Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. Sermons | A Blessed Forgetfulness | Prof. J. Skinner, D. D. | Isaiah 54:4 | | Forgetting the Shame of Youth | Hugh Black, M. A. | Isaiah 54:4 | | God's Gift of Forgetfulness | Hugh Black, M. A. | Isaiah 54:4 | | Shall I Remember My Sins in Heaven | S. Martin. | Isaiah 54:4 | | Shame | J. A. Alexander. | Isaiah 54:4 | | Isaiah 54 | W. H. Barlow, B.D. | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | Jerusalem: Barren, Then Fruitful | F. Delitzsch, D.D. | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | Sing, O Barren | | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | The Church of the Future | C. Clemance, D.D. | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | The Future of the Church | E. Johnson | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | The Gentile Church a Joyful Mother | R. Glover, M. A. | Isaiah 54:1-17 | | The Relation Between Isaiah 53. and 54 | Prof. G.A. Smith, D.D., Prof. J. Skinner, D.D. | Isaiah 54:1-17 |
Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. Applying these words to the Church of Christ in its attitude of holy expectation, and its sacred duty under all circumstances, but particularly in the time of growth, we learn of it - I. THAT IT SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE ANTICIPATING ENLARGEMENT. The challenge comes from its Lord, "Spare not, lengthen thy cords;" i.e. take the attitude and the action of those who are looking for increase, for the incoming of those who are outside. The Church of Christ is well warranted in doing this; for it has: 1. Ample scope in a vast unredeemed world beyond its borders; souls that are capable of brotherhood, of sonship, of heirship. 2. All the materials it wants for successful enterprise, in authority to work and win, in truth perfectly fitted to the deepest wants of the human heart, in the potency of Christian love and zeal. 3. Divine promise that its labour shall not be in vain. II. THAT IT SHOULD CONTINUALLY BE ENGAGED IN CONSOLIDATION. AS a multitude of armed men do not make an army, so a number of people with Christian words on their lips and Christian ordinances in their practice do not make a Christian Church after Christ's ideal. The accession of numbers is not everything; it may prove to be very little; before now, in certain cases, it has proved to be "less than nothing and vanity." The Church must "strengthen its stakes" as well as "lengthen its cords." It must not spare its strength in providing for permanence and stability as well as increase. It must aim at, and must pray and labour for: 1. The intelligent acceptance of the truth of Christ in its integrity. 2. Spirituality in worship. 3. Consistency of conduct and consequent illustration of a large part of Christ's will in its daily life. 4. Order and discipline in its regular action. - C. Fear not; for thou shalt net be ashamed. Here, as in many other cases, shame includes the disappointment of the hopes, hut with specific reference to previous misconduct ( Job 6:20). The first clause declares that the Church has no cause for despondency, the second disposes of the causes which might seem to be suggested by her history. The essential meaning is, thy former experience of My displeasure. () Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth. ? — In looking forward to heaven, two questions have stirred the minds and hearts of most Christians: Shall I remember my sins in heaven?" and "If I remember my sins in heaven, will not the recollection mar my joy, and interfere with my blessedness?" These questions are not idle. They originate with that consciousness of depravity which is the first step towards our personal salvation, and they recur in connection with the dispensation of Divine mercy. Our condition prompts the inquiry, and the reply will reveal to us the unsearchable riches of Divine grace. The questions resolve themselves into this: Will the dispensation of Divine mercy, when it has done its work, blot out all the mischievous consequences of sin? The text guides our reply. There was a people taken up by God when in circumstances of great degradation. They are brought into the closest connection with Him — into such a connection as that the conjugal union is the best possible representation of it.. God is faithful to this people, but they are faithless to Him. He institutes means to bring them back to Himself, and He does bring them back. Then, speaking of their restoration, He says, "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, ' etc. In the realization of their restoration, they shall (in a certain sense) forget their apostacy. We declare our belief that, in heaven, you will not so remember your sins as to have your happiness interfered with by the recollection, and that whatever remembrance you have of the apostacy and depravity, will rather be the occasion of increasing your blessedness and joy, than of interfering with the one, or of marring the other. The remembrance of sin did exist under the Levitical dispensation; but in the dispensation of Christ there is nothing at all analogous to the annually recurring day of atonement ( Hebrews 10:17). So far as our intercourse with God and the cherishing of bright prospects are concerned there is to be a complete forgetfulness of sin. With respect to heaven, we put before you two remarks. I. THERE IS A RECOLLECTION INEVITABLE. The identity of passions will involve an identity of consciousness. What are the recollections which are inevitable? 1. "I was a sinner." 2. "I was restored to God by such means and under such influences." II. THERE IS A REMEMBRANCE OF SINS IMPOSSIBLE. There is one suggestion that seems of importance here. It is that by and by memory will not be the faculty chiefly exercised and put forth. When is it that we live most in the past? It is when we are sad. In heaven there will be no sadness, no solitude, no fear, no carefulness. Memory, therefore, will not be goaded as now. Memory will then have an inferior place. Observation and penetration will be the chief mental exercises of heaven. A man will be surrounded by objects of intense interest, all connected with God. The commanding recollection of sin will therefore be impossible. The remembrance of sin in heaven will always be connected with the consciousness that sin has been blotted out. This will awaken thankfulness; and joy, with gratitude, will flow through the soul as a large and mighty river. Nothing in God's conduct in heaven will put sin forward. Then, within yourselves there will be complete and conscious holiness. Look at another fact. You may have had companions here in iniquity, but you will have no unsaved companions in sin with you there. You may recognize persons with whom you trod the broad road, but you will there recognize them as redeemed beings; and, just as in your own case, the commanding thought is not sin but forgiveness, so with them the commanding association will be the wonderfulness of their redemption; not the depth of their apostacy and the length of their wanderings; so that their presence, instead of forcing upon you a remembrance of guilt, will only magnify before your eye and your heart the unsearchable riches of God's grace and mercy. You will be employed by and by. Your employment will be all-absorbing, and it will be constant. Why should we talk to you about this? If you have a secret idea, or rather an impression, that there must be some limitation to God's mercy, that it will not secure all this blotting out, what is the consequence? The effect is to limit your application to this pro-vision — you do not take full advantage of the riches of God's mercy. () () "The reproach of thy widowhood" clearly refers to the period of the exile when Zion regarded herself as cast off by Jehovah. The sense of "the shame of thy youth ' is less obvious. Since the conception has some affinities with the striking allegory in Ezekiel 16., it is probable that the reference goes back to the origin of the nation (Ezekiel 16:4-8), the reference being rather to the Egyptian oppression.() A man who had lived for many years the Christian life, told me how there was a place in a street in Edinburgh which was associated with a sin. Every time in his early life he passed it, it brought back again the keen remorse and shame. It seemed to stain his life afresh whenever he saw the very place. But when he came to God and gave his heart and life to Christ, the first time he passed that place afterwards his soul was filled by a great transport of joy that all that was done, that it was no longer part of his life, that God had forgiven and forgotten and cast it behind His back. And he entered, for a moment at least in foretaste, into the perfect joy of soul, and he forgot the shame of his youth and remembered the reproach no more.()
People Isaiah, NoahPlaces JerusalemTopics Afraid, Ashamed, Blush, Cause, Cities, Confounded, Desolate, Disappointed, Disgrace, Disgraced, Earlier, Fear, Feel, Forget, Forgettest, Hope, Humiliated, Inhabited, Longer, Memory, Mind, Remember, Reproach, Shame, Shamed, Sorrows, Suffer, Widowed, Widowhood, YouthOutline 1. The prophet, to comfort the Gentiles, prophesies the amplitude of their church
4. Their safety
6. Their certain deliverance out of affliction
11. Their fair edification
15. And their sure preservation
Dictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 54:4 5746 youth
5947 shame
8754 fear Isaiah 54:1-17 6659 freedom, acts in OT Isaiah 54:4-5 5743 widows Isaiah 54:4-8 5676 divorce, in OT
5895 intimacy Library The Passing and the Permanent
'For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.'--ISAIAH liv, 10.-- There is something of music in the very sound of these words. The stately march of the grand English translation lends itself with wonderful beauty to the melody of Isaiah's words. But the thought that lies below them, sweeping as it does through the whole creation, and parting all things …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Saint's Heritage and Watchword
NOTE: This is taken from an early published edition of the original sermon. The version that appears in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 50, was slightly edited by the publishers. For edition we have restored in most places the text of the earlier published edition, while retaining a few of the editorial refinements of the Met Tab edition. "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 …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 50: 1904 How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting And He had Also this Favour Granted Him. ...
66. And he had also this favour granted him. For as he was sitting alone on the mountain, if ever he was in perplexity in his meditations, this was revealed to him by Providence in prayer. And the happy man, as it is written, was taught of God [1112] . After this, when he once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, Antony, rise, go out and look.' …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either …
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men" The Testimony of the Spirit Necessary to Give Full Authority to Scripture. The Impiety of Pretending that the Credibility of Scripture Depends on the Judgment Of
1. The authority of Scripture derived not from men, but from the Spirit of God. Objection, That Scripture depends on the decision of the Church. Refutation, I. The truth of God would thus be subjected to the will of man. II. It is insulting to the Holy Spirit. III. It establishes a tyranny in the Church. IV. It forms a mass of errors. V. It subverts conscience. VI. It exposes our faith to the scoffs of the profane. 2. Another reply to the objection drawn from the words of the Apostle Paul. Solution …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion How the Poor and the Rich Should be Admonished.
(Admonition 3.) Differently to be admonished are the poor and the rich: for to the former we ought to offer the solace of comfort against tribulation, but in the latter to induce fear as against elation. For to the poor one it is said by the Lord through the prophet, Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded (Isai. liv. 4). And not long after, soothing her, He says, O thou poor little one, tossed with tempest (Ibid. 11). And again He comforts her, saying, I have chosen thee in the furnace of …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Infant Baptism.
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."--John iii. 5. None can be saved, unless the blood of Christ, the Immaculate Lamb of God, be imputed to him; and it is His gracious will that it should be imputed to as, one by one, by means of outward and visible signs, or what are called Sacraments. These visible rites represent to us the heavenly truth, and convey what they represent. The baptismal washing betokens the cleansing of the soul from sin; …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII The Scriptures Reveal Eternal Life through Jesus Christ
John v. 39--"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." Eph. ii. 20--"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." As in darkness there is need of a lantern without and the light of the eyes within--for neither can we see in darkness without some lamp though we have never so good eyes, nor yet see without eyes, though in never so clear a sunshine--so there is absolute need for the guiding of our feet in the dangerous …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning From his Commission to Reside Abroad in 1820 to his Removal to Germany in 1822
In 1822 John Yeardley went to reside in Germany. As his residence abroad constituted one of the most remarkable turns in his life, and exercised a powerful influence on the rest of his career, we shall develop as fully as we are able the motives by which he was induced to leave his native country. By means of his Diary we can trace the early appearance and growth, if not the origin, of the strong Christian sympathy he ever afterwards manifested with seeking souls in the nations on the continent of …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel How the Impudent and Bashful are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 8). Differently to be admonished are the impudent and the bashful. For those nothing but hard rebuke restrains from the vice of impudence; while these for the most part a modest exhortation disposes to amendment. Those do not know that they are in fault, unless they be rebuked even by many; to these it usually suffices for their conversion that the teacher at least gently reminds them of their evil deeds. For those one best corrects who reprehends them by direct invective; but to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Messiah the Son of God
For to which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? T hough every part of a revelation from God must of course be equally true, there may be a considerable difference even among truths proposed by the same authority, with respect to their immediate importance. There are fundamental truths, the knowledge of which are essentially necessary to our peace and holiness: and there are others of a secondary nature, which, though very useful in their proper connection, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 The Promises of the Christian Home.
"The promise is unto you, and to your children." ACTS II., 39. "Parent who plantedst in the joy of love, Yet hast not gather'd fruit,--save rankling thorns, Or Sodom's bitter apples,--hast thou read Heaven's promise to the seeker? Thou may'st bring Those o'er whose cradle thou didst watch with pride, And lay them at thy Savior's feet, for lo! His shadow falling on the wayward soul, May give it holy health. And when thou kneel'st Low at the pavement of sweet Mercy's gate, Beseeching for thine erring …
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home Perseverance of the Saints Proved.
The following considerations, taken together, seem to me to establish the truth of the doctrine in question beyond reasonable doubt. 1. God has from eternity resolved upon the salvation of all the elect. This we have seen. No one of this number will ever be lost. These are given to Christ from eternity, as a seed to serve him. The conversion, perseverance, and final salvation of the elect, we have seen to be secured. Their conversion, perseverance, and salvation, are secured by means of the grace …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology The Ascension of Messiah to Glory
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. T he institutions of the Levitical law were a "shadow" or "sketch" of good things to come. They exhibited a faint and general outline …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 The Great Crisis in Popular Feeling - the Last Discourses in the Synagogue of Capernaum - Christ the Bread of Life - Will Ye Also Go
THE narrative now returns to those who, on the previous evening, had, after the miraculous meal, been sent away' to their homes. We remember, that this had been after an abortive attempt on their part to take Jesus by force and make Him their Messiah-King. We can understand that the effectual resistance of Jesus to their purpose not only weakened, but in great measure neutralised, the effect of the miracle which they had witnessed. In fact, we look upon this check as the first turning of the tide …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Person Sanctified.
"The putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh."--Col. ii. 11. Sanctification embraces the whole man, body and soul, with all the parts, members, and functions that belong to each respectively. It embraces his person and, all of his person. This is why sanctification progresses from the hour of regeneration all through life, and can be completed only in and through death. St. Paul prays for the church of Thessalonica: "The God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Why all Things Work for Good
1. The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in His people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jer. xxxii. 38). By virtue of this compact, all things do, and must work, for good to them. "I am God, even thy God" (Psalm l. 7). This word, Thy God,' is the sweetest word in the Bible, it implies the best relations; and it is impossible there should be these relations between God and His people, and …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's Confession.
(at the Synagogue in Capernaum.) ^D John VI. 22-71. ^d 22 On the morrow [the morrow after Jesus fed the five thousand] the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea [on the east side, opposite Capernaum] saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone 23 (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate the bread after that the Lord had given thanks): 24 when the multitude …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Links Isaiah 54:4 NIV
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