Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2397
“That You may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves.” Isaiah 49:9.
THIS, of course, is a prophecy of what the Messiah would do. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He came among the sons of men, was to open the prison doors and to say to the prisoners, “Go forth,” and to those who, in addition to being in prison, were in a dark cell, shut away from the light, He was to say, “Show yourselves.”
What wonders Jesus Christ has worked! There are many of us who are living proofs of what Jesus Christ can do, for, when we were in prison, He said to us, “Come forth,” and we are now free as the air, our spirits are buoyant and full of gladness and rejoicing! Some of us also sat in darkness—gloomy, thick, Egyptian night—but when Jesus came to us, that darkness fled away and now we walk in the Light of God as He is in the Light, and we have fellowship with Him, and with His Father, too, through the ever-blessed Spirit. Wonders of Grace belong to Christ! He has already worked enough to keep His redeemed amazed throughout all eternity with the splendor of the achievements of His Grace! Though He were never to work another miracle of mercy, He has already done enough to set all Heaven in amazement throughout all the ages that are yet to come, such a wondrous Savior has He proved Himself to be!
The liberty which Jesus gives to prisoners is something very marvelous. To be a prisoner for life must be a horrible thing—to be immured in a dungeon for all one’s days must be almost worse than death. Yet there is a slavery of the soul that is worse than wearing chains upon the wrist! There is an imprisonment of the heart that is far more terrible than being shut up within stone walls or iron bars. When Jesus comes to the soul, He delivers us from that direst of all bondages, fetches us out from that most cruel of all slaveries, the bondage of the spirit, the slavery of the heart!
Then we are told that if there are any who are in a worse state than that of mere captivity, namely, in darkness as well as in bondage, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to them and says, “Show yourselves; rise, and come out of the darkness; hide away no longer, come forth into the light, and enjoy it.” And when He speaks, His Words are effectual! When He says, “Come forth,” they come forth, and when He says, “Show yourselves,” they show themselves! He speaks and it is done, for every Word of Christ is the fiat of Omnipotent Love.
Now I am going to try and deal with those who are, spiritually, in the dark, in the hope that the time has arrived when they are to come forth out of the darkness and to show themselves. My business will consist, then, in two things. First, I want to find out the characters mentioned in the text. And, secondly, I will repeat the exhortation that it contains.
I. First, I have to try to FIND OUT THE CHARACTERS mentioned in the text—“Them that are in darkness.” Some of them are here tonight—let me see if I can, with my Lord’s gracious guidance, put my finger on them.
I observe, first, that they were not always in darkness. She was a bright young spirit once, after a fashion—up to all manner of fun and levity. And he—I know him very well—he seemed to be everything that mirth could make youth to be, sporting like a butterfly in summertime among the flowers. It was remarked of him that he seemed to enjoy life perfectly and, certainly, it was his intention to do so, even if he shortened his days in the process—he dashed at the flame, even though he singed his wings! But, all of a sudden, there came a cloud in the sky, both to her and to him—I mean, to you. It may be that some time ago a death happened in the family, or sickness came, or if it was neither of these things, at any rate, the mind suddenly grew strangely quiet and a stillness came down upon the spirit. And with that stillness there fell a gloom over the whole being. The fun and levity which had been enjoyed before were like the bubbles and froth upon the cup—there was nothing substantial or real in them at all—so, when the man or woman began to think, the bubbles and froth disappeared and then life grew flat, stale, dull and unprofitable.
What, do you think, were those thoughts that brought such a sobering influence into your life? They were somewhat like this—I can tell you about them from my own experience, for they happened to me while I was yet a boy. I thought, “I have not lived as I ought to have lived. God made me, yet I have never truly served Him. He is my mother’s God, but I have forgotten Him. He is my father’s God, yet I have never sought Him. Ah, me! What shall I do? God must punish me. He must punish me! If He does not do so, He ought to—He cannot be God if He does not act justly and I cannot, in my heart of hearts, reverence Him if He winks at my wrongdoing, for much wrongdoing has been mine. What is to become of me?” So I cried out in my agony and I struggled to be right. I thought it would be easy work to do that which would please God. I went to the helm of my ship and hoped to reverse its course. But I soon drifted into the old courses, again, and what I thought to be very easy I found to be extremely difficult—no more—absolutely impossible! I seemed soft as wax towards evil, yet hard as cast-iron or steel towards anything that was good! I could not be molded, or fashioned aright. Then I grew sad in soul and heavy of spirit—I forsook the ways of the mirthful and stole away from my companions that I might get alone. I read my Bible a great deal and the more I read it, the more the darkness thickened about me. Then I tried to pray and, ah, me, I know now that they were true prayers, but then it seemed as if my prayers were no better than the barking of a dog! I could not hope that God would accept such prayers as those—and so the darkness increased around me.