Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1764
“He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Isaiah 33:15,16.
THERE were terrible times in Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah. The Assyrian power was exceedingly formidable and it was ferocious to the last degree. Woe to the unhappy land which fell under the power of this spoiler! Assyria knew not the meaning of “mercy.” It came down “like a wolf on the fold,” tearing and devouring without pity. The armies of Sennacherib were ravaging the kingdom of Judah and they had brought it into such a state that the Prophet cried, “The earth mourns and languishes: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.” Before the invaders the land was a garden and behind them it was a desolate wilderness.
Yet the Lord had given a promise to His people in Jerusalem on this wise—“therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, says the Lord.” Notwithstanding Rabshakeh’s blasphemous letter and all his foul reviling, those who trusted in Jehovah were not dismayed, for the Lord had promised to defend the city for His own name’s sake.
There were godly men in the city, though I fear they were not many, who rested content with the sure promise of God and went about their daily business feeling perfectly safe. They would have felt secure if the whole land had swarmed with Assyrians as the fields with locusts, for they believed the Word of the Lord. Their trust was in the living God and therefore, they feared not the multitude of the enemy! But the whole of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were not of this brave or-der—the unholy were afraid and fearfulness surprised the hypocrites. Their sin and their deceit made cowards of them! They would all be destroyed, they would all perish by the Assyrians!
Who was to save them? What power could resist the conqueror of nations? Where were the gods of Hamath and Ar-phad? The people of those cities had trusted in their gods and yet none of them had been delivered out of the hands of the invaders! How could Jehovah turn back the fierce tyrant, now that he had come upon the land like a flood? The sinners and the hypocrites in the time of trial were discovered—the sinners showed their fear and the hypocrites manifested their unbelief. They began to flee before they were pursued! They trembled though no enemy could be seen from the walls. God in vengeance was near to the city! The land smoked with all-consuming fire! The flame of the Lord’s indignation burned perpetually—how could these men hope to live in such times? As well hope to live amid devouring fires and everlasting burnings!
Alas, there are many who dwell among God’s people at this time and have a name and a place among them who are sinners and not saints—hypocrites and not Believers—and these will, before long, be discovered and dismayed. While all goes well with the Church of God, you cannot separate the vile from the precious, nor pluck up the tares from among the wheat, nor cast out the bad fish from among the good which are enclosed in the same net. But trying times come and days of adversity—and then the false brethren are discerned! When persecution arises, the hypocrites are offended! When affliction rushes like a torrent, the sand-founded houses fall! And especially shall it be so when, amid the terrors of the Last Tremendous Day, every secret thing shall be revealed—and hypocrites and sinners shall appear in their true colors!
Fearfulness will leap unexpectedly upon the hypocrites to their intense surprise, for they will see how impossible it is for them to dwell with God and to abide in His holy Presence. Oh, dear Brothers and Sisters, let us not be satisfied with being in Zion, or in the Church. Let us not rest till we are quite sure that we are not sinners in it, that we are not hypocrites in it, for, mark you, if our religion is not sanctifying and true, it will fail us in the hour of trial! If our confidence in God does not make us calm and hopeful in the time of temptation and sorrow, what is the use of it? Yet it is certain that no man shall find his profession to be of use to him in testing times but he that is true in it; he that is thorough in it; he that is neither a sinner nor a hypocrite in the sense in which those words are here used.
Safety in Zion belongs to those born in her by regeneration, reared in her by sanctification, enfranchised in her by faith in the Son of God, settled in her by fixed principles, confirmed in her by obedience to her laws and bound to her by intense love of her King and her citizens. Such “shall dwell on high” secure from danger—and only such—the aliens and foreigners within her gates shall, before long, be driven forth with shame! We are going to look, this morning, at these favored people. First, to note their character. Secondly, to observe their security. And to finish, thirdly, by calling up all present to seek their felicity. Oh, for the aid of the Holy Spirit all the sermon through!