BY THE REV. ALEXANDER MACKAY, OBAN.
(Taken down by a Hearer.)
“Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.”—ISAIAH lx. 20.
YOU will notice that in this chapter the prophet speaks about two things. He speaks, in the first place, about the future glory of the Church of Christ in this world, and he speaks, in the second place, about the glory of the Church in the “better country.” God’s people in every age have been expecting Christ’s cause to prosper in the world in a way in which it has not hitherto done, but it was to heaven—to the “better country”—that their minds were principally directed. We think that the prophet, in this same chapter, makes that clear, for while his heart rejoices over the fact that the Church is to “rise and shine” in the world, his mind goes beyond the confines of time to that place where her sun “shall no more go down,” and where “the days” of her “mourning shall be ended” for ever. There is a glorious future before the Church in the world, as this chapter brings before us, and we know from what is here said that these days of prosperity have not yet come, but we know that they certainly must come. This world belongs to the Redeemer. He had a kingdom in it from the Fall, and He is to have a kingdom in it, as it is written, “while sun and moon endure.” It is not, however, to the future glory of Christ’s kingdom in this world that I wish to direct your attention this morning, but to the light which the twentieth verse throws on the life of God’s people in the world, and the bright prospects it holds out to them in view of eternity. You will notice that two things are brought before us in the verse.
I.—A state that is going to end, and that is described as “days of mourning,” “the sun going down,” and “the moon withdrawing itself.”
II.—A state that is not going to end, which is described by the words, “thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself,” and “the Lord shall be thine everlasting light.”
I.—We see that the state of God’s people in this world is described as “days of mourning,” “the sun going down,” “the moon withdrawing itself.” God’s people are a mourning people. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Mourning is a characteristic of the people of God, and whoever may be without mourning in this life, God’s people will not be without it. You notice that the prophet says here “days of mourning,” not “one day.” This means that it is not one day of mourning they have, but many days of mourning. We would be
equally wrong if we would say that the life of God’s people is one long day of mourning while they are in the world, for they have days of joy as well as days of mourning, although they might often say about their days of joy, that they are like Pharaoh’s fat kine, eaten up by the lean ones that follow, so that no trace of them remains except in the memory. But “days of mourning” describes their whole life.
Now let us consider, first, the time when this mourning began. For you must remember that there was no difference between God’s people and others by nature. They came into this world “the children of wrath, even as others,” and many of them lived for many years in the world proving the truth of this to themselves and to others. But there came a time in their history when they were arrested, and that by the Word and by the Spirit of God, and it was then that “the days of their mourning” began. Now, there are some persons, and they have “days of mourning” which only last for a short time. Perhaps at a Communion time some will have what might be called religious fits, and one would be inclined to think that the “good work” was begun in them. They will be thoughtful; they will be praying and shedding tears; but in a little time their goodness proves to be like the morning cloud and the early dew, which only disappoint. That is the way with many. But that is not the mourning that is brought before us here. This is a mourning that began and will continue till the day arrives when they shall bid good-bye to the world and everything in it.
Let us enquire now as to the nature of this mourning. There is such a thing as “the sorrow of the world, which worketh death.” But this sorrow is godly sorrow, which “worketh repentance unto salvation,” and is not to be repented of. We believe, however, that when this mourning began, it was the consequences and the guilt of sin that was the chief source of their mourning; or in other words, this mourning began when they apprehended that hell was the wages they had earned for themselves, that they were on the way thither, and that they had so destroyed themselves that they could never do anything to deliver themselves from the wrath they had incurred by their sins. You see, my friends, that person is to be pitied indeed who is confronted in his own mind with the solemn fact that he has earned hell for himself by his evil doing. It was then that the days of their mourning began, when it was brought home to their souls, to their consciences, to their minds, that they had ruined themselves, and that God, the righteous Judge, would by no means clear the guilty. When this mourning began the people of God thought that it was mourning that would never end, that their portion would be in outer darkness, where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. For when they were at this stage they had no light as to the way of deliverance. Darkness reigned in their minds. The light that was in them was darkness. Have
you ever discovered that the light that is in you naturally is darkness; that it does not lead you to the right source of deliverance, but that, on the contrary, it turns you away to other channels, to other cisterns—”broken cisterns that can hold no water,” and that can afford you no relief? Well, that was what this people found out. They did not believe that there could be such a thing as deliverance for them when their own helplessness and guilt were brought home to their minds. But it is said here that the sun arose upon them, for when it is said that their sun “goes down,” that means that their sun arose. You never heard of the sun going down till it had first arisen. We believe that it was when this people were at a loss to know what was going to happen to them that “the Sun of Righteousness” arose upon their hearts. You have often heard the proverb: “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” Well, it was the darkest hour spiritually when “the Sun of Righteousness” arose upon God’s people.
You know yourselves that when the sun rises things will look very different from what they did in the night. If, for instance, you were out upon the mountains on a dark night, when neither moon nor stars appeared and when the sky would be overcast, everything would appear very dismal to you then. You would not know which way to turn. But if the sun began to rise suddenly, and the clouds began to roll away, oh, what a change the rising of the sun would bring about! Well, it was something similar to this that happened to God’s people when “the Sun of Righteousness,” which is brought before us here, arose upon their souls. When they thought that they were undone for ever, then the darkness fled away and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shined into their hearts, and in that day “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God was made new to them; Christ was made new to them; the Word of God was made new to them; the new birth was made new to them; the world itself was made new to them; the natural sun, the moon, and the stars were made new to them; yea, the very birds of the air were made new to them when “the Sun of Righteousness” arose. They thought in that day that “the days of their mourning were ended.” They thought when they got the first glimpse of Jesus Christ as the way to the Father—when they were enabled to close in with Him as He is freely offered in the Gospel—that “sorrow and sighing had fled away” for ever on that day. Was that the case? Ah! no. As I already said, it does not say here the day of thy mourning but “the days of thy mourning.”
The day of conviction was one day of mourning which this people had, and that day terminated in the dawning of the day of gospel deliverance. But that day of gospel deliverance did not continue very long with them, for “the days of their mourning” began in a different way now from what they had formerly experienced. The first cause they had for mourning was sin, as to its guilt
and consequences, but now the chief cause of mourning is the corruption of their hearts, or the being of sin in their minds. When “the Sun of Righteousness” arose they thought that they were to have no more experience of sin; that they would no more go after sin. They thought that they were to love the Lord and follow Him all the days of their life, but they found out by sad experience that there was a fountain of evil within their hearts, so that when they “would do good, evil was present” with them. We believe also that when “the Sun of Righteousness” went down for the first time after He had arisen upon their hearts, that that was the saddest day that ever they had, for although the day of conviction was dark, we think it was nothing in comparison with the night that followed the going down of “the Sun” after He had first arisen upon their souls.
You know that literally there are certain signs which indicate the going down of the sun, and the first sign is this—you begin to feel cold. You will hear people remarking in the evening, “It is getting cold.” What is the reason? The reason is that the sun is going down, and the second sign that indicates the going down of the sun is darkness. These two signs follow the going down of “the Sun of Righteousness.” The soul begins to be conscious of coldness. It has not at all the same warmth that it had experienced towards God, towards Christ, towards His people, towards holiness. And darkness also sets in, God Himself becomes dark to them. His word is not so full of light to them as it used to be. Christ is not the brightness of the Father’s glory that He formerly had been. We believe that when “the Sun of Righteousness” goes down on God’s people for the first time, they do not know what has happened to them. They begin to question whether the experience they went through was the right thing at all.
Now, when the natural sun goes down, what follows is night, and that is what happens in the history of God’s people. It is not better things are becoming with them. The coldness becomes more intense; the darkness becomes more real also, and you know that it is in the night that the wild beasts begin to come forth. This people who thought that they had bid good-bye to sin, who thought they had bid good-bye to lusts, begin to realise that there are wild beasts in their hearts, and that these wild beasts have as keen an appetite as ever they had before. There is nothing heard now in this night that has overtaken them but the roaring of the wild beasts. I heard lately that that eminent man, Archibald Crawford, said about himself that when the wild beasts, at the beginning of his spiritual history, put out their heads, he used to cut off their heads, but “now,” he said, “they have made paths for themselves in my soul, and they will come out of their dens, and stare Archie Crawford in the face.” We believe God’s people will understand this.
Now, it is said here that the moon withdraws itself, which
implies that it also had given them light. According to God’s appointment the moon literally rules the night, and God is saying here that He has a moon which rules the spiritual night that comes upon His people. Why has God ordained the natural moon? It is just to give light in the night. Even so, God has placed a moon in the spiritual firmament, and He intends that that moon should give light to His people when the sun goes down. And what is this moon which rises and lightens the spiritual night? You know that the moon literally has no light in itself? that it only reflects the light of the sun, and however brightly the moon may shine, its light does not give out any heat, and this is true spiritually also. The moon spiritually is just the experience of God’s people. The light of “the Sun of Righteousness” is reflected by their experience. When they begin to enquire, after the sun goes down, whether it was the Lord’s dealings with them or not, whether it was really a saving change or not, they see such light in what took place in their minds that they cannot but conclude, although they now feel as cold and as dead and as corrupt as ever they felt—perhaps more so than ever they felt before—yet, they cannot but conclude, that they could never have such thoughts as they had about God; that they could never never attain to the knowledge they got of the way of salvation, if it had not been for the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts through the word of truth. God intends that His people should make use of the moon, for He says about His people of old:—
“They did not call to mind his power,
Nor yet the day when he
Delivered them out of the hand
Of their fierce enemy.”
What does He mean by that? He means that His dealings with them reflected such light that it ought to convince them that it was His work, and that they should take comfort from it in their spiritual night. But it is said here that the moon withdraws itself, and that means that God’s people have moments in their life when they have not any light from their own experience to convince them that they are in the right way. They will be on the verge of concluding that all they passed through was a delusion from beginning to end. Do not you be complaining, friend, if you have the light of the moon, cold as it is, if you can say, “Although I feel so dead and so cold and so carnally minded, yet I cannot but believe that God began the good work in my soul.” Do not you be complaining if you have light on God’s dealings with you, for He brings before us here that His people go lower even than that, even so low that the “moon withdraws itself.” Satan has great power, when God gives him permission, to make things dark, and in belittling everything that God does for His people.
What happens now when the “moon withdraws itself.” Well, this is what happens—the Sun begins to rise again. God comes
to the help of His poor people, and “the Sun of Righteousness” arises upon their souls again, and they again begin to conclude as at the beginning that the “Days of their mourning are ended.” But they soon find out that they have to pass through the same experience again, and that the “sun goes down” a second time, and the “moon withdraws itself” a second time, and that day of mourning follows day of mourning as long as they are in this world. And we may say that the longer God’s people are in the world, it is not shorter their days of mourning are getting, but “The days of thy mourning shall be ended.”
II.—The second state to which our attention is drawn, is the state that shall never end. The first state shall end, but the second shall never end, and what is this second state? It is the state of Glory. When will they enter into this blessed state? They shall enter into it when they draw their last breath in time. It is then and then only that this people shall bid good-bye for ever to sorrow and sighing. “Sorrow and sighing shall flee away,” and God shall then “wipe away all tears from their eyes.” It is written that there “shall be no night there,” and that “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” It is easier for us, however, to speak of their “days of mourning” in the world than it is to speak about the state of glory, for, “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” It is said here, that the Lord shall be their everlasting light and that the days of their mourning shall be ended. When we see their happy state described as to, what they will not have, as well as to that which they shall enjoy. They will not have a cloud there between their souls and their Lord. They will be at home there. They are in the wilderness here. At its best this world is a wilderness to God’s people. Here they are weary, but there they shall rest. Here they are sad, but there they shall be glad.
“Then are they glad because at rest,
And quiet now they be;
So to the haven he them brings,
Which they desired to see.”
Here they are often questioning whether they are right for eternity or not, but there they shall never have any doubt throughout eternity as to their standing, for they will be perceiving for ever the marks of the fingers of the Almighty upon their souls and their bodies, and just as “their sun” shall no more go down, so also will it be true that “their moon” shall not withdraw itself for ever, for it is written:
“And with Thy likeness, when I wake,
I satisfy’d shall be.”
Let me now, in conclusion, ask you whether you know anything of these things by personal experience. Mark you this, my
friend. You will have mourning for sin, either in time or in eternity. There is not a creature of the human race but will have mourning for sin—that is the inevitable—and if it is in eternity that the days of our mourning for sin will begin, it shall never be said about them, “The days of thy mourning shall be ended.” That is a solemn consideration. What, then, do you know of these things? Is it true of you that you have begun to mourn in reality over your sins and that you have realised the awful consequences of sin, and the danger to which you have exposed yourself through having sinned against God? Is it true of you, on the other hand, that you have known in some measure what it means to be delivered “from the wrath to come,” through the efficacy of the atonement reaching on your heart? Has “the Sun of Righteousness” risen on your heart, and can you follow the footsteps of the flock, not only by the still waters but through the valley of the shadow of death?
Have you an evil heart of unbelief, where the wild beasts have their lair? Are you often at your wit’s end as to how matters stand with you? Is this world a wilderness to you, and are you seeking a better country continually? If you can say that you are familiar with these things—that these things are part of your life—then His Word says, “Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” But if these things are foreign to your life—if you are a stranger to them—O, then remember this, that the time will surely come when, if you do not become familiar with these matters, it shall be said about you that the days of your mourning have begun but that the day will never come when they will end. If your mourning for sin will begin in eternity, it will mean to you an eternity of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There will be no sun there, no moon there, no such thing as tears wiped away there; nothing there but the blackness of darkness, the undying worm, and the unquenchable fire.
Now, dear friends, these are things which concern us more than anything else under the sun. Time is not only short but uncertain, and it is our wisdom to make sure work of being right for eternity. The way of escape is clearly put before us, which is Christ, and we are counselled to flee to Him. We are invited to come to Him; yea, entreated to do so. What, then, are you going to do? Are you going to believe the truth, or are you to continue believing the lie? Millions of gospel hearers are refusing to believe the truth, and are going down in darkness and uncertainty on the broad way that leadeth to destruction. See, O, see to this, that you will not be among them. May the Most High bless to us our consideration of His own Word!
THE good things of eternal life are so many, that they exceed number; so precious, that they exceed estimation; so great, that they exceed measure.—Augustine.