BY THE REV. NEIL MACINTYRE, STORNOWAY, Retiring Moderator of Synod. Preached at Opening of Synod in St. Jude’s Hall, Glasgow, on 11th November, 1913.
ISAIAH prophesied in Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. It was in the year in which king Uzziah died that the Lord vouchsafed to the prophet the wonderful vision described in this chapter. It appears he had a view of the infinite Jehovah in the person of His Son, for so Christ Himself explains the passage—“These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him” (John xii. 41). In this vision he saw God’s throne high and lifted up, and His train filling the temple. The posts of the door were moved and the house was filled with smoke. The seraphim, because of the dazzling glory which broke out from His presence, covered their faces and cried, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” When the prophet saw this vision, he was struck with consternation, and said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.” His fears, however, were silenced by the angel touching his lips with the live coal taken with the tongs from off the altar, and causing his iniquity to be taken away and his sins purged. After this, an awful commission was given to the prophet—“Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and seek ye indeed, but perceive not,” etc. The generality of the people were to turn a deaf ear to his message, and the consequence would be that ruin would follow its rejection. Yet, notwithstanding, a remnant was to be spared. “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” Let us consider—
I.—The seed spoken of;
II.—Its character—“The holy seed”; and
III.—Its intrinsic value—“Shall be the substance thereof.”
I.—The seed spoken of.
The whole human race both in time and eternity are divided into two seeds. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent—sheep and goats, righteous and wicked. Seed must be the production of some progenitor, and whatever be the nature of the original, the same must appear in the seed. For instance, the farmer, who sows a field of oats, does not expect to reap barley; nor does the flockmaster expect a flock of lambs from a herd of goats. That the brute creation would produce a human being is a monstrous idea, and shocks the common sense of unsophisticated men. But, however reprehensible this doctrine may be to our reason, yet, under the name of evolution, it has been taught broadcast over the whole land by paid officials in the highest offices in certain Churches. But there is no evolution in nature; nature is true to its own laws.
(1) When God formed all things, He looked upon the works of His hands and pronounced them all “very good.”
Man, who was the copestone of creation, was made in the image of God after his likeness, “in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.” This man who was formed of the dust of the ground, and had the breath of life breathed into his nostrils, was “very good,” and needed no evolution. We are here endeavouring to trace briefly the history of man from his original state to the state in which he is described as the “holy seed.” Man’s original state, then, was “very good.” The Apostle Paul reasoning with the Athenians, in his famous oration on Mars hill, points out that because “In him (God) we live and move and have our being,” we are, therefore, the offspring of God. Man, being created in the image of God is, according to the Apostle, “God’s offspring.”
(2) Man, who was thus made, “fell from the estate wherein he was created by sinning against God.”
Sin, which is the seed of the serpent, has penetrated through his whole person, so that now Satan claims him as his own. “Ye are of your father, the devil, for his works ye do.” “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” Man’s disobedience, however, did not relieve him of his responsibility to his Creator. God has a prior claim, for creation was before the Fall. Satan has no claim to man, but as he is a transgressor, and it is because he is a transgressor, he is Satan’s captive, his prisoner. He is condemned by God’s law which will hold him guilty until it is satisfied as to its claims, but let the law be obeyed and satisfied on behalf of man, and Satan immediately loseth his right to hold him in captivity. “The strength of sin is the law.”
Now Satan, through man’s disobedience, erected his kingdom in the world, and had the whole human race as his subjects. He fenced and walled his city on every side so securely that he naturally concluded that there was no possibility of ever any of his prisoners escaping. With God’s law condemning them, His justice, with its “flaming sword” turning “every way, to keep the way of the tree of life,” dead in trespasses and in sins, enemies in their minds, and rebellious in their hearts and wills, no wonder though Satan, as it were, raised his hand in defiance to heaven and cried, “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or shall the lawful captives be delivered?” God, however, from all eternity purposed that some of those prisoners should be set free, but, before this could be accomplished, law and justice had to be satisfied on their behalf. For this end, God the Father entered into covenant with His own dear Son, who undertook to pay the penalty. In the fulness of time He appeared in their nature to meet His covenant engagements. “In the volume of the book it is written of me, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” Through the obedience and suffering of His life and death He gave infinite satisfaction to law and justice; He spoiled principalities and powers, invaded the territories of Satan, and opened the door of the prison to them that were bound. He took the prey from the mighty, and delivered the lawful captives. “He made of a city an heap, of a defenced city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city, it shall never be built.” Man’s state under the first covenant depended on perfect obedience being given by him to the terms of that covenant. “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” But now, on account of the satisfaction given by the Surety, eternal righteousness is brought in, so that their standing does not depend on their own obedience, but on Christ’s. Therefore Satan can never build his city again. “It shall never be built.”
(3) The seed, however, differed nothing in their state by nature from the rest of mankind.
They were born into this world “the children of wrath, even as others.” But the Holy Spirit, in a day of power, convinced them of their alienation from God, that they were under His judicial wrath, and that “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight.” They also saw their need of a mediator—one who would stand in the breach. He, the Spirit, revealed Christ to them in His suitableness, and by faith enabled them to receive Him as He is freely offered in the Gospel. They were thus born again, “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” There is now a new principle implanted in them, and that seed, which is the Spirit of Christ, must be of the same nature as He who begat it—”holy.” “He that is born of God cannot sin, because his seed remaineth in him.” This, then, is the seed spoken of here, which is to be “the substance thereof.”
II.—We shall now notice the character of this seed: “holy seed.”
The term, “holy,” as used in Scripture, is applied in various ways. It is particularly applied to any person or thing set apart to the sacred service of God. Thus the priests, Temple, vessels of the Temple, the Sabbath, and even the whole nation of Israel, were called “holy”; not because they were better than others, but because dedicated to the service of God. The priests by nature were as corrupt as the rest of the nation. The material in the Temple and vessels was not better than similar material, neither is the Sabbath day, as a period of twenty-four hours, more sacred than any other day; but because they were set apart by the command of God for holy purposes therefore they are called “holy.” It is in this sense that we are to take the word here.
(1) God set them apart to be a “holy seed” to Himself in their election.
“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from all other people” (Lev. xx. 24). The doctrine of election takes away any claim to merit which man may put forward, for they were chosen before the foundation of the world. “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works but of him that calleth.” This “holy seed” were set apart by the Father in their election, and given to the Son to redeem them—”Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me.” They were regenerated by the spirit, so that they are the “holy seed” of the Triune God.
The farmer who intends to sow his fields in the spring will set aside his sowing seed and will on no account part with it. These are God’s sowing seed, and they are precious in His sight—”None can pluck them out of my Father’s hands.” The late Rev. Alexander M’Coll of Lochalsh said “that these were so precious in the sight of God that, if one (grain) were missing at the last day, He would riddle the whole universe until He found it.” Were it not that He has left “a very small remnant (a sowing seed), we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah i. 9). If you saw a farmer selling most or all his seed, you might well conclude that he had no intention of sowing much in the spring, but to let his farm out under cattle. Now, when God is removing to his heavenly garner much of the “holy seed” He had in the land, and few grains are left, may we not conclude—and is it not actually taking place before our eyes—that the field, the visible church, is left under men no better than cattle? “The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it” (Psalm lxxx. 13).
(2) They are a “holy seed” because they are God’s witnesses in the world.
“Therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” “Living epistles, read and known of all men.” “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” It is their glory and duty that they should show forth His praise in a circumspect life in their profession before men. The profession which will not separate us from the world and its ways is nothing but a delusion. It is quite apparent that, because of the laxity of the professors of religion in this age, the cause of Christ is brought into great disrepute. There is a very prevalent idea in the minds of young people that there is no such thing as vital religion, and that the only difference between one person and another is that the one may be a communicant, while the other is not. How can it be otherwise if they are to judge religion by the practice of many of its professors? Ministers and all grades of professors must be first and foremost in all the frivolities that take place in the land. It is no uncommon thing to find ministers of religion on public platforms at social meetings and concerts, entertaining the audience with light, giddy songs, and also desecrating the Sabbath by travelling for their own pleasure on the Lord’s day. “But ye have not so learned Christ.” They ought to be and are known in the world by their godly walk and conversation.
(3) Again, they are a “holy seed,” not only outwardly but inwardly.
They seek not only to walk circumspectly before men but to “crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.” Hypocrites, if they make a fair show in the flesh, are not concerned about the corruptions of their hearts and nature. They are compared to “whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.” But God’s holy seed desire to be inwardly conformed to the law of God. They “seek to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.” “They delight in the law of God after the inward man, but how to perform that which is good they know not.” This is the cause of the continual war which is being waged between the law that is in their members and the law of their mind. We have often seen seed, when beginning to grow, surrounded with many weeds, which, if allowed to grow, would soon dwarf the seed, but once the seed gets its head above them, they will by and by vanish. Such is the case with the seed of grace in the soul. It is surrounded by many weeds—self, pride, the world, and all manner of corruption—which, if allowed to grow, will soon dwarf grace. It is therefore our duty to seek to pull up every root that beareth gall and wormwood.
This, then, is the holy seed spoken of, and though they are in this world mixed with much chaff and corruption, yet the time is coming when they shall be presented “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”
III.—Consider their intrinsic value: “shall be the substance thereof.”
The term, “substance,” may be taken in two ways.
First, it may mean wealth or treasure.
A man who possesses great wealth is spoken of as a man of substance.
(1) Now, this holy seed, which is to be the substance thereof, is God’s peculiar treasure.
“God has chosen Israel as his own peculiar treasure.” There is nothing so valuable in the sight of God as His people. He created the worlds by the word of His power, but these were “not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from their vain conversation, received by tradition from their fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” They are considered by the world as the offscouring of all things, but this is not God’s estimate of them. “They shall be mine,” He says, “when I make up my jewels.”
(2) They are His peculiar inheritance.
All created things are His by right. “For his pleasure they are and were created.” But when God wishes to show what is His peculiar inheritance in the earth, He describes this seed as His only inheritance. “The Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob, the lot of his inheritance.”
Secondly, the word, “substance,” may mean the stay or support of the Church and nation.
(1) They are the “substance” of the land, because it is for their sake the world is kept in existence.
“They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” They are God’s ambassadors in the world. It is, we understand, the law of nations that, while the ambassador of one nation is officially resident in the other, no hostilities can be engaged in. The presence of the ambassador in the foreign capital is proof that there is yet peace. Before two nations can go to war with one another, their respective ambassadors must be recalled, but whenever they are recalled the way is clear to begin hostilities at any moment. If we look back to the history of the world we find this was exactly the principle on which God dealt with it. In the case of the old world, God had an ambassador in the person of Noah, but when he and his family entered the ark the ambassador was recalled, and immediately God waged war against the world and destroyed it. The same took place in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. The angel could do nothing until Lot was recalled. “Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither” (Gen. xix. 22). Now, while God has an ambassador, a holy seed in the world, they shall be the “substance thereof,” preserving it from being destroyed. But when the last grain of this seed is gathered in, He shall have no more need for this earth and will destroy it by fire. “The holy seed,” then, “is the substance thereof.”
(2) They are the substance of the land, because for their sake temporal prosperity is bestowed on any nation or people.
Our own nation has been exalted by God above all the nations of the world. On many occasions He manifested Himself as a “man of war” on behalf of this land. Let us take, for instance, the attempt made in 1588 by Philip II. of Spain and Pope Sixtus V. to conquer England, and so strike a decisive blow at the cause of Protestantism. The fleet which sailed for England consisted of one hundred and twenty-nine vessels, and was ostentatiously styled the “Invincible Armada,” as no doubt was entertained of its success. But God intervened on our behalf and destroyed the “Invincible Armada” by a storm. The victory is worthily acknowledged in the beautiful inscription on the medal struck by the Queen of England on that occasion, which is “Deus flavit, et dissipati sunt” (“God blew, and they were scattered”). This event clearly shows that it was not by our own strength of arms or numbers as a nation that we prospered. It might be said of us, as of Israel, “that we were the fewest of all people.” What, then, is the secret of our prosperity? Just what David said of Israel: “God exalted the kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.” It was because we, as a nation, acknowledged the Lord and He had a people in our midst who feared Him, that He prospered us. And may we not conclude that, when we have ceased to respect His laws and acknowledge His authority, He will do to us what He said of Israel? “That as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to naught” (Deut. xxviii. 63).
It is manifest to any right-thinking person that we, as a nation, have sinned grievously against the Lord. In all grades of society iniquity abounds. It is sad and alarming to see how the Lord’s day is being desecrated by all classes—steamboat and railway companies, city corporations, etc., all vying with one another as to who will give the greatest facilities to the general public for travelling on that day. Even our members of Parliament generally, who ought to be an example to others, have no other day for travelling to and from London but the Sabbath. All public meetings connected with unions must now be held on that day. It is encouraging in the midst of all this to learn that our King has resolved not to travel on Sabbath, except in a case of necessity. Again, when we consider the awful craze for carnal pleasure which is so prevalent among us, we see that everything possible is done to pander to this desire. Picture palaces, cinematograph exhibitions, theatres, etc., which suck away the morals of a rising generation, spring up in hundreds in cities, towns, and villages. In view of these and many other forms of evil, the Lord may well be angry. “Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” (Jer. v. 9).
There are dark and ominous clouds hovering over this nation at present, and unless the Lord, for His own name’s sake and for the sake of the “holy seed” which is “the substance thereof,” will intervene on our behalf, there is great danger that these clouds will burst and that this nation will fall by her own hands and that we shall receive “according to the fruit of our doings.” But while there is a “holy seed” in our midst they might avert, by their prayers, such a ruinous calamity overtaking us.
(3) They are the “substance” of the nation and Church by their prayers.
We have many instances in Scripture where the prayers of God’s people were heard, and threatened judgments averted. We see how the Lord answered the prayer of Abraham on behalf of Abimelech. “So Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and maid-servants” (Gen. xx. 17). There is also a remarkable passage in Exodus (xxxii. 11-14), in which Moses is represented as interceding for Israel when God was about to destroy them for their idolatry, and did destroy many of them. Moses stood in the breach, and besought the Lord his God to turn from His fierce wrath. “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” We notice, again, when Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim, “that Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill; and it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, but when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed.” You will also see in the days of Samuel, that when Israel were gathered at Mizpeh the Philistines came up against them, and Israel was afraid, and they besought Samuel to pray for them, which he did, and the Lord heard him and discomfited the Philistines.
It is a grievous sin for God’s people not to pray for the land in an iniquitous state. When Samuel reasoned with the people of Israel concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for them, he said, “Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam. xii. 23). The Christian religion is of a most loyal character. It is impossible for a man to be a true Christian without being a loyal subject, for the principle of the Christian religion is to “fear God and honour the king.”
Now, if ever there was a time in which it was incumbent on the Lord’s people to pray for the welfare of their king and country it is the present—to pray that God would give wisdom to our rulers to rule in His fear, so that peace may reign within our borders, and that He would pour down His Spirit upon us, so that sinners would be converted unto Him. Let them earnestly seek that this land, which was at one time as the garden of the Lord, but is now largely a barren wilderness, would once more appear to blossom as the rose. May the Lord hasten it in His time!