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Rupert Rivenbark

The Lord Has Redeemed Jacob

Isaiah 44:23
Rupert Rivenbark April, 20 2014 Audio
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Good morning everybody. It's
good to see you. How about turning in your Bible to
Isaiah chapter 44. Isaiah 44. Now, we're going to do some referencing
this morning, and if you don't wish to participate, that will
be fine. And if you do, I'll try to wait
for you unless you go to sleep on the way, you know. So, we'll
do the best we can in that respect. Now, before we read a portion
of Isaiah 44, Part of this chapter is our text
that has one primary verse. That would be Isaiah 44-23. Isaiah
44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah
44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah
44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23,
Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23,
Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23,
Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23,
Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44-23,
Isaiah 44-23, Isaiah 44- Break forth into singing, ye mountains,
O forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord, all captive flesh,
the Lord God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, has
redeemed Jacob, and Jacob was a rascal just like you and me. The Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and glorified himself in Israel. So let's have prayer together
and see if the Lord would be pleased to even hear what we
say. Lord, we gather in your presence
this morning understanding plainly and clearly
why there is still plenty of unused seats in this auditorium. But we understand, Lord, because your gospel is not palatable
Nor is it tolerated, nor do men congregate to hear it preached,
when you preach that Christ is all and in all. That he's everything. He's our Redeemer, our Savior,
our High Priest, our Prophet, our King, our Lord Jesus. You have made him to be unto
us all of these things. Yet, today's religion has found
something better, they think. Their houses, this morning, made
out of human people. But the truth is, they're not
telling the truth. They don't know the truth. You
can't tell the truth if you don't know it. But Lord, you have required
of us to be faithful to your true gospel that has been preached
in every generation since time began, and will be until this
world is no more. We do not wish to be like all
the others. They can have their crowds, because
they have to cater to the flesh. They have to tell people that
God can't do anything without you, and we know that's a lie.
So Lord, we commit ourselves to you afresh and anew. And even
though this gospel of Christ offends everybody and his brother,
we shall not cease by your grace to tell it till we have no more
breath. We thank you for letting us see
who you are and who Christ is and what Christ is. It's not
Christ who made you, it's Christ who helps us. We pray this morning. May your blessing be upon your
word. We pray for help from heaven. God
save you. Pray this morning. Alright, in chapter 44, I want
to read the first seven verses,
and then I'm going to jump a space and read verses 19 through 23. The first seven in Isaiah 43. Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen,
Thus says the Lord that makes you and forms you from the womb,
which will help you, the Lord says, Fear not, O Jacob, my servant,
and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon your
seed, and my blessing upon your offspring. And they shall spring
up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. One shall
say, I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name
of Jacob. And another shall subscribe with
his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord, the King
of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first,
and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. And who as I shall call and shall
declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the
ancient people, and the things that are coming and shall come,
let them show unto them." Now jumping over to verse 19. Same chapter, Isaiah 44. And none considers in his heart,
neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have
burned part of it in the fire, speaking of a piece of wood of
some size, yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof,
I have roasted flesh and eaten it, and shall I make the residue,
the remainder of it? Shall I make the remainder thereof
an abomination? Shall I fall down to a piece
of wood that came out of a tree?" I'll tell you what, if it wasn't
for God and His grace, we'd all be doing exactly that. You know what this log is in
the final analysis? It ain't a thing in the world
but ourselves. Ourselves. We are our own idols
except for the grace of God. Verse 20, he feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him
aside that he cannot deliver his soul. Neither can we. But we certainly know who can,
don't we? Our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Nor say, is there not a lie in
my right hand? Don't people who worship themselves
and call His name Jesus with a little J, don't they know that
they're worshiping someone who isn't a God? We're unable to say, there's
a lie in my right hand. We're going to lose all this
mileage that we've built up, all these awards and all these
trinkets that's been given us over the years to be faithful. Where the true Christ is, you
can throw all that junk in the trash. That's all it is, is junk. Remember these, verse 21, O Jacob
and Israel, for you are my servant, I have formed you. You are my
servant, O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me. I have
blotted out as a thick cloud your transgressions, hallelujah,
and as a cloud your sins. Return unto me. Or, I have redeemed
you. Not we have redeemed ourselves. Only God can redeem us, and that's
in and through and by His Son. Now to verse 23. This is our
text. This will constitute our reading
at the moment. We'll be looking at some other
Scriptures. Sing, O you heavens, For the Lord has done it. We'll find out what that is that
he has done. Shout, you lower parts of the
earth! Break forth into singing, you
mountains! O forest and every tree therein! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and glorified himself in Israel. Let me read that again. Sing, O you heavens, for the
Lord has done it. Shout, you lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, you
mountains, O forest and every tree therein. For the Lord not
only has redeemed us, but the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorified
himself. in Israel. And God is in that
same business at this very moment. And this person Jacob and this
people called Israel are God's people in this generation. We're one with the true church
of every age and generation to precede us and everyone that
is to come. Now, the subject matter in this
text in Isaiah 44-23 has to do with this very important matter. It has to do with redemption.
We spent Wednesday night talking about this matter of redemption,
but I don't wish to go over that with you. I've got my hands full
with what I want to deal with this morning. So the subject
matter is redemption. Redemption. Redemption. The Lord
has redeemed Jacob. Redemption includes all the works
of God's grace. Every act and work of grace of
God has some kinship with the word redemption. Redemption. All the purpose of God in predestination
is because of redemption. Redemption. All the works of
God in providence is for his children and their
redemption. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Oh, preacher, God can't hate
anybody. The God of the Bible not only can, He does. And you're a fool if you don't
believe it, and so am I. We want God to be like ourselves. And God's determined to have
a people like Himself. All the works of God in grace,
every last single one of them, is related to this subject of
redemption. Finally, all the blessings in
future glory of God, all of God's blessings in future glory, will
be to sing the praises of redemption by the blood of Christ. We'll
be proud to do it, honored to do it, begging to be able to
glorify our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I need you to turn
some scriptures with me. I've got to start in the
book of Acts, but hang on to this passage that we're presently
because we're going to have some scriptures to look at and not
very distant, very close to where we are in Isaiah. Alright, the first place is the
book of Acts. Just another method of setting
before us this matter of redemption. In Acts 2, verse 23, the apostles are preaching on the
day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And if you'll let us begin
with as limited number of verses as we can, We'll take the 22nd
and 23rd, maybe the 24th. Acts 2, and don't turn away from
Acts because we've got some more to look at in regard to this
subject as well as in the next one after this one. So we need
to be in Acts for just a little bit before we go back to some
other text. Acts 2.22. You men of Israel,
hear these words. These are the apostles preaching.
to that mass crowd in Jerusalem for the Passover. You men of
Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did
by Him in the midst of you as you yourselves also know. Now
while it's on my mind, I need to explain something. The apostles did not simply say
Jesus. They said Jesus of Nazareth. Now why did they add of Nazareth? Because their hearers despised
a Nazarene named Jesus for that very reason more than any other. He's born in Nazareth. Oh no, they said, the true Messiah
that's still to come, He was born in Bethlehem. Well, so was
this one. You're just too dumb to find
it out. And you don't want to find it out. You want this man
off your hands no matter what it costs. And so do we. We think if we'd have been there,
we'd have been standing up for Him. That ain't how it works,
ladies and gentlemen. It's not how it works. Verse 23, Acts chapter 2, Him
being delivered by the determinate, that's Christ, being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, this sacrificial
crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was purposed and planned from
old eternity. Him being delivered By the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God has raised up, having
loose the pains of death, because it was not possible that Christ
should be held in that tomb, dead. He cannot stay dead. It is an absolute impossibility. So here's the first matter. Redemption
is by purpose, divine purpose, as we have just seen and want
to see again here in just a second. Chapter 4 in the book of Acts,
verses 27 and 28. Now, if memory serves me right, is it just Peter? Or Peter and
John had been in prison and the angel came and opened the doors,
and now they've joined up with the congregation that they normally
would speak to. In verse 27, the apostles declare
in this meeting of believers, the kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, the
Lord God Jehovah, and His Christ. For of a truth, against your
holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together for to do What could they do? Gather together to do
what? To do whatsoever God's hand and
God's counsel determined or predestined before to be done. That's how
much they did. Exactly what God purposed to
be done. Now you understand what I'm telling
you? God purposed for Christ to come into this world to suffer,
to bleed, to die for His people, to pay the price and ransom of
our sin, and to earn and merit for us a perfect righteousness
in His 33 years of absolute obedience in this world. Alright, let's turn now in the
same book of Scripture. See how generous I am? I've got
this many out of one book. Chapter 20. In verse 28 of Acts chapter 20, Paul has arranged this meeting
between himself and the Ephesian elders, believing, and he certainly
turns out to be right, that this is the last time they will see
him and the last time he will see them. So he wants to leave
them with some counsel. And he spends a good deal of
space here in the 20th chapter of the book of Acts. But if you'll
look at verse 27 and 28, Paul said to these elders, For
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
And to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to feed the church of God," watch this statement,
which he, God, has purchased with his own blood, the blood
of Christ. My, what a statement indeed.
Therefore, redemption is not only by purpose, but there is
a price for redemption. That price is the shed blood
of our Savior, His death, His crucifixion, all the insults
that were cast upon Him, all that kind of stuff. Now, since
we're pretty close, let's just slide right over to the right. to the book of Ephesians. Bible is falling apart. Ephesians
chapter 1, verses 19 and 20. So redemption, well let's read
this verse and then we'll talk about it. If you can grasp what this statement
is saying. Alright, Ephesians 1.19. And what is the exceeding greatness
of God's power to us who believe? What does it take to make a sinner
like you and me believe? It ain't a Sunday afternoon stroll. This is the miracle of all miracles. It's called the exceeding greatness
of God's power to usward who believe. And it is according to His mighty
power which God worked in Christ, which
God wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand
in the heavenly places. Now, can you get a hold of that? The power it took to raise our
Savior from the grave and ascend Him to glory is what it takes
to make a believer. And today's religion has got
it down to a science. They say all you've got to do
is make a decision. I tell you, that's the furthest
thing from the truth. You know what you can do, don't
you? To be saved, I mean? Absolutely nothing. The one requirement is that you
be a sinner, and we've taken care of that pretty nicely. What is the exceeding greatness
of God's power to us who believe according to the working of His
mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places? Now, you know what that's called
about redemption, don't you? That's redemption by power. And fourthly, we go back to the
Old Testament now for this one. I wish I could do this different,
but I didn't have any hand in putting
this Bible together in a certain order, and I'm glad I didn't.
Because I could sure mess it up. Let's see, I'm trying to
find Ecclesiastes. So while I'm talking to you,
you start looking for Ecclesiastes. Now, this fourth point has to
do with redemption in perfection, perfect redemption. And here's how that takes place.
You find Ecclesiastes, did I give you chapter 3? No, I didn't give
you the chapter. I bet Ed Parker has already found
it. Verse 14, Ecclesiastes 3.14, I know that whatsoever God does,
whatever it is, whatever God does, it shall be forever. If God does it, it has to be
like God. He's forever. Forever and ever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it. And God does it that men should
fear before Him. I don't suspect you've ever uttered
words like these, the man upstairs. You know, some trivial, stupid
expression that has no clue to who God is and who we are. You can just mark this down,
whatever God's end, it lasts forever. It has no end. For that matter, no beginning. That's called redemption to perfection. Perfection. Alright, let's go back to our
text now in Isaiah. Let's just take verse 23, Isaiah 44. Let's just take verse 23 and
break it down into five parts. And maybe we can finish all five
of these, I hope so. Taking that one expression, The
Lord has redeemed Jacob. The subject is what? Redemption. We've spent a good deal of time
on that already. But there are five things in
this one verse about redemption. Bible redemption always has these
five characteristics. Here's the first one. Redemption
is a work of God alone. He does not solicit, nor can
we offer Him our help. We don't even know how to get
out of the rain until we've been born again. And that has to follow
this. This redemption is God's work
and God's alone. It says in this 23rd verse, The Lord has done it. The second
phrase, O you heavens, sing O you heavens, for the Lord has done
it. Now that's elementary enough. If we are to be redeemed, God
must redeem us. This redemption is the work of
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The
Father purposed it, it's called electing grace. The Lord Jesus
accomplished it, it's called redeeming grace. And the Holy
Spirit applies it, and it's called regenerating grace. The new birth,
being born again, grace. So this is magnificent to say
the least. And taking God in His threefold
person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, if you'd go back and
read Ephesians chapter 1, you'll find it broken down in exactly
and precisely that relationship. Salvation by God the Father,
salvation by God the Son, and salvation by God the Holy Spirit. Alright, the second aspect here
in verse 23 of Isaiah 44, declares that redemption is an
accomplished work. The Lord not is doing it. The Lord has done it. And you must understand, I don't
remember how long the New Testament period was. It was a bunch of
centuries if I remember right. How could God receive those people
as being his own, when Christ has not yet been born into human
flesh, and suffered and died on the cross. Because the Son's
Word, His promise, was all that was necessary. It ain't like
our promises. When God promises, you can count
on that. It's forever. It's like him. It's forever. And so indeed it
is. So the second thing here in verse
44 is that the Lord Jesus Christ has done it. And this is 700 years before
Christ comes into the world. And God speaks of things as though
they're already done. I wouldn't advise you doing that
with people just like me and you. They'd take you for a ride,
a big one. Same thing is true in their religion. You remember these statements,
we'll not turn to them. Seems like Curtis got one of
these, I don't remember, this morning. Twice in our New Testament,
the first time in John 17, the second time in John 19 and verse
30 when Christ was hanging on the cross, one of the last words
to fall from His lips was this simple statement, It is finished. Finished. Completed. Done. Done. God's religion has always been
done and not do. Always! It cannot change, because
he does not change. The third aspect of redemption
is in this very same verse. Toward the end of the verse,
verse 23, Isaiah 44, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob. Therefore, redemption has to
do with the purchase of a particular people. God is, through His Son, Redeeming
us to pay the price of our sins. To satisfy divine justice. And
to give us a precious, saving relationship with God Almighty. You remember Malachi making this
statement? I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed." Think about that now. I am the
Lord. He cannot change. I change not. Therefore, because God will not
and does not change, therefore, you sons of Jacob, And that's
what we are if we're believers, are not consumed. Not consumed. My, what a statement indeed. Well, preacher, what's wrong with saying that
God loves everybody and died for everybody and redeems everybody? I'm just going to make this one
statement. If all people, those who perish in hell and those
in heaven, have been redeemed, then redemption is meaningless
and worthless. If everybody that were meant
to be saved and redeemed in Christ are not redeemed, are not in
glory when this thing finally winds up and is finished, then
that's not Bible redemption. But the one that we're speaking
about, the one that this chapter is talking about, and the whole
of our Bibles speaks of, has to do with that precious, precious
redemption that is the work of the triune God. Alright, the
fourth thing, in verse 23, of Isaiah 44. Let me find this one. Here it
is. No, that's not the one. Oh yes, it's the very final phrase. My brain went on vacation. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and I bring with you that phrase, for the Lord glorified himself
in Israel. Those are the last words of that
verse. God glorifies himself in Israel. Therefore, redemption
is the work in which God glorifies himself. Boy, you'd think that we were
the ones to be glorified. That character in Georgia the
other week that built himself a mansion over two million dollars
and then had regrets after everybody hollered foul. I think he sold
it, but what he did with the proceeds, I don't know. He sure thought that he deserved
some glory. This work by which God glorifies
Himself includes all of His attributes. It includes the cross, redemption,
and glory, and a just God and a Savior. Now, coming back to
verse 23 one more time, at the very beginning of the verse,
sing, O you heavens, For the Lord has done it, shout, you
lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing. Redemption
is the cause of joy in the believer's heart. We cannot do otherwise. My sins are pardoned through
the blood of Christ, and God is glorified thereby. Sing, O you heavens, for the
Lord has done it. Shout, you lower parts of the
earth, break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest and every
tree therein, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorified
himself in Israel." All right, I'm going to sign
off.
Broadcaster:

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