Sermon on Isaiah 51:7-8

(Preached by Dr Campbell at Back on 1 January 2003.)

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

My interest in choosing this text for today's New Year's Day service is related to the fact that this year is the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was one of the most brilliant theologians in the Reformed Church, perhaps even the most eminent. It is fitting that we should become familiar to some degree with his writings and with his thought, if only because he shows us what it is to consecrate and sanctify our highest abilities and gifts to the service of the Lord.

One of the features of Edwards' writings is that often his major works hang upon one or two verses from a specific passage of Scripture. In 1739 Edwards preached a series of sermons published as the History of the Work of Redemption. The full title of the publication was "History of Redemption, on a plan entirely original: exhibiting the gradual discovery and accomplishment of the divine purposes in the salvation of man; including a comprehensive view of church history, and the fulfilment of Scripture prophecies." Edwards argues in this work that the saving purpose and plan of God had its roots in eternity, before there ever was a world, and that it will have its ultimate issue in eternity, when this world will be no more. But his main point is that God is working out his saving purpose IN the world, in a way that is intimately and intricately linked to the history of the world. From the dawn of history, when man needed a sinner, God entered into history with the promise of a coming Redeemer; with the incarnation of Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit he moved forward his scheme of redemption, so that now, in the gospel days of the New Testament, God is working to bring sinners into his kingdom. It is a message we need to be reminded of at the beginning of another new year.

Edwards' work on the History of the Work of Redemption was based on the words of our text, from Isaiah 51:8. Edwards sets the context thus:

The design of this chapter is to comfort the church under her sufferings and the persecutions of her enemies; and the argument of consolation insisted on, is the constancy and perpetuity of God's mercy and faithfulness towards her, which shall be manifest in continuing to work salvation for her, protecting her against all assaults of her enemies, and carrying her safely through all the changes of the world and finally crowning her with victory and deliverance.

As we look at the verse which opens the History, we too need to be reminded of this great source of comfort and consolation for the church of God in the world -- that in each successive age, and with each passing year, God is working out the purposes of his grace.

We shall look at four things in this text.

First, let's note the fact that THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING TO A SPECIFIC CONSTITUENCY OF PEOPLE.

He is speaking to those who "know righteousness" and who have God's law in their hearts. In other words, he is speaking to his true church, to those who are covenanted as a people to him. This is the definition of the church, and it has not changed.

God's people know righteousness. They know it because they know sin, which is the opposite of righteousness. They know that they have come short of God's glory. By the law they have received the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). And they have discovered that the only righteousness which can cover them in the presence of a holy God is that of Jesus Christ. He was made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). They have embraced that righteousness by faith, and gladly acknowledge that their standing before God is in spite of the kind of people they are, and on account of the kind of person Christ is for them.

And God's people have his law in their hearts. Jeremiah foretold that this would be the characteristic of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:33), a point which, according to Hebrews 10:16, has been fulfilled with the redemption that is through Christ. If this means anything, it means that the best definition of a Christian is that he or she wants to please God above all else. If God's law is in our heart, then our motive will be to honour him and give him all the glory.

Here are two great standards by which we can judge whether we belong to God's true church -- do we know righteousness? And, do we want to please God?

Secondly, THE PROPHET IS ENCOURAGING GOD'S PEOPLE IN THE FACE OF REPROACH AND RIDICULE.

Isaiah is acutely aware of the fact that the lily of Christ's church is situated among the thorns of a fallen world. And just as that world reviled and rejected Christ, so it will reject his people. The New Testament church was in her infancy when the first martyrs gave their lives for Christ, and faced wave after wave of opposition.

There is a cost to following Christ. It may be that the thought of that cost has been keeping us back from casting in our lot with the people of God, but let's remember Moses, who chose between the sufferings of God's people and the pleasures of sin in Egypt. Surrounded as he was with the trappings of sin, luxury and vice in Egypt, he had to choose whether he would enjoy that flesh-life, or suffer with God's people. When he compared the worst he could have as a believer with the best he could be offered in the world, he discovered that there was no comparison. The sufferings of the church were to him a greater treasure than the best riches of Egypt.

Those who follow Christ faithfully will face persecution. It was so in Isaiah's day, and it has been ever thus. They will be mocked. It is not an easy road to travel. But it is the best road. And to those who travel it, Isaiah says "don't be afraid of them". We are to keep our eye fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Whatever men can do to us, they cannot take grace away from us.

Third, THE PROPHET GIVES THE REASON WHY WE ARE TO TAKE COURAGE IN THE FACE OF OPPOSITION.

It is because of the transient nature of human life. "The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool". Edwards say of these persecutors of the church that

however great their prosperity is, and however great their present glory, they shall by degrees consume and vanish away by a secret curse of God, till they come to nothing; and all their power and glory, and so their persecutions, eternally cease, and they be finally and irrecoverably ruined, as the finest and most glorious apparel will in time wear away and be consumed by moths and rotteness.

A day is coming when the great Judge will right all wrongs and will vindicate his own people. The reproaches of the world are temporary, and the persecutors of the church face ruin. Up until that point, we are called to be faithful and to persevere.

Fourthly, THE PROPHET CONTRASTS THIS WITH THE CHURCH'S EXPERIENCE OF GOD'S GRACE.

God says "but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation". It is interesting to note that Isaiah often couples righteousness and salvation. They are inseparable. Edwards says that "God's righteousness, or covenant mercy, is the root of which his salvation is the root". In other words, the one speaks of the basis of our experience of grace, while the other speaks of the application of that grace to us.

What is God's righteousness? It is his perfect commitment to the standards of his own holiness and justice. In particular, it is his commitment to his covenant promise and to his covenant purpose. That commitment is constant. It does not diminish with age, or change with the passage of time. It is not carried away in the stream of this world's history. Our years pass away, but God remains eternally committed to the purpose of redeeming his people.

It is to that great pledge that we are to look at the beginning of another year in our lives. Whatever changes the years have brought our way, and however much we have been made aware of the futility of all things, faith looks to the God who says that his covenant pledge and purpose are FOR EVER. The hope of the church rests upon that faithful God, covenant-making and covenant-honouring, whose eternal righteousness is the foundation of all that we have ever known and enjoyed of God's grace in the Gospel.

And what is his salvation? It is the working out of God's covenant purpose in the world, as God applies his redeeming grace to those who stand in need of it. And that salvation is from generation to generation, as vital for our day as for Edwards', as relevant for 2003 as it was for 1703. The same unchanging and unchangeable message of hope in Christ for a sinful world is proclaimed in the Gospel, to be received by faith.

May we experience for ourselves in this year, by God's grace, the salvation which is the experience of all those who love the Lord.