Turn with me back to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. Sometimes I read verses
of scripture and I enter into them in a way that makes me think. That could be the message. The
shortest message ever preached. This happens from time to time,
but I think that, I think that literally, all I really have
to do is just read that verse of scripture and then say, I
hope everybody has a good night. You're all dismissed. We'll see
you Wednesday. This is one of those verses.
This really is one of those verses. Isaiah 43, verse one, it says,
but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. What needs to be added to that? What needs to be added to that? You know, preachers are called
to make sense of the reading. That's how it's worded in Nehemiah
8. We're called on to expound on
these things, but I think What needs to be added to that? What does a man need to add to
that? What more can he say than to
you he hath said? But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not. For I have redeemed thee. You just think about that. I have called thee by thy name. You're mine. You're mine. Well, because the lot is laid
in the lap, because it's my calling, let me just expound just a little
bit, just a brief minute on our Lord's words, and then I'll be
done. Chapter 42 ends with God's judgment on the wicked, which we all by nature were a
part of that group of people, all of us. But God, Chapter 43
verse 1 says, but now, two glorious words, but now. Look at chapter 42 verse 25.
It says, therefore, he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger
and the strength of battle, and it hath set him on fire round
about. Yet he knew not, and it burned
him, yet he laid it not to heart. Chapter 43, verse one says, but
now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, thus saith the
Lord that created you. All people were created in Adam, but God's people were created
in Christ. All men and women were created
in Adam. But God's people were created
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee in Christ. All people were born into the
sin of Adam, but God's people were born again into the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How glorious is that? And verse
one says, but now, Thus saith the Lord. I love that phrase. I truly love that phrase. Thus
saith the Lord. It carries so much power and
so much authority and so much certainty. It's a command. And it's a command that's going
to get a result. Thus saith the Lord. Moses told
Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord. Ezekiel told that valley of dead,
dry bones, thus saith the Lord. Can these bones live? These dead,
dry, lifeless bones. That's what we are naturally. That's what we are. Can these dead, dry bones live? The Lord said, you tell them,
thus saith the Lord. And he did. And they did, they
lived. Every one of us here who have
had our eyes open to the truth of the gospel of Christ, every
one of us heard that very thing through this very word. Thus
saith the Lord. This is how it's going to be.
This is how it is. Write it down. Take it to the
bank. Engrave it in a rock with an
iron pen if you want to. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith
the Lord. We're not gonna question it.
We're not gonna debate it. We're not gonna argue with it.
Thus saith the Lord. Let me say that again. We're
not gonna question it. We're not going to debate it.
We're not going to argue with it. Thus saith the Lord. All
right, now we're not going to question it. Am I getting my
point across? We're not going to debate it.
We're not going to argue it. Thus saith the Lord. What did
he say? Fear not. Well, wait a minute. Should we
question that? No. Should we debate that? Should
we debate whether or not we need to fear? No. Fear not. Our Lord says what
He says, and He says it to who He says it. He says what He says,
and He says it to who He says it. He's speaking not to the
world, but to a particular person who represents a particular people. Verse 1 says, But now thus saith
the Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, sinner, trickster, supplanter."
You know when Jacob had moments of rational thoughts, he sat
in his quiet place thinking, what a wretched man I have been.
What a wretched man I am. Sinner, trickster, supplanter,
liar. Don't you love how the Lord continually
reminds us who He did this for? Aren't you so glad that is from
the first page to the last page? Everywhere in this book, He continually
reminds us who He accomplished salvation for. We need the reassurance
of this. We need this reminder. We need
it every day for our comfort, our peace, our rest. We need
to constantly be reminded that our Lord accomplished this great
salvation for sinners. That's what we are. Verse one says, but now thus
sayeth the Lord that created thee. I made you. I own you. Even though you sinned against
me and rebelled against me, before I ever formed you in the belly,
I knew you. I loved you. I made a promise to save you.
So fear not. Fear not. I created you. And
I created you for a particular reason. A particular reason. I love this. Okay, what I'm about
to tell you, I love this. I'm just so happy to tell you
this. Look at verse five. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by my name, for. I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. Why did our God create us? He
created us for his glory. What's our purpose for being
here? His glory. I told you all before, I told
you a long time ago, that I used to work for a particular company
and we were, the employees were all kind of standing around talking
before the store opened one day and this one girl, they were
all talking, I was just listening, but this one girl, they were
having deep conversation and she legitimately wanted to know,
why are we here? Why are we here? What is our
purpose for being here? Here's the answer. His glory. His glory. That's the answer.
The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the purpose of anything
being here? Why am I here? Why am I still
here? Why is anything here? What's
the purpose of anything being here? Why did God create this
earth? He's in need of nothing. He's
the self-existent One. Why did He create this earth?
Why did He create the sun, S-U-N, and the moon and the stars? Why? Here's the reason. His glory. His glory. The heavens declare
His glory. Everything that our God has done
is to the praise of his glory. Everything he does is glorious. Is worthy to be praised for its
glory. Everything he does, everything
that happens. Everything that happens is to
the praise of his glory. everything that happens. Turn
with me to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. If we want to
know why do things happen? Why do things happen? That's
the answer. That's the reason. Look at John
11 verse one. It says, now a certain man was
sick. A certain man became sick, named
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister, Martha.
It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore,
his sisters sent unto him saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Now watch verse four. When Jesus
heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death. but for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."
Why did he get sick? The glory of God, that the Son
of God might be glorified thereby. Everything declares his glory,
all the way to his greatest glory. Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. And the Lord said, it's in the
fact that I will be merciful to sinners. Sovereign grace and sovereign
mercy toward sinners. He said, that's my glory. That's
how our existence glorifies him the most. It's in the grace and
the mercy that he was able to show us at the cross of Calvary. That's his glory. Look at John
chapter 12, verse 23. John 12 verse 23, And Jesus answered
them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Verse 28, He said, Father, glorify
thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die. He said, the hour is come that
the son of man should be glorified in doing this. Look at John 17. John 17 verse 1, these words
spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father,
the hour is come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify
thee. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was." He said, Father, I glorified you in my
life. Glorify me in my death. That I might finish this work
you sent me to do. I finished. Your work in life. I'll also finish it in death.
And he said. Father in this. Here is the glory
of it. This is glorious. Look at verse
22. This is amazing. Verse 22 he
said and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. Is that not
amazing? That they may be one even as
we are one. The glory that you have given
to me. What's all this for? His glory. It's all to the praise of His
glory. The Father has glorified Him. He said, Father, the glory
you have given to me. I've given it to them. That's what He was saying to
us in our text. Go back to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43 verse 1, it says, But
now thus saith the Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I paid the price. I paid Calvary's
price. I paid Calvary's price. What was the price? Blood. Blood, I shed the blood. Fear
not, I shed the blood. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. He said, fear not thou worm Jacob,
I shed the blood. Look at verse 14. Thus saith
the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel, your Redeemer. Look at chapter 44, Isaiah 44,
verse 21. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel,
for thou art my servant, I have formed thee. Thou art my servant,
O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. Don't fear, you're not
going to be forgotten of me. David was constantly in a place
where he kept crying, Lord, are your mercies clean gone? Did
I use them all up? Have you left me? Am I here alone? He said, you're not going to
be forgotten of me. Verse 22, I have blotted out
as a thick cloud. That means you can't see through
it. I took the hyssop of mercy, truth, law, righteousness. I
dipped it in the blood and I blotted out your sins so thick you cannot
see through that blood. Verse 22, I have blotted out
as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return
unto me for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye
mountains, O forest, and every tree therein. For the Lord hath
redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. Is that not glorious? He said,
with my own blood, I blotted out all of your transgressions. And he said, I glorified myself
in the process. That's what we wanted. That's
what we want. We want our sins to be gone and
him to get all the glory for it. Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but unto thy name give all the glory for the shedding
of your own blood. Back to chapter 43, verse one
says, But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name. I've called you by your name.
You mean Jacob? No, I mean Israel. And another
name that goes with Israel. He said, in my redemption of
you, your name has gone from wretched, vile sinner to prince
with God. I've given you a new name and
I've called you by it. It's a blessed name. It's a precious
name. Oh, how sweet. It is so blessed,
so precious, so sweet. Do you want to see it? Turn over
to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 23 says,
The name whereby he shall be called is the Lord our righteousness,
with his people being his bride, being married to him. Jeremiah
33 verse 16 says, In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely, And this is the name wherewith she shall
be called, the Lord our righteousness." Isn't that, doesn't that? Aren't
you so glad when a man and woman get married, the woman takes
a man's name? What a name. What a name. The name that he
goes by, that's the name she gets to go by. How amazing, what a privilege,
what an honor, what a glory that is given to us, his glory given
to us. He said, I've given you a new
name and I've called you by it, righteousness, righteousness. I've covered you in righteousness. I have robed you in my righteousness. I have shed the blood and robed
the righteousness. And because of that, in that,
you're mine. You're mine. Go back to Isaiah
43. Verse one says, but now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called
thee by thy name, thou art mine. You are bought with a price,
you're mine, and you'll be mine forever. You will be mine forever. I will never leave you. I'll
never forsake you. I will provide for you. I will
protect you. From this point on, you have
nothing to worry about. Fear not. Fear not. Verse two, in closing, I'm done. Verse two says, when thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I'm with thee. What good news that is. What
a declaration that is. It's certain, it's true, it's
worthy to be believed because God said it. The God who cannot
lie, thus saith the Lord. Thank God. Amen.