A Classic Holiness Sermon

The Pentecostal Promise

Henry Orton Wiley

The sixty-second chapter of Isaiah was given to us by Dr. P. F. Bresee as a “college chapter,” and for many years it has been used as the subject of Investiture Day addresses. I have used it for thirty-five years at Pasadena and Northwest Nazarene colleges, sometimes as an exposition of the entire chapter, at other times as subjects drawn from its various sections. The truths found in this chapter are inexhaustible. For my last Investiture Day address I asked the privilege of using the exposition that I first gave, some thirty-five years ago.

Isaiah, the prophet, after his marvelous experience in the Temple, carried an ever-deepening spiritual burden for God’s chosen people. This he expresses in the earnest resolve found in the first verse of the chapter. “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” Zion was the religious capital of Palestine, and Jerusalem its political capital, yet both were one. For the first, Isaiah determined not to hold his peace; and for the second, he would not rest until his prayer was answered and his goals attained. For the one, his goal was righteousness as brightness; for the other, salvation as a lamp that burneth.

Light is produced in two ways, by reflection in a mirror or as
a flame enkindled around a wick. The old-fashioned tallow candles which our grandmothers used to make from molds were very meaningful to me as a source of light. I have watched the great drops of tallow run down the side of the candle like the tears of sorrow; and I have watched the candle become warped and misshapen by the heat as it burned low, but all the time it was giving light to those in the house. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.” If it is to be a source of light, the fiery flames of the Spirit must be kindled round it; and the teardrops of sorrow will fall, and the body become warped and misshapen in the process. Christ’s form was more marred than any man, and in the agony of the garden He sweat as it were great drops of blood; but out of this humiliation and suffering there shined “the light of the world.”

Four things stand out clearly in this prophetic chapter: (I) The Pentecostal Experience; (II) Pentecostal Prayer; (III) Pentecostal Aggressiveness; and (IV) The Pentecostal Message.

I. THE PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE

Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married (Isaiah 62:2b-4).

These verses portray the richness of experience in grace, as indicated by (1) The New Name; (2) The Crown of Glory; (3) The Royal Diadem; (4) The Riches of His Abiding Presence.

1. The New Name. “Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” This refers to the experience of regeneration, or what is more popularly called “the new birth.” The child “born of the Spirit,” and “born from above,” is given a new name, and with it a new spiritual nature. This our Lord makes clear when He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The new birth is the infusion of life into a soul dead in trespasses and sins.

2. The Crown of Glory. “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord.” The child of God has an inheritance; there is something additional to be done for him, and hence the writer says, “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory.” God through Christ provides not only for the new birth but also for the full regnancy of redeemed manhood. Back of that crown of glory, in the far distance, we see the crown of thorns which our Lord in humiliation wore for us. We are told that a thorn is merely a bud that has failed to develop.

If so, what an explanation this is of the blighted hopes, the thwarted purposes, and the unfulfilled longings which have troubled the people of God and become thorns in the social structure of the world! But our Lord gathered up all these blighted hopes and these thwarted purposes and these unfulfilled longings and braided them into a crown of thorns which was placed upon His head for us; and for the people of God every hope will be ultimately realized, every purpose fulfilled, and every longing fully satisfied. He shed the blood of His nail-pierced feet that we might walk in the paths of righteousness; His hands were stretched out on the Cross that we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives (Luke 1:73-75). His side was pierced that we might love Him supremely; and the blood flowed from His thorn-crowned brow that we might bring every thought in subjection to Him. He took our thorns that we might partake of His glory.

3. The Royal Diadem. “And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” It will be noticed that the prophet sees first a man; this man becomes Lord; and now he sees Him as God. The royal diadem was the insignia of honor and authority. It might be a crown, a tiara, or in addition to the crown, a piece of velvet, inscribed with the symbol of authority and worn over the arm next to the heart. God’s glory-crowned people are His diadem; He draws them close to His heart of love, that they may glory in His presence and become the messengers of His redemptive power.

4. The Riches of His Abiding Presence. The crisis experience of sanctification is often emphasized to the neglect of the life of holiness that follows the act of sanctification. It is only as we are brought under the merits of the atonement that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin”; and it is as we live under the cleansing flow that the Blood cleanses and continues to cleanse. We do not minimize the atonement, for to us “the Blood is all my plea.” The nature of this holy life, the prophet now proceeds to describe. He says, “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken”; for the Holy Spirit, whose presence sanctifies the soul, continues to dwell as an abiding Comforter, revealing Christ in ever-increasing beauty and strength. No longer “Forsaken,” we become “Hephzibah,” which means “The Lord delighteth in thee.”

But Isaiah not only speaks of the “thou” of the soul; he speaks of the outreaches of its environment. “Neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate”; instead it shall be called Beulah, for “thy land shall be married.” The life of holiness is not one of mere duty and drudgery, but one of love and delight. Our land is not to be “Desolate.” God’s plan is to fill the storehouse, pack the shelves, and line the rafters with His gracious gifts, that His people may have plenty and to spare in the midst of a needy world. How little some have of spiritual food to give to the hungry! How much God has in store if they would only avail themselves of it! God sums up His delight in His people in these wondrous words, “For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”

II. PENTECOSTAL PRAYER

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:6).

At first, Isaiah, the prophet, was the only one engaged in definite, intercessory prayer for Jerusalem, but now we see a whole company of watchmen on the walls. Like the prophet, these never hold their peace day nor night; and further still, they are exhorted to “give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Revivals usually begin with a single individual, or at least a small group who are aflame for God, and who set themselves to intercessory prayer, day and night, until they prevail. Then it is that the Spirit comes suddenly to the waiting disciples in Pentecostal power and glory, and revival fires begin to burn in places near and far. The lack of Pentecostal power is due to the lack of Pentecostal prayer. No human methods, however good, can atone for this lack. A familiar illustration of Dr. Bresee’s was this. He said that you may take a picture of the Chicago fire, or of the San Francisco fire, and place it in a haystack, and in the morning your haystack will still be there. But put a little flambeau of real fire in it, and the next morning your haystack will not be there. Painted fire is no more effective in bringing about burns in the hearts of God’s people, can start the revival fires and manifest the glory of God.

The Oath of Conservation: “The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: but they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness” (Isaiah 62:8-9). This is God’s answer to the agonizing cries of His praying people, and an essential part of a Pentecostal prayer. It is a precious promise to the people of God. This promise is a guarantee that God will preserve for His people that which is rightfully theirs.

Two things are essential to spiritual life, symbolized here as the “old corn” and the “new wine.” There are some who seem to feed on old corn alone. They are strong and dependable in times of stress, but one often wishes that at least once in a while they would manifest some zeal and enthusiasm. There are others who prefer the new wine. They like fervor, enthusiasm, exhilaration, but frequently do not have the strength to carry through in the difficult places of life. One often wishes that they would change their diet somewhat, and at least eat a little old corn. The old corn is the truth upon which the soul feeds; the new wine is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which makes that truth vital and real to the heart and mind. Note how effective the truth became when the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. So enthused and inspired by the truth were the disciples that those standing by supposed they were drunken on new wine. Their words were with the power of the Spirit; their logic was the logic of chain lightning.

When we see a brother standing true under the most adverse circumstances, we know that he is feeding on the old corn which he has so laboriously gathered across the years; when a sister, filled with joy, shouts the high praises of God in the sanctuary, we know that she has been drinking of the new wine of the Kingdom, which she has probably obtained by treading the winepress in loneliness, as did her Master. How precious then is the Oath of Conservation, that “they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord: and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness”!

III. PENTECOSTAL AGGRESSIVENESS

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people (Isaiah 62:10).
These are words of intense urgency. The watchmen on the walls, like the disciples in the Upper Room, had been waiting and praying, in obedience to the command of the Master. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost they hurried from the Upper Room to the streets to preach their new-found joy in Christ. After every revival, I have a number of young ministers come to me for advice as to whether or not they should give up their college work and begin their ministry. I tell them that they are not ready as yet, for they little realize what power it takes to go into the field and be successful. I tell them that they have only enough steam to leak around the cylinders, so I hang a monkey wrench on the safety valve and send them back to class. The same thing happens after the next revival, and this time I tell them that I think they have only about enough pressure to blow the whistle, and attempt to hold them steady in their course of preparation. I quote the words of Dr. Bresee that he so often repeated in his chapel addresses, that if he knew he had but ten years to live, he would spend five years of it in preparation and be able to do more in the five remaining years than in the ten without proper preparation.

But the time comes when the inner urgency can no longer be restrained, and then comes the peremptory command, “Go through, go through the gates.” But what are these workers to do who burst through the gates with such zeal and enthusiasm?

(1) They are to prepare the way of the people—not by dry-as-dust instruction, but as at Pentecost, by the exhibition of shining examples of the glory-crowned, fire-baptized men and women. The testimonies of these people are accompanied by the Holy Spirit, who alone can awaken, convict, convert, and sanctify men and women; and these testimonies of people who have the blessing are worth infinitely more than learned addresses about it.

(2) They are to prepare a highway, by preaching the truth of holiness, “clearly, definitely, and explicitly,” and leading men and women over this highway into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

(3) They are to gather out the stones—remove every obstruction in doctrine or life that would cause people to stumble and turn away from this precious experience.
(4) They are to lift up a standard for the people, and this rallying point is “holiness unto the Lord.” Nothing unholy can ever enter heaven, whether in act or condition; and without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

In my early Christian experience I was greatly impressed with Isaiah’s prophecy, that “an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” It was a great thought to me that God would make a way from earth to heaven so plain that even a fool could find it; and as Brother Ruth would say, If he is worse than a fool he will be saved on general principles anyway.” But as I went on in my experience and looked ahead, I saw lions that I was sure were in the way, only to find that it was merely a matter of perspective. When I arrived at the place where the lions were supposed to be, I found that they were chained outside the way, and a lion that is chained is as good as no lion. But I learned later an even greater lesson. I saw that God had not only made a way from earth to heaven so plain that even a fool could find it, but I saw that the Captain of our salvation returned to walk with us in the way through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

IV. THE PENTECOSTAL MESSAGE

Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken (Isaiah 62:11-12).

We have but one message to proclaim, the message of full salvation through Christ, who ministers both the Word and the Spirit, and therefore is able to save unto the uttermost. But what are the consequences of this message?
(1) “They shall call them, The holy people.” When people are genuinely holy, live lives

consistent with the standards of holiness, preach the doctrine, and testify definitely to the experience, whatever other name they bear they will be called, “The holy people.” What name could be more appropriate! This is our glory.

(2) The holy people ascribe this experience, not to some ethical standards worked out by human effort, but to the redeeming grace of God. We are made partakers of His holiness; we are the redeemed of the Lord.

(3) We shall be called, “Sought out”—a peculiar or unique people, wholly consecrated to God, indwelt and guided by His Spirit, His own peculiar treasure. Isaiah’s resolve concerning Jerusalem, prophetic of Mount Zion, where the Holy Spirit fell upon the waiting disciples; and the watchmen on the walls who besought God day and night that He would make Jerusalem a praise in the earth—a center from which the gospel should be sounded forth in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth—finds here its glorious fulfillment—”A city not forsaken.”

(Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, Mo. First Printing, 1963, No Printed Book Copyright)

H. Orton Wiley (1877-1961) served the Church of the Nazarene as pastor, educator, theologian, editor, and college president.