Morning. If you would, open with
me back to Isaiah 42. Our text is going to be what
Brother William just read to us, Isaiah 42, verses one through
seven. And the title is Behold My Servant. Before we get into the heart
of the message, what is a servant? In general, a servant is one
that has a master, someone that they serve, someone that they
receive commands from. A servant does the bidding of
the master. He does not seek praise from
others for himself. He seeks that others will praise
his master. And he is one that puts the needs
of others above their own comforts. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a servant. In Old Testament times there
were two types of servants. One servant was a typical servant. This was a servant that due to
their station in life or due to their nature had overspent. They were in debt and they could
not pay their debt. So they were sold into service. These servants did not necessarily
love their master or their position, but they had nothing whereby
they could receive relief. They were in bondage. The other
type of servant was one that served his master of love and
respect. Isaiah 42 begins with, behold,
my servant. Oh, what a title for the Lord
of glory. Christ Jesus, God the Son, is
God's servant. He is God, one with the Father,
one with the Spirit, and he is God's servant. What would compel
the Son of God to become the servant of God? Hold your place
here and turn with me to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21
will begin reading in verse 2. This is the law given by God
to Moses. Exodus 21 verse 2, if thou buy
an Hebrew servant, take note here, this law applies only to
God's particular people, not all servants. if thou buy an
Hebrew servant. Six years shall he serve, 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 have given him
a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself. When this law was given, if a
man owed what he could not pay, he would be sold into servitude
to pay his debt. This law basically said at the
end of the man's service, he would leave as he entered, single
or married. However, during the bondage,
his master may give him a wife, and he may have children with
the wife that was given to him. Then at the end of his service,
if he loved himself more than he loved his wife and his children
that were given to him, he is free to leave. But they are not. They are the masters. But if he loved his wife and
children, verse five, 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
unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the
door or unto the doorpost. And his master shall bore his
ear through with an awl. And he shall serve him. forever. This law concerns one and only
one, our Lord Jesus Christ. But our Lord was never sold into
bondage. He is holy, harmless, undefiled. But he was given a wife, and
his wife as debts that she cannot pay. She is in bondage. She cannot escape. For our sakes,
he became poor. To redeem his wife, our Lord
became God's servant, not as a servant under distress or obligation,
but freely. out of love. And his master,
the Father of God, gave him a wife. In John 14, 31, on the night
he was betrayed, while serving his master, our Lord said, that
the world may know that I love the Father. How are we to know
that Christ loves his master? The same verse he continued,
as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. To express his love to the Father,
Christ Jesus fulfilled the Father's will and commandment. Our Lord
plainly said, I love my master. And he declared his love for
his wife in Jeremiah, when he said, the Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Verse five, here in Exodus 21. If the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, Christ loves the Father. My wife, he
loves the bride that was given to him. My children, he loves
those that he adopted before the foundation of the world. I will not go out for him. Then his master shall bring him
unto 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. Having plainly
declared his love for his master and for his wife and for his
children, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken by his master and pierced. Isaiah 53, 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When he shall make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, 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. Our Lord
became a servant for the sake of his bride. Go back to Isaiah
42. Isaiah 42, verse one, behold my servant. A servant must have a master. Who is Christ's master? The one
speaking here is God, the Holy Triune God, God the Father, God
the Son, God the Spirit, clearly declared with power in verse
5. Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens. and
stretch them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which
cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it
and spirit to them that walk therein. Specifically, our Lord
served God the Father. In John 4.34, He said unto his
disciples, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and
to finish his work. And again in 638, he said, for
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me. Christ Jesus came into the world
as the servant of the father. The master of a great house may
have many servants. The Almighty God has many servants. Why must it be God the Son who
is His servant? While chapter headings help us
stay together and help us to find one another's place as we
read and study, They sometimes get in the way. Turn back a page
to Isaiah 41, verse 24. And as we read this, this is
written to God's chosen people, Israel. Spiritual Israel. Fleshly Israel. He is describing
His people here. And as he describes them, he's
also describing all of us. This is what we are in the flesh. Isaiah 41 verse 24. Behold, pay attention, consider
this, listen carefully. Behold, ye are of nothing and
your work Of naught an abomination is he that chooseth you. Skip
down to verse 28. For I beheld and there was no
man even among them and there was no counselor that when I
asked of them could answer a word. We have no knowledge. We have
no wisdom. Verse 29, behold, they are all
vanity. Their works are nothing. Their
molten images are wind and confusion. Concerning mankind, concerning
us outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty God says,
behold, Ye are of nothing, and your work of naught. Behold,
they are all vanity. Their works are nothing. Our
state is dire. There is no good news here, nothing
to be comforted with. But then we read, behold, my
servant, You who have considered what
you are, that you are sin, that you stand guilty and condemned
before the just and righteous God of heaven and earth, and
in yourself you have no hope. Behold, my servant. Why must it be God the Son as
God's servant? The work is great, and none other
is able. The work is great, and none other
is willing. Behold, my servant. What are we to behold concerning
God's servant? Consider his calling. Verse one. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect. Skip down to verse six. I the
Lord have called thee in righteousness. God chose his servant. Christ is God's elect and Christ's
calling was right. His calling was in perfect accord
with God's holiness. Not only was God righteous in
calling Christ, but Christ is holy. Christ is righteous. And Christ came into the world
in the flesh, and he fulfilled God's righteousness. The law
of God The righteousness of God was perfectly honored and perfectly
kept by the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold his humility, verse two. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. As our Lord walked
the earth in the flesh, he did not seek his own glory, but he
sought the glory of his master. How often we read that after
he had healed, he would instruct the one that he healed to tell
no man. He came to do his father's will
and not his own. to seek his father's glory and
not his own. Behold his love and his tenderness. Verse three. A bruised reed shall
he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. Oh, what words of comfort to
this sinner. A bruised reed shall he not break. A bruised reed is useless. It's a stalk of a plant that
has been crushed. When I was little, there was
a man who grew gladiola flowers on my grandparents' place. He was quite serious about his
plants. It was his living. He grew these
plants, and he would sell the flowers. And I can remember watching
him work among those flowers. And as he went through, he would
examine each one. And if he came upon a plant,
and that flower had broken over, it was an animal that stepped
on it, Rain had hit it too hard, whatever, the flower had fallen
over. He would yank that plant from
the ground. He couldn't profit from that
flower. Not so with our Lord. A bruised
reed shall he not break. In and of myself, the sin that
I am, I cannot bring forth any fruit under righteousness. I
am useless, a bruised reed. Thank God for his love and tenderness
for useless sinners such as myself. The smoking flax shall he not
quench Smoking flax is what remains after a candle is no longer putting
forth light. It's a candle with no flame.
Gives off no light. It's of no use. But smoking flax
is even worse than being useless. It's an annoyance. Ever blown
out a birthday candle and the smoke Gets up your nose, it itches,
it burns, it tickles, it's annoying. That's what I consider myself
before my Lord when I see my sins ever before me. The sin
and iniquity I continue to commit even knowing his love and the
great cost of his salvation to me. I am smoking flax in his nostrils. That's what I consider myself.
But though in this sinful flesh I produce no light, the smoking
flax shall he not quench. He won't put it out. Oh, the great love wherewith
he loved us. Behold his salvation. Verse four. He shall not fail
nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and
the owl shall wait for his law. Christ Jesus came into the world
as God's servant for the sake of his wife. We, being dead in
sin and under the just condemnation of God, had nothing to redeem
ourselves. Being aliens and strangers from
the covenant mercies, we did not even have the hope of being
freed in the seventh year. Christ himself entered into our
bondage. He took our place. In righteousness,
he walked before God and man. There was no fault found in him.
There was nothing to condemn him, no sin that he should suffer
death. But he came into the world to
save sinners. And he could not and he would
not fail. In the garden on the night he
was betrayed as our sin was pressed into him, he said unto those
with him, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. He was taken from prison and
from judgment to bring forth judgment unto truth. He was taken
and nailed to the cross, my cross. He suffered and consumed the
wrath of God that should have been mine. He was cut off from
the land of the living. Excuse me, he was cut off out
of the land of the living. He took my place in death. While he walked in the flesh,
he walked in my place. While he hung on the tree, He
suffered the righteous penalty my sins deserved. While He laid
in the tomb, He paid the wages of my sin, death. When He came forth, He clothed
me in His righteousness, in Christ alone. I am justified, sanctified,
and glorified, for as He is, so are we in this world. Thus saith God the Lord, Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my Spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles." The hope, the plea, and the comfort of God's
people is that Christ Jesus, God's servant, loves His Master,
loves His Bride, and loves His children. He loved us and gave
Himself for us. Turn over real quickly to Hebrews
chapter 7. said to his master, I love my
master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free. And his master shall bore his
ear through with an all, and he shall serve him forever. He loved us and gave himself
for us. He shall serve his master forever. Hebrews 7, verse 25. Let's start in verse 24. But this man,
our Lord, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth, to make intercession for them. May God be pleased
to enable us to behold his servant, our Lord Christ Jesus.