May God be with us this morning
and help us as we together turn to his word. We will turn to
the chapter that we read in the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 43.
Isaiah 43, and we will read as a text, verse 21. Verse 21. Isaiah
43. Verse 21, which reads, this people
have I formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my praise. If I asked some of the children
here this morning, I wonder how you would answer this question,
what is a church? Or what is the church? You might say a church is a building
that you go to, you meet in a church. You might go a little bit further
than that and say the church is an organized structure of
an organization. So you might say, well, a church
is the Church of England, or the Church of the Roman Catholics,
or the Church of the Methodists. It's an organized structure. But actually, biblically, when
we read the word church, We are talking about people. We are
talking about Christians. And so the church, as we understand
it, is the collection, the group of all believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you are a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ, then you are in the church. And that Is what
a Christian is? A believer in Christ. They say,
if I ask the question, what's a Christian? I say, well, a Christian
is someone who goes to church. Or a Christian is someone who
follows the Bible and the teaching of Jesus. Or the Christian is
someone who believes certain things that the church teaches
or that the Bible says. But of course a Christian fundamentally
is someone who believes and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not someone who just believes
that there was someone called Jesus. Not just someone who believes
that he did what he did and said what he said. Not just someone
who accepts that what he said was good and laudable and good
to follow. but someone who trusts him as
their God, their saviour. And really, a Christian, that
is someone who is in the church, is described in this text that
I've read. And there are two parts. to this
text, and as we have two services, I want to split this text in
half for the morning and evening today. We have two parts, two
elements, two essential elements of a Christian here. And the
first one is they are someone who has known and experienced
God's work in their heart. This people, says God, have I
formed for myself. A Christian is someone whom God
has formed, God has impacted, God has worked in them. And the second half is a Christian
is someone who shows forth God's praise. They give glory to God
and these two things are essential elements of what it is to be
a true Christian. They have, they must have known
God's work in them and they must also, and they do, bring glory
to God. This is what a Christian is. And so this morning, I want to
consider this first half. This people have I formed for
myself. And we can see really three sections
to this phrase. We see firstly, who is he talking
about? This people. We then see, well,
what has he done? The work that he does, he has
formed them. And then thirdly, we see the
reason why he has done it for himself. The people, the work,
and the reason, this people I have formed for myself. And if you look at it like this
way, since we've just come out of Christmas time, certainly
in our household, we've had a renewed influx of Lego. And other houses
here may also have had an influx of Lego. And there's two things
you can do with Lego. You can either build the actual
set that's come your way. You can follow the instructions
and make it in perfectly how it's supposed to be, how it was
made to be. Or your mind might be a bit different
and you prefer to actually build your own thing. out of the blocks
you've been given. And so you get creative, and
you think of your own creation. But either way, when you've finished
making it, it's yours. It's your creation. And you can
do with it what you want to do with it. You can play what you
want with it, because you've thought of it, you've made it,
and at least for that time, it's yours to play with. you see here
it's your it's your work that has done it and therefore you
can say it's mine it belongs to me well just take the illustration
that's what we have here we have the object we have the work and
we have who it belongs to this people have I formed for myself. And so firstly, let's look at
the people. This people. Who are this people? Well, the Lord describes them.
They are his choice. They are his treasure, his precious
people. In this chapter, in verse 4,
he reads them, he speaks of them like this. since thou wast precious
in my sight. Thou wast precious in my sight. Thou hast been honorable, and
I have loved thee. This is a people precious to
the Lord. This is a people who he loves. This is a people who are his
particular treasure and joy. It's his people. His people. And he has this particular
care, this particular love for his people. But the remarkable
thing is who these people really are. Because these people are
sinners. These people are fallen from
the perfection and the glory of God. These people have broken
his commandments. And yet they are precious, his
precious people. We have it really set before
us here in verse one of this chapter. Because this chapter
opens, now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel. Who was Jacob? Jacob, one of
the patriarchs, of course, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But what do
we know about Jacob? Well, Jacob was a deceiver. Jacob
deceived his father, didn't he? He dressed up as Esau. He pretended
to be his older brother. He lied to his father and said,
I am Esau, when we all know he wasn't. He took the birthright,
in that sense, by deceit and lies. And Jacob, when you look
particularly at his early life, Jacob was someone who would do
almost anything for his own gain. He would deceive others or defraud
others for his own benefit, for his own gain. In fact, When you
read some parts of the life of Jacob, he is not a likable character. And so in that sense, God created
Jacob. You see, God formed him in the
womb. God brought him forth into life.
He was God's creation, but he was Jacob, the deceiver. Jacob, the sinner. The Lord that created the old
Jacob. But then he goes on and he says, and he that formed thee,
O Israel. Because Jacob was given a new
name, Israel, which means a prince with God. And Jacob stops being
the deceiver, Jacob, and becomes Israel, the prince with God. And what makes this difference?
Well, God meets with Jacob. You know the account, how Jacob
flees After he hears that Esau is wanting to kill him, Jacob
flees up to Laban and far away from the family and he lays down
and sets his stones up as a pillow and God appears to him in a dream
at that place called Bethel. And he promises to be with him
and to bless him. And so Jacob goes on his way
changed after his experience of Bethel, promising that if
God would bring him back to this place, that his God, that God
would be his God. And so that is a pivotal time
in the life of Jacob. But in fact, there's an arguably
even more pivotal time in the life of Jacob many years later
on at a place called Peniel. Because that was when he was
going to meet his brother again, to meet Esau again. And he hears
that Esau is coming with hundreds of men. And Jacob fears that
Esau and these men are going to destroy him and his family.
And he is left alone that night. And we read that there wrestled
a man with him all night. And Jacob says, I will not let
thee go except thou bless me. And the Lord blessed him. And
he changed his name. Because Jacob experienced the
grace of God at Peniel. Jacob knew that the Lord was
his God, and he had to be weakened in the experience. He put his
thigh out of joint, but he wouldn't let him go because he needed
God, and he knew he needed his blessing. And the Lord blessed
him. And Jacob became Israel. The deceiver became a prince
with God. The Lord that created thee, O
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. You see, this is a
picture of the Lord's people. They are Jacob deceiving sinners. And yet God comes to them. because
they are precious in his sight. They are precious in his sight. And so any and every true Christian
is a recipient of the amazing and remarkable grace of God because
he has looked upon them in the exact state that they're in A
sinner who cannot better themselves, a sinner who cannot improve themselves,
and he's looked on them, and yet he still sees them as precious. He still sees them as those whom
he loves. They are, and always have been,
his people. His people. And so today, who
is this people? We can see it in the Old Testament.
the descendants of Jacob, descendants of Israel, but who do we think
of when we think of the people of God today? Well, the Scriptures
tell us that the Lord has a people out of every tribe and every
nation and every tongue, that there is a people from the Jews
and from the Gentiles, there is a people from all nations
and throughout all ages. There is a millions and millions
of a number that no man can number that the Lord calls His people. His precious people. And so we all this morning are
in an equal position. This is where we see true equality. Because we are all equally fallen. We're all equally sinners. We all equally deserve the anger
and wrath of God. We are all equally under the
law and his condemnation because of our sin. We are all equal
in that sense. And yet the scriptures tell us
that there is a people who are precious in the sight of God.
But the wonderful thing is, Really, we do not know who that is. The Lord in his amazing sovereignty,
he knows, but he has not revealed to us who his people are other
than the fact that his people will come to faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so the encouraging thing
for us here this morning is that there is no scriptural reason
to assume that you are not precious in the sight of God. Because all have fallen and come
short of the glory of God and all, all who reach heaven are
recipients of grace and have not earned their way there. This is his people. This people. And so what is the work then
that has been done? This people have I formed. This people have I formed. This is God's work. Look from verse 11 to verse 13
of this chapter. where the Lord says, I, even I am the Lord,
and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared and have saved
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you. Therefore ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he. There is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it, or who shall hinder it? I will work. We can look at this in two ways.
The Lord has worked. The Lord has worked. This is a work that has been
done for this people. Look at it. There is no other saviour. Beside me there is no saviour. And the Lord God has worked to
save this people because he sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as that savior to come and to save his people from their sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in
his amazing grace, came. willingly to be born to Bethlehem,
willingly to live his perfect, although difficult life in this
world. He came to die for this people. This is a work that's been done
for them. If you like, almost outside of
them, they are a recipient of the work that Christ has done. And yet, none could hinder it. none could hinder it. You look
at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and time after time you
see the work of the devil to hinder his work. I've been thinking
in the Christmas story of how Herod tried to kill the Lord
Jesus Christ and destroyed all those children of two years and
under from Bethlehem in an attempt to destroy the Christ, the devil
trying to hinder the work. Come on through his life, come
to thee, temptations in the wilderness after his baptism and the devil
tries to bring him down, tries to make him deviate from the
path he's called to walk, tries to bring him away from the path
of suffering. He's trying to bring down the
work of the Christ. You think many, there's a time
later on when He talks to Peter and the disciples of how he's
going to go to Jerusalem to suffer. And Peter says, not so, Lord. It shall not be. And he says,
get thee behind me, Satan. Satan's using even the mouth
of Peter to try and stop him from the work. Come into Gethsemane. You think how the disciples or
at least Peter tried to fight off the army and cut off the
high priest servants here and the Lord intervenes and he willingly
gives himself. He will not be hindered from
his work. You think of sometimes what I
think must have been one of the greatest temptations that the
Lord Jesus Christ faced as he hung on the cross. Come down
from the cross and we will believe. As they mocked him and laughed
at him, come down from the cross and we will believe. Now he could
have come down from the cross. It would have been an amazing
display of his power. It would have been an amazing
demonstration that he was almighty God as he comes down from the
cross and shows them how powerful and how wonderful he is. And
they had a promise, we will believe. What a temptation. And yet he
stays nailed to that cross of wood because it's the work that
he must complete. I will work and who shall let
it? This people I have formed because
the Lord is working to save his people, to wash away their sins
through the price that the Lord Jesus Christ pays on the cross
at Calvary and to bless them with his perfect holy righteousness
that he's worked out in his life. And so the Lord formed his people
through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ so that they may
stand before Almighty God as clean and washed as snow and
clothed in the righteous perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
formed them. They are acceptable unto God
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are fit for heaven through
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing more to be done.
There is nothing more to be added either by God or by them. The
work is complete. And so he has formed them. This
people I have formed. But also, there's a work done
in them. It's not just external. And this
is the wonderful thing of true Christianity is that this isn't
just a mental acceptance of certain things that happened long ago.
But there's a personal inward knowledge in the heart of the
Lord's work in his people. And coming back to Jacob, you
see, this can be seen in him, can't it? You see, when he comes
to Penuel and he wrestles with the Lord, Jacob becomes a man
who has a religion of the heart. He becomes a man of prayer. He's
not just walking out the traditions of his fathers. He becomes a
man of prayer. He personally won't let go of
the Lord. he's not doing it to please anyone
else he's not doing it to impress anyone else it's him alone with
God and he becomes this this man of prayer and he has a realization
that he personally forget everyone else for a little while he personally
needs the blessing of Almighty God and it's wonderful when you read
the account of how the Lord's He says to him, what is your
name? And he says, I am Jacob. I'm Jacob. Well, you could say,
well, he's just saying his name. I think he's saying more than
that. He's acknowledging, I'm Jacob. I'm the deceiver. I'm
the sinner. I'm Jacob. And I'm a weakened
Jacob, because in his wrestling, he's been weakened. And his thigh
is out of joint. And he's realized that, He can't
even take another step without God's help. He can't meet his
brother without God's help. He won't know any blessing except
the blessing of God because he's Jacob. He's deceiving Jacob. But the Lord blessed him. You
see, it made him a truly personal believer. It worked in his heart
and he became a man of prayer. And it's wonderful when you read
the life of Israel after that. You know, he doesn't come perfect. He doesn't become sinless. Come
to the time of Joseph and He looks at outward circumstances
and he says, all these things are against me. He loses his
faith, his trust in the Lord. He's not perfect Jacob or perfect
Israel after that. But there's something about him
which is very different. And when you come to the end
of Jacob's life, and he's speaking to Joseph and Joseph's two sons,
Ephraim and Manasseh, this is his little summary where he says,
God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which
fed me all my life along until this day, the angel which redeemed
me from all evil. That's what he describes of his
experience with God. And you see how personal it is. God who fed me, God who redeemed
me. It becomes personal. a personal knowledge for Jacob
of the goodness and blessing of God, because God has worked
in him, and that's the work of God in the hearts of his people
still today. He has formed them. And what
does this forming take? Well, part of God's forming his
people, part of God's working in them, is to always bring them
to a place of repentance. They will always be brought to
a place of repentance, just like Jacob was brought to a place
where he realised his need, he realised his weakness, he realised
he was sinful Jacob. So all true believers come to
that point by the work of God. where they must acknowledge that
they are fallen sinners, they must acknowledge from the heart
that they are weakened and can do nothing themselves to improve,
they must acknowledge that any blessing that comes to them must
only come through the goodness and grace of Almighty God. So this morning, if we are a
believer, we must be able to trace that we have repented of
our sins. That we acknowledge our sins
and we have turned to the Lord. There must be repentance. But then there must also be faith.
A turning and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Jacob
in his wrestling, he doesn't give up. He keeps going till
he knows the blessing of God. And someone who's knowing the
work of God in them Let me just be clear, they may not say they're
having the work of God in their hearts. They may not realize. To them, they have just come
to a realization of their sin. To them, they have just turned
to the Lord because where else can they go? The reason is because
the Lord is working, but they probably wouldn't say that at
the time. But you see, it always flows. The work of God, once
begun, is completed. And so once he brings one to
repentance, then they will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because how can they not? Because they will not let him
go until he blesses them. And so this is marks of the work
of God who is forming his people. He is bringing them to repentance
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This people have I formed. But
you see, it's his work. I have formed them by his grace. Again, we talked about Jacob,
but you come right into the New Testament, you think of Saul
of Tarsus, later as the Apostle Paul. You can see some parallels,
can't we? He was arguably far worse than
Jacob, though. Chief of sinners, as he describes
himself. persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ, a blasphemer
against the Lord Jesus Christ, hardened against it, going off
into Damascus to take those believers of Jesus Christ to prison and
even to death, far, far away from the Lord, and yet the Lord
was not going to let go of Paul because he was one of his people. And it's wonderful then as you
come through the epistles of the Apostle Paul that you read
his words, particularly in Philippians 3, where he describes himself
and he describes what the Lord has done. This is what I was,
he says. Circumcised the eighth day. The stock of Israel of the
tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew of the Hebrews is touching
the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless
for what things were gained for me. Those I counted lost for
Christ. See, here's the change. He says,
this is what I was, but here's the change. Because he comes
to a point when he realized those things were gain for him, but
they did not bring him to Christ. They were gain for me, but they
were loss for Christ. Yeah, doubtless, like out of
all things, but loss. for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. Can you see the change in the
apostle? This is what I was, but those
things that I thought were gained, they are loss. Because the excellency
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, far beyond, is far above anything
that I had prior to his conversion. You see, the work of God. This
person, I have formed, I have changed, I have worked in them. And that's the same today. The
Lord brings us faith, through repentance and faith to believe
in that work which has been done by the Lord Jesus Christ. Is
that true of you and me this morning? That we have a personal
concern and a personal desire that the things that we know
of that have been done by the Lord Jesus Christ may have an
effect on us. They come to us. We can say,
I won't let thee go, except thou dost bless me and receive the
blessing that comes through the work of Jesus Christ in taking
away the sins of sinners. This people I have formed. And then thirdly, for myself. This people have I formed for
Myself. They belong to Him. They are His work. His handiwork. They belong to Him. As the Apostle
says, you are not your own. It's not your life anymore. Not your decisions. Not your
choices. Not your will. You're not your
own. You are bought. You're under His ownership. And
you've been bought with a price. the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And so you have been formed for
him. His people are his. We see a wonderful comfort that
comes from this. Belong to him? Belong to him
who said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me? belong to him who says, none
can ever pluck them out of my hand, and none of them will be
lost, belong to the shepherd who has counted and knows his
every sheep in the fold. This means that his people, because
they have been chosen by him, because they have been worked
in by him, because they belong to him, they are eternally secure. They cannot be lost, because
they are held in the unchanging purpose and nature of God himself. If he cannot change, just think
of this logically for a moment, if God cannot change, and if
his will is perfect, then it is not possible that he can let
go of one whom he has said that he loves. Because that love cannot
change. They are His, and they are secure. I have formed them for myself. And so if we are under the headship
of Christ, one of these, and all the blessings of being His
flow as well. These people are formed for myself,
they are mine, so I will provide for them. I have formed them. They are mine, so I will keep
them and preserve them. They are mine, so I will not
let them go. They are mine, so I will do for
them what is good and wise and right. They are mine, adopted
into the family. They have an inheritance, incorruptible
and undefiled, reserved in heaven. They are under the great and
good shepherd. They're mine. This people I formed
for myself. I have loved them with an everlasting
love and I will love them with an everlasting love. And so can you see in these few
short words that we have here the immensity of the grace of
God because he's looked on this people and he is saved. and comfort them. We're a Christian here this morning,
a believer. This text tells you there is
absolutely no place for pride. It tells you there is no place
for you to brag or puff yourself up because you're a believer. You chose him because he first
chose you. You love him because he first
loved you. You trusted in him because he
brought you to trust in him. He has formed you. You are his
child, and you belong to him. So there is no place for pride,
but wonderfully also, believer, there is no place for worry,
No place for despair, because you are His, and you are eternally
His. But maybe you're a doubting believer
this morning, doubting Christian, who does not feel to be saved. You are not experiencing what
you think you should be experiencing. And it's very, very real. And
very true. That so often we do not feel
like we're saved. We don't feel like we're having
the joy that we thought we would be having. In fact, all we feel
is to be a sinner and lost. And we feel that we are constantly
contending with an evil heart and nature. Notice what I keep
saying. That's how you feel. But if you're
relying on your feelings here this morning and as a result
you are doubting your salvation, then remember that your feelings
did not save you. Whether you were uplifted or
downcast did not save you. You were saved because he says,
this people I have formed for myself. Yes, we want to feel
our religion. Yes, we want to know the Lord's
blessing. Yes, we don't want to have it
dry and dead. But if you are basing on whether
you think you're a believer or not on the fact of how you feel,
then you will be up and down as much as your feelings are.
And your assurance in Christ is not up and down. It is a constant. It is secure by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Your salvation is not based on
how you feel, it's based on the eternal work of God. Doubting Christian, this people
have I formed. It was his work and his alone. Seeking soul. Seeking soul. Maybe you feel a bit downcast
this morning. You say, well, I've heard about
how God works. And I've heard about his sovereignty.
We've heard about how it's his work in the heart and not ours.
And so what am I to do? Am I just to sit and to wait
for this sovereign God to work in my heart? Well, take courage
in one sense. It is God's work to save, and
so if you are trying to earn his favour, you're trying to
earn your way into his kingdom, you're trying to, if you like,
persuade him to save you by your good works, and you're failing. Encouragement here is it's not
your works or your abilities. You need to trust alone in the
Lord and what he has done. But remember the scripture. The
word of God encourages you. Because the Lord says, come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Yes, there is a sovereign God.
Yes, it's his work to save. But the sovereign Lord speaks
this wonderful call. Come unto me. And so if we're seeking the Lord
this morning, take this encouragement that it's the Lord's work to
save. He has done it all and does it all for you, for sinners
today. But hear the call of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Come unto me. Ask him for the help you need
to look and to trust in this work that he has done, this people
have I formed. for myself. And so here's the
first half. This is what the Lord has done. This is the first
mark of a Christian. They are someone who knows and
trusts in the complete work of God and they belong to him through
his work at the cross at Calvary and his work in their heart. And then tonight, God willing,
this second mark of a believer, they shall show forth my praise. May God bless his word today.
Amen.