if you would please turn in your
Bibles to chapter 12. And let's begin reading at verse 14. We'll
read through 21. Then the Pharisees went out and
held counsel against him, how they might destroy him. Now remember,
he had just healed a man with a withered hand in the temple
on the Sabbath. He was teaching that he is the
Lord of the Sabbath, as he says over in verse 8, for the Son
of Man is the Lord of even the Sabbath day. He was teaching
those things. and it angered it angered the
pharisees a great deal so they took counsel against him how
they might destroy him verse 15 but when jesus knew it he
withdrew himself from thence and great multitudes followed
him and he healed them all, and charge them that they should
not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
of in Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have
chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased, I will
put my spirit upon him, And he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry,
neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised
reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench,
till he send forth judgment unto victory, and in his name shall
the Gentiles trust." Now I want to start tonight in our handout,
if you would, with a quote from Matthew Henry in his introduction
to this paragraph. Matthew Henry writes, as in the
midst of Christ's greatest humiliations there were proofs of his dignity
so in the midst of his great honors he gave proofs of his
humility and when the mighty works he did gave him an opportunity
of making a figure a name for himself yet he made it appear
that he emptied himself and made himself of no reputation. Now we take that quote that he
made himself of no reputation from Philippians 2 verses 5 through
8 where we read these words, let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. Did you catch that? Let this
mind be in you as it was in our Savior, the Lord Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant. and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
So you see where we take our title tonight. made himself of
no reputation, take into consideration, if you would, the law of God. These civil statutes, ceremonial
ordinances, and all the commandments were messianic. In other words,
they were things that related to and pictured the coming Messiah,
the Deliverer, the one who was to come. They were given to Israel
alone and applied to Israel alone. And the law of the Old Testament,
it had absolutely nothing to do with the Gentiles. It was
never given to the Gentiles. The law was messianic. It was
for the pictures of the one who was promised to come. That was
the promise that was given to Abraham. That was the promise
that was given to Adam and Eve through the picture of Christ,
of God, slaying an animal and wrapping them in the animal skins. It was a picture of Christ and
God's people being wrapped in the clothing, in the skin, in
the covering. Their sins to be covered by the
Lord Jesus Christ. They were given to Israel alone,
and they applied to Israel alone. It was never given to the Gentiles.
It was messianic, and it pointed to Christ, who was the fulfillment
and the end of the law. Isn't that what we read in Romans
10, 4? For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness, to every one that believeth. When the
Lord began to give his judgments, his civil statutes in other words,
to Israel, for which he typified and portrayed redemption, grace,
salvation by Christ, These very first civil statute that was
given to Israel was a blessed picture of redemption and grace
by Christ and the law of the bond slave. Listen to these words. Now these are the judgments which
thou shalt set before them. Page two. If thou by an Hebrew
servant. See how that comes out? This
is the first one. If thou by a Hebrew servant six
years he shall serve See how we see the picture of Christ
in this? And in the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself.
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife,
and my children. I will not go out free. Then
his master shall bring him into the judges. He shall also bring
him to the door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his
ear through with an all, and he shall serve him forever."
Now that's in Exodus 21 verses 1 through 6. The wisest advice
that I have ever received in the ministry that God has put
me in is to get on the path of Christ as quickly as I can and
stay there. The servant spoken of in this
passage of scripture is a type or a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ our Savior. Now I want to stop there for
a moment and I want to read you some verses from Hebrews 10.
You can turn there with me if you want, but I want to read
them in your hearing. Hebrews chapter 1, I'm sorry
not 10, Let me read what it says here for you, and it explains
exactly what we're talking about here in those Old Testament types
of figures. God, this is Hebrews 1 verse
1, God who at sundry times, that means different times, throughout
different times of the world and in diverse manners, different
ways, spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets."
But you and I have the whole Word of God that we hold in our
hand, actually. See what it says next, hear what
it says next here? Hath in these last days, the
very God who spoke to our fathers, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son in the beginning. was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. So back in our handout again
there in the book of Matthew, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, he became the servant of God, that he might redeem
and save sinners chosen of God from the foundation of the world.
That's what we read. Remember Matthew 1, verse 21?
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. The text
is not talking about men who became the servants of men among
the ancient Indurals. Those men were but pictures of
another man, the man Christ Jesus. How blessed it is to see and
to know Christ in this type of relationship. He was manifest
in the flesh. What a joy to know that God has
loved us, that He sent His only begotten Son. Going on in the
last paragraph of our handout, page 2, the eye of faith sees
the servant, and he rejoices in all of his work. We see that
servant that he has done, and we go over all the things that
he's done. This is typifying Christ and Him crucified, who
He is and what He's done. We see His work and we rejoice,
though He is Himself Almighty God, one with Father and the
Spirit and the Holy Trinity. In order to save us from our
sins, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, voluntarily became the
servant of God the Father and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross, as we just read in Philippians, to
do the will of God. In the passage before us, God
the Holy Spirit calls for us to behold our great Savior in
his mediator Mediatorial office as Jehovah's servant as he was
described by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 42 verses 1 through
8 where we read these words Behold my servant whom I uphold Mine
elect in whom my soul delighted. I have put my spirit upon him
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles page 3. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street, a bruised reed."
You see how we're reading what we've read in our text is a prophecy
of Isaiah, a reed he shall not break. And a smoking flack shall
he not quench, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he hath set judgment in earth, and the isles shall wait
for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it, and the Spirit to them that walketh
therein, I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will
hold thine hand. and will keep thee and give thee
for a covenant of the people. He's talking about Christ. This
is Christ he's talking about. Christ is our covenant. What
is our covenant? That God the Father gave God
the Son of people. Before a star ever twinkled in
the sky, Christ agreed to that covenant to come to this world
and be our sacrifice, be our substitute. That's the covenant.
for a light to the Gentiles. What is the light to the Gentiles?
Christ says, I am the light of the world. To open the blind
eyes. We know we had blind eyes. We
see the color blue. We can describe blue now where
we could not before. We had the blind eyes to bring
out the prisoners from the prison. We were bound in our sin and
death and trespasses, and them that sit in darkness out of the
prison house, I am the Lord. That is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
Notice our text opens with the Pharisees holding a council.
Isn't that just something? Then the Pharisees went out and
held counsel against him, how they might destroy him. That's
verse 14. We read that. Religious counsels
throughout history have almost always proved to be a counsel
against him. The Spirit of God here calls
our attention to the hatred of these religious hypocrites towards
Christ, because it is something that never changes. Man's religion
hates Christ and the things of God always has and always will. For to be carnally minded, it
says, is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life. That's simply saying this, folks,
that without God giving us life, To beat spiritual life, we would
go through that doormark death with a carnal mind, a natural
mind, a mind that hates God. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace, because the carnal man is enmity. Oh, I could just express in words
the depth of what that word means, enmity. It's hatred. It's a vile hatred. The carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law
of God. Neither, indeed, can be. That's Romans 8, 6 through
7. These men pretended to have great reverence for the law.
Remember, they came to the Lord questioning Him. Why are your
disciples eating on the Sabbath day? Oh, we don't do that. That's
what they were doing. They were saying like that one
in the temple that one day when there was a publican over against
the wall beating his chest saying, Lord, have mercy on me. There
was a man who came in who was wearing, he thought a lot of
himself. He was nicely robed. Thank you,
Lord, that I'm not like them. No, I'm much more righteous than
they are. I'm holier than them. These men
were pretending. They were pretending to have
a reverence for the law, and particularly for the Sabbath
day, yet they seem to have had no reluctance in gathering a
religious council for the purpose of finding a way to murder this
one who lived among them in perfect righteousness. Did you know that? Did you know that Christ was
perfect in everything that He did? Everything that He did,
there was not one thing that anybody could point to and say,
see, look what He did. That was wrong. Not one single
thing. Everything Christ did was perfect
and pleasing to the Father. He lived among them in perfect
righteousness, doing good to others. You may recall last week
I mentioned in Mark that we were told these men joined forces
with the Herodians, their arch enemies of the Pharisees. These
religious men had no problem about pursuing a deceitful plot
to murder the Lord of glory on the Sabbath day, page four. Pharisees are always the same. They want everyone to admire
their righteousness, their piety, their devotion, their spirituality,
but when they are unmasked by Him who reads their hearts, He
tells us that they shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore, ye shall receive
the greater damnation. That's Matthew 23. And we'll
get to that when we get to Matthew 23 and look a little deeper into
it. Let's go on, shall we? Page 4,
we're looking at the second paragraph. And it should also be observed
that their greater damnation is not because they behaved in
an outwardly representable way. meaning that they weren't because
they were out walking around acting like, oh, I'm so much
holier than thou, but rather because they are going about
to establish their own righteousness. They believed in their hearts.
They were establishing a righteousness for themselves by following what
they thought they were doing in the ordinances. They were
refusing to submit themselves to the only righteousness, and
that is the righteousness of Christ. Listen to these words
from Romans 9, 31 through Romans 10, 4. But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for
they stumbled at the stumbling stone. Remember that? Remember
the stumbling stone? As it is written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. Brethren, writes Paul, my heart's
desire and my prayer to God For Israel is this, that they might
be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God." Folks, I know some folks who have a great zeal
of God, but they are wrong. I heard a preacher say this one
time. They're sincere. You ask Brother Mike Loveless
sometime when you have a chance to talk to him. He was sincere. He went out and did everything
he could as a seventh-day Adventist to try to win over people's souls,
thinking he was sincere. But he was sincerely wrong. They're
sincere, but they're sincerely wrong. They have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth." Did you catch that? They have not submitted
themselves unto the what? The righteousness of God. Submitting ourselves to the righteousness
of God, there's only one who is righteous in God's eyes, and
that's his son, the Lord Jesus. It's in the Lord Jesus, God Almighty
said, this is my son whom I am well pleased. They were not submitting
themselves unto the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe us. All who pretend. that they are
righteous are hypocrites. Therefore our Savior warns us
in Luke 12 verse 1, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy. Self-righteousness is but a religious
covering by which men attempt to hide their hatred of God.
The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject under
the law of God, neither indeed can be. That's in Romans chapter
8, and we just read that a moment ago. The heart of a man in its
natural state is indifferent towards God. All natural men,
all unregenerate people at the core of their beings, in their
hearts, hate God. When the Lord Jesus both claimed
to be Lord even of the Sabbath and proved His power as God by
a miraculous healing of the man with the withered hand, the Jews,
the religious leaders of the day, were so enraged against
Him. that they sought to destroy him.
Yet no charge could be brought against his character. He was
holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. No charge
could be leveled against his doctrine, his teaching. He proved
his teachings by the scriptures irrefutably. But it mattered
not how perfectly he lived or how perfectly he taught. He was
hated by those people who claimed most loudly that they loved God. J.C. Ryle wrote these words.
He said, this is human nature appearing in its true colors.
The unconverted heart hates God. This is the reason why God's
servants have been persecuted and martyred throughout all the
centuries. It must never surprise us when we meet with the same
kind of treatment that our Savior received in this world. He says
in 1 John 3.13, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Most of you know that The story of my religious aunt who was
very steeped in her religion, she came to me one time. This
sweet woman, if you had not heard this, I've got to share it with
you. She came to me, this very sweet lady. When I was up at
my mom's, this was right after the Lord had called me out of
darkness, I was up there with my dad, and I was sharing with
him how the Lord was laying these thoughts on my mind. And I was
bringing certain short 15-minute devotionals, and the Lord had
blessed me with His Word. And I was talking with my dad
about it. And she came up, and she turned into the most evil
sight I have ever seen. Her eyes got red. Her veins started
to pop out of her head. I'm not joking one bit. I'm not
exaggerating one bit. She poked me in this chest like
this and said, you will not take my free will away from me. I
told my pastor about you, and he told me to get away from you
as fast as possible. That was the last time she and
I ever spoke again about religion. And that was the last time I
talked about anything in front of her with dad. Marvel not,
my brother. If the world hates you, it says,
1 John 3, 13. If the world hates us, it hated
our father first. It is not our weaknesses, nor
our infirmities, or our faults, or our obedience that stir up
the wrath of a reprobate man, but our doctrine, our teaching,
the gospel of Christ. Listen to these words recorded
of our Lord in John 3 19 through 20 and this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world and Men love darkness rather
than light. Oh that anger that angers the
world around us How dare you tell me that I can't choose from
one from another I know right from wrong they hate that our
nature is to choose darkness rather than light because their
deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. Or as the Apostle Paul states
in his letter to Galatians, And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? That's in Galatians
5.11. Paul was being persecuted for
preaching against works, telling them that their religion was
nothing but works, and preaching the only way to salvation is
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is of
the Lord. Next in our text, we see a great
statement giving hope to sinners. But when Jesus knew it. That's
in verse 14 as well. Here's another of those many
very casual statements that our Lord makes about his divinity
that are scattered throughout the gospel narrative. Matthew
makes no attempt to prove what he needed, no proof to those
who know the worship of Christ. Knowing that he who redeemed
us is God over all, we recognize and rejoice in our Savior's divine
omniscience. We do rejoice in the fact that
he knew something before anybody else did. We rejoice in the fact
that he knows all things. Page six, omniscient God knew
what the Pharisees were up to, and when Jesus knew it, he withdrew
himself from them. He did not flee from the Jews
and the synagogue in fear, but yet because his hour was not
come. Remember when they wanted to
throw him off the cliff for killing a bunch of swine? They wanted
to throw him off a cliff. He just disappeared. He just
walked his way right through them, and they didn't even see
him. It wasn't his time yet. He had things to do. It was not
his time yet, but because his hour has now come. The time had
not come when he must suffer and die as our substitute. He
had other work to do, other work to do to glorify his father.
He had not healed all for whom the Father had sent him. Aren't
you happy that he had not finished his work before you came along?
This is my only hope for my children, is that it's still time. I was
talking to my son this afternoon. I got to take a break here from
that handout for just a moment. I was talking to my son this
afternoon. Brother David Edmondson asked me to preach while I'm
out there in Madisonville in two weeks. And originally, he
had asked me to preach on Sunday morning. And he called me up,
and he says, brother, I hope you don't mind, but I really
need you to help me out. I really need you to preach on
Wednesday instead. And he explained to me why, and
it was good reasons. And I just, yes, sir, absolutely,
whatever you need, brother. If you want me to sit down and
listen to you, I'll do that, too. But he says, no, no, I really
want you to preach, but I really need you to preach on Wednesday
instead. So I called my son, and I was talking to him, or
he called me. And I was telling him, I said, you know, We've
been talking about him going to church with me. And I got
to share this with you because it's just exciting as all get
out. My son might go to church with me. And I told him, I said,
but I hope you don't mind. I'm not going to be preaching
that day. But he said this to me. He goes, well, at least I
know it won't be something you're conjuring up just to preach at
me and point fingers at me. He says, that means that he might
still go with me, folks. If anything, he might go with
me because somebody else is going to preach. The last time I was
out there and I preached, he wasn't too happy with me because
he thought David and I, David brought the message for the Bible
study, and I brought the message. He was preaching right to him.
Well, I wasn't, though. Somebody was, but it wasn't me.
David, he said the same thing about David, though. He goes,
did you and that preacher gang up on me before services and
figure you guys were going to talk directly to me? I said,
no, no, I swear we didn't. We didn't work together at all. Yeah, so this is what we're talking
about right here. Our Lord's not done. He still
has a work to do. God says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That means all that the Father
giveth him shall come to him. And we'll look at that again
too in a moment. The time had not come when he must suffer
and die as a substitute. He had other work to do. He had
not healed all for whom the Father had sent him to heal yet. Folks,
all that the Father giveth him shall come to him. Therefore,
he rightly and wisely left the synagogue. His word tells us
that he left, and a great multitude followed him. Though some believed
not, others did. The Pharisees and the religious
leaders in the synagogue hated him, but great multitudes went
out with him. They followed him. And he healed
them all. Isn't that something? What a
gracious word that is. As it was in Bethsaida, so it
is here. When the multitudes followed
him, he received them. and spake unto them of the kingdom
of God, and healed them that had need of healing. Our Master
came not to contend with religionists who, in their own opinion, needed
nothing from Him, but to bestow mercy upon needy souls. Happy is the preacher who, following
the Master's example, has learned to ignore carping critics and
refuses to be deterred of the master's business even momentarily
by them. Our master came to heal needy
souls. While he was here in the flesh,
he received all who came to him with bodily ailments, and he
healed them all. Folks, he's not changed. He says
in Malachi 3.6, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Great multitudes followed him
from all parts of the country, and not one of those who followed
him, even in this physical, carnal sense, lacked anything. When
the multitudes were hungry, he fed them. If they were diseased,
he healed them. If they were possessed of devils,
he cast them out. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Jesus Christ is merciful. Gracious
and kind. Our Savior's mercy is coupled
with omnipotence. All who will follow Him find
all that they need in Him. His promise is this, He that
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Yet this mighty, gracious,
saving God-man still receives sinners. and heals all who come
to Him. Because the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jehovah's righteous servant, has fully obeyed His Father's
will in putting away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself,
because He was made sin for us, because He bore our sins in His
body on the tree, because He paid all the debt for our sins
and put them away completely and forever, He now assures you
and I sinners everywhere of this glorious truth of the gospel. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. We know that, don't we? We know
that because we know that if he had not come to us, we would
not have come to him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up till again the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up. the last day. John chapter 6,
verse 37-40. Folks, my plea for you is come
to Christ. I had the honor to go down and
preach to the folks in Hucumba on Wednesday. And in my closing
statements after preaching a message that I also preached here in
Rescue last Sunday, exhort one another. Do not forsake the gathering
of the saints, as some do, but exhort one another. My statement
was to this, how do we exhort each other? pointing each other
to Christ. Come to Christ. No matter who
you are, no matter how vile your transgressions are, He promises
that He will receive you just as you are, and that He will
never cast you out, that He will give you eternal life, and that
you shall never perish. Remember what we read a couple
of weeks back? Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden. Come unto Christ, he says, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. It says in Matthew 12, verse
16, And he charged them that should not make the Son of God
never courted the praise of men. He sought only to do the will
of his father, and what a sermon that is. Spurgeon wrote this. He said, to him, popularity became
a hindrance. I haven't found anyone who says
it better than that. People were starting to try to
kill him, and it was not time yet. Our Savior deliberately
made himself of no reputation, as we read in Philippians 2.7.
This is at the top of page 8. He had no desire for the approval
or the applause of men, but only for the glory of God his Father.
Look at verses 16 through 21 again of our text in Matthew
chapter 12. And he charged them that they should not make him
known. that it might be fulfilled." Did you catch that? He did not
want them to go about bragging on him, because there are some
things that need to be fulfilled. That it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken of by Isaiah, the prophet, saying, behold, my servant
whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased,
I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to
the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his
voice in the streets, A bruised reed shall he not break, A smoking
flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory,
And in his name shall the Gentiles trust." Back in our handout.
There is much here for us to consider, so I pray I can set
a little for us to nibble on until next week. First, the word
of God shall be fulfilled, as we see there in verse 17. Aren't you thankful for that?
Folks, the promise of God the Father of you and I to God the
Son, aren't you thankful that that was fulfilled? Aren't you
thankful that he's fulfilling that this very moment, and that
all that he has promised shall be fulfilled? Every last word
must and will come to pass. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand." Isaiah 14, 24. Our
very faith, the very trust, the very belief, our very faith rests
in the promises of God. When you sing that song, Standing
on the Promises of God, do you picture that very thing? This
is all I have to stand on. I can't stand on anything of
this flesh. I can't stand on anything of
my thoughts. I can't stand on anything of
what I think of as my faith. I can only stand on what Christ
has said as being true. As what God has said as being
for sure standing on the promises of God. Brother Don Fortner wrote
this, he said, this deliberate act of humiliation was that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. The very thing that we read about
the Lord becoming in humiliation is the fulfillment of that prophecy. Don goes on to say the prophecy
to which Matthew refers to here is found in Isaiah 42 verses
1 through 4. Here the Spirit of God gives
us an undeniable evidence of inspiration and infallibility
of Holy Scripture. All scripture, Don refers to
this, he says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And that's in 2 Timothy
3.16. And then in 2 Peter we read this,
knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, moved
by the Holy Ghost. Don closes his statement with
this. In all that our Lord Jesus performed
on this earth as our substitute, from his incarnation to his ascension,
was in perfect accord with the prophecies of the Old Testament.
When he finished his work, As we read in Mark 15 verse 28,
the scriptures was fulfilled. Secondly, we read in verse 18,
behold my servant. I want to look at these two things
next week. First, that scripture is fulfilled.
Secondly, behold my servant whom I have chosen. Jesus of Nazareth,
folks, is the Christ. And he is Jehovah's servant.
Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared
me." A body God had prepared his Son. Jesus Christ has always
been the eternal Son of God. He just wasn't in the flesh today.
God prepared him a body in burnt offerings and sacrifice for a
sin that has had no pleasure. Then said I, I come in the volume
of the book. It is written of me. That's what
we just spoke of a moment ago. Scripture was fulfilled. Then
said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of
me. To do what? Thy will, O God. above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest
not neither has pleasure therein which were offered by the law
then said he lo lo i come to do thy will oh god he taketh
away the first that he may establish the second by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of jesus
christ once for all. That's Hebrews 10, 5 through
10. He is beloved of God the Father, this Lord Jesus that
we praise and give all honor to. He is beloved of God the
Father. Matthew 17, 5. This is my beloved
Son, he says, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. He is well-pleasing
to him. He was equipped for his work
by God. Who said this? He said, I will
put my spirit upon him. Do you see how God the Father
equipped his son? He will put his spirit upon him.
He came to reveal the righteousness of God, the gospel to the world,
to the Gentiles. He shall send judgment to the
Gentiles. Our Redeemer's servitude. Servitude
was a matter of voluntary submission. The Lord God hath opened mine
ear, and I was not rebellious. This is Christ speaking. This
is the Lord Jesus, neither turned away back. I gave my back to
the smiters. You see here, this is Christ
willingly submitting himself to what he must face. I gave
my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off
the hair. Folks, this is Christ speaking
through the prophet Isaiah all the way back in Isaiah's day
about what he would go through. He says, I hid not my face from
shame and spitting, for the Lord God will help me. Did you ever
stop to think about that, reading this word right here? Christ
fulfilled the law, or not the law, but the word, the prophecy
of those who would spit on his face. long before they did. For the Lord God will help me,
he says. Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." Oh,
folks, what a wonderful message. Our text reads this. He shall
not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the
streets. A bruised reed shall he not break.
A smoking flack shall he not quench till he send forth judgment
unto victory, and in his name shall the Gentiles trust. As
God, we are assured of this, He shall not fail. And that is just as much God's
word as anything else. You can look it up in Isaiah
42, 4 if you like.