The Remnant Song – part 1
Isaiah 12:1-6 (1-3)
June 11, 2023
Throughout history, times of God’s deliverance
Have been received with songs of joy by God’s people.
As Moses watched the Egyptians drowned in the sea
Exodus 15:1 “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”
When God delivered Deborah and Barak from Jabin King of Canaan
Judges 5:1-3 “Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, “That the leaders led in Israel, That the people volunteered, Bless the LORD! “Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I—to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
After David killed Goliath
1 Samuel 18:7 “The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”
When the refugees returned from Babylon and the temple foundation was laid.
Ezra 3:10-11 “Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel. They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.”
When the 144,000 are sealed and saved in the great tribulation.
Revelation 14:1-3 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.”
It is the proper response for God’s people to sing His praises,
Especially during seasons of salvation.
We are told by Paul that the church today, having been saved by the grace of God and filled with His Spirit should even speak to one another in “songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.”
It is fitting for those whom God has saved to sing songs of praise to Him.
And that is exactly what we have in Isaiah 12.
• It is the song of the remnant.
• It is the song of those who have been called home.
• It is the song of those who have been saved.
IN ISAIAH’S DAY it would be all those who were saved from the Assyrian invasion.
• Certainly this song would be sang in Jerusalem as Assyria departed.
IN A PROPHETIC SENSE, it is the song that will be sung by those who enter the millennium and see Christ reigning upon the earth.
AND YET, IN A PERSONAL SENSE it remains my song and your song as those who have been saved from sin and judgment.
It is the song of those who have been saved.
And we have learned from Isaiah that THIS IS NOT EVERYONE.
Isaiah 1:7-9 “Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.”
• This is the song of those “few survivors” Isaiah spoke of.
Isaiah 6:13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
• This is the song of that “tenth portion” God promised.
Isaiah 10:21-22 “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”
• This is the song of “the remnant” who have returned.
The whole world doesn’t sing it,
But surely those of us who have been saved
Gladly join our voices together and sing it with all our might.
And what you will notice as we look at this song, is that
It is a song that celebrates the change
That God has performed in the life of His remnant.
• They have moved from judgment to salvation.
• They have moved from fear of God to love of God.
• They have moved from religion to a relationship.
• They have moved from despising God to proclaiming Him.
• They have moved from abandoning God to drawing near to Him.
This song reflects the evidence of salvation
Having been worked out in their lives.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
So let’s work our way through it tonight
And see the difference salvation has made in their lives.
2 notable differences.
#1 THEIR WORSHIP
Isaiah 12:1-3
We certainly recognize the first line.
“Then you will say on that day,”
WHAT DAY?
Well it’s the day we’ve been studying in chapter 11.
• The day when Christ descends to deliver us from our enemy.
• The day when Christ casts the beast and the antichrist into hell.
• The day when Christ binds Satan for 1,000 years.
• The day when Christ ascends to the throne of the world.
• The day when Christ rules and judges with justice and righteousness.
• The day when Christ’s peace covers the whole earth.
• The day when Christ’s remnant returns to dwell with Him.
“Then you will say on that day, I will give thanks to You, O LORD;”
And after such a great salvation we see how different their song becomes.
1) GRATITUDE: From Condemnation to Comfort (1)
It is a day of personal gratitude.
• It is a day when “I will give thanks”
It is SOLI DEO GLORIA fully manifested.
No one else will receive the glory for what has transpired on the earth.
• No human leader…
• No politician…
• No humanitarian influence…
The peace and salvation that will have fallen on this earth
Will be attributed to One and One only.
Men will give thanks to Christ alone on that day.
This is not something they did before salvation.
This is certainly NOT something the unredeemed do.
In fact, Paul outlined the world’s lack of gratitude as part of the reason they reside under God’s wrath.
Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
The fallen world does not “give thanks” to God,
But on this day, that is the first thing the redeemed remnant will do.
And WHY specifically will this redeemed remnant give thanks?
• Thanks for judging the wicked?
• Thanks for bringing world peace?
• Thanks for letting me pet a wolf or a cobra?
Look at why the remnant will give thanks.
“For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.”
They give thanks because they have been moved
From a position of condemnation to a position of comfort.
The song states that “You were angry with me”
Certainly in Isaiah’s day we saw God’s anger.
Do you remember chapter 9?
• Do you remember God unleashing judgment of various kinds on Israel
• And then Isaiah repeating the phrase over and over, “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
These people had offended God and He was angry.
WE ARE JUST LIKE THEM.
• God has been angry with each of us for good reason.
• We have deserved His condemnation.
• Our great, great, great…granddaddy Adam transgressed God
• And we walked in his shoes.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
We all did it.
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Romans 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
How true is all of that!
It has been with good reason that God has been angry with humanity.
And INCIDENTALLY, the redeemed know that.
One who has never come to grips with that reality, is not saved.
Matthew 5:3-4 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
• Salvation occurs for those who have felt God’s anger and condemnation.
• Salvation occurs for those who have felt the weight of their sin and mourned
over their pitiful condition.
Men don’t march into the kingdom of heaven with their heads held high,
They crawl in broken before the Holy One.
Charles Spurgeon said:
“God does not clothe us till He has stripped us, He does not heal till first He has wounded. How should He make alive those who are not dead? There is a work of grace in the heart of digging out the foundations, before grace begins to build up our hopes: woe to that man who builds without having the foundations dug out, for his house will fall. Woe to that man who leaps into a sudden peace without ever having felt his need of pardon, without repentance, without brokenness of his spirit; he shall see his hasty fruit wither before his eyes.”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of the Bible; The Old Testament Vol. III; Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Limited London Edinburgh] “A New Song For New Hearts” Isaiah xii. I. pg. 468)
The reason for the gratitude of the remnant
Is because they have felt the sting of God’s fury.
They are well-aware of the just wrath that should abide on them.
They know what they are, what they have done, and what they deserve.
They felt God’s anger and agreed that it was just.
BUT THEY REJOICE NOW Because “Your anger is turned away”
They offered no appeasing work…
They offered no satisfactory argument…
God, by His grace, has chosen to let go of His anger on their behalf.
And we know WHY.
Matthew 27:46 “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
The Father turned away from His only begotten Son and afflicted Him with wrath that His wrath might turn away from us.
Our forgiveness was purchased.
Our pardon was negotiated through the death of Jesus Christ.
God poured all the anger due to us out on Him.
“And You comfort me”
He who should have received comfort from the Father received wrath,
And we who should have received wrath have received comfort.
If you have picked up on it,
Isaiah 12:1 is the Old Testament version of 2 Corinthians 5:21
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
It is the same truth.
• God has taken objects of wrath and made them objects of mercy.
• God has taken those under condemnation and comforted them.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”
Is there any wonder now that a song of gratitude is being sung?
How could anyone convinced of the justice of condemnation
Not overflow with gratitude upon receiving a merciful pardon?
It is a man who is marching in chains to the gallows convinced that his death is just, only to find that the man charged to throw the lever INSTEAD removes his chains, nurses his wounds, and consoles his tears.
How much gratitude should be felt for such an act?
How grateful should you be for God’s mercy?
• Does it merit singing?
• Does it merit loud singing?
• Does it merit long singing?
Of course it does! And the remnant gladly sing it!
They were once dead in sin and doomed to suffer.
BUT GOD, according to His amazing grace has made us alive and seated us with Christ.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Certainly this is a song that ISAIAH’S CONTEMPORARIES could sing as the Assyrians departed.
• God was angry and sent the Assyrians against us,
• But He has removed His anger and comforted us with the promise that not one soldier will shoot a single arrow here.
Certainly on the day when THE REMNANT enters the millennium and sees Christ on the throne they will sing.
• God was angry with us and we walked through the great tribulation and endured 7 years of fury under the antichrist,
• But He has removed His anger and comforted us with His coming and the antichrist has been thrown into the lake of fire.
Certainly this is a song that WE can sing today.
• God was angry with us and we felt the fury of His condemnation and conviction, even the discipline of His hand,
• But He has removed His anger and comforted us with His Holy Spirit and promises of love and salvation and an inheritance with Him.
The world doesn’t sing that song.
Before salvation we didn’t sing that song.
That is the remnant song.
That is our song.
It’s a song of gratitude for we have moved from condemnation to comfort.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
We see another difference in the song of these people.
2) FAITH: From fear to faith (2)
Certainly we remember the fear that had swept over the children of Judah as they saw that alliance between Israel and Aram.
Isaiah 7:2 “When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”
But the fear spoken of here is NOT even that fear.
The fear spoken of here is a fear of God.
(Not the healthy fear where we stand in awe of Him, but the fear that makes men turn away from Him. A fear that is better expressed with disdain and hatred)
It is the fear Isaiah had when he cried, “Woe is me!” in the temple.
It is the fear Isaiah spoke of in chapter 2
Isaiah 2:20-21 “In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.”
That same fear we see in the great tribulation.
Revelation 6:15-17 “Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
This is the fear that each of us felt
As we contemplated our judgment before God.
We, like Isaiah, could cry, “I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips…for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
• It is the fear of standing before Him.
• It is the fear of His coming.
• It is the dread of the day that He comes to judge the living and the dead.
• It is the fear of death which ushers us into the His holy presence.
THAT IS THE FEAR WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
But God has done something for the redeemed.
He has moved them from fear to faith.
“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid;”
There has been such a work done in the heart of this remnant
That no longer is God One to be dreaded are neglected
Or One to hide from.
No, God has become the One to DRAW NEAR to.
“God IS my salvation”
• Not just “God saved me”, but God IS salvation to me.
• No longer do I hide from Him, now I draw near to Him.
Psalms 73:28 “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
• God becomes “my refuge”
• God becomes “my hiding place”
• God becomes “my strong tower”
• I live and dwell and rest “in Him”
Unredeemed men do not grasp that.
To the world God is to be kept at arm’s length.
The world doesn’t want God anywhere near.
• His holiness is detestable.
• His justice is terrifying.
• The farther God can be kept from any situation the better.
When and unredeemed Peter realized who Jesus was.
Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
When the unredeemed pagans saw the power of Jesus to cast out demons and send them into pigs:
Matthew 8:34 “And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”
Even when His hometown learned of His power to save and His holiness to confront sinners:
Luke 4:28-29 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”
The world does not crave the nearness of God.
You see a fear there, but perhaps it is better understood as hatred.
They don’t want His holiness anywhere near their lives.
BUT AFTER REDEMPTION: God is their Savior and their salvation.
1 John 4:16-18 “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ
We no longer live in fear or hatred of God’s presence.
We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
We are made acceptable to the Father.
He has justified us through the offering of His Son.
We don’t flee from Him, we rest in His bosom.
Hebrews 10:19-22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
To the redeemed remnant God is not One to avoid, He is One to pursue.
• We love to approach Him in prayer.
• We love to sit under His word.
• We love to gather with His people.
• We love to hear His word preached.
• We love to sing songs of praise.
We would draw as near to God as we possibly can!
“For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”
Again, NOT “He has saved me” but rather “He has become my salvation”
• It’s NOT JUST that He saved me from an enemy.
• It’s NOT JUST that He saved me from wrath.
The remnant has grown to understand that it was
His absence and His distance that was the source of their affliction.
He is what they were missing.
Only His presence could satisfy.
He is not only their Savior, His presence is their salvation.
HE IS WHAT THIS WORLD WAS MISSING.
MEN TODAY look to Jesus to fix the problems of this world,
But they want Him to do it from a distance.
“You just stay in heaven, out of my business, but do something about the problems we are seeing on earth.”
Whereas the remnant has learned that
It is His absence that is the problem.
Nothing is fixed until He is present.
His presence changes everything.
And certainly that was what the remnant in Isaiah’s day understood.
• Offending God had not worked well for them,
• But on the day that Hezekiah drew near to God and laid that letter out before Him,
• God’s presence made all the difference.
• He didn’t just save them, He was their salvation.
Certainly those who go through the tribulation will learn that God’s absence is not a good thing.
• The more you see God pull back during the tribulation the more chaos ensues.
• But on the day that Jesus returns, His presence makes all the difference.
And also this is true in our lives.
• Living without the Lord in our lives was only chaos and conviction and evil consequences.
• But on the day when Christ saved and His Holy Spirit moved in to our lives His presence became our salvation.
We sing this song as they sang this song!
• It is a song of gratitude for we have moved from condemnation to comfort.
• It is a song of faith for we have moved from fear to faith.
There is still one more change in their worship
3) JOY: From cisterns of religion to springs of salvation (3)
The cisterns of religion are not here mentioned,
But you are well-aware that this is what they sought.
Jeremiah spoke of it:
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”
Jeremiah spoke of how they traded living water for some manmade broken cistern that can’t hold water. That is, that cannot save.
And this was certainly their routine and ritualistic religion.
Isaiah did speak of the ineffectiveness of that.
Isaiah 1:10-15 “Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
It was men who had no relationship with God,
They only had the shackles and burdens of religion.
Everything they knew of God was bound up in “Do this, don’t do that”.
It was a cold religious experience
• One that even Jesus described as a burden which makes men “weary and heavy-laden”
• Peter called it “a yoke which neither we nor our fathers could bear”
But it is where men have routinely gone.
Through the deceptions of legalism and the allure of human pride
Men have always sought to appease God through their own efforts.
And it is a foul and smelly and broken cistern
Full of stagnant water that never benefited anyone.
BUT THE SALVATION OF JESUS CHRIST IS NOTHING LIKE THAT.
One day Jesus stood at a well, a hole in the ground.
• And He spoke to a woman whose most concerning religious question was
which mountain she should worship God on.
And Jesus spoke to that woman:
John 4:10-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Lady, you have no idea what joy I could give you through My salvation!
Later in the temple, Jesus stood to preach:
John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
THE WORLD KNOWS NOTHING OF THAT.
TO THEM IT IS ALL RELIGION.
• It is broadened phylacteries and lengthened tassels on their garments.
• It is a list of man-made requirements that God might be pleased.
Or it is such frustration and anger
• At the lack of effectiveness of such ordinances
• That man has quit trying all-together
• And decided to seek joy and peace and happiness in sin.
IT IS A BROKEN SYSTEM.
But the remnant knows better.
The redeemed have found something greater.
They have found what Jesus spoke of.
• They have found His mercy like we read in verse 1.
• They have found the wonder of His presence like we read in verse 2.
• And now they have fullness of joy!
“Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.”
John 15:7-11 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
Jesus spoke there of joy
That transcends happiness or circumstances.
What is this joy that could allow Paul and Silas to sing in prison after having been beaten?
What is this joy that could allow the apostles to rejoice that they had been counted worthy to suffer for Christ?
What is this joy could allow Paul to say “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish”?
What is this when James says, “Count it all joy brethren when you encounter various trials”?
It certainly isn’t circumstance based.
It certainly doesn’t fluctuate with the mood.
BUT THAT IS ALL THE WORLD KNOWS.
• They know happiness when they acquire some treasure they wanted.
• They know happiness when their sinful flesh is momentarily gratified.
• They know happiness when their sporting team wins.
• They know happiness when they do something fun.
But that is NOT the joy of the Lord.
The Lord’s joy is that which transcends circumstances.
The Lord’s joy shines brightest in the bleakest of circumstances.
It is deep seeded satisfaction in Him.
• It is manifest as a peace which surpasses all comprehension.
• It is seen as a comfort in the most violent of storms.
• It is seen as a contentment when there is not a surplus.
That a person can have only Jesus and be so fulfilled in that reality.
That is the joy of the Lord. – and the redeemed have it
That is the joy of the redeemed in Isaiah’s day.
• They have seen Assyria march on their capital.
• They have seen cities burned and crops ruined and vineyards demolished.
But the Lord has delivered them and the Lord is with them and so now they rejoice because He alone is enough.
That is the joy of the tribulation survivors.
• They have seen the world fall under plagues and fires and supernatural judgments.
• They have seen economies collapse.
• They have experienced the inability to buy food because they won’t take the mark.
• They have nothing.
But on the day that Jesus splits the sky and delivers,
He is all they need and they rejoice!
And this is the joy of the redeemed today.
• We have felt the weight and grief of our sin.
• We have grasped our due judgment.
But Christ has forgiven us and filled us with His Spirit
and that alone is enough for us.
Our joy does not depend on worldly circumstances,
We have Jesus Christ and He is more than enough!
THIS IS THE REMNANT SONG.
It is worship that is foreign to the world and unique to the remnant.
• We sing in GRATITUDE for He has moved us from condemnation to comfort.
• We sing in FAITH for He has moved us from fear to faith.
• We sing in JOY for He has rescued us from our broken cisterns and given us springs of salvation.
This is our song!
We sing it now!
And One day we will sing to Him face to face!
NEXT TIME WE’LL LOOK AT THE OTHER DIFFERENCE SALVATION HAS PROVIDED. FIRST IN OUR WORSHIP, SECONDLY IN OUR WITNESS
