Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

This book might well be called the Gospel according to Isaiah," for it is full of evangelical Truth.

Verse 1. Behold My Servant, whom I uphold: My Elect One, in whom My soul delights: I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Of whom speaks the Prophet this, but of the Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth? He was upheld by the mighty power of God. He was the Lord's Chosen. The Spirit of God rested upon Him and this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears, for He has brought forth righteousness to the Gentiles.

2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street He shall be no clamorous seeker after applause. He shall not shout as those that seek for the mastery. Now the Savior was quiet, gentle, meek, humble. When He lifted up His voice, it was for God and for the sons of men—not for Himself. He was meek and lowly of heart.

3. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.How exactly these words describe the Lord Jesus! He was so gentle that He did not break or break off the bruised reeds. We read that He did not answer the Scribes and Pharisees. They were so powerless—such bruised reeds in His esteem—such worthless, smoking flax—that He left them alone until, by-and-by, He came to bring forth judgment unto victory. And now the weak, the feeble, the gentle, the poor in spirit shall never find Christ to deal harshly with them. "The bruised reed He will not break: the smoking flax He will not quench."

4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He has set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for His Law. Oh, what a blessed thing it is that we have a Savior to trust to, who will not fail! And He is one who will never be discouraged. He will carry out the salvation of His people and never give it up as a hopeless case. Poor Sinner, if He begins with you, He will not fail nor be discouraged—nor will He even with the whole earth. He will not take back His hand till surely all flesh shall see the Glory of the Lord. He who has undertaken man's redemption is not feeble of spirit and easily baffled. He shall not fail or be discouraged!

5, 6. Thus says God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; He that gives breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant to the people, for a light to the Gentile. See what God has made His Son, Jesus Christ? If you want to get a Christ in the Covenant of Grace, you have only to lay hold on Christ, for Christ is given as a Covenant to the people. He is the embodiment of the Covenant—the sum and substance of it—the seal of it—the surety of it. He is, indeed, the Covenant, itself! And if you want light, you have only to get Christ. He is the Light of the world, and here we are told that God has given Him for a Light to the Gentiles.

7. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and they that sit in darkness out of the prison house.Hear this, you melancholy ones, you that are desponding, you that cannot get out of the prison of bad habits, or shake off the chains of sin! Behold a Liberator has come—One whose very business it is to open the fast closed cells of sin and set the captives of Satan free!

8, 9. I am the LORD: that is My name: and My Glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to engraved images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I tell you of them. One great proof of the truth of the Deity of Jehovah is that He can foresee and foretell, so that long before events happen, He makes them known. Now Isaiah, by God's Spirit, told the Israelites concerning Christ, hundreds of years before Christ came—and yet the terms are so express that one might almost think that they were written afterthe event. But does not God know? And is not He God who sees through the mists of ages and looks upon the things that are to be as though they were? Verily He is God!

10, 11. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. For the coming of Christ is the coming of music into the world! When He hung upon the Cross, there were lighted up new stars to cheer earth' s night. No, what if I say that the sun, itself, had risen then to chase away the darkness once and for all? O Lamb of God! Creation made the angels sing, but Redemption makes us fallen men sing, for it lifts us up to sit among the angels through Your most precious blood!

12. Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare His praise in the islands. Now for His enemies. While God is thus graciously dealing with men, He determines to make an end of the powers of evil.

13. The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: He shall cry, yes, roar; He shall prevail against His enemie. Do not imagine that the gods of the heathen will always sit on their thrones or that the powers of anti-Christ will always darken the earth. Ah, no! God will bestir Himself before long.

14. Ihave a long time heldMy peace; Ihave been still and refrained Myself: now willI cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.Oh, what a time will that be when God comes forth in the splendor of His power to put down all the hosts of evil!

15. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs: and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. What a terrible God He is! When He once puts forth His hand for deeds of justice and of vengeance, who can stand before Him? But yet how His mercy walks arm-in-arm with His justice!

16. And I will bring the blind by the way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Oh, the condescension of God, that even when His right arm is bared for war, and thunder girds His cloudy car, yet still He stoops out of the chariot of wrath to look after poor, blind, helpless souls, and lead them in the way of peace and mercy. But as for His enemies—

17. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in engraved images, that say to the molten images, You are our gods.

Verses 18, 19. Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Do not imagine that what God has done in the past will never be repeated! It will be excelled—He will do yet greater things. Of all the mercy and love which God has shown, we may say that these are only prophecies of what He yet will reveal. There are now things yet to come wherein the splendor of His mercy shall be yet more clearly seen than in all the former things!

20, 21. The beast of the field shall honor Me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth my praise.However barren may your soul be and however all your surroundings may seem to be stamped with death, God can come and make you happy and blessed and surround you with delights! And He will do it in order that in you, whom He has formed for Himself, His praise may be seen!

22. But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob. Prayer has been neglected. Praise has been suspended. There has been an ungracious negligence in the service of God. You have not called upon me, O Jacob."

22. But you have been weary of Me, O Israe. You thought the service long—thought the time for prayer came around too soon—refused to give to My cause and said it was a tax. You have been weary of Me, O Israel."

23. You have not brought Me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not encased you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense. I have not taxed you. I have not drawn upon your resources heavily."

24. You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices. "I left you to give or not to give, that your free will might be seen in all your deeds of love, but nothing has come of it. On the contrary"—

24. You have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities.A solemn charge, this, which God lays against His people. Now see the next verse and read it with wondering eyes!

25. I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins. He has pointed out the fault. He has shown that He is not forgetful of it. And then He pronounces absolution! The transgression is put away! Blessed be His name! Now let us turn to the New Testament and read in the Epistle to the Romans, the 10th Chapter, and we shall there see the way in which pardon is brought home to the soul.

Verses 1-3. Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.A fault—a pitiable and grievous fault—that men should be in earnest and very zealous, and yet nothing should come of it because they spend that zeal in a wrong direction! Men would make themselves righteous. They would come before God in the apparel of their own works, whereas God has already made a righteousness which He freely gives!For us to try and produce another is to enter into rivalry with God—to insult His Son and do dishonor to His name! May God grant that any here who are very zealous in a wrong direction may receive light and knowledge, and turn their thoughts in the right way.

4, 5. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man who does those things shall live by them.That is the righteousness of the Law of God. We are not under that Covenant now. We shall never attain to righteousness that way.

6-9. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down from above). Or, who shall descend into the deep? (That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart; that is the word of faith, which we preach. That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. How very simple! No climbing, no diving, no imagining, no long reckoning of the understanding, no strangling of the mental faculties. It is just believe God's testimony concerning His Son and you shall be saved!

10, 11. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [Gentile] in this matter.

12, 13. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This was the old prophecy of Joel. The Jews knew it. It is the new teaching of the Gospel. The Gentiles know it. Oh, who would not wish to be in that broad "whoever," that he might find salvation?

14, 15. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things?So that, rightly looked upon, the humblest preacher of the Gospel stands in the most solemn relationship towards mankind. His Master sends him. He tells His message. Men hear it, believe it and by it are saved! Happy is the messenger! Well may his heart rejoice, even when his soul is heavy, because he has such work to do in his Master's name!

16. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? And what Isaiah says, many and many a preacher since has had to say. "Woe, woe to us for this."

17-19. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know?Did not the Jewish people have a time of hearing and instruction? Certainly they knew—and they also knew that the Gospel was not to be confined to them. They had a warning that it would even be taken from them and sent to other nations.