the snow and rain bring forth seed and bread, so God’s Word accomplishes what He plans for it (v. 10-11).

Because of our Father’s heavenly covenant rain-word, His people will go out with joy and peace. The mountains clear their throat and sing before you and the maple trees start clapping their hands as you pass by (v. 12). Thorns and thistles are replaced with evergreens that stand as never-ending witnesses to the Lord’s faithfulness (v. 13).

COME, YE THIRSTY

Nothing could be more natural than being thirsty. We are human. We are finite. We are dependent creatures. What is manifestly not natural is that you would be thirsty and not come to drink. What is downright silly is that you would go spend all of your money on that which is not bread. Why would you do that? The way to milk and wine is straightforward. Come to the Lord. Man, in his fussiness, would like to claim that he doesn’t know the way. But God is not far from us. In Him we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:27).

AND I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT

When man comes to the Lord to drink, He finds God making a covenant with him. The terms and conditions are clear. God promises eternal life and blessing, milk and wine without price. The conditions are that we would trust Him and obey Him. And the surety of this covenant is the Son of David. This covenant is never-ending, but it is continually renewed. David was in Isaiah’s past. This was no new covenant, but a renewed covenant. So it is today. If you would have life, then you must renew covenant with the Lord for it is in that covenant that life is found. 

FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS

The spirit of the age insists that you figure out all of your thoughts. But God’s word says that you are supposed to do a different thing, forsake them. Many think that if they can sort out all of their emotions, then the mountains will sing for them, and trees will clap their hands. “Where did that thought come from? Why did I think that? What kind of horrible person thinks the thoughts I think?” This person thinks that he can get all of his thoughts to fit together like a 1,000-piece puzzle and all will be pretty at the end. But God says that your thoughts simply aren’t that important, and the puzzle pieces don’t actually fit. So, burn the puzzle pieces and go listen to God’s thoughts. Think His thoughts after Him. His thoughts in your head are perfectly fine thoughts for you to have, you should keep those around.

AS THE RAIN COMETH DOWN

God tells us His thoughts by His Spirit whom He has given us—”For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). But notice that the Spirit helps us know the things freely given to us of God. He does not help us to know the things God hasn’t given us. The mystics who would close their Bibles and go searching for mysteries within will find that they discover no mysteries. They will not find prosperity either. For the Word that goes forth from the mouth of God is the mystery, the life, the bread, the seed, the wealth.

LED FORTH WITH PEACE

That is why God’s people will go forth with joy and peace. God’s covenant word always brings forth covenant fruit. And that fruit is everlasting like the Son of David himself. He is your peace and your joy. The purchase of the wine and milk has already been made. He has paid the cost at Calvary. All you need to do is come to him and drink. No money necessary.

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