Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Isaiah chapter 42, the chapter
that we read, Isaiah 42, and reading from our text, verse
16. Verse 16. And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they
have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. Isaiah 42 verse 16. The prophecy of Isaiah in many
ways is the gospel in the Old Testament. And in these chapters,
there's the prophecies and speaking to the time that the Lord will
bless the Gentiles. We are told very clearly in verse
one of this chapter, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And the servants that are spoken
of in this chapter The first is that of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ, His elect, the one whom God has put His Spirit
in, truly God and truly man, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel God with us. And He it is that's
spoken of in the first place of that which He will do and
that which He will accomplish in the gathering in of the gentiles
but then there's another servant also that is spoken of here and
that is in verse 19 who is blind but my servant or deaf as my
messenger that i sent and we would remember that when our
lord came he came unto his own he came unto the Jews. The seed of Abraham and the Jewish
nation was the servant of the Lord to bring forth the seed
of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head. That was
the nation chosen and we see the line from in Matthew chapter
1 from Abraham right through to David, 14 generations from
David to the carrying way into Babylon, 14 generations, and
then from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ, 14 generations. And in Luke, we have it going
right back from Mary, the mother of our Lord, right back to Adam
and to God. And it is through the nation
of the Jews. But when our Lord came, his nation
did not receive him. They, as it were, were blind. They could not see that Jesus
of Nazareth was the Saviour, was the promised Messiah. There were those that could indeed
do so. Paul, he says in his epistles,
he says that blindness in part is happened unto Israel until
the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in. And it is a judicial
blindness that the people of the Jews, God's own people, are
blinded not to be able to see. They knew not the day of their
visitation, and yet the Lord came to them, and from them,
he went to the Gentiles. And really, as Gentiles, it's
a wonderful thing to see it prophesied that the word is to come to us,
very clearly set forth in Paul's epistles to the Ephesians. And
also it explains the thing that could be a real difficulty to
think, well, if this truly is the Christ, if Jesus is, why
did not his own people receive him? Why could they not see? Why is it that they have rejected
him? And the scriptures, the prophecies
will tell of this as to how it should be and why it should be. When our Lord was on the earth,
he worked many miracles, and one of those miracles was to
give sight to the man that had been born blind, recorded in
John chapter 9. It was a literal miracle of giving
a man that could not see his sight. The Jews, they thought
that there was some reason, some sin in him or his parents, why
he was born blind. But our Lord said that it was
not for any of those thoughts, though every man, woman, and
child is a sinner, but it was that the glory of God might be
manifest in him. A man that was of age, and all
those years of his life he'd lived blind, waiting for this
time that Jesus of Nazareth should give him his sight as a miracle
to show forth that Jesus was and is the true Messiah, the
true Son of God. The Lord revealed himself to
that blind man afterwards. The Jews, they had cast him out
because of what he testified of Jesus, that he was of God. They said that we are Moses'
disciple, Now this fellow's disciple, we know that God spake unto Moses,
as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. And the man
answered, said unto them, Why, herein is a marvellous thing,
that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened
mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth
not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind? If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. And they cast him out. The Lord
then revealed himself to him. He asked him, dost thou believe
on the Son of God? He said, who is he, Lord, that
I might believe on him? And then the Lord told him, he
said, He that talketh with thee am he, and he worshipped him. And then he said this, and the
Jews were around about them, they were listening to him. Jesus said, For judgment I am
come into this world, that they which see not might see, and
that they which see might be made blind. Pharisees, some of
the Pharisees which were with him, heard these words and said
unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were
blind, ye should have no sin. But now ye say, We see, therefore
your sin remaineth. And so we know that the blindness
that is spoken of in our text and also that spoken of in the
following chapter, chapter 43 and verse 8, bring forth the
blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. A people that are literally seeing
and literally hearing and yet spiritually they are blind and
they cannot see what they really are seeing, they cannot understand
spiritual things at all. So I want to look at this this
evening because this word that is before us, it is a wonderful
promise. I will bring the blind by way
that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I'll make darkness light before
them and crooked things stray. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. So I want to look at three points.
Firstly, the blind in the text, to think more upon what it is
of the condition, the characters that are spoken of in the text
here. And then secondly, what the Lord
will do for them, that is clearly told in this verse, what the
Lord will do for them. And then in the last part, it's
what he will not do unto them. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. The first thing is the blind
that are in the text. By nature, part of the fall and
part of the sentence that God has enacted upon the human race
is spiritual blindness. We are made in the image of God
and had communion with God and fellowship with God. And God
gave the command to not eat of the tree in the midst of the
garden or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The day that
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And when our first
parents rebelled and disobeyed, they did most certainly die. And in that day dying, thou shalt
die a literal death. or for Adam some 900 years later,
but spiritual death immediately, fearful of meeting with the Lord
when they heard his voice in the garden, and then banished
from the garden, still made in the image of God, still over
the natural kingdom, though every beast that rises up against man
testifies of the fall, and the earth in bringing forth its thorns
and thistles also, and the sweat of our brow labouring, bears
witness also to the judicial judgment God has put upon man. But that judgment is also a spiritual
blindness and a deadness. Paul speaks of it when he writes
to the Corinthians And he says that in the wisdom of God, that
man by wisdom should not be able to know God. Man can do many
wonderful things in engineering, electronics, in medicine, in
many things. God has given him wonderful skill,
wonderful perception, and to see and to understand many things. But to know God and to understand
God, he cannot. A veil is upon their hearts.
And Paul says that it has pleased God through the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe. It needs the Lord's servant. It needs the Lord Jesus Christ
to come. It needs his servants to preach
the word. It needs the Holy Spirit to shine
on dark benighted minds and hearts, to give them the light of knowledge
and to open up to them. the Lord, make them to see what
they cannot see by nature. We are dead in trespasses and
sins, and the dead know not anything. And we read when Paul says to
the Corinthians of those that are lost, that the God of this
world hath blinded them that are lost, that go after the things
of this world. The Gentiles are still walking
in the lust of the flesh and desires of the mind, the blindness
of their hearts, Paul says, of the Ephesians, and that those
that are converted are not to walk in that same way and following
them. So it is a spiritual blindness
that all are under, and the only hope, the only Message of the
Gospel is that which is here, that it is the Lord himself that
shall open those eyes, open those that are blind, cause them to
see what they cannot see by nature. I pass by thee when thou wast
in thy blood, and when thou wast in thy blood I bid thee live.
It's that time when the Lord gives life, I give unto them
eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of mine hand. And the many words that describe
that new birth, the first conversion, a passing from death unto life,
that change, that vital change is wrought by God. He must be
born again. And it is in that that the eyes
are opened spiritually, the ears are opened spiritually, an appetite
is given for the word. One of the great evidences of
those eyes opened is to really see what we are by nature. We read about the Jews asking
the Lord, are we blind also? They did not know. The Lord said
to them, that because they said that they saw, and yet were calling
the Lord a devil and speaking against him, casting out his
people, because they were testifying, they were religious people. They
were people that were the leaders of their order in that day. They testified that they saw,
and yet they were not seeing the Lord. They weren't seeing
the truth. They were blinded. They were
blinded, shut up under the law, a judicial blindness. But it is the Lord that only
is able to do this. And this is the wonderful promise
of the text. You might say that those that
are really in need of it, those that are dead in trespasses and
sins, will not feel their need of this promise, they won't see
any beauty in it, because they don't see and feel their need
of it. But it is a wonderful promise,
especially to those who do know the Lord, when they think of
unconverted relatives, those roundabout, those that at present
exhibit no desire for the things of God whatsoever, and are completely
blind, you can talk and talk to them and they cannot see,
but we have set before us who can make them see and who will
open their eyes. But this then is a promise, beautiful
promise, to those who do feel their blindness, who because
the Lord has shown them their sinnership, shown them their
distance from the Lord, shown them how little they know of
the gospel, of the things of God, then to have a promise that
the Lord would open their eyes. The psalmist takes this up and
he says, open thou mine eyes, that I might behold wondrous
things out of thy law. And the disciples, when they
heard the parables, they went and asked the Lord, interpret
to us these parables. The Lord says, Dost thou not
know them? Do you not know? Are you no better
than those that are just going their way? They weren't, but
they asked of the Lord, interpreted, show us, show us this parable,
explain it to us. And so when we are brought to
feel our blindness, then this is a great promise to us. We think in a natural way, and
we have a couple of men that are blind in our town, often
we see them walking around and they're glad to have a hand lent
them to cross the road and we can see what a trial in a way
it is to them and I think many of us take for granted our sight
and what a wonderful thing it is to have natural sight but
how vital to have spiritual sight and so It is when we feel our
need of that, this is the promise for it. We think of it also in
way of providence and in our lives. Sometimes like dear Jacob,
we cannot see what the Lord is doing for us. He'd had Joseph
taken from him. Benjamin was required to go up
into Egypt. Simeon was locked up in prison. And he said, all these things
are against me. And he couldn't see the way,
he couldn't see what the Lord was doing at all. And it may
be so with us and in our lives that we cannot see and we don't
know which way to go or which way to turn. And in that again
we have the promise, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine eye. And it shall be the Lord that
shall be the one that be the eyes of the people of God. When
the children of Israel went through the wilderness, then the fiery,
cloudy pillar went before them. And that chose out the place
where they would stay, where they would make their camp. And
with you and I, he has set the bounds of our habitation, where
we shall set our camp, where we shall stay. Children of Israel
sometimes stayed a long while in one place, sometimes a very
short while. And it was the Lord that determined
how long they stayed in each place. And so it can be a promise,
again, that it is applying to all of our lives and to the way
that the Lord would lead his people. He says in John 10, as
a good shepherd, he put forth his sheep, he goeth before them. He leadeth them out and goeth
before them. So the blind in the text, we
may ask ourselves, because those that never have had sight, those
that are blind spiritually, like the Jews, did not know that they
were blind. But as soon as the Lord begins
and he gives light, then they feel their lack of sight, their
lack of understanding, their blindness. Then there will be
that hunger, that thirst, that desire for the things of God. So I want to look secondly at
what the Lord will do for them, because that again highlights
what they need doing for them. The first thing, He will bring
them by a way that they knew not. The Jews, again, they knew
the way of Moses. And this is, by nature, we are
under the law, which is a way of works, a way of earning our
way to heaven. Paul says in Romans 10, of his
own countrymen that had a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge. They, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, were going about to establish their own. But when
the Lord begins, he begins in the way that Paul says to the
Ephesians, by grace you are saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. And that way that they knew not
is a way of the gospel. It is a way of God's grace and
mercy. In a way, the Lord telling the
parable of the publican and the Pharisee in the temple illustrates
those two ways. The Pharisee was speaking of
his good works and everything that he did that he thought recommended
himself unto God. The publican beat upon his breast,
God be merciful to me a sinner. Now the Apostle Paul, soul as
he was, was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. But when the Lord
met with him, the Lord brought him to be like the publican,
seeking for mercy. It was a way that he knew not.
At first he was persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Lord
brought him by his grace, met with him on the Damascus Road,
turned him about and brought him to preach the very same way
that he had sought to undermine and to destroy. The Apostle Paul
would say that he had been partaker of this promise that he was blind
and he'd been brought by a way that he knew not. Then we have
in the next place, I will lead them in paths that they have
not known. All the paths of the Lord, they
are righteousness, they are peace, they are paths of the gospel,
paths of the grace of God. How many different ways those
paths, they're paths of holiness, paths of righteousness, not of
our own but of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're paths that are
paths through the Word of God that direct our people to the
precious blood and wounds of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A path that leads to redemption,
a path that shows able sacrifice and not canes, not the fruit
of the field, but the fruit of blood. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And it's leading through in paths
as well of tribulation. If needs be, you must, through
much tribulation, enter the kingdom of God. It's walking in a path
of prayer, the Apostle Paul, found that very soon. It was
said to Ananias, behold, he prayeth. A path you might say, well, the
Pharisees, they've made long prayers. He knew that path before. His prayers would have been very,
very different as a poor, broken-hearted sinner pleading for mercy through
our Lord Jesus Christ. And he'd be leading through those
paths of the Word of God. Our Lord did that with They're
too in the way to Emmaus. He took them through all the
scriptures, the things concerning himself. Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he opened up in all the scriptures, the things concerning
himself. That sermon, that path, they
no doubt read the scriptures many times, but never traced
the path. of a dear Redeemer right through
them, the path that they had not known. The eunuch, as Philip
was sent to him, was reading Isaiah 453. He said, of whom
speaketh the prophet this, of himself or some other man? He was blind. He could not see
who was being spoken of here in just a few chapters on from
where our text is. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. For we, like sheep,
have gone astray and turned every one to his own way. And the Lord
had laid on him the iniquity of us all. Philip, he began the
same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now dear man, he walked
then the path of hearing, receiving the word, blessed under the priest's
word, seeing the Lord Jesus Christ in those Old Testament scriptures,
and was baptized on profession of his faith. I believe that
Jesus is the Son of God. And so the Lord leads in paths,
and it is his choosing what he decides. When our children go
to school and they start off in the young classes, it is the
teacher that decides what they're going to learn next and how they're
going to learn it. And it is the Lord that fulfills
that wonderful promise. All thy children shall be taught
of the Lord. Great shall be the peace of thy
children. And this is part of the teaching
the leading them in paths they have not known, paths of chastising. In Hebrews 12, we read that he
chasteneth every son whom he receiveth. The Lord deals with
his people and corrects them in measure but in love. He said,
I will make darkness light before them. We spoke of Jacob, how
dark was his path. and the promise that that dark
path will be turned to light. We think again of the children
of Israel through the wilderness. The cloud over the tabernacle
was light in the darkness, gave light to them, that they would
know the way that they should go. Many times in the life of
a Christian, these contrasts are known, a way that they have
not known, and there to walk in it. A dark path made light,
and then a crooked path made straight. These contrasts, these
things that at first don't lie straight, seem to be very strange,
seem to be an unknown way, they are an unknown way. And yet the
Lord leads and teaches and instructs in that way. brings them to a saving knowledge
of His beloved Son, to trust solely in His death, to trust
in the redemption that He has accomplished, and to look to
Him for life. No man can keep alive his own
soul. It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, and sitteth on the right hand of
God. In him, says Paul, we live and
move and have our being. There's no life outside of Christ. Paul says, when Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall also we appear with him. And what a picture for the people
of God as to interpret and show them something of the way when
the Lord begins with them. that they shall be a led people,
they shall be a people that do know darkness in their souls,
darkness on their path, but the Lord shines the light of his
word and light into their souls. They shall be people that have
crooked things, things that do not add up, trials, sicknesses,
afflictions, disappointments, sorrows, things that would be
a stumbling block to them. And yet those things are made
straight. Why, with dear Jacob again, how
straight that was made for him when Joseph was standing before
him and Joseph was able to say that, God sent me before you
to preserve you and your lives by great deliverance. The Lord
has things that he will do for his people. And may we be of
those who have those things that we cannot do for ourselves, and
spiritually we can't. To be able to look and see that
there are those things the Lord has done for us. He's done for
us in grace, He's done for us in opening our eyes to the truth,
opening our eyes to our need of a saviour, opening our eyes
to the need of the Lord's teaching ourselves, opening our eyes to
the need of being guided in providence as well as in grace, and opening
our eyes to the beauties and glories of Emmanuel, our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Peter says, unto you which believe,
he is precious. And yet when we read in Isaiah
53 here, the beginning of the chapter, that he is a root out
of dry ground. There's no form nor comeliness
that we should desire him. And that is how it is by nature.
But when the eyes are open, then he is altogether lovely and beautiful
to the soul. Bless to the eyes that see him. Bless to the ears that hear his
voice. So there are those things that
the Lord does for his people. Many today will be telling what
they are doing for the Lord. And indeed it is right that the
Lord's people should show forth the praises of him who hath called
them out of nature's darkness and brought them into his marvellous
light. But right the way through their
lives, their glory, their beauty is is what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done for them at Calvary, what he is doing for them here
below. Paul says, what I am, I am by
the grace of God. When he has a trial in the flesh,
a thorn in the flesh, he was given the Lord's promise, my
grace is sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Our Lord tells his disciples,
in me you shall have peace, In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And all the time is what the
Lord is doing for a poor and a needy people, a people that
in themselves are blind, a people that are dependent upon the Lord
to give them sight and understanding and wisdom and direction and
guidance. And such will not mistake the
way. It is a narrow way. And the Lord
will bring forth his people by the right way, that they might
go unto a city of habitation. So may we be of those that can
say that the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are
glad, that we are able to see and be able to say, with dear
David, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. that it is
He that has led me beside the still waters. It is He that has
led me beside and in the green pastures. It is He that has made
the cup overrun and flow over. And all the crown and all the
glory is on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, of His
fullness have all we receive graceful grace. Apostle John
speaks of it in that way. And Paul, he says to the Colossians,
that it is pleased the Father that in him should all fullness
dwell. So what the Lord will do for
them. And we may really ask ourselves,
has the Lord done anything for us? And do we look to the Lord
to appear for us and to do for us? and prove constantly that
we need the Lord to lead us in these paths and to cause us to
know the way wherein we should walk. Now, I want to look at
our last point, at what He will not do, and that is not forsake
them and leave them. And there's several reasons why
this is so, why this is part of the promise. Because when
the Lord gives grace and when he opens the eyes, really it
is only those that ever know that they are sinners, that are
ever really conscious of what they are in the sight of a holy
God. They know that if the Lord were
to mark their iniquity, he would cast them away. They know what
their sins deserve. They know that they are sinners,
they have sinned. And so they need such a reassurance
that he will not forsake them. He mentioned chastening, the
path of chastening, before in Hebrews 12. Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless,
afterward, it yieldeth a peaceable fruit of righteousness to them
that are exercised thereby. And he says this, that instead
of casting away his people because of their sin, because of the
things they've done, he'll correct them as a heavenly father. He'll
warn them by his word. He'll correct them in providence.
He will bring them back again into the right way. And that
is a blessed mark of sonship, mark of being a child of God.
In Proverbs we read, a child left to itself bringeth its mother
to shame. God does not leave his people
to themselves. We've only got to go back to
Israel of old, how often the Lord chastened them through the
wilderness, in the promised land, brought them into captivity,
into Babylon, other captivities as well, and then brought them
out and delivered them and used even other nations to correct
them. So the assurance is needed and
not forsake them. Another reason is because of
the need constantly of being led, feeling our need day by
day. Lord, teach me what I should
do, where I should go, how I should act. Give me wisdom, direction,
and to have such an assurance that the Lord will not forsake
us. Another reason is, because of all people on the earth, it
is those who have their eyes open that know what the worth
of a soul is. They know what heaven is, they
know what hell is. They know what it is if they
are to be lost forever. And they know that their salvation
hangs upon the Lord. Beautiful name, His name shall
be called Jesus, for He shall save them from their sins. And so to have the assurance,
when they know the worth of that set before us in heaven, and
that inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, we do not want
the Lord to forsake us. And the Lord says in John 10,
that no man is able to pluck them out of my hand. My Father
which gave them me is greater than I, and no man is able to
pluck them. out of my Father's hand. And
so they give that assurance. Maybe we need it this evening.
And one of you need this assurance that the Lord will not forsake
you, that though you try Him, though you go against His word
often, that He will not forsake you. He is faithful. He which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. He will not forsake the work
of His own hands. As He once opened your eyes,
as He once led you, as He once made something crooked straight,
then these things are what He has done. And He will continue
to do them, and He will do them and not forsake you. So may this
be an encouragement, may it be a help to us in the way, an encouragement
to us when we think of those who know not the Lord. Help us
in our prayers to pray for the light of the Lord's countenance,
that our eyes be opened and that the eyes of loved ones be opened
as well. Was it not Tyndale that when
he was being martyred prayed, Lord open the king of England's
eyes. King of England, Henry VIII and Ere long that answer was given
and the Reformation in England, you might say, began or continued
on. But what a change it makes when
the Lord opens eyes. And may we know it personally
and bless the Lord for it. The Lord then be pleased to add
his blessing. Amen.